Estep
Estep was held in the jail at Charleston, West Virginia, while his case was before the court. On the evening of January 25, 1876, a mob came to the jail, took him and Dawson out, and marched them toward the woods, according to a Cincinnati Gazette correspondent's report. The Valley Virginian reported that about 400 people took three men from the jail and hanged them on the spot where another man had been killed, and that troops had been telegraphed for but had not yet arrived. The Gazette report said the men would probably be found hanging from a tree the next morning, and the accounts differ on the number involved and on whether the hanging took place.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. The Cincinnati Gazette's Charleston correspondent reported that a mob took Estep from the Charleston, West Virginia, jail and hanged him.
Reported by: Cincinnati Gazette, Charleston correspondent (reporters).