Charles Reinhart
Charles Reinhart was being held in the jail at Lexington in Le Sueur County, Minnesota, when, on December 27, 1858, a mob of thirty to sixty men came to the jail demanding the keys. Accounts printed in 1859 differ on how the deputy sheriff responded: one says he could not stop the men, another says he stood at the door until he was overcome and the key was taken from him. The mob broke into the jail, took Charles out of the village and hanged him from a tree, and one account says the noose slipped and he was hanged again. The accounts say he maintained his innocence to the end and asked that a prayer be offered for him, and one says an exhorter nearby prayed while most of the mob knelt.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob of thirty to sixty men seized Charles Reinhart from the Lexington jail in La Sueur County, Minnesota, after the deputy sheriff could not stop them, and hanged him from a tree.
Reported by: Minnesota Statesman letter, reprinted in the Daily Crescent (reporters); St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer correspondent, relating an account from a party of gentlemen (reporters); Daily National Intelligencer, reprinted account (reporters).