Name not reported
An 18-year-old Black man was held in the jail at Cleveland, Tennessee, in August 1871. According to The Sweetwater Enterprise, masked men took him from the jail between midnight and 1 a.m. on a Saturday and hanged him from a tree on the edge of town. A letter to the Knoxville Weekly Chronicle from a local writer, who said he was authorized to speak for the county, places the killing on the Friday night before August 23, says the men were seen riding toward Georgia, and says many residents opposed it. The letter also says an earlier newspaper account was inaccurate. Neither account says whether the jailer or sheriff tried to stop the men, gave up the keys, or handed him over.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A masked mob took the man from the Cleveland, Tennessee jail and hanged him from a tree; the account does not say whether jail officers tried to stop them.
Reported by: news reports.