John Blan
John Bland was hanged at St. Charles, Missouri, on June 6, 1879, where he had been held in the jail. The Chicago Daily Tribune reported a crowd of about 10,000 watched, and The Somerset Herald described several thousand. The Tribune said that as he was taken from the jail to the scaffold he tried to escape, knocking down his spiritual advisor and other attendants before being overpowered, and that he confessed on the scaffold and died within minutes of the drop. The Herald said he had earlier broken from his cell when told to prepare, was overpowered in the jail yard, and spoke to the crowd before the drop, blaming whisky and bad company.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state
Reported by: newspaper dispatch on the St. Charles hanging (reporters).