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Died in jail or a lockup

Virgil Jones

died August 1, 1908 · Logan County Detention Center, Logan County, Kentucky

Virgil Jones, according to one account, worked as a tenant farmer and was held in the Logan County jail in Russellville, Kentucky, with three other Black men. Early on Saturday, August 1, 1908, newspaper reports say a mob of about fifty men forced the jailer to hand over the keys at gunpoint, took the four men from the jail, and hanged them from a tree on the edge of town on the Nashville pike. The jailer was covered by rifles and shotguns, and one report says no guard had been posted outside the jail. Townspeople did not learn of the killings until daylight showed the bodies, and a note pinned to one body warned Black residents to leave white people alone. No member of the mob has been identified.

Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob of about fifty men took Virgil Jones and three other Black men from the Russellville, Kentucky jail and hanged them from a tree on the edge of town, according to the Associated Press and other newspaper reports.

Reported by: Associated Press (reporters); Waterbury Evening Democrat (reporters); Deseret Evening News (reporters).

Sources (56)

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