Racial Terrorism in Washington County

Marker Text: On July 7, 1856, a white mob from present-day Elkins, Arkansas, kidnapped and lynched Anthony, a Black man, and Aaron, a Black teenager, after they were put on trial at the Washington County Courthouse in the death of James Boone, who enslaved them. Anthony was acquitted and Aaron was released due to lack of evidence. Disregarding the rule of law, a mob led by Boone’s sons reacted violently, lynching Anthony and Aaron near the jail, most likely on the estate of Archibald Yell, the deceased former governor of Arkansas. Randall was convicted by an all-white jury for killing Mr. Boone. He contested the verdict but was denied a retrial. Like lynchings, court-ordered executions—with mobs standing by—did not require reliable findings of guilt. Randall was hanged by the state on August 1, 1856, likely on Gallows Hill, which is now within the Fayetteville National Cemetery next to Oaks Cemetery. During this era, enslaved Black people commonly faced violence by white enslavers. Slavery in Washington County, as elsewhere, devalued the lives of Black people, resulting in violence, including sexual assaults and lynchings, for which white perpetrators were rarely held accountable.