Lynching Statistics from A Red Record, 1895
CHAPTER II. LYNCH LAW
STATISTICS
From the record
published in the Chicago Tribune, January 1, 1894, the following computation of
lynching statistics is made referring only to the colored victims of Lynch Law
during the year 1893:
ARSON
Sept. 15, Paul Hill,
Carrollton, Ala.; Sept. 15, Paul Archer, Carrollton, Ala.; Sept. 15, William
Archer, Carrollton, Ala.; Sept. 15, Emma Fair, Carrollton, Ala.
SUSPECTED ROBBERY
Dec. 23, unknown
negro, Fannin, Miss.
ASSAULT
Dec. 25, Calvin
Thomas, near Brainbridge, Ga.
ATTEMPTED ASSAULT
Dec. 28, Tillman
Green, Columbia, La.
INCENDIARISM
Jan. 26, Patrick
Wells, Quincy, Fla.; Feb. 9, Frank Harrell, Dickery, Miss.; Feb. 9, William
Filder, Dickery, Miss.
ATTEMPTED RAPE
Feb. 21, Richard
Mays, Springville, Mo.; Aug. 14, Dug Hazleton, Carrollton, Ga.; Sept. 1, Judge
McNeil, Cadiz, KY.; Sept. 11, Frank Smith, Newton, Miss.; Sept. 16, William
Jackson, Nevada, Mo.; Sept. 19, Riley Gulley, Pine Apple, Ala.; Oct 9, John
Davis, Shorterville, Ala.; Nov. 8, Robert Kennedy, Spartansburg, S.C.
BURGLARY
Feb. 16, Richard
Forman, Granada, Miss.
WIFE BEATING
Oct. 14, David
Jackson, Covington, La.
ATTEMPTED MURDER
Sept. 21, Thomas
Smith, Roanoke, Va.
ATTEMPTED ROBBERY
Dec. 12, four unknown
negroes, near Selma, Ala.
RACE PREJUDICE
Jan. 30, Thomas Carr,
Kosciusko, Miss.; Feb. 7, William Butler. Hickory Creek, Texas; Aug. 27
Charles Tart, Lyons Station, Miss.; Dec. 7, Robert Greenwood, Cross County, Ark; July 14, Allen Butler, Lawrenceville, Ill.
THIEVES
Oct. 24, two unknown
negroes, Knox Point, La.
ALLEGED BARN BURNING
Nov. 4, Edward
Wagner, Lynchburg, Va.; Nov. 4, William Wagner, Lynchburg, Va.; Nov. 4, Samuel
Motlow, Lynchburg, Va.; Nov. 4, Eliza Motlow, Lynchburg, Va.
ALLEGED MURDER
Jan. 21, Robert
Landry, St. James Parish, La.; Jan. 21, Chicken George, St. James Parish, La.;
Jan. 21, Richard Davis, St. James Parish, La.; Dec. 8, Benjamin Menter, Berlin,
Ala.; Dec. 8, Robert Wilkins, Berlin, Ala.; Dec. 8, Joseph Gevhens, Berlin, Ala.
ALLEGED COMPLICITY IN
MURDER
Sept. 16, Valsin
Julian, Jefferson Parish, La.; Sept. 16, Basil Julian, Jefferson Parish, La.;
Sept. 16, Paul Julian, Jefferson Parish, La.; Sept. 16, John Willis, Jefferson
Parish, La.
MURDER
June 29, Samuel
Thorp, Savannah, Ga.; June 29, George S. Riechen, Waynesboro, Ga.; June 30,
Joseph Bird, Wilberton, I. T. [Indian Territory]; July 1, James Lamar, Darien,
Ga.; July 28, Henry Miller, Dallas, Texas; July 28, Ada Hiers, Walterboro, S.C.;
July 28, Alexander Brown, Bastrop, Texas; July 30, W. G. Jamison, Quincy, Ill.;
Sept 1, John Fergnson, Lawrens, S.C.; Sept. 1, Oscar Johnston, Berkeley, S.C.;
Sept. 1, Henry Ewing, Berkeley, S.C.; Sept. 8, William Smith, Camden, Ark.;
Sept. 15, Staples Green, Livingston, Ala.; Sept. 29, Hiram Jacobs, Mount Vernon,
Ga.; Sept. 29, Lucien Mannet, Mount Vernon, Ga.; Sept. 29, Hire Bevington,
Mount Vernon, Ga.; Sept 29, Weldon Gordon, Mount Vernon, Ga.; Sept 29, Parse
Strickland, Mount Vernon, Ga.; Oct. 20, William Dalton, Cartersville, Ga.; Oct.
