Reportedly, the 16-year-old teen attacked in Maury County in 1927 was Sarah Harlan. The perpetrator “attempted to shoot” Harlan and “tried to choke her,” based on news reporting from the period (via The Washington Post). She was also hit in the head with his pistol, and her clothing was torn. Not long after, Henry Choate — who was visiting the area and had a rocky alibi for where he was when the attack took place — was arrested. Unverified witness accounts put him in the area when the attack occurred.
Though Harlan couldn’t positively identify Choate and her mother begged the mob for mercy, Choate was kidnapped from jail, dragged through town behind a car, and taken to the second story of the courthouse, where he allegedly confessed. He had previously claimed he was innocent, and admitting guilt may have been done as a last-ditch effort in hopes that the angry mob would spare his life. In 1946, future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall was nearly lynched during the Columbia Race Riots, which sparked at that same location.
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