Henry Smith (1876 – February 1, 1893) was an African-American youth who was lynched in Paris, Texas. Smith allegedly confessed to murdering the three-year-old daughter of a law enforcement officer who had allegedly beaten him during an arrest. Smith fled, but was recaptured after a nationwide manhunt. He was then returned to Paris, where he was turned over to a mob and burned at the stake. His lynching was covered by The New York Times and attracted national publicity.

Henry Smith was a handyman in Paris, Texas. One day in early 1893, Smith was seen acting drunk and disorderly, and Deputy Henry Vance was sent to arrest him. Smith resisted, and Vance "was forced to use his club" to subdue him. On Thursday, January 26, 1893, Henry Vance's three-year-old daughter disappeared from the front of the boarding house where her family lived. Witnesses said they saw Smith "picked up little Myrtle Vance ... and ... carry her through the central portion of the city. En route through the city, several people asked him what he was doing with the child." One of the witnesses Smith spoke to was the mayor of Paris. Smith claimed he was taking her to her mother or the doctor. Smith returned home on Friday morning. His wife asked him about "that white child ."He replied: "I ain't seen no white child and don't have nothing to do with white folks." Smith left and was not seen again until he was captured in Arkansas.