Jim Seams

Full Name: Jim Seams
Victim Profile: Jim Seams
Biography: On January 27th, 1888, Jim Seams, age unknown, was nearly lynched in Tuscaloosa near the Old City Jail by an enraged white mob after he reportedly shot and killed Deputy Sheriff John M. Autrey. Seams allegedly shot Autrey when the deputy attempted to serve him an arrest warrant at his home. Seams would remain adamant until the end of his life that he acted out of self defense. State troopers protected him from being lynched at the hands of white Tuscaloosa citizens so that he could be put on trial, after which he was given a death sentence and lynched by the state on
January 25th, 1889. Seams lived in a small neighborhood called Austin near the community of Hull. His last words were, “I'm going right home to glory. I know I am, for my sins have all been forgiven.”
Documented or Attempted: Attempted
Birth Date: N/A
County of Birth; County of Death: N/A; Tuscaloosa County
Death Date: January 25, 1889
Date of Attempted Lynching: January 27, 1888
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Researchers: Cade Hampton
Case Number: AMP 125-18880127-000
Identified by:: Alabama Memory Project