Charles Elliott
Four Black men held in the jail at Pontchatoula, Louisiana, died on the night of September 20, 1900, when a mob took them from their cells and hanged them from trees near the jail. Accounts give the names differently: the reports name Isaiah Rollins, Nathaniel Bowman and Charles Elliott most often, while others give Isaiah Pollins, Isaiah Hollins, George Bickham or George Rickman. According to a Savannah newspaper, a committee of white citizens demanded the jail keys from Sheriff Nix, who refused, and the mob broke the jail open with axes. A coroner's jury returned a verdict of death at the hands of unknown persons, and one report says many people in the town, both white and Black, deplored the killings.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A coroner's jury returned a verdict of death at the hands of unknown persons after a mob broke into the jail, took the men from their cells and hanged them from a tree.
Reported by: coroner's jury (medical examiner or coroner); news reporting of the hanging.