William Redding
William Redding, a Black man, was held at the Americus jail in Sumter County, Georgia, in June 1913. On Saturday night, June 21, a mob of about five hundred men broke into the jail; the Americus Times-Recorder reports that Sheriff Fuller refused to give up the keys, while the Montgomery Advertiser says the mob overpowered the sheriff and deputies and ignored the pleas of a local pastor. The mob took him to a street corner, where the Pensacola Journal reports that he was hanged, the rope broke, and he was hanged again, and the Times-Recorder reports that his body was shot and set on fire. Accounts differ on whether he was killed in his cell or just outside the jail.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob of about five hundred took Redding from the Americus jail, hanged him, and fired at his body, according to contemporary newspaper accounts.
Reported by: news reports.