Jeter Mitchell
Jeter Mitchell, a Black man held at the Northampton County jail in Jackson, North Carolina, was taken from the jail by a mob on the night of December 27, 1901, and hanged from a tree in the courthouse yard. According to a 1901 newspaper report, the jailer handed over the keys to the outer door but would not open the cell, so the men cut through the hinges to reach him. The paper reported that Mitchell maintained his innocence, and that Captain Thomas W. Mason said the county opposed mob law.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. The jailer gave up the keys to the outer door but refused to open the cell, and the men cut the hinges to reach him.
Reported by: Northampton County jailer (the agency that held him); the newspaper report.