Charles W. Henley
Charles W. Henley, 58, was held in the Sonoma County jail in Santa Rosa in June 1876. According to the newspaper account, around one in the morning a masked mob forced the deputy sheriff and jailer to unlock the jail and take him away. The jailer and his night watchman testified that they were held at gunpoint and could not stop the group. A coroner's inquest jury found that Henley was unlawfully taken from the jail and hanged from a tree near Santa Rosa by a large number of men whom the jury could not identify.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A coroner's inquest jury found that a masked mob unlawfully took Henley from the Sonoma County jail and hanged him, and the jailer and night watchman testified they were held at gunpoint and could not stop the group.
Reported by: coroner's inquest jury (medical examiner or coroner); jailer and night watchman of the Sonoma County jail (the agency that held him).