1899-01-09
Cherokee County, NC
Alleged offense: Murder
Race: White
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Legal intervention (in alleged offense): Yes
Legal intervention (following lynching): No
Mob size: 50
Mob members: Unrecorded
Alleged victim: Thad Sherill
Household Status: Married
Occupation: Unrecorded
George Maney, a white man, was arrested for allegedly murdering Thad Sherill, a white wealthy plantation owner in Graham County. According to newspaper accounts, Maney allegedly confessed to the crime and was taken from Graham County and housed in the prison at Murphy, in Cherokee County for “safe keeping.” While Maney was held there, a mob of around fifty men abducted him from the jail around 9:00 p.m. on January 9, 1899. The mob took Maney toward Valley River and stopped on the bridge. After giving Maney time “to pray,” the mob of men, now watched by a crowd of onlookers, took Maney and hanged him from the bridge. When the mayor and marshal of the town came to cut Maney down around 11:00 p.m., Maney was hanging just above the level of the water and showed signs of having died by strangulation from the hanging.
Documentation
Death certificate: None found
Census: None found
News coverage:
George Maney was lynched last night
Since writing of the lynching in Chatham
Location
Town: Murphy, North Carolina
Latitude/Longitude: 35.091116, -84.028627
Rationale: Upper Valley River bridge site.
Additional Resources:
Researcher’s Note: Age of victim determined by gravestone. Maney gravestone : https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/120707861/george-washington-maney/photo