William S. Pearl

Newspapers in February 1883 reported that a mob took William S. Pearl from the jail at Lincoln, New Mexico, and lynched him. One account, from a frontier garrison and presented as an assertion, said he was taken from that jail the night before the report and hanged by a mob, and that he begged for his life. The reports name no one among those responsible. Pearl was a man held in the custody of the Lincoln jail when he was killed.

Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. Several 1883 newspaper accounts report that a mob took William S. Pearl from the Lincoln, New Mexico jail and lynched him, and a garrison account says he begged for his life; none says how the mob got in or whether jail staff resisted.

Reported by: Huntsville Gazette (reporters); garrison account published in a newspaper; short 1883 newspaper item (reporters).

Sources (5)

• Huntsville Gazette, February 3, 1883, page 1 Huntsville Gazette, February 3, 1883
• The Milan Exchange, February 3, 1883, page 6 The Milan Exchange, February 3, 1883
• New York Dispatch, February 4, 1883, page 7 New York Dispatch, February 4, 1883
• Iron County Register, February 8, 1883, page 2 Iron County Register, February 8, 1883
• The Grant County Herald, February 16, 1883, page 2 The Grant County Herald, February 16, 1883