Bragg Williams Lynching

On January 20, 1919, a violent mob burned an African American man named Bragg Williams to death on a stake. The members of the mob who carried out this extrajudicial execution were never punished. Dec. 2, 1918, Annie Wells and her four-year-old son Curtis were beaten to death, their bodies moved into the front room, and the home set on fire. A local newspaper reported that Bragg Williams, who worked for the Wells family, had recently had altercations with Annie. City Marshall J.W. Martin arrested Williams later the same day. Because a lynch mob was already forming at the county jail, Martin transported Williams to the home of attorney W.C. Wear, and then to Dallas. On Jan. 13, Gov. William P. Hobby received a message from district judge Horton Porter requesting the Texas Rangers to protect Williams, as the local sheriff had indicated he would not harm citizens to prevent a lynching. Hobby sent the Texas Rangers to escort Williams from Dallas to Hillsboro and provide security detail for the duration of the trial.

On Jan. 16, Williams was escorted back to Hillsboro and the trial began. The next day, Williams was convicted and sentenced. On the morning of Jan. 20, he was scheduled to hang, but his lawyers immediately filed an appeal. Just before noon, a mob assembled at the Hill County jail, battered the jail door down and seized Williams from his cell. They tied Williams to a concrete “safety first” pole at the corner of Elm and Covington. Oil and a match was applied to a pile of hay, wood and coal, and Williams died in minutes. Williams’ body was left for hours as the community went about everyday business. Photographs were taken as souvenirs. On Jan. 21, both Hobby and the NAACP denounced the lynching and requested the perpetrators be punished. Hill County attempts to hold those who murdered Bragg Williams accountable failed; however, anti-lynching laws gained crucial support in the aftermath. (2022)