Watt Greer
Watt Greer, a Black man, was in the custody of Sheriff Williams and six deputies when he was being taken from the courthouse to the jail in Shelbyville, Tennessee, on February 19, 1912. According to the Montgomery Advertiser, a mob of white men attacked the group on the courthouse steps, and Greer was shot in the stomach and died there. The Sentinel-Record reported that he was shot and killed on the steps, and that the mob returned to the sheriff's office, where Dave Neal was seriously wounded and the sheriff was removed from the building before a man fired into the room. The accounts differ on details of the attack, and Greer's age and family are not given in the reports.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob of white men attacked the sheriff and six deputies escorting Watt Greer from the Shelbyville courthouse to jail, and shot him on the courthouse steps.
Reported by: news reports.