1919-08-20
Franklin County, NC
Alleged offense: Rape
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Age: 19
Legal intervention (in alleged offense): Yes
Legal intervention (following lynching): Yes
Mob size: 12
Mob members: Unrecorded
Alleged victim: W.L. Medlin
Household Status: Unmarried
Occupation: Farm laborer
One Mrs. W.L. Medlin of Youngsville, North Carolina, reported that an African American man had raped her in her bedroom around 11:00. The assailant escaped and eventually, nineteen year-old Walter Tyler was apprehended at Rogers’ Crossroads, where he was at work in a tobacco field. As he was being taken to jail in Louisburg, a mob seized him about two miles outside of town and took him to New Hope Church, described as ten miles east of Youngsville. The church stood just 200 yards from the Medlin home. Tyler was shot in the back of the head and then hanged from an oak tree. His body was shot and stabbed. It was reported that the initial mob numbered just twelve but eventually as many as 2,000 viewed the body. The Solicitor opened an investigation into the lynching and called witnesses just two days later. Despite calling one hundred witnesses the investigation concluded that Tyler was lynched by parties Unrecorded.
Documentation
Death certificate: None found
Census: None found
News coverage:
Negro Lynched in Franklin County
Negro Lynched in Franklin County cont’d
Solicitor Starts Lynching Probe
Tyler Lynched by Parties Unrecorded
Location
Town:Youngville, North Carolina
Latitude/Longitude: 35.972161, -78.342126
Rationale: “10 miles east of Youngville.”
Additional Resources:
Researcher’s Note: