Jeff D. Gillenwaters
Jeff D. Gillenwaters was held in the jail in Tate County, Mississippi, when a masked group broke in early on the morning of September 10, 1881. According to a correspondent's letter to the Memphis Daily Appeal, the jailer was threatened with pistols and at first withheld the keys, and only after his wife produced them to save his life did the group take Gillenwaters upstairs and go west. Townspeople arrived too late to intervene, and the letter says Gillenwaters was shot and was beyond doubt dead by the time they reached him.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A correspondent's letter to the Memphis Appeal says a masked group broke into the Tate County jail, took Jeff D. Gillenwaters from the upstairs and shot him after the jailer's wife produced the keys.
Reported by: correspondent's letter to the Memphis Appeal (reporters).