Victim ID: VA1884010401
Victim Name: E. D. Atchison
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 35
Job: Unknown
Method of Death: Shot and hanged
Accusation: Stabbing a white man, a prominent readjuster
Date: 1884-01-04
City: Monterey
Mob Composition: 10 Armed men, masked
Summary: E.D. Atchison, a 35-year-old white man, was accused of stabbing Sidney Ruckman Esq., a prominent readjuster in the area. On January 4th, 1884, a body of 10 armed men, some disguised and others not, took Atchison from his jail cell in Monterey, Highland County, where he was shot and hanged.
On Christmas Day, 1883, Atchison and Ruckman were drinking together, when Atchison stabbed Ruckman and was arrested (Alexandria Gazette). At about midnight on January 4th, 1884, a group of 10 armed men, some disguised and others not, attempted to remove Atchison from the Highland County jail in Monterey, where he and Ratcliffe, another man accused of participating in the stabbing, were being held. Atchison and Ratcliffe had previously heard the rumors of lynching, and had been praying when the mob arrived. Ratcliffe, overwhelmed with fear, became unconscious and thus escaped the fate which Atchison received. The mob made two attempts before successfully completing the lynching. Upon the first attempt, Atchison unknowingly knocked one of the guns carried by the lynchers into the jail cell. Fearing Atchison was now armed, the mob left the jail, and returned later. Atchison was removed from his cell and was taken to a large white oak tree, just a quarter mile south of Monterey, where he was hanged and riddled with bullets. The Alexandria Gazette reported that “The law-abiding community of Highland is indignant over this outrage and determined that the guilty parties shall be brought to justice”.
On January 14th, 1884, a second inquest was held to investigate the lynching of Achison. The Staunton Spectator reported that the jury concluded that “the deceased Atchison was taken from the Highland county jail on the morning of January 5th 1884 by a mob of ten armed men, namely H. M. Tomlinson, J. A. Lightner, J. A. Chestnut, Giles Gum, Joe Beathe, Robert Warwick, Luther Wade, L. N. Gibson, James Beeson, and one other party unknown. And that we believe that the immediate cause of his death was a gunshot wound in the neck after he had been hanged by the neck to a tree.” The sheriff summoned a posse to serve arrest warrants for these ten men, but could not find them. A few day later, John Lightener was arrested in West Virginia, but was able to escape from the jail (Staunton Spectator). In February 1884, John Chestnut was arrested and indicted for the murder of Achison (Rockingham Register). The murder trial in June returned a hung jury, while at the second trial in August 1884, Chestnut was found not guilty (Staunton Vindicator).
News Coverage: Alexandria Gazette, Daily Dispatch, Rockingham Register, Shenandoah Herald, Staunton Spectator, Staunton Vindicator
Article Link (from Alexandria Gazette published on 1884-01-10)
Article Link (from Alexandria Gazette published on 1884-01-23)
Article Link (from The Daily Dispatch published on 1884-01-11)
Article Link (from Shenandoah Herald published on 1884-01-16)
Article Link (from Staunton Spectator published on 1884-01-15)
Article Link (from Staunton Spectator published on 1884-01-22)
Article Link (from Staunton Spectator published on 1884-01-29)
Article Link (from Staunton Spectator published on 1884-03-25)