King

King, a Black man, was held in the Douglas County Jail in Lawrence, Kansas, when a mob of more than 100 men took him and two other men from the jail and hanged him from the Kansas River bridge early on June 10, 1882. The Daily Dispatch reported that the sheriff resisted as far as he could but was forced to submit. According to the same report, as King was about to drop he asked to be let down gently. No one in the mob was ever charged, and King was buried in an unmarked grave until his name was found in a 2021 cemetery plot chart.

Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob took King from the Lawrence, Kansas, jail and hanged him from a bridge on June 10, 1882.

Reported by: news reports.

News reports (3)

• The Daily Dispatch, June 14, 1882, page 3 The Daily Dispatch, June 14, 1882
• Huntsville Gazette, June 17, 1882, page 1 Huntsville Gazette, June 17, 1882
• Marker dedication pays tribute to 3 Black men lynched 140 years ago in Lawrence The Lawrence Times, June 10, 2022