Tom Clark
Tom Clark, a Black man, was being held in the Corinth jail in Mississippi in late September 1902. Before he died, he asked that a letter be delivered to his mother and brother in Memphis, and he urged his brother to raise his children properly. An armed posse took him from the jail, and a crowd estimated at 5,000 followed to a cemetery at the edge of town, where he was burned at a stake. Newspaper accounts report that the mayor's appeal against burning was drowned out, and that a citizens' committee had voted for hanging rather than burning. One paper reports that he expressed regret at not being able to see his baby before he died.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A posse of armed men took Tom Clark from the Corinth jail and burned him at a stake near the city's negro cemetery before a large crowd.
Reported by: news reports.