Will Lea

Will Lea, a Black man, was held in the jail at Hinton, West Virginia, in May 1900. Newspaper accounts from the time report that about 100 masked men took him from the jail at about 11:15 at night on May 11, hanged him, and then riddled his body with bullets. One account, a news dispatch from Hinton, says the mob came in the night and that the jailer's role in the seizure is not described. Some accounts give Sandstone rather than Hinton as the place, and the papers do not agree on some details.

Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody

News reports (3)

• Evening Journal, May 12, 1900, page 5 Evening Journal, May 12, 1900
• The Big Stone Gap Post, May 17, 1900, page 1 The Big Stone Gap Post, May 17, 1900
• Richmond Planet, May 19, 1900, page 4 Richmond Planet, May 19, 1900