Victim ID: VA1886041801
Victim Name: Kellis Moorman
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: Unknown
Job: Unknown
Method of Death: Hanged and shot
Accusation: Assault and robbery of a white man
Date: 1886-04-18
City: Axton
Mob Composition: Unknown
Summary: On April 18th, 1886, a black man named Kellis Moorman was hanged and shot near Axton in Henry County. He was accused of assaulting and robbing Mike Mahone, a white man.
Upon summoning a white man, Mike Mahone, to play cards at a neighbor’s house near Axton, Kellis allegedly knocked Mahone over and stole his gambling money. According to the Richmond Dispatch, “Mahone recovered sufficiently to reach a farmer’s house near by, and made known his assailant. A party of men soon started in pursuit of Moorman, whom they captured in a few hours and hung to a tree about 12 o’clock Sunday night. It is understood that the negro confessed the crime.” The newspaper also reported that “public sentiment is with the lynchers. They say that the courts are either unwilling or unable to protect society from the outrages perpetrated by evil-doers.”
News Coverage: Alexandria Gazette, Free Lance-Star, Richmond Dispatch
Article Link (from Alexandria Gazette published on 1886-04-20)
Article Link (from Richmond Dispatch published on 1886-04-20)