Ed Johnson
Ed Johnson, a Black man, was in the custody of Deputy Sheriff Kimball Ferguson in Vicksburg, Mississippi, when a mob of about twenty men met them at the city limits on the early morning of January 20, 1915 and took him from the deputy. Ferguson said he could not offer resistance to the mob and went back to town to notify police. Accounts differ on whether Johnson was shot or hanged, and a coroner's jury found that he died at the hands of persons unknown. In late March a grand jury investigation was begun at the request of Governor Brewer, and the Vicksburg Board of Trade condemned the killing and asked law officers to find those responsible and bring them to trial.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob took Ed Johnson from Deputy Sheriff Kimball Ferguson at the Vicksburg city limits and shot him to death; Ferguson said he could not resist the mob.
Reported by: Deputy Sheriff Kimball Ferguson (the agency that held him); coroner's hearing (medical examiner or coroner); Vicksburg dispatch in The Jones County News (reporters); Vicksburg Board of Trade.
News reports (8)
- The Montgomery Advertiser, January 21, 1915, page 10
- Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 21, 1915, page 1
- Alexandria Gazette, January 22, 1915, page 1
- The Hattiesburg News, January 25, 1915, page 1
- The Jones County News, January 28, 1915, page 1
- The Hattiesburg News, February 1, 1915, page 2
- The Port Gibson Reveille, February 4, 1915, page 2
- Laredo Weekly Times, April 4, 1915, page 7