Deaths in Custody
Died in jail or a lockup

One of 4 people whose names were not reported

died November 12, 1905 · Rusk County Jail, Rusk County, Texas

Three Black men held in the Rusk County jail in Henderson, Texas, were taken from the jail by a mob in the early hours of Sunday, November 12, 1905. Sheriff Stone and his deputies stood at the jail door and asked the crowd to let the court act, but about ten men overpowered the officers. When the mob could not get the keys, they broke the doors open with chisels and hammers, and the three men were hanged. After the mob dispersed, their bodies were cut down and placed in a courthouse corridor.

Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob broke into the Henderson county jail, took three Black men and hanged them, while Sheriff Stone and others had asked the crowd to wait for the court.

Reported by: 1905 newspaper account of the Henderson county lynching (reporters).

News report