George Ward

George Ward, a 27-year-old Black man, worked at the car works in Terre Haute, Indiana, and left a wife and two children, according to a 1901 newspaper account. On February 26, 1901, he was held in the Vigo County jail, where deputies and the jailer tried to hold back a crowd that broke in while the sheriff was at the courthouse; the jailer fired a shotgun over the crowd, and the mob overpowered the guards. The mob took Ward to a wagon bridge over the Wabash River, where, according to the account, he was beaten and shot at, and was probably unconscious or dead when he was hanged; his body was later burned. Accounts differ on the size of the crowd and on whether the sheriff had contacted the governor, and the state militia arrived too late to stop the lynching.

Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. Newspaper accounts say a mob broke into the Terre Haute, Indiana jail, took George Ward and hanged him from a wagon bridge, and the Equal Justice Initiative says a white mob beat him before hanging him.

Reported by: The Marietta Journal (reporters); Dispatches cited by The Beatrice Daily Express (reporters); Terre Haute newspaper accounts of the mob killing (reporters); Equal Justice Initiative (advocates).

Sources (22)

• The Paducah Sun, February 26, 1901, page 1 The Paducah Sun, February 26, 1901
• Daily Camera, February 26, 1901, page 1 Daily Camera, February 26, 1901
• The Topeka State Journal, February 26, 1901, page 1 The Topeka State Journal, February 26, 1901
• The Providence News, February 26, 1901, page 2 The Providence News, February 26, 1901
• Daily Public Ledger, February 27, 1901, page 3 Daily Public Ledger, February 27, 1901
• The San Francisco Call, February 27, 1901, page 1 The San Francisco Call, February 27, 1901
• The Indianapolis Journal, February 27, 1901, page 6 The Indianapolis Journal, February 27, 1901
• The Portland Daily Press, February 27, 1901, page 7 The Portland Daily Press, February 27, 1901
• Ottumwa Semi-Weekly Courier, February 28, 1901, page 3 Ottumwa Semi-Weekly Courier, February 28, 1901
• The Beatrice Daily Express, February 28, 1901, page 2 The Beatrice Daily Express, February 28, 1901
• Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, March 1, 1901, page 4 Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, March 1, 1901
• The Hartford Republican, March 1, 1901, page 2 The Hartford Republican, March 1, 1901
• The Goodland Republic, March 1, 1901, page 4 The Goodland Republic, March 1, 1901
• The Conway Log Cabin, March 5, 1901, page 1 The Conway Log Cabin, March 5, 1901
• The Times-Journal, March 6, 1901, page 2 The Times-Journal, March 6, 1901
• The Marietta Journal, March 7, 1901, page 2 The Marietta Journal, March 7, 1901
• Crittenden Press, March 7, 1901, page 2 Crittenden Press, March 7, 1901
• The Weiser Signal, March 7, 1901, page 1 The Weiser Signal, March 7, 1901
• The Jasper Weekly Courier, March 8, 1901, page 2 The Jasper Weekly Courier, March 8, 1901
• Hot Springs Weekly Star, March 8, 1901, page 2 Hot Springs Weekly Star, March 8, 1901
• Springfield Weekly Republican, July 17, 1903, page 2 Springfield Weekly Republican, July 17, 1903
• Terre Haute Community Memorializes George Ward with Historical Marker Equal Justice Initiative, December 1, 2021