Salisbury in Rowan County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Lynching in America
⎯⎯⎯
Lynching of African Americans in Rowan County

Community Remembrance Project

Lynching in America side of marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 13, 2023

1. Lynching in America side of marker

Inscription. Lynching in America Racial terror lynching claimed the lives of thousands of African Americans and created a legacy of injustice that can still be felt today. After slavery ended, many white people remained committed to racial hierarchy and used lethal violence and terror against Black communities to maintain a racial, economic and social order that oppressed and marginalized Black people. Lynching became the most public and notorious form of subordination directed at Black people and was frequently tolerated or even supported by law enforcement and elected officials. White mobs were usually permitted to engage in brutal violence with impunity. Many Black people were pulled out of jails or given over to mobs by law enforcement officials who were legally required to protect them. Terror lynchings often included burnings and mutilation, sometimes in front of crowds numbering in the thousands. Many of the victims of these acts of violence were not recorded and remain unknown, but over 120 lynchings have been documented in North Carolina. On January 15, 2019. Salisbury's City Council formally adopted a Resolution of Reconciliation,

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committing the city to enacting policies and practices to guarantee equity and justice as well as the publication of an annual report on the city's efforts to eliminate inequity. Memorializing this history is a critical step in advancing the continuing struggle for equality and dismantling systemic inequities.

Lynching of African Americans in Rowan County On June 11, 1902, a white mob of more than fifty men abducted two African American children, ages 13 and 11, named Harrison and James Gillespie from the Rowan County jail and lynched them in front of a crowd of over 400 people. The two boys had been arrested and accused of murder. The white mob hanged them and shot their bodies repeatedly. Four years later, on August 6, 1906, two African American men, Jack Dillingham and Nease Gillespie, and Mr. Gillespie's teenage son, John Gillespie, were abducted from the Rowan County jail in Salisbury and lynched by a white mob of more than two thousand people. Without any evidence of their guilt, they were accused of killing four members of a white family in their home in Unity Township in July 1906, primarily because they worked for the white

Lynching of African Americans in Rowan County side of marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 13, 2023

2. Lynching of African Americans in Rowan County side of marker

homeowner. More than two decades later, Laura Wood, a 59-year-old African American woman, who was a farmer, wife, and mother, was lynched on February 11, 1930 in Barber. Mrs. Wood had been accused of stealing food from her white employer. After her family noticed she was missing, her body was found not far from her home hanged from a tree with an iron chain. During this era, the deep racial hostility that permeated Southern society burdened Black people with a presumption of guilt while lynching and other acts of racial terror denied them equal justice under the law. Almost all of the mob members escaped punishment for these acts of lynching.

Erected 2021 by Actions in Faith & Justice Remembrance Project • Equal Justice Initiative.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Law Enforcement. In addition, it is included in the Lynching in America series list. A significant historical date for this entry is June 11, 1902.

Location. 35° 40.204′ N, 80° 28.131′ W. Marker is in Salisbury, North Carolina, in Rowan County. It is at the intersection of North Church Street and

Lynching of African Americans in Rowan County / Lynching in America Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 13, 2023

3. Lynching of African Americans in Rowan County / Lynching in America Marker

West Liberty Street, on the right when traveling south on North Church Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Salisbury NC 28144, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Piedmont

and in Greater Charlotte.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Old English Cemetery (within shouting distance of this marker); Rowan County World War I Memorial (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Elizabeth Maxwell Steele (about 500 feet away); Stoneman’s Raid (about 600 feet away); Washington’s Tour of the Southern States (about 600 feet away); Rowan County Courthouse (about 600 feet away); Washington's Southern Tour (about 600 feet away); St. Luke’s Episcopal Church

Lynching of African Americans in Rowan County Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Brandon D Cross, June 14, 2024

4. Lynching of African Americans in Rowan County Marker

“A Replica marker of one side is located at the Equal Justice Initiatives' National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. The Equal Justice Initiative supports efforts to locally memorialize documented victims of racial violence and to educate communities about the history of racial injustice.” Mark Hilton

(about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Salisbury.

Also see . . .
1. Lot 269: Historical cabinet card: Hariss and James Gellespie lynching. Rare photograph of the twin lynching of brothers Harrison and James Gillespie in 1902. The cabinet card was discovered in a Greensboro, N.C. attic and sold at auction in 2023. Note: Image is graphic and may be disturbing for some viewers. (Ledbetter Auctions, via Invaluable.com) (Submitted on January 3, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

2. Postcard of the bodies of Nease Gillespie, John Gillespie and Jack Dillingham. Photograph of their corpses after they were lynched in 1906. Note: Image is graphic and may be disturbing for some viewers. (National Museum of African American History and Culture via History Archives) (Submitted on January 4, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

Credits. This page was last revised on October 17, 2024. It was originally submitted on January 2, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 594 times since then and 64 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on January 2, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 4. submitted on October 16, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.

Lynching in America⎯⎯⎯Lynching of African Americans in Rowan County

Community Remembrance Project

Lynching in America
⎯⎯⎯
Lynching of African Americans in Rowan County