Died in jail or a lockup
Name not reported
A Black man, whose name the Evening Bulletin did not give, was being held in the Joplin city jail on the night of Wednesday, 15 April 1903. A mob broke into the jail, dragged him two blocks and hanged him from a telegraph pole, while City Attorney P. H. Decker appealed for a trial and others tried to stop the crowd. The paper reported that the man protested his innocence, and the coroner took his body after the mob dispersed.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob broke into the Joplin city jail, took the man from custody and hanged him from a telegraph pole.
Reported by: the coroner.