Eugene Marshall
Gene Marshall, a Black man, was held in the Shelby County jail in Shelbyville, Kentucky, when a mob of about fifty masked men broke in early on Sunday, January 15, 1911. According to the Bourbon News, the mob threatened to blow up the building with dynamite, and the jailer turned over the keys once resistance seemed useless, while the Perth Amboy Evening News reported the jailer gave up the keys without resistance. Most reports say the men took Marshall from the jail and hanged him from a railroad bridge near the jail, though one account says he was riddled with bullets. The Madison Daily Leader reported that the sheriff and coroner opened an investigation, and a special grand jury was reported to be looking into the lynching.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob of about fifty masked men broke into the Shelby County jail in Shelbyville, Kentucky, and hanged Gene Marshall from a railroad bridge near the jail, according to news accounts; the jailer reportedly handed over the keys.
Reported by: Deputy Jailer Ernest Hornbeck (the agency that held him); Shelby County sheriff and coroner (medical examiner or coroner); Daily Gate City and other news reports (reporters).
Sources (14)
- Arizona Republican, January 16, 1911, page 1
- The Daily Gate City, January 16, 1911, page 1
- Perth Amboy Evening News, January 16, 1911, page 12
- Las Vegas Optic, January 16, 1911, page 1
- The Prescott Daily News, January 17, 1911, page 1
- The Pensacola Journal, January 17, 1911, page 1
- The Bourbon News, January 17, 1911, page 1
- The Durham Recorder, January 17, 1911, page 2
- The Madison Daily Leader, January 17, 1911, page 1
- Smyrna Times, January 18, 1911, page 2
- East St. Louis Daily Journal, January 18, 1911, page 1
- Dakota County Herald, January 20, 1911, page 1
- The Thibodaux Sentinel, January 21, 1911, page 1
- The Adair County News, January 25, 1911, page 2