Pleas David Cline was born on May 13, 1882, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A longtime resident of Winston-Salem, Cline was, at various times, a laborer, carpenter, house painter, and machinist. During the course of his life, he had several run-ins with the law for assault, drunkenness, and failure to quarantine while infected with smallpox. On November 17, 1918, Cline joined a violent mob in attempting to lynch an African American man named Russell High, who was then incarcerated in the Winston-Salem city jail. The incident turned into a outright riot, forcing the governor to deploy National Guard troops to the city to put down the lynch mob. For his part, Cline was sentenced to fourteen months on a road crew. Gov. Thomas W. Bickett pardoned him after serving ten. He died in Winston-Salem on July 17, 1948.