Prentiss Nelms
Prentiss Nelms, a Black man, was in the custody of Deputy Sheriff J. Jones, who was taking him on horseback toward Landing with two other officers, according to the Memphis Daily Appeal, which said he had no family. Shortly after midnight on July 10, 1880, more than a dozen masked men came out of the woods, took Nelms and another prisoner from the officers, and killed them near the road in Tunica County. The Appeal reported that Nelms's throat was cut and his body was then slashed across the bowels. He was killed by a mob that took him from officers escorting him.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A dozen or more masked men took Prentiss Nelms from Deputy Sheriff J. Jones and two other officers while they were transporting him on horseback, and killed him near the road in Tunica County, according to the Memphis Daily Appeal.
Reported by: Memphis Daily Appeal (reporters).