Roper (alias McGhee)
According to a Nashville dispatch reprinted in several newspapers, a mob took a man named Roper, also called McGehee, from the jail in Columbia, Tennessee, on the morning of November 27, 1877. After several failed attempts to lynch him on the spot, a committee appointed by the mayor took him from the jail to be identified by a woman, and the crowd then took him to the courthouse. The papers say he was hanged from a third-story window in front of about 2,000 people. One account says that officers were powerless once the crowd seized him.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A Nashville dispatch reprinted in The American says a mob took Roper, also called McGehee, from the Columbia, Tennessee jail and hanged him from the courthouse before about 2,000 people.
Reported by: The American (special dispatch, reprinted from a Nashville report) (reporters); The Silver State news dispatch (reporters); Special dispatch from Columbia, Tenn. (reporters); Juniata Sentinel and Republican (Nashville despatch and Columbia special correspondent) (reporters).