In 1868, a Marion County mob killed three Republicans who had been arrested the previous night after a Republican meeting ended in a gunfight with local Democrats.  Five Republicans were dragged from the Jefferson jail and the mob killed three of them, a white and two blacks.  Reconstruction officials arrested thirty-five suspects, and eventually tried twenty-four of them. The trial involved the testimony of 176 witnesses, and a verdict was not delivered until August 23, 1869. Seven of the defendants were found guilty, but it is unclear whether any of them served any time in prison.