John Wolfinbarger
John Wolfinbarger was held in the jail at Rutledge, Grainger County, Tennessee, in April 1889. A newspaper account says he was praying in his cell with earnest fervor, and that he kept praying as he was led away. One report says that shortly after midnight several armed men came to the jail and that the jailer handed over the keys, while other dispatches say a crowd surrounded and guarded the jail and then broke it open. The men took him out and hanged him from a tree near the jail. The accounts do not agree on how many men were involved, and they do not establish whether jail staff resisted or gave up the keys.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. Newspaper accounts say a crowd of citizens took him from the Rutledge jail and hanged him, and The Comet reports that the jailer handed over the keys.
Reported by: Knoxville dispatch in The Morning News (reporters); The American, citing a Knoxville dispatch (reporters); Knoxville dispatch in the Indianapolis Journal (reporters); The Pioneer Express (reporters); The Herald (reporters); The American, special dispatch from Knoxville (reporters); Knoxville press dispatch (reporters); The Comet (reporters).
Sources (16)
- The Morning News, April 6, 1889, page 1
- Huntsville Gazette, April 6, 1889, page 2
- Rock Island Daily Argus, April 6, 1889, page 2
- The Indianapolis Journal, April 6, 1889, page 4
- Wichita Eagle, April 6, 1889, page 2
- Pittsburg Dispatch, April 6, 1889, page 1
- The Brookhaven Leader, April 11, 1889, page 1
- The Comet, April 11, 1889, page 1
- The Iowa Plain Dealer, April 11, 1889, page 1
- The Bolivar Bulletin, April 12, 1889, page 1
- The Pioneer Express, April 12, 1889, page 1
- The Herald, April 12, 1889, page 2
- The Mitchell Capital, April 12, 1889, page 7
- Griggs Courier, April 12, 1889, page 2
- The Hope Pioneer, April 12, 1889, page 2
- The Anderson Intelligencer, April 18, 1889, page 4