Died in jail or a lockup
Name not reported
A young man held in the Liberty jail in Virginia was taken from his cell in the early hours of May 18, 1885, by a mob of about fifty masked, mounted men. According to The Sun, the men forced the jailer to hand over the keys, and the young man made no resistance. His body was found hanging from a tree later that morning. The paper described him as a good-natured fellow, and his mother, fearing his mind was disordered, had asked a physician to examine him; she was on her way to him when she learned of his death.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched
Reported by: news reports.