Joseph McCoy

Joseph McCoy, a Black man, was being held in the Alexandria jail in Virginia in April 1897. According to the accounts, a mob of about five hundred men broke into the jail in the early hours of the morning, took him out and hanged him from a lamp post. One account says officers first fired revolvers to frighten the crowd away, but the mob returned, battered in a door and dragged him out. The other account says the crowd had made two earlier attempts and overpowered the jailers.

Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched

Reported by: news reports.

News reports (2)

• Daily Public Ledger, April 23, 1897, page 3 Daily Public Ledger, April 23, 1897
• The Times, April 23, 1897, page 1 The Times, April 23, 1897