Hank Leonard
Hank Leonard was held in the Salem jail in Marion County, Illinois, in April 1870. According to the Springfield Register, quoting the sheriff, a crowd of about 200 men broke into the jail in the early hours, battered the doors with a sledgehammer after the sheriff refused to hand over the keys, and took him. They hanged him from a tree near Salem, and the sheriff cut him down and went for medical help. When the sheriff returned, the crowd had come back and shot Leonard twice through the brain. The sheriff said the men were not disguised and that he could recognize most of them.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A crowd of about 200 men broke into the Salem jail, took Hank Leonard and hanged him, and returned to shoot him through the brain, according to the Sheriff as reported by the Springfield Register.
Reported by: Springfield Register, quoting the Sheriff (the agency that held him); Springfield Register (reporters).