In Ashland mobs of masked men abducted individuals at night from their homes, driving each to secluded areas where the men were tarred and feathered. A group identifying as the Knights of Liberty claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying in a letter to a local paper, "We have no purpose to do injustice to any man, but we do feel that any treasonable and seditious acts, or utterances, demand prompt punishment. These cases must not be allowed to run indefinitely, without anything being done. We want action and we want it now."