Wes Johnson
Wes Johnson was 19 and an orphan, and according to author Steve Stokes he earned the respect of many who knew him. He was held in the Henry County Jail in Abbeville, Alabama, when, on the night of February 1, 1937, a mob of about 50 men stormed the jail and took him. Stokes says he was shot in the chest at point-blank range and hanged from an oak tree, and Sheriff J. L. Corbitt is alleged to have slept through the abduction; the state filed impeachment proceedings against the sheriff for wilful neglect, and the state supreme court split on whether to oust him. No one was indicted for the killing, and Johnson was buried in an unmarked grave for years until his last surviving aunt pointed out the site and a Henry County Historical Society member paid for a marker.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched (neglect alleged). A mob took Wes Johnson from the Henry County Jail in Abbeville, Alabama, shot him and hanged him from an oak tree, and the sheriff is alleged to have slept through the abduction.
Reported by: Steve Stokes, author of a book on the case; news reports.