27, M. B. Taylor, Wise Court House, Va.; Oct 27, Isaac Williams, Madison, Ga.;
Nov. 10, Miller Davis, Center Point, Ark.; Nov. 14, John Johnston, Auburn, N.Y; Sept 27, Calvin Stewart, Langley, S.C.; Sept 29, Henry Coleman, Benton,
La.; Oct 18, William Richards, Summerfield, Ga.; Oct 18, James Dickson,
Summerfield, Ga.; Oct 27, Edward Jenkins, Clayton county, Ga.; Nov. 9, Henry
Boggs, Fort White, Pa.; Nov. 14, three unknown negroes, Lake City Junction,
Fla.; Nov. 14, D. T. Nelson, Varney, Ark.; Nov. 29, Newton Jones, Baxley, Ga.;
Dec. 2, Lucius Holt, Concord, Ga.; Dec. 10, two unknown negroes, Richmond, Ala.;
July 12, Henry Fleming,
Columbus, Miss.; July 17, unknown negro, Briar Field, Ala.; July 18, Meredith
Lewis, Roseland, La.; July 29, Edward Bill, Dresden, Tenn.; Aug. 1, Henry
Reynolds, Montgomery, Tenn.; Aug. 9, unknown negro, McCreery, Ark.; Aug. 12,
unknown negro, Brantford, Pa.; Aug. 18, Charles Walton, Morganfield, Ky.; Aug.
21, Charles Tait, near Memphis, Tenn.; Aug. 28, Leonard Taylor, New Castle, KY.;
Sept. 8, Benjamin Jackson, Quincy, Miss.; Sept. 14, John Williams, Jackson,
Tenn.
SELF DEFENSE
July 30, unknown
negro[,] Wingo, Ky.
POISONING WELLS
Aug. 18, two unknown
negroes, Franklin Parish, La.
ALLEGED WELL
POISONING
Sept. 15, Benjamin
Jackson, Jackson, Miss.; Sept. 15, Mahala Jackson, Jackson, Miss; Sept. 15,
Louisa Carter, Jackson, Miss.; Sept. 15, W. A. Haley, Jackson, Miss.; Sept. 15,
Rufus Bigley, Jackson, Miss.
INSULTING WHITES
Feb. 18, John Hughes,
Moberly, Mo.; June 2, Isaac Lincoln, Fort Madison, S.C.
MURDEROUS ASSAULT
April 20, Daniel
Adams, Selina, Kan.
NO OFFENSE
July 21, Charles
Martin, Shelby Co., Tenn.; July 30, William Steen, Paris, Miss.; August 31,
unknown negro, Yarborough, Tex.; Sept 30, unknown negro, Houston, Tex.; Dec. 28,
Mack Segars, Brantley, Ala.
ALLEGED RAPE
July 7, Charles T.
Miller, Bardwell, Ky.; Aug. 10, Daniel Lewis, Waycross, Ga.; Aug. 10, James
Taylor, Waycross, Ga.; Aug. 10, John Chambers, Waycross, Ga.
ALLEGED STOCK
POISONING
Dec. 16, Henry G. Givens, Negro, Ky.
SUSPECTED MURDER
Dec. 23, Sloan Allen,
West Mississippi.
SUSPICION OF RAPE
Feb. 14, Andy Blount,
Chattanooga, Tenn.
TURNING STATE’S
EVIDENCE
Dec. 19, William
Ferguson, Adele, Ga.
RAPE
Jan. 19, James
Williams, Pickens Co., Ala.; Feb. 11, unknown negro, Forest Hill, Tenn.; Feb.
26, Joseph Hayne, or Paine, Jellico, Tenn.; Nov. 1, Abner Anthony, Hot Springs,
Va.; Nov. 1, Thomas Hill, Spring Place, Ga.; April 24, John Peterson, Denmark,
S.C.; May 6, Samuel Gaillard, S.C.; May 10, Haywood Banks, or
Marksdale, Columbia, S.C.; May 12, Israel Hallway, Napoleonville, La.; May 12,
unknown negro, Wytheville, Va.; May 31, John Wallace, Jefferson Springs, Ark.;
June 3, Samuel Bush, Decatur, Ill.; June 8, L. C. Dumas, Gleason, Tenn.; June
13, William Shorter, Winchester, Va.; June 14, George Williams, near Waco, Tex.;
June 24, Daniel Edwards, Selina or Selma, Ala.; June 27, Ernest Murphy,
Daleville, Ala.; July 6, unknown negro, Poplar Head, La.; July 6, unknown negro,
Poplar Head, La.; July 12, Robert Larkin, Oscola, Tex.; July 17, Warren Dean,
Stone Creek, Ga.; July 21, unknown negro, Brantford, Fla.; July 17, John Cotton,
Connersville, Ark.; July 22, Lee Walker, New Albany, Miss.; July 26, —
Handy, Suansea, S.C.; July 30,
William Thompson, Columbia, S.C.; July 28, Isaac Harper, Calera, Ala.; July 30,
Thomas Preston, Columbia, S.C.; July 30, Handy Kaigler, Columbia, S.C.; Aug. 13,
Monroe Smith, Springfield, Ala.; Aug. 19, negro tramp, near Paducah, KY.; Aug.
21, John Nilson, near Leavenworth, Kan.; Aug. 23, Jacob Davis, Green Wood, S.C.;
Sept 2, William Arkinson, McKenney, KY.; Sept. 16, unknown negro, Centerville,
Ala.; Sept. 16, Jessie Mitchell, Amelia C. H., Va.; Sept 25, Perry Bratcher, New
Boston, Tex.; Oct. 9, William Lacey, Jasper, Ala.; Oct. 22, John Gamble,
Pikesville, Tenn.
OFFENSES CHARGED ARE
AS FOLLOWS
Rape, 39; attempted
rape, 8; alleged rape, 4; suspicion of rape, 1; murder, 44; alleged murder, 6;
alleged complicity in murder, 4; murderous assault, 1; attempted murder, 1;
attempted robbery, 4; arson, 4; incendiarism, 3; alleged stock poisoning, 1;
poisoning wells, 2; alleged poisoning wells, 5; burglary, 1; wife beating, 1;
self defense, 1; suspected robbery, 1; assault and battery, 1; insulting whites,
2; malpractice, 1; alleged barn burning, 4; stealing, 2; unknown offense, 4; no
offense, 1; race prejudice, 4; total, 159.
LYNCHINGS BY STATES
Alabama, 25;
Arkansas, 7; Florida, 7; Georgia, 24; Indian Territory, 1; Illinois, 3; Kansas,
2; Kentucky, 8; Louisiana, 18; Mississippi, 17; Missouri, 3; New York, 1;
South Carolina, 15; Tennessee, 10; Texas, 8; Virginia, 10.
RECORD FOR THE YEAR
1892
While it is intended
that the record here presented shall include specially the lynchings of 1893,
it will not be amiss to give the record for the year preceding. The facts
contended for will always appear manifest—that not one-third of the victims
lynched were charged with rape, and further that the charges made embraced a
range of offenses from murders to misdemeanors. In 1892 there were 241 persons
lynched. The entire number is divided among the following states: Alabama, 22;
Arkansas, 25; California, 3; Florida, 11; Georgia, 17; Idaho, 8; Illinois, 1;
Kansas, 3; Kentucky, 9; Louisiana, 29; Maryland, 1; Mississippi, 16; Missouri,
6; Montana, 4; New York, 1; North Carolina, 5; North Dakota, 1; Ohio, 3; South
Carolina, 5; Tennessee, 28; Texas, 15; Virginia, 7; West Virginia, 5; Wyoming,
9; Arizona Territory, 3; Oklahoma, 2. Of this number 160 were of Negro descent.
Four of them were lynched in New York, Ohio and Kansas; the remainder were murdered
in the South. Five of this number were females. The charges for which they were
lynched cover a wide range. They are as follows: Rape, 46; murder, 58; rioting,
3; race prejudice, 6; no cause given, 4; incendiarism, 6; robbery, 6; assault
and battery, 1; attempted rape, 11; suspected robbery, 4; larceny, 1; self
defense, 1; insulting women, 2; desperadoes, 6; fraud, 1; attempted murder, 2;
no offense stated, boy and girl, 2. In the case of the boy and girl above
referred to, their father, named Hastings, was accused of the murder of a white
man; his fourteen-year-old daughter and sixteen-year-old son were hanged and
their bodies, filled with bullets, then the father was also lynched. This was in
November, 1892, at Jonesville, Louisiana.