Andrew Diggs
Andrew Diggs, a Black man, was held in the jail at Scottsboro, Alabama, in June 1903. On the night of June 29, a mob broke into the jail, and Sheriff Austin fired at them from the stairs with his pistols before being shot in the leg and arm. The mob forced the sheriff's daughter at gunpoint to hand over the cell keys, then took Diggs from his cell and hanged him from a telegraph pole near town. Newspaper accounts published in the following days differ on details, including whether the sheriff had any warning and whether the body was cut down and buried the next day.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A masked mob broke into the Scottsboro, Alabama, jail, took Andrew Diggs from his cell and hanged him from a telegraph pole, after Sheriff Austin resisted and was wounded.
Reported by: Nashville Banner, citing a dispatch from Scottsboro (reporters); Associated Press (reporters).
News reports (7)
- The Savannah Morning News, July 1, 1903, page 1
- The Montgomery Advertiser, July 1, 1903, page 1
- Hattiesburg Daily Progress, July 1, 1903, page 1
- The Times Dispatch, July 1, 1903, page 7
- Virginia Gazette, July 4, 1903, page 6
- Newport Weekly Independent, July 10, 1903, page 4
- The Newark Journal, July 10, 1903, page 1