Sweat Ward
Sweat Ward, a Black man, was in the custody of Sheriff T. Moore in Franklin County, North Carolina, in July 1935 while officers were moving him to another county for safekeeping. The Bismarck Tribune reported that about 25 men took him from the sheriff and killed him four miles from Epsom, that his body was riddled with bullets, and that he was hanged before patrolmen could reach the scene. An Atlanta Daily World report said the sheriff and a deputy turned him over to the mob near Louisburg. The governor's office said it learned of the killing from the Associated Press rather than from local officers, and that the Highway Patrol and National Guard arrived too late to prevent it. Accounts disagree on how the officers acted during the attack, including whether one officer tried to shoot him and whether the license numbers of the mob's cars were recorded.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched (disputed). The Associated Press reported that a mob of about 25 men took Sweat Ward from Sheriff T. Moore and killed him, while the governor's statement said the officers were trying to move him to another county for safekeeping and that the state's highway patrol and National Guard arrived too late to stop the killing; accounts in the paper dispute how the officers acted during the attack.
Reported by: Associated Press (reporters); Governor Ehringhaus of North Carolina.