Died in jail or a lockup
Abram Smith
Abram Smith, 19, was a shoeshine boy in Marion, Indiana, according to America's Black Holocaust Museum. He was being held in the jail in downtown Marion on August 7, 1930, when a mob broke into the building and took him from it. The museum's account says the mob dragged him through the streets to a tree at the courthouse, where he tried to pull the noose from his neck, and that the mob stabbed him, broke his arms and hanged him.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. America's Black Holocaust Museum says a mob broke into the Marion jail, took Abram Smith and hanged him from a courthouse tree.
Reported by: America's Black Holocaust Museum (advocates).