James Cobb
James Cobb, a Black man, was held in the Crisp County jail in Cordele, Georgia, in May 1918. Several newspapers report that a mob of about 400 people reached the jail around midnight on May 23, broke through to his cell and took him away by automobile. According to The Dawson News, the sheriff and his deputies pleaded with the crowd to disperse for nearly an hour before the jail was stormed. The accounts say he was hanged from a tree on the Tremont road, about eight miles away, and that his body was afterward shot.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob took Jim Cobb from the Crisp County jail in Cordele, Georgia, hanged him and shot his body, according to the Associated Press dispatch and news accounts; the sheriff and deputies reportedly pleaded with the crowd to disperse before the jail was stormed.
Reported by: Associated Press (reporters); news accounts of the Cordele lynching (reporters).