Califf Hill, Jr.
Caleb Hill Jr., a Black man reported to be 28, was held in the jail on the second floor of Sheriff George Hatcher's home in Irwinton, Georgia. On May 30, 1949, a mob of white men took him from the jail, and his beaten and shot body was found near a creek a few hours later. The sheriff said he had left the house unlocked to return to a roadhouse, and that the men took the jail keys from a table in his home. Some reports give his name as Califf Hill Jr. or his age as 23, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took up the case.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched (neglect alleged). Sheriff George Hatcher said he left his home unlocked and the mob took the jail keys from a table there, and his cellmate said two unmasked men removed the prisoner from the jail.
Reported by: Sheriff George Hatcher, as reported by the Miami Times (the agency that held him); Georgia Bureau of Investigation (outside investigators); Tom Carswell, his cellmate (witnesses); The Miami Times (reporters); Associated Press photo caption (reporters); New York Herald Tribune editorial, reprinted in the Atlanta Daily World (reporters).