Reuben Cole
Reuben Cole, a Black man, was held at the Surry County jail in Virginia, and a Richmond Dispatch telegram reported that he left a wife and several small children. On Tuesday, July 26, 1887, according to the Dispatch and the Peninsula Enterprise, a crowd of about fifty men, some reported to be masked and armed, took him from the jail and hanged him, one account saying from a small tree near the courthouse. Accounts differ on whether the jailer and guards were overpowered or handed over the keys. The Dispatch reported that the sheriff had posted a strong guard and planned to move Cole to Petersburg for safekeeping that morning, and a special grand jury was expected to investigate the killing, though the paper doubted it would lead to indictments.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. The Richmond Dispatch reported that a crowd of about fifty men overpowered the jailer and guards at the Surry County jail, took Reuben Cole and hanged him, and a letter reprinted by the paper described the guards being forced to watch.
Reported by: Richmond Dispatch (reporters); unnamed writer of a letter received in Petersburg.