Union League leaders agreed to cease nighttime meetings. The truce was broken the next day when a race riot broke out involving 500 to 700 whites in neighboring Union County, killing eight blacks. Some whites claimed Williams had threatened to kill local whites and that Williams' militia was stockpiling weapons. It was also claimed that Williams claimed to desire to rape white women if he could. Further, Bratton claimed that Williams and his militia were responsible for a rash of fires at white-owned properties On March 6, 1871, about forty men seized Williams from his home and hung him from a tree and shot him with many bullets. Bratton was said to have placed the noose around Williams' neck. Williams was subsequently brought to Bratton's office where Bratton, in his medical capacity, served the inquest. Lynching of Jim Williams On March 6, 1871, James Rufus Bratton led a group of about 70 white men from their muster at the Briar Patch muster ground west of Yorkville to the Williams cabin. At that time, James William Avery and Bratton were the head and number two in the local Klan. The mob first went to the home of Union League member Andy Timons, beating Timons to learn the whereabouts of Williams' home. At Williams' cabin, they found him hiding under the floorboards. They grabbed him and pulled him kicking and screaming from the house. Someone, probably Bratton, placed a noose around William's neck. Outside, they tied the rope to a tree off the ground and forced Williams to climb to the limb. Bob Caldwell, another Klansman, climbed to the limb and pushed Williams, who then dangled from the limb by his hands. Caldwell used a knife to hack at William's fingers until he released, whence he "died cursing, pleading and praying all in one breath." Williams was subsequently brought to Bratton's office where Bratton, in his medical capacity, served the inquest. The mob visited several other homes of men involved in the Union League militia, succeeding in gathering 23 guns but no other members. Members of the league swore vengeance, but did not act. Companies B, E, and K of George Armstrong Custer's Seventh U.S. Cavalry led by Major Lewis Merrill arrived in the area to try to quell the violence, Elias Hill stepped in to lead the league, now in disarray. In another raid, Hill's nephews, Solomon Hill and June Moore,