John A. Smyth
John A. Smythe was being held at the jail in Audubon, Iowa, in early February 1885. According to a dispatch published in the St. Landry Democrat, a mob of about one hundred armed men broke into the jail on the morning of February 4, shot him in his cell, and dragged him out to hang him from a rail fence. The dispatch said the sheriff was on the scene but powerless to stop the mob. A shorter report in the Magnolia Gazette described three people taken from the jail by a mob, two shot and one hanged, but named none of them, so it does not confirm how Smythe died. The Citizen also described the mob and the hanging at the Audubon jail, but its account of the events differs in details from the dispatch.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob broke into the Audubon, Iowa jail and shot John A. Smythe in his cell, then hanged him to a rail fence, according to an Audubon dispatch published in the St. Landry Democrat; the sheriff was on the scene but powerless to stop it.
Reported by: Audubon, Ia. dispatch published in the St. Landry Democrat (reporters).