Died in jail or a lockup
Nathan Laird
Nathan Laird, a Black man, was held in the jail awaiting trial in June 1882 when about seventy-five masked men came to the jail around 1:30 in the morning. According to the Panola Weekly Star, they demanded the keys from deputy sheriff George Lister, and then from Sheriff Smith, who was ill in bed; Smith's wife handed them over when the men threatened to break down the door. The men took Laird from his cell and hanged him from an oak tree near the road. An inquest jury examined the body and returned a verdict consistent with these accounts.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched
Reported by: inquest jury.