Lynching of Joseph Upchurch

Joseph Upchurch was an African-American man who died near Paris, Tennessee, on June 17, 1927, in circumstances that have been described both as a lynching and as a shootout with law enforcement, depending on the source.

According to the Memphis Evening Appeal, Paris sheriff D. T. Caldwell went to Upchurch's home in the northwest part of Henry County, Tennessee, on June 17, 1927, after relatives reported that Upchurch had been acting "queerly." The paper characterized Upchurch as reportedly "mentally unbalanced" and said he had "threatened other negroes of the neighborhood." When Caldwell attempted to arrest him, Upchurch shot the sheriff, who died soon afterward. A deputy then locked Upchurch inside a cabin. At the time the Evening Appeal's report was printed, Upchurch remained confined in the cabin; the deputy had not attempted to move him into town because of fears of mob violence, though additional deputies were reportedly en route to retrieve him.

The New York Times reported the following day that a mob of approximately 50 men had arrived at the cabin where Upchurch was held and shot him, describing the cabin as having been "riddled with bullets by the posse."

A local magazine account published in 2013 presented a different version of events, describing an exchange of gunfire involving lawmen and, apparently, Upchurch, but did not mention a mob. This account stated that after the sheriff was killed, "Backup was called, and as other lawmen arrived, a chaotic scene ensued with hundreds of rounds of gunfire back and forth. In the end, Upchurch also was shot dead."

The discrepancies between the contemporaneous newspaper coverage — which described mob action — and the later local magazine account — which described a law-enforcement shootout without reference to a mob — remain unresolved in the available record. No official investigation findings, criminal charges, or prosecutions related to Upchurch's death are documented in the available sources.