Oliver Canfield
Oliver Canfield was held in the jail at Vincennes, Indiana, in June 1884. Shortly after midnight on June 24, a mob of masked men broke into the jail, took him from his cell and hanged him from a telegraph pole, according to the Vincennes accounts. The sheriff and deputies were said to have refused to hand over the key, forcing the mob to break down the doors, and the jail officials and police offered little resistance. One account says he asked that his mother be told he had tried to make peace with heaven, and that he died of suffocation.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. News reports say a masked mob broke into the Vincennes jail, took Oliver Canfield from his cell and hanged him from a telegraph pole, after the sheriff refused to hand over the key and forced the mob to break the doors.
Reported by: news reporting in the accounts.