Victim ID: VA1885113001
Victim Name: Henry Mason
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: Unknown
Job: Unknown
Method of Death: Hanged and riddled with bullets
Accusation: Murder of a white man
Date: 1885-11-30
City: Rustburg
Mob Composition: White and black
Summary: Early Monday morning on November 30, 1885, a black man named Henry Mason was taken from the Rustburg Jail and lynched for the murder of Robert Hammersley, a white planter.
On Friday, November 20th 1885, Robert Hammersley was found dead near Rustburg, VA, his body “lying in the road, with the skull crushed in two places and frightfully cut in another. The deadly weapon, a sharp axe, […] lay beside the murdered man, covered with hair and clots of blood” (Alexandria Gazette). Henry Mason was suspected of the murder and a search for him was immediately started. According to the Alexandria Gazette, “The pursuing party consisted of young men from Rustburg, headed by the sheriff, Major Adam Clement. They came upon Mason near his home, and at once recognized him by the description which had been furnished. They took him in custody and charged him with the murder. Mason confessed the crime, and implicated another negro, upon whom he charged the principal part of the murderous business.” On November 30th, 1885, at about 2 in the morning “a party of disguised men broke open the jail of Campbell Court-house and took out and hanged the negro Henry Mason. […] At the inquest, Callahan, the jailer, stated that he recognized two of the lynchers, whose names he gave tho Commonwealth’s Attorney” (Staunton Spectator). The Free Lance-Star reported that “[Virginia] Governor Cameron had received an intimation from Sheriff Adam Clement that lynching was feared and that the Governor authorized the calling out of the Fitz Lee Troop of this city if necessary. The troop was notified and had made preparations to respond at a moments notice upon a given signal from the Court-house bell.”
News Coverage: Alexandria Gazette, Free Lance-Star, Peninsula Enterprise, Richmond Dispatch, Staunton Spectator
Article Link (from Alexandria Gazette published on 1885-11-23)
Article Link (from Alexandria Gazette published on 1885-11-30)
Article Link (from Peninsula Enterprise published on 1885-12-05)
Article Link (from Staunton Spectator published on 1885-12-02)