This list has been prepared by Professor Michael J. Pfeifer, Faculty Member, American Social History, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington 98505, tel: (360) 867-6009, e-mail: pfeiferm@evergreen.edu,
home page: http://academic.evergreen.edu/p/pfeiferm/home.htmThis is a partial list of lynchings that occurred in Missouri; it is approximately complete for the period after 1900, but misses a number of incidents from before that date and perhaps some after. Please cite this website if you use information from it.
June 30, 1898, Henry Williams, Macon, Macon County,In this list of verified victims of lynching (referred to in at least one reliable primary source that I have identified, and if possible two or more independent primary sources; citations for sources are available on request), I use the definition of lynching that experts on mob violence devised at Tuskegee, Alabama in 1940: "there must be legal evidence that a person has been killed, and that he met his death illegally at the hands of a group acting under the pretext of service to justice, race, or tradition," with a group defined as "three" or more persons. For an insightful discussion of the historical problem of definition, see Christopher Waldrep, “Word and Deed: The Language of Lynching, 1820-1953,” in Michael Bellesiles, Lethal Imagination: Violence and Brutality in American History (New York: New York University Press, 1999). I believe that the Tuskegee definition, while historically contingent and imperfect, remains useful to historians of the phenomenon. Its emphasis on the collective, purposeful, ideological, lethal, and unlawful nature of lynching is in fact consistent with the popular usage of the term as well as the actual praxis of violence from the mid nineteenth century through the present day. If more than one victim was lynched in the incident, they are listed separately, although much of the rest of the information will be identical.Incidents are listed by date, name given for victim, town or city, county, alleged offense, race or ethnicity, and type of mob (from W. Fitzhugh Brundage's classification scheme in Lynching in the New South: Georgia and Virginia, 1880-1930 (Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1993), 17-48, 291-292. If information suggests the mob's composition was not exclusively white, this is indicated in parentheses. I adapt Brundage's taxonomy with these general guidelines: mass mobs evoked broad participation and approval, were spontaneous and possessed little if any formal organization, and were highly ritualized in practice. Posses were groups of men, sometimes authorized by the sheriff, who searched for fleeing suspects. But these often large crowds occasionally killed the persons they were seeking to apprehend. Posses could legally kill if suspects were armed or resisted arrest. I have categorized collective killings perpetrated by search parties as lynchings only if victims were unarmed or did not attempt to avoid arrest after being located. Two additional categories of mobs drew far less popular support. Private lynchings constituted secretive, small-scale but collective enactments of vengeance, often by relatives and friends of someone allegedly harmed by the mob's victim. Terrorist mobs were long-lasting, well-organized groups that perpetrated extralegal violence, often for economic goals.
I am grateful to Brent Campney and James Lohman for some information listed on this page.
April 28, 1836, Frank McIntosh, St. Louis, Assisting Escape and Murder and Murderous Assault of Law Officers in Resisting Arrest, Black, Mass
July 13, 1853, "Slave belonging to H. France," Pettis County, Murder, Black, Unknown
October 9, 1855, "field slave," Carroll County, Murder, Black, Unknown
July 8, 1856, Jim Ray, Morgan County, Poisoning School-children and Teacher, White, Mass
Late June, 1858, Kessler, Gentry Couty, Murder, White, Unknown
Late June, 1858, Milligan, Gentry County, Murder, White, Unknown
July 18, 1859, "Slave belonging to Dr. William Price," Arrow Rock, Saline County, Rape of Girl, Black, Mass
July 19, 1859, John, Marshall, Saline County, Murder and Robbery, Black, Mass
July 19, 1859, Holman, Marshall, Saline County, Murderous Assault, Black, Mass
July 19, 1859, Jim, Marshall, Saline County, Attempted Rape, Black, Mass
June?, 1860, Martin T. Wright, Hannibal?, Marion County?, Horse Theft, White, Posse
October 7, 1867, Unknown, along the North Grand River, Murder, White, Unknown
October 7, 1867, Unknown, along the North Grand River, Murder, White, Unknown
March 16, 1868, David McGuire, near Richmond, Ray County, Bank Robbery and Murder, White, Private
March 16, 1868, James Deyers, near Richmond, Ray County, Bank Robbery and Murder, White, Private
February 15, 1869, Charles Bigford, Hillsboro, Jefferson County, Murder, White, Mass
February 15, 1869, James Quick, Hillsboro, Jefferson County, Murder, White, Mass
June 15, 1869, Harry Howard, Harlem, Clay County, "A Confidence Man," White, Unknown
October, 1870, West Hawkins, near Marshall, Saline County, Attempted Rape, Black, Unknown
April, 1871, Unknown, Stockton, Cedar County, Horse Theft, White, Unknown
April 1871, Unknown, Stockton, Cedar County, Retaliation for Lynching, White, Unknown
April 1871, Unknown, Stockton, Cedar County, Retaliation for Lynching, White, Unknown
December, 1871, Louis Swimm, Seneca, Neosho County, Assault and Robbery, White, Unknown
December, 1871, Texas Joe, alias Buckskin, Seneca, Neosho County, Assault, Murder, and Robbery, White, Unknown
April 24, 1872, J.C. Stevenson, Gunn City, Cass County, Bond Fraud, White, Unknown
April 24, 1872, J.R. Cline, Gunn City, Cass County, Bond Fraud, White, Unknown
April 24, 1872, T.E. Dutro, Gunn City, Cass County, Bond Fraud, White, Unknown
July 26, 1872, James Sharpe, Warrensburg, Johnson County, Murder, White, Mass
August 22, 1872, Alexander Worth Tansey, near Clearmont, Nodaway County, Murder, White, Mass
1873?, Howard, Frankin County, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown
1873, John Swinney, Arrow Rock, Saline County, Arson, White, Unknown
August 15, 1873, Peter Kessler, Fulton, Callaway County, Horse-Stealing and Threats, White, Unknown
mid December 1873, "Murderer", Cambridge, Saline County, Murder, White, Private
mid December 1873, "Murderer", Cambridge, Saline County, Murder, White, Private
mid December 1873, "Murderer", Cambridge, Saline County, Murder, White, Private
Dec. 6, 1874, Dr. Rush, Concordia, Lafayette County, Burglary and Arson, White
July 31, 1876, Raphael Williams, Platte City, Platte County, Rape, Black, Mass
mid January, 1877, Phil. Ames, Albany, Gentry County, Murder, White, Unknown
mid January, 1877, Phil. Ames's sister-in-law, Gentry County, Murder, White, Unknown
July 9, 1877, John Green, near Roanoke, Randolph County, Murder of Wife, White, Private
April 3, 1882, Levi Harrington, Kansas City, Jackson County, Murder of White Police Officer, Black, Mass
December 9, 1884, Charles F. Stevens, a.k.a. Omaha Charley, Maryville, Nodaway County, Murderous Assault, White, Private
January 17, 1894, John Buckner, Valley Park, St. Louis County, Criminal Assault and Attempted Criminal Assault, Black, Private
June 30, 1894, James (Jim) Johnson, New Bloomfield, Callaway County, Rape by Impregnation of White Woman, Black, Private
February 17, 1895, George Tracey, Kingston, Caldwell County, Murder, Black, Private (Black)
August 15, 1895, Emmett Divers, Calwood, Callaway County, Rape and Murder, Black, Private
October 11, 1895, Will Henderson, Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau County, Rape of Girl, Black, Mass
June 30, 1896, Cecil Layland, Ralls County, Rape, White, Unknown
December 7, 1896, Jesse Winner, Lexington, Lafayette County, Murder, White, Mass
December 7, 1896, James Nelson, Lexington, Lafayette County, Murder, White, Mass
July 10, 1897, Erastus Brown, Union, Franklin County, Attempted Criminal Assault, Black, Private
June 6, 1898, Curtis Young, Clarksville, Pike County, Murder, Black, Private
June 6, 1898, Sam Young, Clarksville, Pike County, Murder, Black, Private
November 26, 1898, "Negro," Madrid Bend, New Madrid County, Murder, Black, Posse
November 29, 1898, "Negro," Madrid Bend, New Madrid County, Murder, Black, Posse
July 22, 1899, Frank Embree, Burton, Howard County, Rape, Black, Mass
April 28, 1900, Mindu Cohwagee, Marshall, Saline County,
Jailbreak and Murderous Assault of Sheriff's Wife, "Hindoo Negro (East
Indian)," Mass
May 2, 1900, Henry Darley, Liberty, Clay County, Criminal Assault, Black, Private
March 2, 1901, Dewey Smith, alias Bob McBrien, Camden, Ray County, Murder, Black, Unknown
August 19, 1901, Will Godley, Peirce City, Lawrence County, Murder, Black, Mass
August 19, 1901, French Godley, Peirce City, Lawrence County, Relative
of Murderer,
Black, Mass
August 19, 1901, Pete Hampton, Peirce City, Lawrence County, Murder, Black, Mass
February 16, 1902, Louis F. Wright, New Madrid, New Madrid County, Murderous
Assault,
Black, Private
May 25, 1902, Abraham Witherup, Paris, Monroe County, Murder, White, Mass
August 12, 1902, Charles Salyers, Lexington, Lafayette County, Murder and
Robbery,
White, Mass
August 12, 1902, Harry Gates, Lexington, Lafayette County, Murder and Robbery,
Black, Mass
April 15, 1903, Thomas Gilyard, Joplin, Jasper County, Murder, Black, Mass
May 3, 1903, "Preacher" Malone, Pemiscot County, Keeping a Paramour, Unknown, Terrorist
May 3, 1903, Will Mooneyhan, Pemiscot County, Constable Defending a Prisoner,
White, Terrorist
May 12, 1905, Tom Witherspoon, Belmont, Mississippi County, Kidnapping
and Threats to Kill,
Black, Mass
April 14, 1906, Fred Coker, Springfield, Greene County, Criminal Assault, Black, Mass
April 14, 1906, Horace Duncan, Springfield, Greene County, Criminal Assault, Black, Mass
April 14, 1906, Will Allen, Springfield, Greene County, Participation in Murder, Black, Mass
August 1, 1909, George Johnson, Platte City, Platte County, Murder, White, Private
July 3, 1910, Sam Fields, Charleston, Mississippi County, Murder, Black, Mass
July 3, 1910, Bob Coleman, Charleston, Mississippi County, Murder, Black, Mass
March 17, 1914, Dallas Shields, Fayette, Howard County, Murder, Black, Mass
February 21, 1915, W. F. Williams, Pleasant Hill, Cass County, Murder, White, Private
September 8, 1915, Love Rudd (Rudd Lane), Clarksville, Pike County,
Robbery and Threats against Whites, Black, Private
May 27, 1919, Jay Lynch, Lamar, Barton County, Murder, White, Mass
July, 1920, "Negro Prisoner,"Centerville, Reynolds County, Criminal Assault, Black, Posse
April 29, 1921, Roy Hammonds, Bowling Green, Pike County,
Attempted Criminal Assault, Black, Mass
April 29, 1923, James T. Scott, Columbia, Boone County, Criminal Assault, Black, Mass
December 18, 1924, Roosevelt Grigsby, Charleston, Mississippi County,
Attempted Criminal Assault, Black, Mass
August 6, 1925, Walter Mitchell, Excelsior Springs, Clay County,
Criminal Assault and Robbery, Black, Mass
May 22, 1927, Will Sherrod, Braggadocio, Pemiscot County, Criminal Assault, Black, Private
January 12, 1931, Raymond Gunn, Maryville, Nodaway County,
Rape and Murder, Black, Mass
November 28, 1933, Lloyd Warner, St. Joseph, Buchanan County,
Criminal Assault, Black, Mass
January 25, 1942, Cleo Wright, Sikeston, Scott County, Black, Murderous Assault, Black, Mass
July 10, 1981, Ken Rex McElroy, Skidmore, Nodaway County, Murder, White,
Mass