Frank Williams
Frank Williams, a 22-year-old Black man, was held in the Hemphill jail in Sabine County, Texas. Around midnight on June 21, 1908, about 150 armed men came to the jail, overpowered the sheriff after he refused to give up his keys, and took six men out of custody. The Waxahachie Daily Light reported that five of the men were hanged from a limb of a nearby tree and one was shot as he ran, without saying which man was shot. An Associated Press dispatch in The Pensacola Journal reported that Williams was hanged from a tree by a mob, so accounts conflict on how he died.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. The 1908 newspaper report says a mob of about 150 men overpowered the sheriff, who refused to give up his keys, and hanged Williams from a tree, and an Associated Press dispatch likewise reports he was hanged by a mob.
Reported by: 1908 newspaper report on the Hemphill jail lynching (reporters); Associated Press dispatch (reporters).