Wes Johnson
Wes Johnson was a Black farm hand, and author Steve Stokes describes him as an orphan who earned the respect of many who knew him. On the night of February 1, 1937, about 25 automobiles arrived at the Henry County jail in Abbeville, Alabama, and a group of men took him from the jail. A newspaper the next day reported his body hanging in nearby woods with bullet wounds. Stokes says the group was a Ku Klux Klan unit that shot him at point-blank range and hanged him from an oak tree as a warning, and that Sheriff J. L. Corbitt slept through the abduction. The State of Alabama filed impeachment proceedings against Corbitt alleging "wilful neglect," and no one was indicted for the killing.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched (neglect alleged). Historian Steve Stokes says a Ku Klux Klan group took Wes Johnson from the Henry County Jail, shot him and hanged him from an oak tree, and that the sheriff was alleged to have slept through the abduction; the State of Alabama's impeachment proceedings against Sheriff J. L. Corbitt alleged wilful neglect.
Reported by: Steve Stokes, author of a book on the case; State of Alabama impeachment proceedings against Sheriff J. L. Corbitt; news reports in the 1937 article describing a group of men arriving in about 25 automobiles (reporters).