One of 2 people whose names were not reported
On the morning of Monday, February 15, 1869, a man held in the Jefferson jail was taken from his cell and hanged by a mob, according to a regional account reprinted in the Chicago Tribune. The account says masked men came to the jail early that morning and demanded the keys. When the jailer refused to hand them over, he was bound and the men took the keys themselves. They removed the man from his cell, led him away under a strong escort, and hanged him from an oak tree near a graveyard about a quarter mile southeast of town.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A masked mob took a prisoner from the Jefferson jail after binding the jailer and hanging him from an oak tree, according to a Chicago Tribune report reprinting a regional account.
Reported by: Chicago Tribune, reprinting a regional account (reporters).