Died in custody
Eli Parsons
Eli Parsons was being transported by sheriff's deputies from Nashville to Memphis when a mob took him from the officers late on Monday, May 21, 1917. Early the next morning, according to The Milwaukee Leader, the mob burned him at the stake near Potts Camp, Mississippi, before a large crowd. The paper reports that policemen tried to save him but could not stop the mob.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. Newspaper accounts say a mob seized Eli Parsons from sheriff's deputies while they were transporting him from Nashville to Memphis, then burned him at the stake near Potts Camp, Mississippi.
Reported by: Contemporary newspaper accounts (reporters).