Oliver Hill
Oliver Hill, a native of Galesburg, Illinois, who had recently been connected with a circus, was held in the Shreveport jail in Louisiana in May 1874 while awaiting trial, alongside another man, C. T. Jones. According to the New Orleans Republican, about fifty masked, armed men attacked the jail around midnight, removed both men, and hanged them from trees in the courthouse yard on May 16, 1874. The Donaldsonville Chief reported the same killings, and the New Orleans Bulletin, citing a Shreveport dispatch, gave the date as May 16, 1874.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob took Oliver Hill from the Shreveport jail at night and hanged him from trees in the courthouse yard, according to a dispatch reprinted in the New Orleans Bulletin and later newspaper reports.
Reported by: Shreveport dispatch reprinted in the New Orleans Bulletin (reporters); unnamed reports cited in the newspaper.