Died in jail or a lockup
Sam Adams
Sam Adams, a Black man, was held in the jail at Pass Christian, Mississippi. Armed men had been guarding the jail as a precaution, and officers had planned to move him to Mississippi City for safekeeping. On the night of November 5, 1903, a mob took him from the jail and hanged him from a tree, and reports describe the crowd as too numerous for the guards to stop. The papers do not say whether the jail staff resisted or gave up the keys.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob took Sam Adams from the Pass Christian jail and hanged him from a tree, despite armed men guarding the jail.
Reported by: news reports.