Christopher C. Davis was a Black man who lived near

Albany, Ohio Albany is a village in Athens County, Ohio, United States. The population was 828 at the 2010 census. Geography Albany is located at (39.228787, -82.200363). According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of wh ...

with his wife and two children. He worked as a farm laborer. In 1881, he was accused of raping and assaulting a White woman, after which he was arrested. While in jail in

Athens, Ohio Athens is a city and the county seat of Athens County, Ohio. The population was 23,849 at the 2020 census. Located along the Hocking River within Appalachian Ohio about southeast of Columbus, Athens is best known as the home of Ohio Universit ...

, before his trial, a mob of White men broke into the jail and

lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

him by hanging him from a bridge over the

Hocking River The Hocking River (formerly the Hockhocking River) is a right tributary of the Ohio River in southeastern Ohio in the United States. The Hocking flows mostly on the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau, but its headwaters are in a glaciated region. ...

. None of the White men were indicted of a crime.

Accusation and lynching

On October 30, 1881, a White woman who lived near Davis, Lucinda Luckey, reported that she had been raped and assaulted. Her family members accused Davis, who had known Luckey for some time, worked as a farmhand for her, and allowed her to stay in his house after she experienced a house fire. He was arrested and sent to a jail in

Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio. It is the only city in Ross Count ...

over fears that he would be lynched, though he was sent back to

on November 20 for his trial. The next day, November 21, a mob of White men traveled from Albany to Athens to break into the jail, overpower the sheriff, and take Davis to a bridge over the

. Davis told the mob he was innocent of the crime, then was told that he would be returned to the jail if he admitted guilt. He was said to have replied "I'm the man", after which they

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...

him. None of the men who killed him were charged, and members of the mob included community leaders. An 1883 publication that recounted the lynching said, "No one has ever been brought to justice for complicity in it. In fact, public sympathy was so strong that little effort was made to investigate the facts."

Legacy

Lynched in Alabama eji, Montgomery (37973228785)

In 2019, members of several local organizations created the Christopher Davis Community Remembrance Project in partnership with the

Equal Justice Initiative The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is a non-profit organization, based in Montgomery, Alabama, that provides legal representation to prisoners who may have been wrongly convicted of crimes, poor prisoners without effective representation, and othe ...

. In fall of 2019, they held a remembrance event for Davis by the bridge where he was killed, collecting soil from the base of the bridge with an attendance of over 300 people. The soil was sent to

The Legacy Museum The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration is a museum in Montgomery, Alabama, that displays the history of slavery and racism in America. This includes the enslavement of African-Americans, racial lynchings, segregation, and rac ...

. In 2020, a historical marker was added to Mulberry Street in Athens, near the site of the bridge, to memorialize Davis. The events of the lynching were the basis of a play called ''Southbridge'' by Reginald Edmund.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Christopher Murdered African-American people 1881 murders in the United States People from Albany, Ohio November 1881 events People murdered in Ohio Racially motivated violence against African Americans American murder victims Deaths by person in Ohio Lynching deaths in Ohio