There is no extent information about the birth, education, labor, or residence of Wick Willis. Information about the lynching Willis is derived from newspaper articles about the killing. Newspaper accounts from 1892 used racially biased language to describe Willis, presupposing his guilt when there was no evidence presented that an attack occurred. In late May […]
Robert Sarver was born in 1864 and according to the 1880 census was one of 11 children born to Wesley and Fanny Sarver. Wesley was born in Tennessee and eventually settled down in Kentucky. He married Kentucky-born Fanny who was nine years younger. Fanny stayed home and “kept the house” and Wesley worked as a […]
Wesley Hicks and Jerry Taylor were two of the approximately 20 white men lynched in Kentucky between 1880 and 1950. Their race and the unusual circumstances of the homicide accounts for the abundance of evidence. Wesley Hicks, also known as Wes Hicks, was born around 1835, which put him around 50 years-old when he was […]
There is little extent biographical information on Jobe Grainger. According to contemporary accounts, Grainger was an African Americans man who lived in Simpson County until 1891. He worked as a farmhand in the town of Franklin near the Kentucky-Tennessee border. His name was various spellings in different newspapers, as “Job” or “Jobe.” He also went […]
There is little extent biographical information on Jackson Williams. The name “Jack Williams” and “Jackson Williams” were common, with over 40 distinct Jack Williams recorded in the census during the late 1800s. Yet, data from contemporary accounts found that that Jackson Williams was a white man who had two brothers, Thomas and an unnamed brother. […]
According to the 1880 U.S. Census, James Stone, an African American man, was born in 1875 to Henry Stone and Azora Stone. Henry Stone was born around 1830 in Tennessee, and it is likely that he was formerly enslaved. Azora was born in 1850 in Kentucky, and she also was likely formerly enslaved. In 1880, […]
William Thacker was a white lynching victim, which accounts for the detailed documentary evidence of his life and death. Thacker was born on May 5th, 1859 in Lawrence, Kentucky. He was raised by Nathaniel and Lucrecia Thacker and was the eldest of 4 children. In 1881 Thacker married Molly Mary Prater. The couple had five […]
Walter Merrick was one of approximately twenty white men lynched in Kentucky between 1880 and 1950. Merrick’s race and the unusual circumstances of the lynching accounts for the abundance of official evidence detailing Merrick’s life and homicide. Merrick was born in March 1891 in Caldwell County, Kentucky. His parents, James and Mary, raised Walter and […]
The family of William Butcher appears in the 1880s U.S. Census. Butcher’s mother and father were African Americans born in Tennessee around 1860. They were likely enslaved. In the 1880 Census, John Butcher, William’s father, was listed as a 25-year-old farmworker and Alice Butcher, William’s mother, was a 21-year-old housekeeper. William Butcher was their only […]
While not much is known about Raymond Bushrod’s early years, it is worth noting that Bushrod spent significant amounts of time in Indiana, not Kentucky. According to the 1880 census, Raymond Bushrod’s parents were Horace and Nina Bushrod. Raymond had three siblings, Susan and Horace Jr who were older, and Charles who was younger. Horace […]
