Victim ID: VA1888083101
Victim Name: Archer Cook
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: 22
Job: Unknown
Method of Death: Hanged and riddled with bullets
Accusation: Criminal assault on a white girl (Miss Lizzie Frank)
Date: 1888-08-31
City: Farmville
Mob Composition: Armed and masked
Summary: Archer Cook, a 22 year-old-black man, was lynched on August 31st, 1888 in Prince Edward, Virginia, accused of criminal assault on a white woman.
On Friday, July 6th, 1888, Archer Cook was accused of criminally assaulting Lizzie Frank, a white woman (Alexandria Gazette). Cook was placed in jail and Frank was unable to testify due to continued illness. Early in the morning of August 31st, 1888, a body of armed and masked men overthrew the Prince Edward County Jail in Farmville, and took Cook from his cell. According to the Alexandria Gazette, “The jail was badly damaged, though the affair was managed as if by men drilled to this work. Entrance was made through the brick walls, which readily gave way to the force of fearless and furious men. The prisoner screamed piteously, but was hushed by the infuriated and determined lynchers. When taken out, he was hurried to the nearest woods, where he was swung to the limb of an oak tree.” Cook was also shot at least 25 times.
In his 1898 study on “The Negroes of Farmville Virginia: A Social Study,” W. E. B. Du Bois briefly mentioned the lynching of Archer Cook, stating that “it is now generally conceded that the female was a lewd character, and that the black boy was guilty of no crime.” For an eyewitness account of this lynching, you can read this essay by Jim Hall.
News Coverage: Alexandria Gazette, Norfolk Virginian
Article Link (from Alexandria Gazette published on 1888-07-09)
Article Link (from Alexandria Gazette published on 1888-09-01)