The Lynching of Robert Mosley

Marker Text: On March 21, 1890, a white mob lynched a 16-year-old Black boy named Robert Mosley near Meridianville. Prior to this death, Robert earned a living working as a farm laborer. On March 20, a white woman related to Robert’s employer accused him of sexual impropriety. News of the unscrutinized accusation spread quickly and infuriated the white community. A mob of at least 25 armed white men, including the chief of the night police, went in pursuit of Robert. The mob unleashed terror throughout Meridianville, invading people’s homes and subjecting them to arbitrary searches. The mob even seized Robert’s father to coerce him into telling them his son’s whereabouts. Around 5:00 am on March 21, the mob found Robert while he was eating breakfast 16 miles southeast of Huntsville. Robert attempted to flee, but the mob shot him, causing a non-fatal injury, and captured him. The mob carried him back to Meridianville to a wooded area where the alleged assault was claimed to have occurred. A crowd of 450 white men gathered at the site around 4:30 pm to witness the lynching. With his last words, Robert reportedly objected to the mob covering his face with a handkerchief, pleading “Let me see one more time in this world.” The mob hanged Robert from a tree and left hi body there. In the aftermath, the white press praised the mob and the woman who accused Robert, though he had no opportunity to defend himself at trial. No one was ever hold accountable for lynching Robert Mosley.