Elbert Williams (1908 – 1940), a fireman and an official of the local NAACP chapter, was killed by a group of men led by Tip Hunter in Haywood County, Tennessee. Williams was kidnapped, beaten, and thrown in a river while some other Black citizens were banished from the county because they inquired about voting in the 1940 presidential election. Williams’ body was found in the Hatchie River. Grand jury declined to indict. An essay on this case, researched and authored by a CRRJ student, is available on request. Elisha Davis, a filling station operator and an NAACP official, was kidnapped, threatened with lynching and ordered to leave town in 1940 by a mob led by Tip Hunter in Haywood County, Tennessee. Davis and some other Black citizens were threatened out of town and one man, Elbert Williams, was lynched because of their efforts to register and vote. Davis and his family eventually fled town. Grand jury declined to indict. The FBI conducted an investigation into the kidnapping but reported it found no witnesses.

Elbert Williams

Albert Dixon

Bob Dye

P. G. Fairy

Elliot Hays

Clyde Hopkins

Tip Hunter

Ed Lee

Will Mann

Albert Mann

Milton Osborn

Charles Reed

Dan Shaw

L. M. "Shorty" Smith

Philadelphia 44-8

Memphis 44-12