William Campbell
William Campbell sang hymns in his last minutes, including fragments of "Nearer My God to Thee" and "I am going home to Glory," and the accounts say he did not plead much for his life. On the evening of May 25, 1901, a crowd estimated at about 400 to 600 people broke into the Pond Creek county jail in Oklahoma Territory, took him out and hanged him from a telegraph or telephone pole in town. The Wichita Daily Eagle said the sheriff refused to give up the keys, while the Guthrie Daily Leader said the jailer handed them over when the mob demanded them, and one account says the mob battered the jail door with crowbars. A coroner's jury found that he died by hanging at the hands of parties unknown.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob took Campbell from the Pond Creek county jail and hanged him from a telegraph pole; the jailer gave up the keys when the mob demanded them, according to a coroner's jury that found he died at the hands of parties unknown.
Reported by: Pond Creek correspondent of the Wichita Daily Eagle (reporters); Wichita Eagle special report (reporters); coroner's jury (medical examiner or coroner).