On February 11, 1892, Charles McKelton, age 38, was hanged from a tree in Romulus, Alabama by a mob of 30 white men after being accused of stealing from and burning the stores of two white businessmen. Charles was born in Mississippi in 1851. He was a local farmer and had a wife that resided in Hale County.
On February 11, 1892, John (Pat) Johnson, age 24, was hanged from a tree in Romulus, Alabama, by a mob of 30 white men after being accused of stealing from and burning the stores of two white businessmen in Sylvan, Alabama. Johnson was born in Alabama in 1865. He left behind a wife, who lived in Tuscaloosa.
On July 6, 1891, Wash Bell, about 24 years old, was shot in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, by several white men. Bell was accused of assaulting his wife and seducing a white woman. The men shot and killed Bell the day before his trial. Wash Bell worked on a farm and was the son of Sady and Vaginia Bell, brother to Norborn Bell, and husband to Patsey (Johnson) Bell
On December 27, 1889, Bud Wilson, about 22 years old, was lynched near Old Byler Road in New Lexington, Alabama. Wilson was accused of assaulting a white woman. A white mob of 50 men took Wilson from police custody, shot and then hung him. Wilson left behind a father, Abe Wilson, mother, Marier Wilson, brother, Alexandrew Wilson, and two sisters, Louisa and Mary Wilson.
On April 4, 1888, an unidentified Black woman, age unknown, survived an attempted lynching by a group of three white men near Castle Hill, a historically Black neighborhood in Tuscaloosa. She was shot at several times without provocation and was the first victim of the mob in this attack. She was targeted in addition to Isreal Green and Isaac Craig, but no newspaper or record references her by name.
On April 4, 1888, Isreal Green, 19 years old, survived an attempted lynching by a group of three white men near Castle Hill, AL. Green was shot and left in critical condition. His neighbor, Isaac Craig, survived the same attack. He worked for the rest of his life as a coal miner, providing for his wife, Mattie and his daughter, Hannah.
On April 4, 1888, Isaac Craig, age unknown, survived an attempted lynching by a group of three white men near Castle Hill, AL. After the attack, Craig was said to be in critical condition from the injuries he suffered from the shooting. His neighbor, Isreal Green, survived the same attack. When Craig passed away years later, he was survived by his wife, Savannah, and their four children: Isaac, Mamie, Rosa, and Edna.
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.”
On January 9, 1888, Burt Marshall, age unknown, was lynched south of Tuscaloosa County on Sanders Ferry Road, by a mob of white men after being accused of stealing hogs and of resisting arrest. Burt Marshall was a son and brother of people whose first names are unknown but whose last names were also Marshall.
On April 13, 1887, William Duke, was lynched at the Hester Plantation at 1217 Greensboro Avenue. He was shot by the white plantation manager after being accused of leaning over to pick up an ax during a work-related altercation. Before he died, William Duke was a sharecropper and tenant farmer on the Hester Plantation.
On January 29, 1884, Scip Holley, about 41 years old, was accused of murdering his
employer. Holley was put in the Tuscaloosa jail. A mob of white men formed to lynch
him, but the case ultimately went to trial. Holley was found guilty of murder,
sentenced to death, and hanged in August that same year. He left behind his wife,
Emma Holley, who received his body nineteen minutes after the hanging.
In March 1895, Lizzie Ross, age 15, was nearly lynched with her husband, Rufus. She watched as a white mob drug Rufus from his bed. He would struggle to escape before one of the mob members would shoot him dead. Lizzie would be hit with a bullet during this altercation so that she could not cry out. The men threatened to harm Lizzie further if she did not keep quiet and told her that her home would be guarded throughout the night but, when the men left, she ran to her neighbor, Henry Stacey, what had happened. Lizzie Ross was born to James and Henrietta Ross around 1879/1880 in Colbert, Alabama. She had six older siblings, Frank, Ella, G.H., Zed, Jesse, and Henry. Lizzie married Rufus Jackson Swindall on September 14, 1894, in Elmore County, Alabama. The witnesses were Rufus’ twin brother, Lucius Swindall, and Lizzie’s brother, Henry Ross. After witnessing her husband’s lynching, Lizzie would return home, to Colbert County and live with her mother and brother. She married George Smith on October 7, 1900. The two would divorce a short time later. Lizzie would continue to reside in Colbert, as the head of her household, where she lived with her children, Neil, born c. 1901, Evelyn, born c. 1903, and Harry, born c. 1907, as well as her mother, Henrietta. She would work as a laborer, doing odd jobs. Lizzie would marry Jack Rutland on November 14, 1924. She would die on March 18, 1926, in Colbert, Alabama at the approximate age of 46.
