Jones

J. C. Jones was hanged on May 18, 1883, in Lexington, before a large crowd, after the governor telegraphed the sheriff to carry out the sentence. The day before, he had opened the veins in his arm in an attempt to take his own life and lost a large amount of blood, according to the Semi-Weekly Miner. Accounts say he was taken from the jail to a gallows in a field about a mile from the courthouse, where the drop fell at about 2:30 p.m. Reporters said he talked with them on the way to the scaffold and went up with great coolness, and a Yorkville Enquirer report says he spoke to the crowd, saying he was willing to die but disliked the manner of his death.

Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state

Reported by: newspaper accounts, including The Semi-Weekly Miner and a Lexington, Mo. news dispatch (reporters).

Sources (7)

• Memphis Daily Appeal, May 19, 1883, page 2 Memphis Daily Appeal, May 19, 1883
• Sacramento Daily Record-Union, May 19, 1883, page 9 Sacramento Daily Record-Union, May 19, 1883
• The Semi-Weekly Miner, May 19, 1883, page 3 The Semi-Weekly Miner, May 19, 1883
• Las Vegas Daily Gazette, May 19, 1883, page 1 Las Vegas Daily Gazette, May 19, 1883
• The Salt Lake Herald, May 19, 1883, page 3 The Salt Lake Herald, May 19, 1883
• The Cheyenne Daily Leader, May 19, 1883, page 2 The Cheyenne Daily Leader, May 19, 1883
• Yorkville Enquirer, May 24, 1883, page 3 Yorkville Enquirer, May 24, 1883