Walter Yeatts

Walter Yeatts spent his last days reading the Bible, and his father, brother and brother-in-law visited him the night before his execution. An Episcopal minister prayed with him that morning. In August 1882 he was taken from the jail in Chatham, Virginia, to a scaffold in an enclosure behind the courthouse, where Sheriff Overby carried out the sentence. An examination found that he died of strangulation, and a doctor pronounced him dead about sixteen minutes after the drop. His brother-in-law took his body to the family burial place.

Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state

Reported by: Sheriff Overby (the agency that held him); a doctor who pronounced him dead; news reports.

News reports (2)

• The Daily Dispatch, August 5, 1882, page 3 The Daily Dispatch, August 5, 1882
• The Farmer And Mechanic, August 9, 1882, page 3 The Farmer And Mechanic, August 9, 1882