Wilcox
Wilcox, a man held in the jail at Bardstown, Illinois, was taken from custody in February 1870 by a mob that broke in after the sheriff gave up the keys, according to a single wire dispatch. The mob first seized the wrong prisoner, then went to his cell, where he was chained to the floor and armed himself with an iron bar. The dispatch says a pistol shot to the head killed him and his body was hanged from a tree. Other reports place the killing at Beardstown and say the jailer handed over the keys without force, but none of the accounts describes his life, and it is not established whether officers resisted.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob took Wilcox from the Beardstown jail after the sheriff gave up the keys, and a pistol shot to the head killed him; the Chicago dispatch is the only account, and the Gold Hill Daily News repeats it briefly.
Reported by: Chicago dispatch (unnamed correspondent) (reporters); Gold Hill Daily News, summarizing a telegraphic report (reporters).