Lawrence Johnson
Lawrence H. Johnson was held in the Siskiyou County jail in Yreka, California. Newspaper accounts from August 1895 say that in the early morning of August 26, a mob of about 250 men broke the lock on his cell and led him across the street. The under-sheriff refused to give up the keys, and a deputy was held up and forced to hand them over, the reports say. The mob hanged Johnson from an iron rail strung between two trees, and the accounts say he pleaded for mercy before he died of strangulation. Some reports give a different date, August 20, and different crowd sizes.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob of about 250 men took Lawrence Johnson from the Siskiyou County jail, broke his cell lock and hanged him from a rail between two trees.
Reported by: news reports.
News reports (9)
- The Morning News, August 27, 1895, page 1
- Birmingham Age-Herald, August 27, 1895, page 1
- Fort Worth Gazette, August 27, 1895, page 1
- The Evening Bulletin, August 27, 1895, page 1
- Richmond Dispatch, August 27, 1895, page 2
- The Roanoke Times, August 27, 1895, page 4
- The Times, August 27, 1895, page 1
- The Austin Weekly Statesman, August 29, 1895, page 1
- Highland Recorder, September 6, 1895, page 1