Hillyard Farrington
Hilliard Farrington was in the custody of detectives aboard the steamer Illinois on the Ohio River in December 1871. A Cairo dispatch reported that he asked a detective to come out on the guard, then grabbed the detective's revolver and fired, and that during the struggle he fell overboard and drowned. A Memphis dispatch said he tried to escape by jumping from the steamer, and a later account placed him in the water during a struggle with a detective named Pinkerton. The accounts differ on how he came to be in the river, and no inquest is reported.
Cause of death, as reported: Cause not yet determined (disputed). A Cairo newspaper dispatch says he drowned after going overboard during a struggle with a detective, a Memphis dispatch says he tried to escape by jumping from the steamer, and no inquest is reported.
Reported by: Cairo newspaper dispatch (reporters); Memphis dispatch, reprinted in the Worcester Daily Spy (reporters); news report.