Died in jail or a lockup
Name not reported
Bell, the son of settler J. W. Bell, was held in the jail at Harold, Dakota Territory, after the body of a man named Small was found buried in a plowed field. According to a Harold correspondent writing in the Rock Island Daily Argus in December 1887, citing a land department contest report, a delegation of citizens took him from the jail and hanged him from a flagpole.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A Rock Island Daily Argus correspondent, citing a land department contest report, says a citizens' delegation took a man named Bell from the Harold, Dakota Territory jail and hanged him.
Reported by: Rock Island Daily Argus correspondent citing the land department contest report (reporters).