June 13, 1919

Clyde Ellison was lynched at Star City (Lincoln County) for allegedly assaulting the daughter of a local farmer. According to an article in the Arkansas Gazette, it was alleged that he attempted to assault eighteen-year-old Iselle Bennett, who lived three miles from Star City. However, other sources state that Ellison was actually lynched because he refused to work in the cotton field of Iselle’s father David Bennett for eighty-five cents a day. In an effort to frighten him into working, Bennett invented the story of the assault and instructed his daughter to cooperate in the deception.