Sunny Howell

Sunny Howell was one of two Black men held in the Nowata, Oklahoma jail when a mob took them out on the evening of September 29, 1916. Accounts say the sheriff was away and the deputies guarding the men were overpowered, and the mob hanged him from a tree near the courthouse. Earlier that day a deputy sheriff had been killed during a jail break, and a local minister's pleas briefly persuaded the mob to stop before the men were dragged out again. The newspaper accounts are inconsistent about details of the night, and none of them describe his life beyond his name.

Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched

Reported by: news reports.

News reports (8)

• The Birmingham Age-Herald, September 30, 1916, page 7 The Birmingham Age-Herald, September 30, 1916
• Anchorage Daily Times And Cook Inlet Pioneer, September 30, 1916, page 1 Anchorage Daily Times And Cook Inlet Pioneer, September 30, 1916
• Bisbee Daily Review, September 30, 1916, page 8 Bisbee Daily Review, September 30, 1916
• Arizona Republican, September 30, 1916, page 1 Arizona Republican, September 30, 1916
• Hopkinsville Kentuckian, October 3, 1916, page 2 Hopkinsville Kentuckian, October 3, 1916
• Cheyenne Record, October 5, 1916, page 2 Cheyenne Record, October 5, 1916
• The Holly Chieftain, October 6, 1916, page 7 The Holly Chieftain, October 6, 1916
• The Benson Signal, October 7, 1916, page 2 The Benson Signal, October 7, 1916