Henry Polk
Henry Polk was held in the Pike County jail at Murfreesboro, Arkansas, along with his brother Sylvester. According to a dispatch from Texarkana reprinted in The Abbeville Press And Banner, on a Sunday night in September 1885 a mob of about seventy-five men broke into the jail. The dispatch says they piled wood around his iron cell, soaked it with coal oil, set it on fire and killed him. It says the sheriff refused to hand over the keys and drew his pistol, and that the mob left without them.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A Texarkana dispatch reprinted in The Abbeville Press And Banner says a mob of about seventy-five men set fire to Henry Polk's iron cell in the Pike County jail, burning him to death.
Reported by: Dispatch from Texarkana reprinted in The Abbeville Press And Banner (reporters).