Smith
J. M. Smith was held in the DeWitt, Arkansas, jail in December 1891 when a mob of masked men broke in and shot him and the other men held with him. The Madison Daily Leader reported that fifteen or twenty men entered and fired more than a dozen shots into the prisoners, leaving no clue to their identity. The Passaic City Record reported that six or eight masked men forced their way in around two in the morning, demanded the cell keys, and went to his cell. That account says Smith told them to shoot him and spare the others, and the mob shot him first. The Appeal's January 1892 report also describes the mob's killing of three men at the DeWitt jail.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A masked mob broke into the DeWitt, Arkansas jail in December 1891, took J. M. Smith and two other men from their cells and shot them to death.
Reported by: The Appeal (newspaper) (reporters).