Jesse Williams
Jesse Williams, a Black man, was held in the Eastman jail in Georgia. On the afternoon of September 6, 1892, about 100 armed men, mostly from Pulaski County, took the keys from the sheriff by force, entered the jail, and took him out. The Morning News reports that he was hanged from a tree and his body shot many times, and that Judge Roberts warned the mob the act violated the law but they went ahead. The Atlanta Constitution says the authorities' request for military help came too late, and a wire report says only that he was hanged to a tree; neither account says how the crowd got past the jail's staff.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob of about 100 armed men took the keys from the sheriff, entered the Eastman jail, took Jesse Williams and hanged him from a tree, then shot his body.
Reported by: Eastman jail sheriff (keys taken by force from the sheriff) (the agency that held him); newspaper accounts of the 1892 lynching (reporters); Judge Roberts, who warned the mob the act violated the law (court).