City Marshal Joseph Beard

Joseph Beard

Marshal Beard was stabbed to death after arresting a street brawler. The suspect threw Marshal Beard to the ground and then stabbed him in the chest, puncturing his lung and heart. He succumbed to his wounds at the scene.

Several bystanders were able to subdue the man and took him to the Fayette County Jail. A short time later an angry mob stormed the jail, removed the prisoner, and attempted to hang him from the second floor of the nearby courthouse. The rope broke when they pushed him from the window and his head was crushed on the pavement below. Another rope was located and his body was then hung from the window for several hours.

Marshal Beard was survived by his wife and four children.