Elias Scaggs
Elias Scaggs was held in the jail at Greensburg, Kentucky, when a crowd of two or three hundred men broke in on November 10, 1858. A letter from Campbellsville, printed in the Louisville Journal and reprinted in other papers, says he cut his own throat with a razor as the crowd reached his cell, and that he died there. One account says the jailer was away when the crowd arrived, and another says his body was dragged out into the street. These papers give the letter's account of suicide; no other source is given for how he died.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A Louisville Journal correspondent's letter from Campbellsville says a crowd broke into the Greensburg jail and that Elias Scaggs had cut his own throat with a razor before the crowd reached him.
Reported by: Louisville Journal correspondent's letter from Campbellsville (reporters).