Richard Jennings
Richard Jennings, a man who had lived in Grass Valley since boyhood, left a wife and children there. On December 14, 1881, shortly after 1 a.m., about twenty-five masked, armed men took the keys from the deputy sheriff at gunpoint, according to the Sacramento Daily Record-Union, and took him from his cell in the Lander County jail in the courthouse at Austin, Nevada. The Eureka Daily Sentinel reported that the jailer was overpowered and handed over the keys. The mob hanged him from the courthouse portico, and the coroner's inquest recorded that he died by hanging at the hands of unknown persons.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A masked mob took Richard Jennings from his cell in the Austin, Nevada, courthouse jail and hanged him from the courthouse portico; the coroner's inquest recorded death by hanging at the hands of unknown persons.
Reported by: Coroner's inquest, as reported by the Sentinel (medical examiner or coroner); Austin, Nevada, Sentinel newspaper (reporters).