On November 18, 1887 at around 9:30 P.M., Mrs. Yeakle, an old, white widow, was walking home from church when a black man attacked her in Frederick County, Maryland. He knocked her down, injuring her, and attempted to assault her. Her yells drew attention to the scene. The black man then ran away into the suburbs and escaped into the woods. A group was organized to track him down. Although the man...
Many masked men broke Willie Wallace, the infamous outlaw of Harris County, Georgia, from jail in Hamilton at eight o'clock in the morning. The group of masked men rode quickly into town and disposed of guards on the roads leading to Hamilton. Ten of the masked men remained outside the sheriff's house. The men broke in through the front door of the jail and proceeded to find Wallace's cell and break...
The growing presence of racial intimidation and violence marked the decade of the 1890s, also known as the “height of mob frenzy.' Private mobs punished alleged offenders for both attempted and committed crimes of violence, murder, and rape. Failure of local officials to protect prisoners adequately contributed to this vigilante mob justice. Increasing power of the racists, especially in Georgia,...
The occurrence of mass mob lynching or by individuals escalated during the decade of the 1890s. The severe racism of Georgia “swept away the Bourbon notion of race relations and revolutionized popular attitudes towards blacks.' The violence against African-Americans was at an unprecedented level. The gubernatorial race and the ensuing debates brought the issue of race relations to the forefront...
In the turbulent South of the late 19th century, the act of lynching was a well-established institution. This degrading act of vigilante violence was initiated to control; mainly African-Americans in a predominantly white society. A response article was written to the African-American Ledger, a black operated newspaper in Baltimore, rebuking these despicable acts towards a fellow human being. A spark...
George Dawson, a white man, was murdered in the town of Jasper, TN. Sheriff Rogers of Jasper had in his custody the three men believed to be responsible for the murder: Floyd Woodlee, John Turner, and Cal Collins. In fact, Woodlee was the only man who confessed to the act. Sheriff Rogers was keeping the men in the county jail until such time as their trial could take place. However, a mob surrounded...
Joel Johnson, a well-known citizen of Baldwin County, Alabama, was riding quietly along a public road near Sibley's Mill. Unexpectedly, an African American hiding behind a tree shot Johnson in the head, stunning him and throwing him from his horse. The black man then shot him twice more, first in the wrist and again in the side. Taking him for dead, the assailant dragged Johnson three-hundred yards...
Authorities in Barnwell, South Carolina had arrested and jailed a group of black men, accusing them of the murder of a pair of white men in the area. As the eight suspects sat in their jail cells one night in late December 1889, a group of masked men entered and forcefully removed them from the jail. The masked men took the accused and slaughtered each and every one of them. While the law enforcement...
Mrs. M.A. Moore, widowed mother of seven grown children, was alone in her home one morning. As she went about her household business, a black man forced himself into her house and assaulted her. He then escaped, leaving Mrs. Moore in her house. The white population of Chattanooga was outraged that such an offense could be committed in broad daylight upon a well-respected white woman. So, they cast...
Mr. John Davis was at the Appomatox Depot when he saw a young black man sitting on the steps of a mail car next to the tender. The man was a tramp and when Davis approached the black man to ask what he was doing, the black man cursed Davis and attacked him with a knife. The cuts were not deep and Davis was not seriously injured. The black man escaped by running down the railroad tracks and away from...