1900-08-28
Rutherford County, NC
Alleged offense: Murder
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Legal intervention (in alleged offense): Yes
Legal intervention (following lynching): Unrecorded
Mob size: 100
Mob members: Unrecorded
Alleged victim: Mills H. Flack
Household Status: Married with children
Occupation: Farmer
Avery Mills, an African American tenant farmer, was accused of murdering his white landlord, Mills H. Flack, over a dispute concerning stolen peaches on August 28, 1900. Mills had allegedly shot Flack with a gun handed to him by his wife, who was later also implicated in the murder. Mills and his wife were soon arrested by local officials that same day. On the way to the jail, however, a mob abducted Avery Mills from the local authorities and shot him to death. Mills’ wife was kept in jail, and no accounts could be found of arrests of the lynch mob.
Documentation
Death certificate: None found
Census: 1900 Census Avery Mills
News coverage:
Mob Wreaks Vengence on Colored Murderer
Flack Shot Dead; Slayer Lynched
Location
Town: Forest City, North Carolina
Latitude/Longitude: 35.369034, -81.912107
Rationale: Estimated location of lynching and abduction based on reports mentioning Ledbetter Road as well as the proximity to Forest City in the Cool Spring township.
Additional Resources:
Researcher’s Note: