Harrison Lewis
Harrison Lewis, a Black man, was held in the jail at Springfield, Kentucky, in late August 1895. Newspaper accounts report that about a dozen men came to the jail shortly after 2 a.m. on August 26, and that the jailer, warned of their approach, fled out the back door with the keys. According to the reports, the men battered down the jail doors with a sledgehammer and tools from a blacksmith's shop over about three hours, found Lewis in his cell, and hanged him from a tree in the courthouse yard. Accounts differ on whether the jailer was away from home or had escaped, and on whether the killing happened on August 25 or 26.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob took Harrison Lewis from the Springfield, Kentucky jail and hanged him from a tree in the courthouse yard, after the jailer fled with the keys.
Reported by: Springfield, Ky. newspaper dispatch (reporters).
News reports (8)
- San Antonio Daily Light, August 26, 1895, page 1
- The Morning News, August 27, 1895, page 1
- Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, August 27, 1895, page 5
- Daily Public Ledger, August 27, 1895, page 3
- The Evening Bulletin, August 27, 1895, page 1
- The Roanoke Times, August 27, 1895, page 1
- The Times, August 27, 1895, page 1
- Richmond Planet, August 31, 1895, page 4