Ernest Dewley

Ernest Dewley, a Black man, was held in the jail at Brandenburg, Kentucky. According to a dispatch from Brandenburg printed in The Hartford Republican, a mob of local citizens battered down the jail door early on the morning of April 30, 1902, overpowered the jailer and opened his cell. The mob took him about half a mile out of town and hanged him from a tree. The account says the jailer was overpowered rather than handing him over.

Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody

News reports (3)

• Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, May 2, 1902, page 1 Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, May 2, 1902
• The Hartford Republican, May 2, 1902, page 3 The Hartford Republican, May 2, 1902
• Hopkinsville Kentuckian, May 6, 1902, page 6 Hopkinsville Kentuckian, May 6, 1902