Executed
Archer
Elijah Archer was hanged at Coloma on a Friday afternoon in January 1857, before a crowd the newspapers put at about two thousand people who had come from across the county. Sheriff Carson took Archer from the jail to the place of execution, where the Rev. McDonald of Coloma prayed with Archer. Newspaper accounts say Archer appeared calm, climbed the gallows with a firm step, and had nothing to say from the scaffold. Archer was executed together with another man, Best, and the body hung for about twenty-five minutes before being cut down.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state
Reported by: the newspaper.