Walter Allen
Walter Allen, a Black man, worked as a waiter at the Armstrong hotel in Rome, Georgia, and one newspaper reported that he protested his innocence in a firm voice. On April 1, 1902, he was being held in the Rome jail when a large crowd broke in, took him from his cell, and hanged him from an electric light pole downtown, then fired many shots into his body. A coroner's jury found that he died at the hands of a mob unknown to them. Newspaper reports dispute the jail's response: one said the sheriff refused to surrender the keys and asked that the law take its course, while another said the jailer refused the keys and the doors were battered open with sledgehammers.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob took Walter Allen from the Rome, Georgia jail and hanged him from an electric light pole, and a coroner's jury found he died at the hands of a mob unknown to them.
Reported by: coroner's jury (medical examiner or coroner); news reporting of the 1902 Rome, Ga. lynching (reporters).