1885-12-18
Richmond County, NC
Alleged offense: Murder
Race: White
Gender: Male
Age: Unrecorded
Legal intervention (in alleged offense): Yes
Legal intervention (following lynching): Yes
Mob size: 100
Mob members: Unrecorded
Alleged victim: Solomon Welsh
Household Status: Unrecorded
Occupation: Unrecorded
A mob lynched John Lee for allegedly murdering Solomon Welsh. Authorities held Lee in Rockingham County jail. Lee confessed to murdering Welsh in self-defense. In the morning of December 18, 1885, a masked mob abducted Lee from jail. Lee confessed to murdering Welsh in self-defense. Two miles south of Rockingham, the mob hanged him from a tree. The mob left a note on Lee’s coat. The authors wrote greetings for the holidays and requested that local newspapers quote the text. A trial concluded that parties Unrecorded killed Lee. Lee’s friends moved his body from the tree to another location.
Documentation
Death certificate: None found
Census: None found
News coverage:
Location
Town: Rockingham, North Carolina
Latitude/Longitude: 34.909345, -79.777706
Rationale: Within one mile.
Additional Resources: Rockingham, Richmond Co., April 1894
Researcher’s Note: