1918-03-23
Bertie County, NC

Alleged offense: Rape
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Age: 19
Legal intervention (in alleged offense): Yes
Legal intervention (following lynching): No
Mob size: Unrecorded
Mob members: Unrecorded
Alleged victim: Unrecorded
Household Status: Unmarried
Occupation: Farm laborer

On March 23, 1918, a posse of white men lynched Peter Bazemore, 19 years old, one mile from Lewiston, Bertie County. Ten hours before the lynching, it was alleged that Bazemore knocked a white woman over the head with a piece of stove wood and “criminally assaulted” her. The posse trailed Bazemore for 10 hours before capturing him, extracting a confession, and hanging him from a tree. News of the lynching, reported first in Wilmington, NC and Norfolk, VA, circulated widely in the days after Bazemore’s death. The newspaper accounts reported that the reported victim was in critical condition for days thereafter.

Documentation

Death certificate: Pete Bazemore Death Certificate
Census: None found

News coverage:

Lynching Reported in Bertie County

Location

Town: Lewiston, North Carolina
Latitude/Longitude: 36.114556 -77.173931
Rationale: Nearest city or town. One mile from Lewiston.

Additional Resources:

Researcher’s Note: