Berry Rich was one of approximately 50 white lynching victims in Kentucky between 1880 and 1950, accounting for the considerable biographical information about his life. Rich was born in 1847 in Webster County to Mary Rich and an unnamed father. Rich had five sisters and an older brother. While he did not attend school, he did know how to read and write. In 1878, Rich moved to Christian County and bought a small plot where he worked as a farmer. In 1880, he had married Bettie, and together they had several children. One of Rich’s adult daughters married Gus Query.
In 1894, a series of livestock thefts and poisonings as well as arson plagued the people of Crittenden County and Christian County. Rich and William Goode were suspects in the crimes, and Goode was chased out of the area. Rich stayed behind. Early in the morning of October 2, 1894, a group of men came to the door of the Rich residence where they asked for Rich. Two newspapers, the Maysville Evening Bulletin and the Madisonville Hustler, reported that the men were “white caps,” or members of the KKK. Pretending to be associated with Goode, they lured out Rich saying that Goode needed to see him at the sycamore tree nearby. When Rich did not return the following morning, his wife sent their oldest son and son-in-law Guy Query out to find him. They found Berry hanging from the same sycamore tree where the men told Rich that William Goode was waiting. Bettie Rich claimed that her husband severed all ties to Goode and told him to never return.
The mob, searching for Goode, went to his house and asked Goode’s wife if she had seen him. When she declined to answer, the mob promised to hang him if he returned. It is not known if Goode ever returned to Crittenden County. No one in the mob was identified or apprehended. Unlike other lynchings of time, Berry Rich’s hanging was condemned and seen as unwarranted. Berry Rich is buried in Crittenden County, Kentucky.
References
- U.S. Census Bureau. Eigth Census of the United States, 1860. “Schedule 1. – Free Inhabitants.” Ritch, Berry. AncestryLibrary Edition.
- U.S. Census Bureau. Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. “Schedule 1. – Inhabitants.” Rich, Berry. AncestryLibrary Edition.
- “A Mob’s Work. Berry Rich Called from his House in the Night and Hung,” Crittenden Press, October 4, 1894. Newspapers.com.
- Find a Grave, “Green Berry Ritch Sr,” accessed July 3, 2024.
- “Berry Rich, accused of burning…” Interior Journal, October 5, 1894. Newspapers.com.
- “White Caps In Kentucky,” The Evening Bulletin, October 2, 1894. Newspapers.com.
- “Terrible Crime. Berry Rich Taken out and Hanged By a Mob of White Caps,” The Hustler, October 5, 1894. Newspapers.com.
Location of the Lynching
Citation
Alfaya, Martin. “Berry Rich.” Documented Biographies. Documenting Racial Violence in Kentucky. May 15, 2023. https://drvk.createuky.net/biographies/berry-rich/