Pierson Taylor
Pierson Taylor, a Black man, was being held in the Leon County Jail in Tallahassee, Florida, in 1897. According to a Florida Times-Union account cited in later reporting, a mob of white men obtained keys to the jail, took him from his cell and dragged him into the jail yard. The mob hanged him from an oak tree there and shot him to death. Reporting says no one was arrested, and the killing was quickly attributed to parties unknown. A 2021 article said it is unknown whether the tree marked at the site is the same one.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A white mob took Pierson Taylor from the Leon County jail in Tallahassee, hanged him from an oak tree in the jail yard and shot him, according to a Florida Times-Union story cited in the accounts.
Reported by: Florida Times-Union (reporters); Tallahassee Democrat (reporters).
News reports (5)
- The Hartford Herald, February 10, 1897, page 3
- 'Painful history': Remembering Leon County's lynching victims
- Tallahassee hanging tree symbolizes past injustice | Gerald Ensley
- Leon County lynching historical marker remembering four victims revealed in Cascades Park
- Historical Marker Dedicated in Tallahassee, Florida