In March 1895, Rufus Jackson Swindall, age 20, was lynched near Central Institute in Elmore, Alabama by a white mob who were afraid he would tell authorities of them making whiskey, which was illegal at the time. The mob would break into his home in the middle of the night, where he resided with his wife, Lizzie, and drag him from bed, planning to march him outside. Rufus would attempt to escape their hold and was delivered a bullet by one of the mob members, which killed him instantly. Rufus Jackson Swindall was born in July 1874 to Richard and Elizabeth Swindall. He was a member of a large family with at least eight siblings, including Mary, Georgiana, Janie, Bud, Duncan, Lucius, Amadory, and James Swindall. His father was a farmer and he and his family grew up in the Five Points community in Elmore County, Alabama. On September 14, 1894, Rufus married Lizzie Ross. His twin brother Lucius and Lizzie’s older brother, Henry Ross, were witnesses. Lizzie would witness and survive Rufus’ lynching a half year later. She would remain in Alabama and remarry twice before passing in 1926. Lucius Swindall would go on to marry Jessie May Giles in September 1899 and have at least five children with her, remaining in Elmore County and surviving his brother by at least 15 years.
On September 30 , 1898, Jim Thompson, 30, was lynched in Tallapoosa County, AL by a mob of white citizens after being accused of the robbery and murder of three elderly white citizens. James “Joe” “Jim” Thompson was born around 1868 in Elmore County, AL to N. and Susan Thompson. He has a brother, Tom, who is two years older. According to Ms. Jackie Lacey, Tom and Jim had three other brothers, each of whom were victims of the lynching that claimed Jim’s own life. He was Black, the son of a “mulatto” father and black mother. In 1898, Jim was accused, along with 5 other Black men, of robbing and murdering an elderly white couple and another white man. For this alleged crime, four Black men were hanged and Tom, Jim’s brother was released. After the initial mass lynching, Jim was arrested but was later kidnapped, beaten, mutilated, and weighed down in the Tallapoosa River in Tallapoosa County, AL. He does not appear on any online census between 1870 and his murder. Ruby Nell Thompson, his adopted niece, continued to live in Elmore County and continued to share the story of his murder. His nephew and namesake, James Thompson, also continued to live in Elmore County until the mid-twentieth century.
On June 17, 1898, Tom Thompson, 32, survived an attempted lynching in Elmore County by a mob of white citizens after being accused of the robbery and murder of three elderly white people. Tom Thompson was born in Elmore County, AL in 1866 to N. and Susan Thompson. He has a brother, James, who is two years younger. According to Ms. Jackie Lacey, he had three other brothers. He was Black, the son of a “mulatto” father and black mother. Thompson was able to read and write despite having a second-grade education. He was a farmer for much of his adult life. In 1898, Tom Thompson and his four brothers were accused of the robbery and murder of an elderly white couple and another white man. As a result of this accusation, four men were lynched, but Tom was released once his brothers claimed that he was not involved in the crime. In 1906, Tom married Ada Sandlin, also known as Adar. In 1910, Thompson is listed as having four children: Evie (Born c. 1890), Sevesta (Born c. 1892), James (Born c. 1896), and Eugene (Born C. 1898). These children may be of Ada or the woman that Tom married at 18 years old. In 1919, Thompson married Annie Auls, with whom he adopted Ruby Nell Thompson, a girl born around 1928. Tom and his family were parishioners of Mt. Canaan Baptist Church in Elmore County. According to Ms. Jackie Lacey, Tom Thompson was a valued member of the Wetumpka community who shared the story of the 1898 lynching for years after. Thompson Died in 1955 around the age of 89.
In September 1959 or 1960, an unidentified Black male, most likely between twelve and fourteen years old, was hanged on the porch of his home in the Black community in Tallassee by a group of three to twelve white men wearing white hoods. This child lived in downtown Tallassee, in a segregated Black neighborhood of tightly clustered homes often called “The Alley.” He would have attended the only school for Black children in Tallassee, R. R. Moton School (present-day Southside Middle School), and worshipped at one of two Black churches in the community, Mount Zion Baptist or St. Paul’s Methodist. The history of this lynching comes from Mrs. Sylvia Phillips who witnessed it as a young girl, around four or five years of age. Mrs.Phillips’s testimony is the primary source of information about this crime. She cannot recall the exact age of the victim but believes he was between the ages of twelve to fourteen. Ms. Phillips remembers Black individuals running into their homes and hiding for safety as the white men entered the neighborhood. She hid under her great-aunt’s porch and witnessed the group of white men pull the victim from his home, attacking him and leaving him hanging on his porch. Ms. Phillips has dedicated much of her life to remembering this individual and continues actively searching for his name and identity.
On October 21, 1898, Lewis Flemming, 63, was shot and killed in Wetumpka, Alabama, by a
white judge in Elmore County, Alabama, after allegedly attempting to assault the judge. The
judge was supposedly transporting Flemming to jail when Flemming tried to escape. The killing
occurred on an unnamed road in Wetumpka., in Beat 4, but his body was never recovered.
