Lynching in America / The Lynching of Henry Howard

Marker Text: Near this site on June 19, 1885. a mob of about 1.000 White people lynched Henry Howard, a Black man who had arrived in Coshocton the previous day to seek work in the mines. On the evening of June 18, reports emerged that two young, White women had been assaulted a mile east of West Lafayette. Soon thereafter, Mr. Howard was passing a saloon near Coshocton when a White man saw him and presumed him guilty of the assault. The man seized Mr. Howard and handed him over to the sheriff, who jailed him. A mob immediately surrounded the jail and grew throughout the next day to prevent Mr. Howard from being transferred to another county. Around 11 p.m. that night, masked men marched down Chestnut Street. According to one local newspaper, they raided the jail “without the least show of resistance on the part of the Sheriff.” Intent on depriving Mr. Howard of his right to a fair trial, they dragged Mr. Howard to the court square, where they were met with cheers. There, they lynched Mr. Howard and left his body hanging until the next morning. Members of the mob took parts of Mr. Howard’s corpse as souvenirs, and one of his toes was displayed in a jewelry store on Main Street well into the 20th century. After the lynching, a Black barber in Coshocton received a note threatening to lynch any Black man caught with a White woman and warning all Black people to leave town. No one was held accountable for the lynching of Henry Howard.