R. P. Wallace
Wallace was held in the jail at Steeleville, Missouri, in October 1886. Newspaper accounts say that about a hundred masked men came to the jail around midnight, battered down its doors, took him from his cell and hanged him from a tree beside the building, on the night of October 4. Earlier, on October 1, a mob had seized him, and the sheriff returned him to his cell. One account says the jailer refused the mob entry, while another says jail officers cut his body down afterward, and the papers reported that he maintained his innocence and begged for mercy.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob of about one hundred armed, masked men took Wallace from the Steelville, Missouri jail and hanged him; one account says the jailer refused them entry before the mob battered down the doors.
Reported by: St. Louis dispatch (reporters); Evening Star (reporters); Indianapolis Journal (reporters); Helena Weekly Herald (reporters); Dodge City Times (reporters); Wessington Springs Herald (reporters).
Sources (17)
- Evening Star, October 5, 1886, page 3
- The Dallas Daily Herald, October 6, 1886, page 1
- Sacramento Daily Record-Union, October 6, 1886, page 1
- The Indianapolis Journal, October 6, 1886, page 5
- The Portland Daily Press, October 6, 1886, page 1
- Eureka Daily Sentinel, October 6, 1886, page 2
- The Austin Weekly Statesman, October 7, 1886, page 1
- Helena Weekly Herald, October 7, 1886, page 6
- Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, October 8, 1886, page 2
- Wessington Springs Herald, October 8, 1886, page 8
- Macon Beacon, October 9, 1886, page 1
- Narragansett Herald, October 9, 1886, page 4
- Union County Courier, October 13, 1886, page 1
- Dodge City Times, October 14, 1886, page 2
- The Abilene Reflector, October 14, 1886, page 6
- The Wahpeton Times, October 14, 1886, page 7
- Western Kansas World, October 16, 1886, page 2