Ed. Maxwell (alias Williams)
Ed. Maxwell was held at the Durand jail in Durand, Wisconsin, in November 1881. According to the River Falls Journal, he was in the custody of officers for a preliminary examination when a mob took him from them and hanged him from a tree in the courthouse yard. A Connecticut Western News report instead says the mob took him from the jail on the day he was due for an examination. Both accounts say a mob killed him, and the River Falls Journal says the crowd then dispersed quietly.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched (disputed). The River Falls Journal reports that a mob took Ed. Maxwell from officers in the courthouse yard and hanged him from a tree, while a separate inquest on a man lynched at Durand returned a verdict of death from a fall from the courthouse steps, though the name in that item is garbled and its link to Maxwell is uncertain.
Reported by: River Falls Journal (reporters); coroner's inquest as reported (medical examiner or coroner).