John Woodward
John Woodward, a 25-year-old Black man, was held in the parish prison in Vidalia, Louisiana. Around 2 a.m. on March 19, 1902, about 20 men who said they had a prisoner from another parish forced entry and demanded him. When the jailer refused to hand him over, several men seized the jailer, and a member of the jailer's family gave the mob the key. The mob took him and hanged him from a pecan tree about 300 yards from the jail, and according to the news dispatch he pleaded for his life before he was killed. No one in the mob was recognized.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob of about 20 men took Woodward from the Vidalia parish prison after the jailer refused to surrender him and was seized, and a member of the jailer's family gave them the key, according to a Natchez news dispatch.
Reported by: Natchez news dispatch (reporters).