Nero Young
Nero Young was held in the Ocala jail in Florida. In the early hours of May 16, 1894, a mob of several hundred people broke the jail doors with sledgehammers and took him from his cell, according to a Times-Union dispatch printed in The Pickens Sentinel; other accounts give the date as May 15. The jailer, who had kept watch overnight, gave up the key to the cell when the mob came, and the sheriff had left the jail at dawn. The mob hanged him from a tree on the edge of town, and a card pinned to his body was signed by citizens of Ocala.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob broke into the Ocala jail, took him from his cell and hanged him from a tree, and the jailer surrendered the cell key when resistance proved useless, according to the Times-Union dispatch.
Reported by: Jacksonville Times-Union dispatch from Ocala (reporters); The Pickens Sentinel (reporters).
Sources (8)
- The Morning News, May 16, 1894, page 1
- Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, May 18, 1894, page 2
- Huntsville Gazette, May 19, 1894, page 1
- Macon Beacon, May 19, 1894, page 1
- The Fairfield News And Herald, May 23, 1894, page 4
- The Lexington Dispatch, May 23, 1894, page 4
- The Manning Times, May 23, 1894, page 4
- The Pickens Sentinel, May 24, 1894, page 1