Thomas Hodges
Thomas Hodges was being held in the Staunton jail in Virginia in April 1871 when a group of armed men broke in. According to the Staunton Vindicator, the jailor and former sheriff George McCutchen asked them to leave and refused to hand over the keys, and the men forced his cell open, took him to a road outside town and hanged him from an oak tree. A jury of inquest found that persons unknown took him from the jail and hanged him. Accounts differ on whether the killing happened on April 10 or April 11, and a reward was offered for the arrest of those responsible.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob broke into the Staunton jail after the jailor and former sheriff refused to hand over the keys, then took Thomas Hodges out and hanged him; the jury of inquest found that persons unknown took him from the jail and hanged him.
Reported by: Staunton dispatch published in the Alexandria Gazette (reporters); Valley Virginian, reprinting the Vindicator (reporters); jury of inquest; Augusta County jail (the agency that held him).