On August 5th, 1950, John Houston at age 43, was found on the train tracks near the Deatsville Railroad Depot after being lynched by unknown attackers for reasons unknown. Despite promises of investigation by the local sheriff, no further action was ever taken to investigate his lynching, leaving John Houston and his family without justice. Houston was survived by his wife of over 15 years, Corene Houston, and their three children, Lovelace, Lee Gusta, and Darwson (Dawson). John Henry Houston, named after his paternal grandfather Henry Houston, was born in 1907 to Dack (Dock) and Louvenia Houston in Sumter, Alabama where his father worked as a farm laborer. Throughout the duration of his life, after leaving school in grade 7, John worked as a sharecropper and at the time of his death was working on Peyton Gibbs’ plantation at Pine Flat as a farm laborer, following in the footsteps of his father. Houston was married to Corene “Cora” Henderson on December 29th, 1934 in Elmore, Alabama. As of 1940, the couple resided in Cold Spring, Elmore, Alabama with their two children Lovelace, age 21, and Lee Gusta, age 19. In October of 1942, Houston traveled to Ft. Benning, GA in order to enlist in the military, but was discharged after just a month of service to his country due to an unknown disability of Houston’s that existed prior to his enlistment. In 1950, just shortly prior to his death, Cora and John were living in Mountain Creek, Autauga, Alabama with their youngest son, Darwson (or Dawson) who was only 6 years old.
On January 4th, 1915, Edward “Ed” Smith, 22, was lynched and shot, along with his brother William “Jim” Smith, 26, five miles outside of the city of Wetumpka, by a mob of twenty to fifty people, after being accused of the murder of a prominent Elmore County farmer. Smith was a native of Macon, AL, and a farm laborer who occasionally worked on Stiillwell’s land, and various other properties in the Elmore County Area, with his brother Jim. Many of Smiths’ relatives who did live in Elmore County, relocated and moved to cities up North, after their lynchings, and never returned. Ed was, believed to be one of many children, cousins, and relatives in his lineage, who were members of the community. In addition, he was unmarried and still relatively young at the time of his death. His life was taken unjustly—he leaves behind cousins, relatives, brothers, and sisters, who loved him dearly.
On January 4th, 1915, William “Jim” Smith, 26, was lynched and shot, along with his brother Edward “Ed” Smith, 22, five miles outside of the City of Wetumpka, by a mob of twenty to fifty people, after being accused of the murder of a prominent Elmore County farmer. Smith was a native of Macon AL, and a farm laborer who worked occasionally on Stillwell’s land with his brother Ed. Mr. Smith left behind his newly wed bride Meter Marbly, to who he was only married to for a year prior to his lynching.They were married on January 11th, 1914, in Titus, AL. His relative, Hezekiah Smith, served as a witness for their holy matrimony, and was married to Lueada Benson on the same day. It is unclear to determine what happened to Marbly after Smiths lynching, but it is most likely that she moved out of the area, along with some of the Smiths’other relatives. Many, including Hezekiah, relocated to cities up North, with their families and never returned. Jim was not only a husband, but a brother, a cousin, a son, and a valued member of his community. His life was taken unjustly and too soon.
On August 5, 1898, Wilile Floyd, eighteen, was nearly lynched from the accusation of sexual assault of a white woman with accomplice Melvin (Melbie) Smith. This outraged the community and led to the creation of a small mob. Coincidentally, there were two other Black men being held under the accusation of homicide of an unknown white man, and with the confusion, the two were able to survive the night. Both Willie Floyd and Melvin Smith were moved to another jail under the premise of “safe-keeping”. Willie Floyd was born in November of 1880 to Jake and Jasie Floyd. They lived in the Wetumpka area with his eight other siblings: Macon Floyd, Minnie Floyd, Virgin Floyd, Lovie Floyd, John Floyd, Artie Floyd, and Pearle Floyd. Willie was the oldest of his siblings and worked as a farm hand. He married Effie Floyd and was eventually drafted into the Army for WWI. He was a medium built man, who was tall and had “black” eyes. When he was drafted, he resided in Wetumpka, Alabama. After his arrest, Willie Floyd had kept a low profile. Willie Floyd eventually moved to Eclectic, Alabama with his wife Effie Floyd. In between the years of 1910 to 1920, he learns how to read a write. The Floyds eventually have eight kids, the oldest also being another Willie Floyd. After the birth of his oldest son, Willie Floyd starts going by his middle name, Claude. Willie died during the 1940s.
On June 17, 1898, Jesse Thompson, twenty years old, was lynched on Swayback Bridge in Wetumpka, Alabama by a massive mob of prominent white figures from Wetumpka under the accusation of homicide with his fellow victims: Solomon Jackson, Reese Thompson, and Lewis Spier. After being stolen from the local jail, each victim was tied together and hung using two pieces of long rope from a neighboring farmer. Jesse (Jeff) Thompson was born around the year of 1878 around the city of Tallapoosa, Alabama. He was the younger brother of Willie Thompson, who was older by two years. Their mother was Queen Thompson, and their father is unknown. He worked in agriculture in Elmore County. After the unjust murder of Jesse, his brother, Willie, eventually joined the United States Army and fought in World War I. Based off military records, Queen Thompson moved residence to Live Oak, Florida
On January 9, 1888, Mr. Marshall, age unknown, was involved in an attempting lynching south of Tuscaloosa County on Sanders Ferry Road, by a mob of white men after being accused of stealing hogs alongside his brother, Burt Marshall. Mr. Marshall was able to escape before the mob broke into their home.
