Walker
Walker, a Black man, was one of several prisoners held in the Union County jail in South Carolina in early 1871. A Pawtucket Gazette and Chronicle report says a large party of disguised men took him and five other prisoners from the jail and shot them, though the paper gives no date for this. Other 1871 accounts describe disguised men entering the Union jail at night and seizing prisoners, and the Daily Phoenix reported that the sheriff gave up the keys when the horsemen demanded them. Accounts differ on the number of men taken and on how many were killed, and the details of Walker's own death are not confirmed by the sources.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. Passengers reporting to a newspaper say unknown horsemen took Walker from the jail after the sheriff gave up the keys and that his body was found in the road, and a Columbia paper reports that he was shot to death.
Reported by: Passengers reporting to the newspaper (witnesses); Columbia Union, as reported in The Anderson Intelligencer (reporters).
Sources (14)
- The Daily Phoenix, January 7, 1871, page 2
- Alexandria Gazette, January 9, 1871, page 2
- Worcester Daily Spy, January 10, 1871, page 1
- The Anderson Intelligencer, January 12, 1871, page 2
- The Republican Journal, January 12, 1871, page 2
- Pawtucket Gazette And Chronicle, January 13, 1871, page 2
- New Orleans Republican, February 15, 1871, page 1
- Yorkville Enquirer, February 16, 1871, page 3
- The Anderson Intelligencer, February 16, 1871, page 2
- Yorkville Enquirer, February 16, 1871, page 2
- The Daily State Journal, February 16, 1871, page 1
- The Working Christian, February 21, 1871, page 2
- Worcester Daily Spy, November 7, 1871, page 1
- The Charleston Daily News, April 23, 1872, page 1