Robert Prager came to the United States from Germany in 1905 at the age of 17. He never settled in one place for long and 1930 found him living in Illinois, working as a coal miner. Patriotic hysteria had descended on the country now that the United States had enetered the war against the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
In April 1918 a group of miners warned Prager to stay away from the mine in Maryville. The following day he left his home in Collinsville, a short distance away, and posted copies of a document attacking a member of the miners union. Back at his home a mob captured him and he was rescued by a policeman who threw him in jail. Word soon got out there was a “German spy” in custody. A mob, fueld by “patriotism”, stormed the jail, removed Prager, and hung him in front of two hundred people.
Eleven men were tried for the murder and the jury found all eleven innocent.
