Will Smith
Ed Smith and Will Smith, two Black men, were held in the Wetumpka jail in Alabama, and one newspaper account described them as brothers. On the night of January 3, 1915, a mob of about fifty masked men overpowered the deputy on duty, bound him in a chair, took the jail keys and removed the two men, who were hanged from trees near Coosada and shot. Sheriff Jackson said there was no chance for him to do anything but submit to the mob, and Governor O'Neal publicly criticized him, sent militia from Montgomery that arrived too late, and ordered a special grand jury to investigate. A coroner's jury found that the men died at the hands of parties unknown, and no arrests had been reported at the time.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A coroner's jury found Ed Smith died at the hands of parties unknown, and an Associated Press account says a masked mob took him from the Wetumpka jail and lynched him.
Reported by: coroner's jury (medical examiner or coroner); Associated Press (reporters).