October 6, 1938: W. C. Williams

Today we learn about a lynching in Louisiana through the pages of the Hope Star (Hope, Arkansas) dated October 13, 1938:

Negro Lynched by Louisiana Mob as Suspect in Attack

Ruston Sheriff Arrives on Scene, But Finds Hanging Body

SEQUEL TO ATTACK

White Man and Woman Injured in Parked Car Tuesday Night

RUSTON, La.—(AP)—W. C. Williams, 19, negro, was lynched by a mob of several hundred white men near here Thursday afternoon as a suspect in an attack on R. M. Blair, white man, Tuesday night, while Blair was seated in a car with a woman in a parking spot.

The woman was injured in Tuesday night's attack.

Thursday afternoon a passerby saw a number of white men whipping a negro, and reported it to Sheriff Bryan Thigpen here. The sheriff went to the scene with a deputy, but they found the negro had been lynched.

The negro was hanged by a rope to a tree in a pine grove near the home of his mother, "Aunt Ellen" Williams, and his body was riddled with bullets.

Thank you for joining me and as always, I hope I leave you with something to ponder.