Peter Kessler
Peter Kessler was held at a jail in Missouri in August 1873. According to a telegraph report quoted by the Rutland Daily Globe, the sheriff and four assistants were driving him from the jail toward the depot when a mob surrounded the carriage and demanded custody of him. The sheriff refused to hand him over, and shots were fired into the carriage, mortally wounding the sheriff and two assistants and seriously wounding the prosecuting attorney. The telegraph reported that Peter was then taken outside the town and hanged, and the newspaper called on state officials to prosecute those responsible.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A telegraph report quoted by the Rutland Daily Globe says a mob seized Peter Kessler from the sheriff's carriage on the way to the depot and hanged him outside town after shots wounded the sheriff and two assistants.
Reported by: telegraph report as quoted by the Rutland Daily Globe (reporters).