L. Paine
Lem Paine, a white man from the area, was held in the county jail in 1860 when an armed group in disguise entered the building by pretending to bring in a prisoner. The Western Democrat reported that they forced the jailer to hand over the keys, took Paine from his cell, and hanged him from a tree near a tannery, and that his body was found the next morning. A coroner's jury returned a verdict in line with these facts and did not blame the jailer. A second, secondhand report reprinted in a Rhode Island paper gives the name L. Paine, a Talladega County resident, and says he was hanged by a vigilance committee, but gives no date and no account of how the group got in.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A coroner's jury said he was hanged by an armed group that took him from his cell after forcing the jailer to surrender the keys, and the jailer was not blamed.
Reported by: Coroner's jury (medical examiner or coroner).