George Ward
George Ward, a Black man who worked as a laborer at a car works in Terre Haute, was held in the Vigo County jail on February 26, 1901, according to the Daily Public Ledger. He was a husband and father of two, and more than a dozen of his descendants attended a 2021 historical marker dedication at the site, where his great-grandson Terry Ward spoke for the family, according to the Equal Justice Initiative. Newspaper accounts from the time say a mob broke into the jail, took him from his cell, dragged him to the Wabash River bridge, hanged him, and later burned his body. Those accounts say deputies with shotguns had first driven the crowd back, and that the sheriff, who was at the courthouse, had contacted the governor, but the mob acted before the militia could be called. The Equal Justice Initiative says no one was held accountable for his death.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched
Reported by: Equal Justice Initiative (advocates).