1897-08-11
Graham County, NC

Alleged offense: Rape
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Age: Unrecorded
Legal intervention (in alleged offense): Yes
Legal intervention (following lynching): Yes
Mob size: 200
Mob members: Unrecorded
Alleged victim: Kittie Henderson
Household Status:
Occupation:

Bob Brackett, an African American man, allegedly raped Kittie Henderson near Weaverville, North Carolina before fleeing the scene. According to newspaper accounts, law enforcement later captured Brackett a couple miles away at Ivey and brought him to Asheville to confine him in the jail until his trial. On Tuesday, August 10th, 1897, the sheriff removed Brackett and started towards the nearest train station, for he recognized the probability of Brackett’s lynching. A mob numbering around 200 people overtook the sheriff and his party that night 18 miles from Asheville at the Terrell station and seized Bob Brackett. Though some members of the mob wished to hang him there, others suggested that he be brought back to the scene of the crime, and at 4:35AM the mob headed back to Weaverville with Brackett in tow. Supposedly the mob stopped on the way and had breakfast with a farmer, even providing some for Bob Brackett. At noon on August 11th, the mob reached Hemhill’s schoolhouse and sent for Kittie Henderson. When she arrived the mob placed a noose around Bob Brackett’s neck and hanged him, dispersing quickly. Though the governor had ordered the militia to intervene, the mob had scattered before it could arrive.

Documentation

Death certificate: None found
Census: None found

News coverage:

Lynching Probable

Just Missed Lynching

By a Mob

Bob Brackett Lynching (No Headline)

A Negro Lynched

Location

Town: Weaverville, North Carolina
Latitude/Longitude: 35.697119, -82.560399
Rationale: Site of lynching generalized with Weaverville being the nearest settlement.

Additional Resources:

Researcher’s Note: