Victim ID: VA1902073101
Victim Name: Charles Craven
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: 22
Job: Worked on dairy farm
Method of Death: Hanged and riddled with bullets
Accusation: Robbery and murder of a white man, a farmer and Confederate veteran
Date: 1902-07-31
City: Leesburg
Mob Composition: About 500, heavily armed

Summary: A mass party of men lynched Charles Craven, a young black man, about a mile from Leesburg, in Loudoun County, on July 31^st, 1902. Craven was accused of robbing a white boy and murdering a white man.

On July 22^nd, 1902, Charles Craven allegedly approached William Steadman Jr., a young white boy who was returning home in Leesburg from camp, and demanded money. Threatened with a butcher knife, Steadman gave Craven $2.50. In an attempt to assault Steadman, Craven allegedly tried to grab him, but Steadman Jr. was able to escape. Shortly after fleeing the scene, Steadman went to the authorities in Leesburg (Alexandria Gazette). Justice Charles F. Harrison issued an arrest warrant for Craven. On July 28^th, Mr. Craven allegedly shot and killed William H. Wilson, a Confederate veteran, near Herndon. After this assault, citizens from Leesburg and Fairfax County started a massive manhunt for Craven; ultimately, he was spotted and captured on July 31^st, 1902, about two miles from Ashburn station. Once in custody in Leesburg, The Times reported that the Governor of Virginia telegraphed an adjunct general to send the Alexandria Light Infantry to prevent the likely lynching of Charles Craven. However, the officers’ attempts to protect Craven failed, as a mob of about 500 heavily armed men broke into the jail and took Craven to the scene where he robbed Steadman, about a mile down the railroad track in Leesburg. There, the armed mob hanged Craven and fired 400 shots in his dead body. Craven’s body was buried under the tree where he was hanged (Clarke Courier). On August 23^rd,  1902, the Richmond Planet published a photo of Charles Craven hanging from a tree and reported his last words: “I’m innocent. I didn’t kill a man named Wilson.”

After Craven’s lynching, the coroner held an inquest to gather information on those responsible for his death. The Coroner’s jury concluded that “Charles Craven was taken from the county jail of Loudoun county. Va., to a point on the Washington turnpike, one-half of a mile east of Leesburg, Va., and hung by the neck with a rope, and the body riddled with bullets, and shot, resulting in death. A large number of persons were implicated in the lynching. From the conflicting testimony given, the jury are only able to connect the following persons with the breaking in of the jail and lynching of the prisoner. [Names were not included in the newspaper]” (The Times). According to The Times, the authorities were able to obtain “samples of evidence” to issue a warrant arrest for Sam Grimes, Scott Bradley, and Charles Lowenback. Witnesses indicated all three men as having a key role in the lynching mob. Both Scott Bradley and Charles Lowenback were arrested and indicted for the murder of Charles Craven, and tried in two separate trials. On September 11^th, 1902, at the trial of Charles Lowenback the grand jury in Leesburg “returned a verdict of acquittal after an absence of nine minutes, which is generally approved” (The Times). Four days later, Scott Bradley was acquitted as well, as it took again only nine minutes for the jury in Leesburg to find him not guilty for the lynching of Charles Craven (The Times). The Times also reported that “The verdict is generally approved by the public at large as a just ending of an unfortunate event.”

News Coverage: Alexandria Gazette, Clarke Courier, Highland Recorder, Richmond Dispatch, Richmond Planet, The Times

Article Link (from Alexandria Gazette published on 1902-07-25)
Article Link (from Alexandria Gazette published on 1902-07-30)
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Article Link (from Alexandria Gazette published on 1902-08-01)
Article Link (from Alexandria Gazette published on 1902-08-12)
Article Link (from Alexandria Gazette published on 1902-09-11)
Article Link (from Clarke Courier published on 1902-08-06)
Article Link (from Highland Recorder published on 1902-08-08)
Article Link (from Richmond Dispatch published on 1902-07-25)
Article Link (from Richmond Dispatch published on 1902-07-29)
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Article Link (from Richmond Dispatch published on 1902-09-14)
Article Link (from Richmond Dispatch published on 1902-09-14)
Article Link (from Richmond Planet published on 1902-08-16)
Article Link (from Richmond Planet published on 1902-08-23)
Article Link (from The Times published on 1902-07-25)
Article Link (from The Times published on 1902-07-29)
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Article Link (from The Times published on 1902-07-31)
Article Link (from The Times published on 1902-07-31)
Article Link (from The Times published on 1902-08-01)
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Article Link (from The Times published on 1902-08-12)
Article Link (from The Times published on 1902-08-12)
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Article Link (from The Times published on 1902-08-19)
Article Link (from The Times published on 1902-09-11)
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Article Link (from The Times published on 1902-09-13)
Article Link (from The Times published on 1902-09-16)
Article Link (from The Times published on 1902-09-21)