Victim ID: VA1909120901
Victim Name: Unnamed Negro
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: Unknown
Job: Unknown
Method of Death: Hanged and riddled with bullets
Accusation: Unreported; maybe an attack on a white woman
Date: 1909-12-09
City: Newport News
Mob Composition: Unknown


Summary: An unnamed black man was hanged by a party of white men on December 9th or 19th, 1909, near Newport News. It is unclear why he was lynched, but it was rumored that he had attacked a white woman.

The Daily Press reported that an unnamed black man was lynched two miles northeast of Newport News on Sunday, December 19th, by a party of white men. Apparently, the black man had attacked a white woman on Briarfield Road and “a posse of white men had captured him, strung him up by his heels and riddled him with bullets” (Daily Press). Robert Clarke, a black man, said that he had seen “the negro swinging from a tree by his feet and that he had been riddled with bullets” (Daily Press). However, local authorities could not confirm the report and were not able to find the body. A few days later, the Washington Post reported that the body of a black man was found in the woods, three miles from Newport News. According to this report, “The victim’s ears […] were severed from his head and the body had been mutilated. Fastened to the body by a nail driven into the flesh was a piece of pasteboard on which was written: ‘Hanged on the 9th of December’.”


News Coverage: Daily Press, Washington Post

Article Link (from Daily Press published on 1909-12-21)
Article Link (from Washington Post published on 1909-12-24)