Lation Scott was an African American lynching victim suspected of raping a white woman in Dyer County, Tennessee.
25 Facts About Lation Scott
1.
2.
Lation Scott was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi on December 25,1893.
3.
Lation Scott was married and had a three-year-old child but lived apart from his wife.
4.
Lation Scott registered for the World War I draft on June 5,1917, and described his occupation as farming.
5.
Lation Scott was described on the form as tall and slender.
6.
In 1917, Lation Scott was a farmworker who worked for a white farmer on a rented small landholding.
7.
Some reports have said that Lation Scott was "half-witted", and when signing his selective service application, he did not sign his name with a signature: on the form there is an X and the words "made his mark".
8.
Lation Scott passed his physical examination and was likely to be called to service.
9.
The farmer's wife claimed that Lation Scott locked the farmer's older child in the barn.
10.
The woman claimed that Lation Scott did not kill her because she begged for her life.
11.
Rumors about Lation Scott were circulated, which inflamed the white searchers: one rumor said that Lation Scott had syphilis.
12.
Lation Scott was seeking work in Oakfield, Tennessee, and the foreman at the job recognized him.
13.
The foreman held Lation Scott and sent for Sheriff Perry of Madison County, Tennessee.
14.
Lation Scott was ushered into the nearby courtroom and a jury was selected and seated.
15.
David Moss, manager of the local Phoenix Cotton Oil Mill, acted as judge and told Lation Scott to stand up.
16.
Moss then addressed the mob and asked if they wanted Lation Scott burned or hanged.
17.
Lation Scott said when he arrived, people all "rushed uptown" where they watched.
18.
Reports of the torture and burning have said Lation Scott was taken to an empty lot and chained to a buggy axle which was pounded into the ground.
19.
Lation Scott was then tortured for three and a half hours.
20.
The mutilation and lynching of Scott are said to have taken place immediately after church let out on Sunday, December 2,1917.
21.
Lation Scott was chained and watching while men heated hot pokers in a fire.
22.
Lation Scott made some statement that most people did not listen to.
23.
Lation Scott was said to have been moaning and the smell of his burning flesh was immediately apparent.
24.
The fire burned, but reports say that Lation Scott lived for some time longer while the mob continued to add firewood and rubbish to the burn pile.
25.
Lation Scott was the last person lynched in Dyer County, Tennessee.