Benjamin Thomas
Benjamin Thomas, a Black man, was held in the Alexandria jail in Virginia in August 1899. On the night of August 8, a crowd of several hundred people, by the Richmond Dispatch's count about a thousand, forced their way into the jail and searched the cells and cellar, where they found him hidden. The Free Lance reported that jail guards, reinforced by extra officers, resisted, while the Alexandria Gazette said officers trying to stop the crowd were overwhelmed. After the crowd dragged him from a neighboring house, they shot him, hanged him from a lamp post downtown and fired more shots into his body, and the city coroner's inquest recorded gunshot wounds and hanging as the cause of death.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob broke into the Alexandria jail, pulled Benjamin Thomas from a hiding place, and hanged him from a lamp post while pistols were fired into his body; the city coroner's inquest recorded gunshot wounds and hanging.
Reported by: city coroner's inquest (medical examiner or coroner); news reports.