On August 14, 1904, a posse of white men seized Rufus Lesseur, a black man, and locked him in a makeshift jail, accusing him of sexually assaulting a white woman. During this era, black people were often the targets of suspicion when a crime was alleged. These accusations were rarely subjected to scrutiny. On August 16, without an investigation, trial, or conviction, a mob of men dragged Mr. Lesseur outside the makeshift jail and lynched him, leaving his body riddled with bullets. He was 24 years old. Rufus Lesseur was one of four known lynching victims in Marengo County, Alabama. He was lynched by a mob of unmasked white men in a town with only 300 residents, but the state claimed that no one could be identified, arrested, or prosecuted for his murder. Today, the makeshift jail where he was held still stands in Thomaston.