Died in jail or a lockup
Bill Williams
Bill Williams, a Black man, was held in the town prison at Hamburg, Mississippi, for safe keeping. According to a special dispatch carried by the Vicksburg Herald, around nine o'clock on the night of October 10, 1897, a crowd of unknown men broke the prison door by force and took him out, and he was supposed to have been lynched. The account says the mob left in a quiet and orderly way.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. The Vicksburg Herald, citing a special dispatch, reports that a crowd of unknown men broke into the Hamburg town prison, took Bill Williams out and lynched him.
Reported by: Vicksburg Herald, from a special dispatch (reporters).