Died in jail or a lockup
William Malta, Sr.
William Malta, Sr. was held in the custody of the sheriff at Hampton, South Carolina, when a mob took him and hanged him. The record available to us is a 1895 newspaper report, and its text is garbled, so the date and other details cannot be confirmed. The report says the sheriff was overpowered and the mob took the prisoner from his custody, and it describes the killing as an outrage. Whether the sheriff resisted or handed him over is not clear from the surviving text.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A newspaper report says a mob took Malta from the sheriff while he was being moved to the Hampton jail and hanged him.
Reported by: newspaper report.