Died in jail or a lockup
Bird Ellis
Bird Ellis, a Black man, was held in the Edgefield jail in Edgefield, South Carolina, in November 1883. According to a dispatch from Columbia, a mob took him from the jail, shot him, and threw his body into a river. Another dispatch, datelined Edgefield, reports the same account and says he had been held after a case in York, South Carolina. Neither account says how the mob got in or whether jail officers resisted, gave up the keys, or handed him over.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A dispatch reports that a mob took Bird Ellis from the Edgefield jail, shot him and threw his body into a river.
Reported by: a despatch from Edgefield, as reported in the paper (reporters).