Paul Reed
Paul Reed was held under guard at the Statesboro, Georgia, courthouse in August 1904 when a mob overpowered the guard, took him and another Black man, and burned them at a stump about two miles from town. According to the Portland Daily Press, the sheriff and a local clergyman pleaded with the crowd to let the law take its course. Soldiers testified before a military court of inquiry that deputy sheriffs openly aided the mob, and one said the sheriff opened the guard-room door and pointed out the prisoners, while the sheriff said he was acting on the captain's instructions. A witness said fifty militia men stood within 50 yards of the lynching without moving to stop it.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched (disputed). A mob took Paul Reed from the Statesboro courthouse guard and burned him alive; soldiers testified the sheriff opened the guard-room door and pointed out the prisoners to the mob, while the sheriff said he acted on the captain's instructions and the captain said he had no intimation of the mob's plans.
Reported by: Daily Alaskan (reporters); soldiers testifying before a military court of inquiry in Savannah (witnesses); the sheriff; the captain of the guard.