1922-08-06
Onslow County, NC
Alleged offense: Murder
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Age: Unrecorded
Legal intervention (in alleged offense): Unrecorded
Legal intervention (following lynching): No
Mob size: Unrecorded
Mob members: Unrecorded
Alleged victim: Cyrus Jones
Household Status: Unrecorded
Occupation: Unrecorded
Bayner Blackwell was charged as the ringleader in the assault and shooting of mail carrier Cyrus Jones. Some newspaper accounts claim they believe Blackwell was arrested and imprisoned for the crime, but no newspaper accounts state that definitively. Accounts did suggest that Blackwell was hanged by a mob of men on August 6, 1922 near Swansboro in Onslow County, North Carolina. The county’s sheriff would not divulge “official knowledge” of Blackwell’s death, likely because of increasing pressure for communities to stop lynchings. According to an unnamed group of community members, Blackwell’s body was buried in the swamps of Onslow county “where it will never be found.”
Documentation
Death certificate: None found
Census: None found
News coverage:
Injuries Cause Carrier’s Death
Negro Driven Out of Swansboro Section But No Injury Done Him
Location
Town: Swansboro, North Carolina
Latitude/Longitude: 34.695632, -77.130456
Rationale: Nearest city or town
Additional Resources:
Researcher’s Note: