1929-06-29
Mecklenburg County, NC
Alleged offense: argument with landlord
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Age: Unspecified
Legal intervention (in alleged offense): No
Legal intervention (following lynching): No
Mob size: Unrecorded
Mob members: None named
Alleged victim: N/A
Household Status: Married
Occupation: Farmer
Willie McDaniel, an African American man, was hanged by “a person or persons unknown” in the community of Newell, just north of Charlotte. According to newspaper accounts, McDaniel’s body was found in late June lying “in the edge of a cotton patch” on the farm of Mell Grier, with whom McDaniel had had an alleged argument about payment for services on his farm. McDaniel’s body was buried but later exhumed, according to some reports, and coroners determined that he had not died of natural causes.
Documentation
Death certificate: McDaniel Death Certificate
Census: None found
News coverage:
Mecklenburg Has Mystery Murder
Location
Town: Newell, North Carolina
Latitude/Longitude: 35.290754, -80.715991
Rationale: While an exact location could not be determined, a marker was placed on Newell as that is the town cited as the place of death in McDaniel’s death certificate.
Additional Resources:
Researcher’s Note: