Charles Stevens
Charles Stevens was held in the jail at Maryville, Missouri, in December 1884. Newspaper reports say a mob of masked men, about sixty by one account, came to the jail in the early morning and demanded that Sheriff Anderson hand him over. The sheriff refused and fired into the crowd, wounding one man, but the mob forced the jail door, overpowered him, and took Stevens about a mile and a half to a railroad bridge, where they hanged him. Accounts differ on whether the killing happened on December 9 or 10.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob of masked men took Charles Stevens, known as Omaha Charley, from the Maryville, Missouri jail, where the sheriff fought to protect him, and hanged him from a railroad bridge.
Reported by: Fort Worth Daily Gazette dispatch datelined St. Louis, Mo. (reporters); The Panola Weekly Star (reporters).
News reports (7)
- Memphis Daily Appeal, December 10, 1884, page 1
- The San Antonio Light, December 10, 1884, page 1
- Fort Worth Daily Gazette, December 10, 1884, page 2
- Alexandria Gazette, December 10, 1884, page 2
- Huntsville Gazette, December 13, 1884, page 1
- The Grenada Sentinel, December 13, 1884, page 2
- The Panola Weekly Star, December 13, 1884, page 1