Starling Dunham
Starling Dunham, a Black man, was held in the jail at Walthall in Webster County. On a Sunday morning in June 1904, a posse of about twenty-five men seized the sheriff, took the jail keys, and removed Dunham from the jail. According to the Columbus Weekly Dispatch, citing eyewitnesses, the men took him about nine miles to Eupora, where a crowd of several thousand hanged him from a telephone post. The paper reported that from the gallows he declared his innocence, and that his body was turned over to his friends and relatives for burial.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A posse of about twenty-five men took the sheriff prisoner, got the jail keys, removed Dunham from the Walthall jail and hanged him from a telephone post in Eupora, according to the Columbus Weekly Dispatch citing eyewitnesses.
Reported by: Columbus Weekly Dispatch, citing eyewitnesses from Columbus (reporters).