Rolla Dotson
Rolla Dotson was held in the Franklin County jail in Winchester, Tennessee, while awaiting trial in the Circuit Court. On the night of Wednesday, December 2, 1868, about fifteen armed men in masks went to the jail, took him out and hanged him from a tree in the courthouse yard, according to an anonymous letter published in the Union and American. The letter says the act was done without the knowledge of local residents and cites an investigation by the circuit judge, attorney general and coroner that it says reached the same account. The letter does not say whether jail staff resisted the men or handed over the keys.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody
Reported by: Anonymous writer of a letter to the editors of the Union and American.