John Forbes
John Forbes, a 21-year-old Black man, was held in the Nottoway County jail in Nottoway Courthouse, Virginia. According to the Richmond Dispatch, about fifty armed, masked men surrounded the jail in the early hours of June 8, 1889, and took the keys from Sheriff Beverly, who the paper said resisted. The men entered, took Forbes from his cell, and killed him by hanging and gunshot wounds. The paper reported that he was found hanging from a tree in the yard with many bullet wounds.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A Richmond Dispatch correspondent reports that a masked mob of about fifty men overpowered Sheriff Beverly, took the jail keys and removed John Forbes from his cell, and he was found hanging with gunshot wounds.
Reported by: Richmond Dispatch correspondent (reporters).