Died in jail or a lockup
John Fitzhugh
John Fitzhugh, a Black man about forty years old, was held in the Rappahannock County jail in Virginia. The Clarke Courier reported that a group of citizens took him from the jail and hanged him, and The Valley Virginian said the killing happened on a Saturday night and that he was hanged from an oak tree. The two papers give different dates for the killing, August 9 and August 15, 1884. Neither account says whether jail officers resisted the group, gave up the keys, or handed him over.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A group of citizens took John Fitzhugh from the Rappahannock County jail and hanged him.
Reported by: news reports.