Executed
Richard M'Kee
Richard M'Kee was hanged on July 9, 1880, alongside George Sanford, on the bank of the Mississippi River near Osceola, Arkansas, according to the Memphis Daily Appeal. He had been held in the Osceola jail and was taken to the place of execution under a strong guard. The paper reported that he was baptized in the river the day before, with a crowd of Black onlookers on the bank, and that on the morning of the hanging he and the other man ate a hearty breakfast, dressed in neat blue flannel suits, and walked to the gallows with composure. A headline in the same paper said the rope slipped and one man struggled until exhausted.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state
Reported by: Memphis Daily Appeal (reporters).