Victim ID: VA1880012601
Victim Name: Richard Woods
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: Unknown
Job: Unknown
Method of Death: Shot
Accusation: Miscegenation with a disreputable white woman
Date: 1880-01-19
County Name: Franklin County
Mob Composition: 7 or 8 Disguised Men

Summary: Richard Woods, a black man, was lynched on January 19^th, 1880, by a party of men for deserting his wife and children and living with a white woman in Franklin county.

Richard Woods, also referred to as Dick Woods, left his family to live with a white woman named Nancy Williams, the mother of two illegitimate children (Evening Star). A party of men went to Williams’ house to search for Woods on Jan 19^th, 1880. According to the Coroner’s inquisition, a group of 7 or 8 disguised white men with colored faces, came to Nancy Williams’ house at night asking to see Richard Woods. The small mob threw a rope around Williams’ neck and took her out of the house, while searching for Woods. Nancy Williams took her children and went to Elizabeth Woods’ house – Richard Woods’ wife. The inquisition also states that the mob went back to William’s house between 10 and 11 o’clock, where they found Woods under the cabin floor. Bound together, Woods and Williams were taken away until the party halted, drew their pistols, and ordered Woods to strip. Woods was unable to fully undress due to the fact he couldn’t unbutton his shirt as his hands were tied to his back. Woods asked for assistance, but the lead member of the party found Wood’s request insulting. The men struck Woods with several blows while on the ground. Woods attempted to escape, “but fell from exhaustion and terror before he had gone very far” (Evening Star). Woods was caught by the mob and then shot several times and killed. Williams was tied to a bush and given a whipping; the mob ordered her to return home and leave the county in the next three days, or she would be shot dead.

Additional information about this lynching is available here.

Archival Sources: Coroner’s Inquisition

News Coverage: Evening Star, Staunton Vindicator

Article Link (from Evening Star published on 1880-01-29)
Article Link (from Staunton Vindicator published on 1880-01-30)