Victim ID: VA1885051801
Victim Name: Hairston H. Terry
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 22-23
Job: Unknown
Method of Death: Hanged
Accusation: Murder of a white man
Date: 1885-05-18
County Name: Bedford County
Mob Composition: 40-50 armed masked men
Summary: Hairston Terry, a 22 or 23-year-old white man, was lynched on May 18th, 1885 in Bedford, Virginia, for the murder of another white man, Thomas Jeter.
On Saturday May 16th, 1885, Hairston Terry, often referref to as H. W. Terry in the newspapers, shot and fatally wounded Thomas Jeter. Some time before the murder, H. W. Terry had given Jeter a dog, and Jeter later named the dog after Terry’s sister. Utterly offended, Terry went to visit Jeter at his tobacco warehouse. In the yard of the warehouse, Jeter and Terry were making small talk, before Jeter offered Terry to come and greet the dog. Terry immediately drew upon his pistol and shot Jeter two times; in a few moments, Jeter was dead. Some of those that knew Terry, the son of a respected General, mentioned that he had been of unstable of mind in the weeks prior to the murder. Later, Terry admitted that he was remorseful for the crime. Jeter’s funeral was largely attended as he was the son of a prominent man in society. At 2 AM on May 18th, 1885, a mob of 40 to 50 armed, disguised men took Terry from his jail cell and hung him. According to the Coroner’s Inquiry, the lynching took place “on the public road leading from the Town of Liberty by Judge Burk’s late residence, at the foot of the hill between Judge Burk’s & Liberty”. The Alexandria Gazette reported “The murderer is said to have been insane, but other cases recently tried in the State in which murderers were cleared on claims of insanity, made the lynchers more determined.” The detectives noted that the alleged planning of the lynching may have taken place at Jeter’s large funeral. The lynchers found the jail to be an easy target, as the judge felt that there was no danger. The Coroner’s Inquiry interviewed one the prisoners that witnessed the lynching; he stated that “he slept in one of the rooms in the lower part of the jail […], that the jailer was with him, that about 2 O’clock in the night parties unknown to the witness came to the jail and demanded the keys of the jailer and having by threats of violence obtained the keys the unknown persons took Terry […] and carried him away.”
On May 22nd 1885, William Cameron, the Governor of Virginia, offered “a reward of One Thousand Dollars for the arrest of any person […] who was guilty of [Terry’s lynching]” (Richmond Dispatch). In June, score of detectives were swarming Bedford County “endeavoring to get the names of the lynchers of Hairston Terry” (Alexandria Gazette).
Archival Sources: Coroner’s Inquisition
News Coverage: Alexandria Gazette; Richmond Dispatch; Shenandoah Herald; Staunton Spectator
Article Link (from Alexandria Gazette published on 1885-05-18)
Article Link (from Alexandria Gazette published on 1885-06-08)
Article Link (from Richmond Dispatch published on 1885-05-19)
Article Link (from Richmond Dispatch published on 1885-05-30)
Article Link (from Shenandoah Herald published on 1885-05-22)
Article Link (from Staunton Spectator published on 1885-05-20)
Article Link (from Staunton Spectator published on 1885-05-27)
Article Link (from Staunton Spectator published on 1885-06-10)