Deaths in Custody
Died in jail or a lockup

One of 3 people whose names were not reported

died June 8, 1883 · Bremer County, Iowa

A man named Barber was held in the jail at Waverly, Iowa, together with his brother. According to a Waverly dispatch reprinted in The Marietta Journal, a mob from Fayette County broke into the jail at about 11:30 p.m. on June 8, 1883, took both brothers, and hanged them from a tree about half a mile east of the jail. The dispatch says the sheriff refused to give up the keys and that the mob battered the doors down with a sledge hammer.

Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A Waverly, Iowa dispatch reprinted in The Marietta Journal says a mob broke into the jail, took the men from custody and hanged them, after the sheriff refused to give up the keys.

Reported by: Waverly, Iowa dispatch reprinted in The Marietta Journal (reporters).

News report