1883-11-08
Rowan County, NC
Alleged offense: Murder
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Age: Unrecorded
Legal intervention (in alleged offense):
Legal intervention (following lynching):
Mob size: 65
Mob members: Unrecorded
Alleged victim: Julius Fraznier
Household Status: Unrecorded
Occupation: Unrecorded
During a party on a plantation near the Iredell-Rowan County line, the White brothers and Frazier brothers supposedly renewed an old argument. In the midst of a fight, which most accounts suggested Julius Frazier initiated, Lawrence White allegedly stabbed Frazier in the throat. Frazier quickly died from his injuries. Lawrence White, his brother, and the surviving Frazier brother were all arrested for the crime and taken into temporary custody at the house of Joshua F. McLean. On the night of Thursday, August 11th, 1883 a mob — which most accounts reported as containing 65 African American men — came to the house and abducted each of the three prisoners. Apparently the mob, composed of friends of Julius Frazier, was uncertain about which White brother was responsible for the murder. They ultimately decided on Lawrence White’s guilt, took him to a tree near McLean’s house, and hanged him.
Documentation
Death certificate: None found
Census: None found
News coverage:
<a href=”http://lynching.web.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/9169/2015/04/Daily_Charlotte_Observer_Sun__Nov_11__1883_.jpg”A Negro Hanged by a Negro Mob
<a href=”http://lynching.web.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/9169/2015/04/The_Farmer_and_Mechanic_Wed__Nov_14__1883_.jpg”A Mob Hangs the Wrong Man
Homicide and Lynching in Rowan
Location
Town: Atwell, North Carolina
Latitude/Longitude: 35.666797, -80.761161
Rationale: Placed on Rowan side of Iredell-Rowan County borders in vicinity of reported locations of original crime.
Additional Resources:
Researcher’s Note: