Washington Lee
Washington Lee was being held in the Vanceburg County Jail in Vanceburg, Kentucky. On the night of July 18, 1876, a group of masked men took him from the jail and hanged him from a locust tree outside town. The Chicago Daily Tribune reported that the jailer, Willis Hisey, first refused to give up the keys, but under threat of guns he led the mob to the cell door. The coroner's inquest found that Washington Lee died at the hands of a mob. His friends later buried him in a grave that is now unknown.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. The coroner's inquest ruled that a mob hanged him from a locust tree after taking him from the Vanceburg jail, where the jailer first refused to surrender the keys before leading the mob to the cell.
Reported by: Coroner (medical examiner or coroner).