Alexander Coudot
Alexander Coudot was held in the Emmons County jail near Williamsport, North Dakota, when a masked mob of about forty men rode in late on November 13, 1897, according to contemporary newspaper accounts. The Wilmington Daily Republican reported that the mob took him and two others from the custody of Deputy Sheriff Tom Kelly, and another paper said the men overpowered the deputy keeping watch. He was hanged from a beef windlass near the jail, and one account says his body was left hanging through the following day because no coroner had arrived. The sheriff was reported to be away from the county at the time, and the papers differ on whether the deputy resisted or gave up the prisoners.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. News reports say a masked mob of about forty men overpowered the deputy keeping watch at the Emmons County jail near Williamsport, took him, and hanged him from a beef windlass while the sheriff was away.
Reported by: news reports of the time.