Eugene Daniel – A Red Record

1921-09-18
Chatham County, NC

Alleged offense: Trespassing; Attempted Rape (unlikely)
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Legal intervention (in alleged offense): No
Legal intervention (following lynching): Unrecorded
Mob size:50
Mob members: None named, presumably included Gertrude Stone’s father
Alleged victim: Gertrude Stone
Household Status: Unmarried (lived with parents and siblings)
Occupation: None

Newspapers report that on Friday September 16, 1921, Gertrude Stone awoke to a man standing in the corner of her bedroom. Sixteen-year-old Eugene Daniel, sometimes called Ernest Daniels in newspaper accounts, was suspected of the crime. Early Saturday morning, police gathered bloodhounds from Raeford (60 miles away from Pittsboro), which tracked down Eugene Daniel’s scent that afternoon. Upon locating Daniel, the police extracted a confession and took him to the Pittsboro Jail. A mob of around 50 men from New Hope Township formed around the jail Saturday night and took the keys from jailer H.W. Taylor. Daniel was taken five miles east onto an area near Moore’s bridge, where he was hanged with a chain and shot to death. At least 1,000 people visited the scene the next day to view Eugene Daniel’s body, until noon, when the coroner took Daniel’s body down from the tree. Daniel had just turned 16 and was part of a large black family. In the 1970s, the area was submerged with water from the creation of Jordan Lake. However, using a kayak or wading through water, it is still possible to reach the location of the lynching. A geocache has been created to give directions on how to reach the area.

Documentation

Death certificate: Eugene Daniel’s Death Certificate
Census: None found

News coverage:

Negro Is Lynched by Mob near Pittsboro

Chatham Mob Lynches Negro with Tire Chain

Location

Town: New Hope Township, North Carolina
Latitude/Longitude: 35.705437, -79.084444
Rationale: The former site of Moore’s Bridge near Jordan Lake.
Additional Resources: The Map of Pittsboro Jail for Eugene Daniel

Researcher’s Note: The site of Daniel’s death is marked by a geocache.