This is a (likely incomplete) list of the names of persons who were killed in lynchings that took place in North Carolina between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War II.

This list is a work in progress and will be updated as more information comes to light. Those persons identified as “Unidentified” were of course not unknown–they were fathers and sons, wives, and daughters,  they had friends and enemies, communities and stories.

Why are we publishing these names? Publishing these names takes a small step toward recognizing their personhood in ways the public record does not. Their lynching was an act of attempted erasure, using them as a tool of subjugation even as they were tortured and murdered. Naming them recalls their lives before that moment. Their names also offer pathways to researchers interested in finding out more about them.

When possible, we are also publishing the names of members of mobs, who were inappropriately protected by law enforcement and the press.

If you are a descendant of a lynching victim and would prefer their name not be public, please contact either Elijah Gaddis (ejgaddis AT auburn.edu) or Seth Kotch (sethkotch AT unc.edu).

Lynchings and Possible Lynchings in North Carolina

Name Date   County
Unidentified 1865-02-01 Robeson
Unidentified 1865-02-01 Robeson
Unidentified 1865-02-01 Robeson
Charles Winters 1865-07-20 Duplin
John Hirst 1865-07-20 Duplin
John Middleton 1865-07-20 Duplin
Thomas Bradley 1865-07-20 Duplin
Richard Cotton 1865-09-01 Chatham
Unidentified 1866-01-01 Beaufort
Unidentified 1866-02-01 Duplin
Unidentified 1866-02-01 Lenoir
Unidentified 1866-02-01 Lenoir
Unidentified 1866-02-01 Lenoir
Unidentified 1866-02-01 Lenoir
Unidentified 1866-02-14 Lenoir
Jesse Hart 1866-10-04 Greene
Mac Walker 1866-10-23 New Hanover
Unidentified 1867-01-08 Greene
Unidentified 1867-01-08 Greene
Unidentified 1867-01-08 Greene
Unidentified 1867-01-08 Greene
Unidentified 1867-01-08 Greene
Unidentified 1867-01-08 Greene
Unidentified 1867-01-08 Greene
Archie Beebe 1867-02-11 Cumberland
James Norcum 1867-11-01 Washington
child Blue 1869-01-20 Moore
child Blue 1869-01-20 Moore
child Blue 1869-01-20 Moore
child Blue 1869-01-20 Moore
child Blue 1869-01-20 Moore
mother Blue 1869-01-20 Moore
Bob Grady 1869-01-24 Lenoir
Cater Grady 1869-01-24 Lenoir
Daniel Smith 1869-01-24 Lenoir
Richard Nobles 1869-01-24 Lenoir
Lewis Cogden 1869-03-14 Greene
Daniel Morrow 1869-08-07 Orange
Jefferson Morrow 1869-08-07 Orange
Providence Bryant 1869-08-16 Jones
M.L. Shepard 1869-08-16 Jones
Wright Woods 1869-09-12 Orange
Cyrus Guy 1869-12-02 Orange
Wyatt Outlaw 1870-02-26 Alamance
William Puryear 1870-03-01 Alamance
Robin Jacobs 1870-05-13
John Stephens 1870-05-21 Caswell
David Weston 1871-04-26 Rutherford
Silas Weston 1871-04-26 Rutherford
Theodosia Weston 1871-04-26 Rutherford
William Herbert Steadman 1871-04-26 Rutherford
Jule Davidson 1878-12-21 Iredell
Doyle Bryant 1881-01-21 Sampson
John Taylor 1881-06-12 Rockingham
John Lindsay 1881-06-20 Stokes
Estes Hairston 1881-06-20 Stokes
Elijah Church 1881-10-06 Catawba
Edmund Davis 1881-10-17 Union
John Brodie 1881-12-01 Granville
Shadrack Hester 1881-12-01 Granville
James Council/Isaiah Cauniel/John Collins/Ike Blunt 1883-04-10 Bertie
Archie Johnson 1883-09-20 Richmond
Charles Campbell 1883-10-16 Iredell
Lawrence White 1883-11-08 Rowan
Erwin McCullough 1884-04-01 Gaston
Henry Swain 1884-05-15 Forsyth
George Johnson 1884-09-06 Rowan
Charles Smith 1884-12-24 Johnston
Thomas (Henry) Davis 1884-12-24 Johnston
Lee Staten 1885-03-04 Union
John Boggan/Baggan 1885-07-02 Anson
Harriet Finch 1885-09-28 Chatham
Jerry Finch 1885-09-28 Chatham
John Pattisall 1885-09-28 Chatham
Lee Tyson 1885-09-28 Chatham
Bud Mebane 1885-10-03 Caswell
John Lee 1885-12-18 Richmond
Alfred Long 1886-06-06 Davidson
T. C. Powell 1886-11-20 Edgecombe
Ben Hart 1887-05-08 Edgecombe
Unidentified 1887-08-20 Wilson
Eugene Hairston 1887-08-25 Guilford
Jim Greene 1887-12-25 Richmond
Patterson Spruill 1888-01-26 Washington
Jack Blount 1888-01-26 Washington
Matthew Blount 1888-01-26 Washington
William A. Parker 1888-03-13 Washington
Thomas Frazier 1888-05-05 Beaufort
John Humphreys 1888-07-15 Buncombe
Alonzo Smith 1888-09-02 Granville
Henry Tanner 1888-09-02 Granville
John Tanner 1888-09-02 Granville
John Carson 1888-12-02 Cleveland
John Sigmond 1889-09-07 Gaston
David Boone 1889-09-11 Burke
Franklin Stack 1889-09-11 Burke
Robert Berrier 1889-10-14 Davidson
John Starling 1890-05-24 Johnston
Hezekiah Rankin 1890-09-24 Buncombe
Kinch Freeman 1890-12-24 Hertford
Mack Best 1891-09-08 Sampson
Lymon Purdie 1892-05-01 Bladen
Alexander Whitley 1892-06-09 Stanly
Thomas Allison 1892-09-12 Surry
Joe Barco 1892-10-01 Camden
Carter Burnett 1892-11-14 Granville
Duncan McPhatter 1892-11-24 Scotland
Robert Ray 1893-01-06 Moore
Daniel Slaughter 1894-02-23 Alleghany
Holland English 1894-04-02 Mitchell
James Bergeron 1894-12-26 Beaufort
Robert Chambers 1896-03-21 Mitchell
Bob Brackett 1897-08-11 Buncombe
James Lafette 1897-10-01 Burke
Lafette child 1897-10-01 Burke
Joe Kizer 1898-05-29 Cabarrus
Tom Johnson 1898-05-29 Cabarrus
Joe Williams 1898-07-23 Halifax
Manly McCauley 1898-10-28 Orange
Mitch Moxley 1898-11-07 Macon
George Maney 1899-01-09 Graham
Henry Jones 1899-01-12 Chatham
Lewis Patrick 1899-06-15 Carteret
George Ratcliffe 1900-03-04 Haywood
George Ritter 1900-03-22 Moore
Avery Mills 1900-08-28 Rutherford
James Silas Martindale 1901-03-08 Moore
D.B. Jones 1901-06-18 Lenoir
Jim Bailey 1901-07-02 Johnston
Luke Huff/Hough 1901-08-21 Anson
Peter Mitchell 1901-12-27 Northampton
James Walker 1902-03-25 Beaufort
Harrison Gillespie/Cowan 1902-06-11 Rowan
James Gillespie 1902-06-11 Rowan
Thomas Jones 1902-08-25 Wayne
John Osborne 1903-07-03 Union
Manna Ponton 1903-08-21 Halifax
Dick Whitehead 1904-05-18 Northampton
John Moore 1905-08-27 Craven
John V. Johnson 1906-05-28 Anson
Jack Dillingham 1906-08-06 Rowan
John Gillespie 1906-08-06 Rowan
Nease Gillespie 1906-08-06 Rowan
Unidentified 1908-01-08 Johnston
Unidentified 1910-10-08 Caswell
Joseph McNeely 1913-08-26 Mecklenburg
James Wilson 1914-01-27 Johnston
Bessie Perry 1915-03-12 Vance
Josephine Perry 1915-03-12 Vance
John Richards 1916-01-12 Wayne
Joseph Black 1916-04-05 Greene
Lazarus Rouse 1916-08-01 Lenoir
Peter Bazemore 1918-03-23 Bertie
George Taylor 1918-11-05 Wake
John Daniels 1919-02-06 Onslow
Walter Tyler 1919-08-20 Franklin
Powell Green 1919-12-27 Franklin
Edward Roach 1920-07-07 Person
John Jeffress 1920-08-20 Alamance
Plummer Bullock 1921-01-23 Warren
Alfred Williams 1921-01-23 Warren
Jerome Whitfield 1921-08-14 Jones
Eugene Daniel 1921-09-18 Chatham
Bayner Blackwell 1922-08-06 Onslow
Doc C Bryant 1926-05-25 Duplin
Eliza Bryant 1926-05-25 Duplin
Willie McDaniel 1929-06-29 Mecklenburg
Ella May Wiggins 1929-09-14 Gaston
Laura Wood 1930-02-11 Rowan
Oliver Moore 1930-08-19 Wilson
Percy Berry 1932-04-14 Craven
Dock Rogers 1933-08-27 Pender
Govan “Sweat” Ward 1935-07-31 Franklin
Robert Melker 1941-04-13 Gaston
J. C. Farmer 1946-08-03 Nash