Died in jail or a lockup
Lige Wells
Lige Wells, a Black man, was in the custody of officers who were taking him by train from Wynne, Arkansas, toward the county jail at Forest City in November 1902. A mob of armed, masked men boarded the coach and forced the officers to give him up. According to newspaper reports, the mob then went into the swamp country south of Wynne, where they lynched him.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A news report says a mob of armed masked men forced the officers escorting Lige Wells from a train at Wynne, Arkansas, to give him up, and that the mob then lynched him.
Reported by: news report.