Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part weekly series for the month of February exploring black history in Athens County.
In the fall of 1881, Christopher C. Davis — a biracial man from Athens County — was accused of the rape and assault of Lucinda Luckey, a widow for whom he had done some housework.
Rather than standing trial after his arrest, though, a mob of about 30 armed men took Davis from the Athens Jail and lynched him.
According to an article published in the Richwood Gazette Dec. 1, 1881:
“With a rope thrown about the culprit’s neck, he was led trembling from the jail. … Davis was led a distance of four blocks to the bridge of the Hocking Valley River, and while one end of the rope was being tied to the bridge … he was commanded to confess his guilt. He begged for his life and asked them if they would spare him if he confessed. He was told that if he confessed he would be returned to the jail and given a fair trial. He then confessed the horrible crime. He was pitched headlong from the bridge, falling a distance of nine feet, the fall breaking his neck.”
No one was arrested for the murder of Davis, and according to The History of the Hocking Valley published in 1883, “public sympathy was so strong that little effort was made to investigate the facts.”
In the years following the Civil War, lynching became a common practice in the United States. Between the years of 1884 and 1900, 2,516 people were lynched, 1,678 of whom were black.
Lynchings, primarily of blacks, continued throughout much of the 1900s; however, an exact tally of how many people were killed this way is not available.
Although more than 80 percent of lynchings before 1900 occurred in the South, there are 26 documented lynchings in Ohio, with the murder of Davis — who has half black, and half white — being the only one in Athens County.
“I think there’s probably, with any history, aspects that are gruesome and grisly, so what’s important is that you don’t forget the whole picture,” said Robin Muhammad, an African-American studies professor. “And that is part of the picture: to whom it happened and where is important but also as a centerpiece for black liberation struggles.”
Despite mainstream newspapers shedding little light on lynching, Muhammad said, some black newspapers in Ohio posed staunch opposition, Muhammad said.
Most newspapers, though, ignored lynching altogether, while some advertised imminent lynch mobs.
“They actively didn’t report lynchings, but some newspapers were also involved in providing advertisements of lynching,” Muhammad said. “Some cases, there was under-reporting, and in some cases, announcements were made that this would take place.”
The journalistic coverage given to acts of lynching in the years after the Civil War could have influenced the collective ideals that were associated with the act.
“There was this assumption that lynchings were unfortunate, but somehow, they were justified,” Muhammad said. “There was a fear of speaking out against it, and whites were encouraged to think that this was a way of assisting the law.”
Although newspapers rarely dedicated space to stories about lynching, there are some instances of pro-lynching editorials. On June 19, 1897, an editorial in the Cleveland Leader stated that, because the people of Ohio had seen murderers tried and convicted and then set free, they were getting frustrated with the justice system.
“That is the real reason why, once in a while, the passion and indignation of the masses break through all restraints and some particularly wicked crime is avenged,” the editorial read.
Muhammad said that, though authorities were complicit in most of Ohio’s lynchings, some efforts were made to deter the process.
“Yes, some lynchings took place. No, they weren’t as numerous here as places in Alabama, and there were some laws passed to recognize and compensate the victim’s family,” she said. “You didn’t get that in Mississippi, so it was something.”
At the turn of the 20th century, a law was passed in Ohio to compensate the families of lynch-mob victims if the victim had been in the custody of authorities at the time of the execution.
Although lynching has a long history in the United States, the act’s role in black history should not be forgotten, Muhammad said.
“I think it’s really important, whether you’re talking about lynching or African-American history, to take it all in and remember the whole picture,” she said. “Avoid romanticism or collective amnesia.”
bm257008@ohiou.edu
