Lynching in Douglas County

Marker Text: On June 10, 1882, three Black men – Isaac King, George Robertson, and Peter Vinegar- were lynched at this site by a mob of at least 100 white men. Mr. King and Mr. Robertson were living temporarily with the Vinegar family when they discovered a white man sexually assaulting Mr. Vinegar’s 14-year-old daughter Margaret and came to her defense. Mr. Vinegar, Mr. King, Mr. Robertson, and Margaret were later arrested after the white man’s body was found in the river. On June 9, the sheriff ignored a report of a planned lynching. Around midnight on June 10, a large white mob surrounded the jail. Ignoring a deputy’s offer of keys to the jail, the mob battered down the door, hung nooses around the necks of the three men, and dragged them to the center of the Kansas River Bridge. One by one, the men were thrown over the side of the bridge, hanging them. Their bodies were left hanging until the next morning, further terrorizing the Black community. An area white newspaper praised the mob and the lynchings: “Lawrence is entitled to the cake, three at a time being more than any other Kansas town can boast of.” Although witnesses testified to the identity of several members of the mob, no one was ever held accountable for these lynchings. 14-year-old Margaret Vinegar was also threatened by the mob with lynching. An all-white jury later sentenced her to death, and she was imprisoned until she died from Tuberculosis at just 20 years old.