Charles Davis

Outcome

unknown

In November 1889, Charles Davis, a Black man, was lynched after being accused in the same alleged incident that led to the killings of George Johnson and Squire Taylor. Davis had not been convicted of any crime. A white mob removed Davis and hanged him without trial. The killings were carried out together as a single act of racial terror, demonstrating how mob violence operated to override the legal system and enforce white supremacy through collective punishment. Authorities failed to protect Davis or pursue justice after his death. The absence of accountability reflects the broader denial of due process and legal protection for Black people during this period. Charles Davis’s lynching highlights the collective nature of racial terror, where multiple lives were taken in a single episode to intimidate entire communities. His death became part of the historical record later used by anti-lynching activists to demand recognition, accountability, and federal action.