David King

David King was held in the jail at Dixon, Webster County, Kentucky, in late July 1891. Newspaper accounts from the following week report that on Tuesday, July 28, a mob took him from the jail, carried him a few miles out of town, hanged him, shot him many times and buried him in a grave in the woods. Early reports said he had escaped, but later accounts said that was false. One account says a companion was whipped until he fainted and then released on condition that he spread the story of an escape.

Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody. Newspaper reports say a mob took David King from the Dixon jail, hanged him and shot him, and an unnamed man who said he was in the mob described the same killing.

Reported by: Henderson, Ky. dispatch (Wichita Daily Eagle) (reporters); United Press (reporters); Sturgis Advertiser (reporters); The Wahpeton Times (reporters); unnamed man who said he took part in the mob.

Sources (10)

• Fort Worth Gazette, July 31, 1891, page 2 Fort Worth Gazette, July 31, 1891
• Daily Tobacco Leaf-Chronicle, July 31, 1891, page 1 Daily Tobacco Leaf-Chronicle, July 31, 1891
• The State Chronicle, July 31, 1891, page 1 The State Chronicle, July 31, 1891
• The Wichita Daily Eagle, July 31, 1891, page 2 The Wichita Daily Eagle, July 31, 1891
• The Madison Daily Leader, July 31, 1891, page 3 The Madison Daily Leader, July 31, 1891
• Brenham Weekly Banner, August 6, 1891, page 6 Brenham Weekly Banner, August 6, 1891
• Sturgis Advertiser, August 6, 1891, page 2 Sturgis Advertiser, August 6, 1891
• Reporter And Farmer, August 6, 1891, page 2 Reporter And Farmer, August 6, 1891
• The Wahpeton Times, August 6, 1891, page 2 The Wahpeton Times, August 6, 1891
• Lewiston Teller, August 27, 1891, page 7 Lewiston Teller, August 27, 1891