Davidson
Davidson, a Black man, was being taken by officers from a justice's court toward the county jail at Statesville, North Carolina, in December 1878. According to a telegram printed in The Daily Dispatch, a crowd took him from the guard on Saturday night and hanged him, after an earlier attempt on Friday during a court recess was broken off when a justice intervened. The Charlotte Democrat placed the killing in Iredell County, reporting that the sheriff held him there and that a mob took him from the sheriff and hanged him to a tree. The two papers differ on where he was held and who had him when the mob came for him.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob took Davidson from officers escorting him to the Statesville jail and hanged him, according to a telegram printed in a newspaper; the article does not say whether the guards resisted.
Reported by: news dispatch (telegram printed in a newspaper) (reporters).