Tom Sweat
Tom Sweat, a Black man, was under guard while being taken toward Bryan, Texas, in November 1897, when a mob seized him and hanged him from a tree. Sheriff Nunn said the two men escorting him were private citizens, not his deputies, and that they told a deputy they did not recognize any of the mob. A telegram from Deputy Sheriff John Steele, reported by the Houston Daily Post, placed the seizure between Millican and Allenfarm and said Sweat was later found hanging by the roadside. The accounts disagree on where he was taken and who was guarding him, and they do not say whether the guards resisted or handed him over.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. Newspaper dispatches report that a mob took Tom Sweat from his guards near Bryan, Texas, and hanged him from a tree, and Sheriff Nunn relayed a deputy's telegram describing him found hanging by the roadside.
Reported by: Sheriff Nunn's office, relaying a telegram from Deputy Sheriff John Steele (the agency that held him); Houston Post dispatch (reporters); Brenham Weekly Banner, state news column (reporters).
News reports (8)
- The Houston Daily Post, November 18, 1897, page 5
- Alexandria Gazette, November 18, 1897, page 2
- The Brunswick Times, November 19, 1897, page 1
- The Morning News, November 19, 1897, page 5
- The Houston Daily Post, November 19, 1897, page 5
- Richmond Dispatch, November 19, 1897, page 1
- Clarke Courier, November 24, 1897, page 3
- Brenham Weekly Banner, November 25, 1897, page 6