Died in jail or a lockup
William H. Spain
William H. Spain, a former army captain and attorney who had agreed to defend a man in a murder case, was threatened by friends of the man's victim, according to the papers. In September 1867, after a shooting on a street, he gave himself up to the marshal, who was taking him toward the jail when a crowd seized him from an express office. The accounts say the crowd pushed aside the sheriff and marshal, broke through the office's bolted doors, and hanged him from a tree. The 1897 reports differ on the date, giving September 10 in one and September 16 in another.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched
Reported by: The Times (reporters).