Richard Woods
Richard Woods, a Black man, was held in the jail in Leavenworth, Kansas. Early on January 31, 1887, according to the Fort Worth Daily Gazette, a masked mob of about forty armed men broke into the jail, overpowered the jailor at gunpoint, took the keys and removed him from his cell. The men tied a rope around his neck and dragged him on horseback for more than a mile through the streets, leaving him dead in the road. The Equal Justice Initiative gives his age as 18 and dates the lynching to January 30, 1887, so accounts differ on the date.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A masked mob of about forty men broke into the Leavenworth county jail, overpowered the jailer at gunpoint, took the keys, and dragged Richard Woods by horseback for over a mile with a rope around his neck until he died.
Reported by: Equal Justice Initiative (advocates); Leavenworth newspaper account of the mob (reporters).