William Tyler was born in 1872 in Nicholas County, Kentucky. According to Ancestry Libraries William Tyler’s mother’s name was Manda Tyler and his father’s name was Elijiah Tyler ( also referred to as Lige Tyler in The Cincinnati Post). According to the 1880 Census, William Tyler was the oldest of three siblings. The younger siblings were Tilton and Aurelia Tyler. There is no further information found about William Tyler or his family members. 

On July 24, 1894, William Tyler, who was 22 years-old, allegedly sexually assaulted Anna Campbell, 13 years-old. The alleged assault occurred at Blue Lick. Anna then went home and told her family and William Tyler fled. According to The Courier Journal, Tyler was captured at May’s Lick on July 25th. He was said to have been captured by Marshal Mitchel and brought to Cowan Station, a nearby jailhouse. However, threats of lynchings had started once the alledged crime became public. 

Jailer Masten escorted Tyler by train back to Nicholas County, where a crowd was waiting. As soon as they were able to get him into jail, rumors soon started that a mob planned to break into the jail and forcibly seize Tyler. Around 10:00 pm, a mob of around 100 men made their way to the jail. The Louisville Courier Journal described how the mob stopped at a nearby blacksmith’s shop and the owner provided them with a sledgehammer. The mob used the tool to break down the doors and grab Tyler.  He maintained his innocence throughout the kidnapping.  The mob dragged Tyler to Piper’s Bridge to hang him.

Two newspapers, the Louisville Courier Journal and the Maysville Evening Bulletin, played a role in promoting the lynching, positively describing the actions of the lynch mob as “orderly” and  “formed with military precision.” The newspaper called Tyler a “guilty wretch” who had committed a “brutal criminal assault.”  Similarly, the Maysville Evening Bulletin described Tyler as a “fiend” and “brute” who received “swift vengeance.”

Many sources say that Tyler had to show the mob how to hang him, remarking that they needed stronger rope, or else he wouldn’t die. Once the rope was placed on Tyler and told him to jump, he did it with no further instruction. The rope snapped and it took the mob a few minutes to realize that he wasn’t dead. Once they realized they brought him back to the top and someone went out to find a stronger rope, returning around half an hour later. When he returned, they resumed and Tyler was killed around 12:55am, Thursday morning. According to The Columbia Herald-Statesman, the lynching of William Tyler was the first in Nicholas County, Kentucky. 

The Cincinnati Post reported that Lige Tyler collected his son’s body for burial at the African American cemetery in the region. The newspaper also reported that Piper’s Bridge had been used in two previous lynchings, but the names of the victims or dates of the lynchings were not provided. No one was ever apprehended or arrested for the Tyler lynching.

References

Location of the Lynching

Citation

Robinson, Alyssah. “William Tyler.” Documented Biographies. Documenting Racial Violence in Kentucky. May 19, 2023. https://drvk.createuky.net/biographies/william-tyler/

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