On March 5, 1886, a white mob in Eatontown lynched Samuel Johnson, a 66-year-old black man known as “Mingo Jack.” Earlier that day, a white woman reported an assault by an assailant who asked if she knew “Mingo Jack.” The constable, accompanied by the woman’s father, arrested Mr. Johnson at…
On July 15, 1888, a mob of 25 to 40 white men lynched John Humphries, a Black teenager. On July 14, the daughter of a white. suburban planter reported being assaulted in the woods. Race-based suspicion was immediately directed towards Black men and boys. Later that evening, without any evidence…
Between 1885 and 1921, white mobs terrorized and lynched at least six Black people in Chatham County, creating a legacy of violence, intimidation, and injustice. On September 28, 1885, a white mob in Pittsboro lynched four Black people—Jerry Finch and his wife, Harriet, John Pattishall, and Lee Tyson—following the unsolved…
For decades, African American men were lynched by white mobs in Lafayette County. Most of these men were lynched because of interactions with white women which were characterized as “inappropriate” or “assaults.” These allegations against Black people were rarely subject to serious scrutiny. Instead, mobs frequently pulled lynching victims from…
On September 7, 1889, a white mob abducted a Black teenager named George Bush from the county jail in Columbia and lynched him. He was only 17 or 18 years old when he was killed. On September 5, Mr. Bush was arressted and held in the county jail for having…
Harrington was a well-respected African American man who lived with his wife and five children near Kansas City. One of Mr. Harrington’s former employers described him as a “faithful…honest man,” who “was sober and industrious, saved his money, and cared for his family.” On April 3, 1882, a police officer…