The identity of the original “Judge Lynch” is probably beyond discovery. See an examination of the question by Mr. Albert Matthews in Notes and Queries, 10 S. xi. 445, 515; xii. 133–5.
1817. In the year 1792, there were many suits on the south side of James River, for inflicting Lynch’s law.—S. Roane in Wirt’s ‘Life of Patrick Henry’ (1817), 372. (N.E.D.)
1820. No commentator has taken any notice of Linch’s Law, which was once the lex loci of the frontiers. Its operation was as follows: when a horse thief, a counterfeiter, or any other desperate vagabond, infested a neighbourhood, evading justice by cunning, or by a strong arm, or by the number of his confederates, the citizens formed themselves into a “regulating company,” a kind of holy brotherhood, whose duty was to purge the community of its unruly members…. Squire Birch (sic), who was personated by one of the party, established his tribunal under a tree in the woods, and the culprit was brought before him, tried, and generally convicted.—James Hall, ‘Letters from the West,’ pp. 291–2 (Lond.). (Italics in the original.)
1823. [They informed him] that unless he quitted the town and state immediately, he should receive Lynch’s law, that is, a whipping in the woods.—W. Faux, ‘Memorable Days in America,’ p. 304 (Lond.). [For a fuller citation, see YANKEE.]
1834. Sometimes they give him Lynch’s Law, after old Nick Lynch, who invented it in Virginny, long before your time or mine.—W. G. Simms, ‘Guy Rivers,’ i. 63 (N.Y., 1837).
1836. The operation of lynching is graphically described in ‘Col. Crockett in Texas,’ pp. 100–3 (Phila.).
1838. [A free negro was drowned in the Mississippi,] under the sentence of that most unmerciful of judges, Judge Lynch.—The Jeffersonian, Albany, May 26, p. 120.
1844. Nothing—nothing but General Jackson, and his reverence for justice, protected [Judge Hall] from the decree of Judge Lynch.—Mr. Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, House of Repr., Jan. 6: Cong. Globe, p. 114.
1844. A parcel of men who were committing various acts of violence, under the authority of “Lynch,” or, as they styled themselves, Regulators.—Phila. Spirit of the Times, Nov. 8.
1853. See Paxton’s ‘A Stray Yankee in Texas,’ pp. 315–97, with a full account of the notorious “Murrel gang.”
1860. A correspondent of the Richmond Enquirer, April 12, 1860, p. 4/5, states that the originator of Lynch law was Col. Charles L. Lynch, whose residence, at the time of the Revolution, was on Staunton River, Va. His father was the founder of Lynchburg.
1901. See a paper on ‘The Real Judge Lynch,’ by Mr. T. W. Page, in the Atlantic Monthly, for December.
1904. They told me frankly that they were on the way to have a lynching-bee. For two hours I talked with them, using every argument I could think of, and finally persuaded them to disband.—W. N. Harben, ‘The Georgians,’ p. 62.
1909. The verdict in the Rankin murder case at Union City means that something of the spirit which is stirring eastern Kentucky to mend its ways has visibly touched western Tennessee. The jurymen called to pass judgment on the eight night riders knew full well the savage vindictiveness of Reelfoot Lake, its free and easy assassins, and “lynching bees.” And since the trial opened they have been warned that the law of an eye for an eye still holds. In the face of personal danger, however, they have found the defendants guilty and recommended heavy punishment.—N.Y. Ev. Post., Oct. (?)
1911. The lynchers are on top—near Charleston, South Carolina. There a despicable wretch was lynched a week ago yesterday. It was done, says the Charleston Evening Post, in the “most approved and up-to-date fashion.” Automobiles filled with “prominent citizens” took part in the chase. “Among those present” was a Representative in the General Assembly, the Honorable Joshua Ashley, who with his son took the prisoner from the sheriff. But, of course, now that the event is over, nobody knows anything about the crime.—Id., Oct. 19.
1911. As reported in the Spartanburg Herald, [Gov. Blease of S. Carolina] dealt with the race question in the most brutal and lawless fashion. He declared openly that he approved of lynching, and added that the negroes of South Carolina knew that he would not send troops to prevent their being lynched.—Id., July 13.
