J. W. Mitchell
J. W. Mitchell, whose home was at Hazelton in Bourbon County, was held in the Syracuse jail in Kansas when, in late June 1888, a mob of about 150 men took him out before dawn and hanged him from a telegraph pole. According to a Garden City telegram, the sheriff stood guard alone with a rifle and refused to give up the keys until he was chased, when he threw them away, and the keys were later found and the crowd returned to the jail. The Evening Bulletin reported that the sheriff had asked citizens for help beforehand, that the mob took the keys at midnight, and that Mitchell was allowed time to pray before he was hanged. The coroner's inquest was reported to have found no one who knew anything about the death.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A Garden City, Kansas telegram says a mob of about 150 men took J. W. Mitchell from the Syracuse jail before dawn and hanged him from a telegraph pole, after the sheriff, who stood guard alone, threw away the keys when he was chased.
Reported by: Garden City (Kan) telegram (reporters); coroner's inquest (medical examiner or coroner).