Lee Statten
Lee Stratton was held in the jail at Monroe, in Union County, when a mob of masked men took him from custody and hanged him in March 1885. The Memphis Daily Appeal reported that the men overpowered the jailer. A Charlotte Observer account, reprinted in The Farmer And Mechanic, says about one hundred men forced the jail door after Sheriff Horne was tricked into opening it, took the keys, removed Stratton from his cell, and hanged him from a pine tree at the edge of town. That account says the sheriff followed with a posse but arrived too late, and the sources give different dates for the killing.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. The Charlotte Observer reported that a mob of about one hundred men tricked Sheriff Horne into opening the Monroe jail, took the keys, and hanged Stratton from a pine tree.
Reported by: Charlotte Observer (reprinted in The Farmer And Mechanic) (reporters).