Emmet Dejoney

Emmet Dejoney, a Black man, was one of three men held in the Tuscumbia, Alabama, jail when a mob took them out on April 21, 1894. Newspaper accounts say about sixty masked men came to the jail while the sheriff was away at a banquet. Accounts differ on whether the jailer was overpowered and gave up the keys, or whether the sheriff's son, left in charge, could not stop the mob. The men were hanged from a covered bridge over Spring Creek, and one paper reported that the body had about fifty bullet wounds.

Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. The newspaper accounts report that a mob of masked men took Emmet Dejoney from the Tuscumbia jail and hanged him from a covered bridge over Spring Creek.

Reported by: Appeal Avalanche dispatch from Sheffield, Ala. (reporters); Macon Beacon (reporters); The Freeman, reporting from a Tuscumbia special correspondent (reporters).

Sources (8)

• Iuka Reporter, April 26, 1894, page 4 Iuka Reporter, April 26, 1894
• The Iola Register, April 27, 1894, page 2 The Iola Register, April 27, 1894
• Huntsville Gazette, April 28, 1894, page 1 Huntsville Gazette, April 28, 1894
• Macon Beacon, April 28, 1894, page 1 Macon Beacon, April 28, 1894
• The Grenada Sentinel, April 28, 1894, page 3 The Grenada Sentinel, April 28, 1894
• The Lafayette Gazette, April 28, 1894, page 1 The Lafayette Gazette, April 28, 1894
• The Herald-Advance, May 4, 1894, page 2 The Herald-Advance, May 4, 1894
• The Freeman, May 5, 1894, page 5 The Freeman, May 5, 1894