Perry
John Perry was held in the jail at Red Cliff, Colorado. On the night of Sunday, February 14, 1886, a mob of about 100 to 200 miners overpowered the officer guarding the jail, took him out and hanged him from a railroad water tank. A telegraph account in The Argus says a special engine sent from Leadville to help the Eagle County sheriff arrived too late. The Indianapolis Journal reports that Perry asked to be allowed to climb a ladder and jump, and that the request was refused, while another account says he was pulled up by a rope and strangled. His brother, W. C. Perry, was in the village afterward, grieving.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob of about 100 to 200 miners overpowered the sheriff at the Red Cliff, Colorado jail, took John Perry to a railroad water tank and hanged him, according to press dispatches.
Reported by: Denver Republican dispatch from Red Cliff (reporters); The Argus telegraph report (reporters).