Lynching of Thomas Williams

Thomas Williams, an African-American man, was lynched by a mob near Memphis, Tennessee, on September 28, 1927. Williams was accused of attacking a white woman, but no trial or conviction is documented before he was lynched.

Williams's body was found bearing multiple bullet wounds in Pleasant Union Churchyard, approximately two miles from the site of the alleged incident near Memphis. John R. Steelman's doctoral research on mob violence in the American South included the Williams case.

No known prosecution followed the killing.

This case is part of a broader historical pattern of extrajudicial killings of African Americans in the United States during the early twentieth century, frequently following unproven accusations against Black men, particularly involving allegations concerning white women. Such killings were rarely investigated or prosecuted by local authorities at the time.