Ephraim Brinkley III was a white lynching victim in the 1880s, and there is considerable historical documentation about his birth, family ties, labor, and various residences during his life. On June 14, 1857, Ephraim Brinkley III was born to Ephraim G Brinkley II and Francis (Sarah) Elizabeth Brinkley in Person County, North Carolina. He also had two siblings, Elvira and Thorphilius, and three half-siblings, Hariet, Docter, and Lafayette. At age 13, Brinkley’s family left North Carolina for Kentucky, working as farmers in the rural area. When he reached adulthood, he continued to work as a farmer. He had his first child at 18, Henry Stone. The child’s mother is not listed in the census. Brinkley’s main location for farming was in the small area of Nebo located in Hopkins County, Kentucky. Brinkley married Susana C Woodward in 1887. They had three children: Hattie Mae Harris, Bartie Brinkley, and Will Brinkley.
In 1897, when he was 40 years old Brinkley was lynched in Nebo, Kentucky. The reports of Brinkley’s lynching began with the killing of another white man, Cyprian Trouillas. On July 5th, 1897 Trouillas was shot and killed while eating at his dinner table. The shot was fired through a window, striking the back of Trouillas’s head and killing him instantly. After weeks passed with no arrest or suspect, the neighbors came to suspect Brinkley. But their suspicions were based on circumstantial evidence. Brinkley lived closest to Trouillas, and there were rumors that Brinkley was having an extra-marital affair with Trouillas’s wife. The neighbors’ claims were based on little evidence. The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer reported that the group accusing Brinkley of killing Trouillas were “regulators” or members of a secret militia, who also had been implicated in the lynching of Hewlett Howton two years earlier in Caldwell County.
Roughly two weeks after the killing of Trouillas, two unmasked men approached Brinkley’s house to apprehend him. Some newspapers alleged that the men also forced Mrs. Trouillas from her home, going to so far as to tie the rope around her neck until she provided information about Brinkley’s whereabouts. Mrs. Trouillias found Brinkley hung from a tree in her front yard the following morning. The coroner concluded Brinkley’s death by strangulation was at the hands of unknown parties.
References
- “Ephraim Brinkley Hanged In Broad Daylight in Hopkins County,” Messenger-Inquirer, July 22, 1897. Newspapers.com.
- “The Mob’s Work,” The Bee, July 29, 1897. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress.
- “Into Eternity Went Ephraim Brinkey at the End of a Rope Last Wednesday Night,” The Hustler, July 23, 1897. Newspapers.com.
- U.S. Census Bureau. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860. “Schedule 1. – Free Inhabitants.” Brinkly, Ephraim. AncestryLibrary Edition.
- U.S. Census Bureau. Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. “Schedule 1. – Inhabitants.” Brinkley, Ephraim. AncestryLibrary Edition.
Location of the Lynching
Citation
Belford, Shaina. “Ephraim Brinkley III.” Documented Biographies. Documenting Racial Violence in Kentucky. May 10, 2023. https://drvk.createuky.net/biographies/ephraim-brinkley-iii/