Ben Simmons
Ben Simmons was held in the jail at Anadarko, Oklahoma, in June 1913, when a mob of about a thousand people came for him early on June 13. Accounts differ on where he was held: one says the sheriff had moved him from the county jail to an old government prison as the crowd gathered, and the mob took him from there. The Birmingham Age-Herald reports that he begged for his life and was met with jeers before he was hanged from a tree near the railroad bridge, with his body then shot and burned. Another report from Oklahoma City describes a different jail being stormed and its officers overpowered, while a United Press dispatch says the body was doused with kerosene after it was riddled with bullets. Whether the sheriff or jailers resisted the mob or handed over the keys is not stated.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. Newspaper accounts say a mob took him from the jail, hanged him from a tree, and shot and burned his body, though they differ on the location and whether officers resisted.
Reported by: Anadarko newspaper account (reporters); United Press dispatch (reporters); Oklahoma City newspaper account (reporters).