That Flogging at Suffolk
January 13, 1906
Summary
A young “negro” in Suffolk, Virignia, is brutally punished for a minor crime as an “example” to the rest of the African American people.
Transcription
The following account of the brutal flogging at Suffolk, Va. will surprise many people in the country, who did not believe that such punishment was permissible within the confines of this commonwealth as follows:
SUFFOLK, VA. January 10th-- Spencer Thornton, a 15 year old colored boy, was cowhided in the mayor’s court last evening by Chief of Police Brinkley at the order of Mayor Kilby. Thirty lashes was the punishment.
Thornton was found guilty of shoplifting from the Thompson Company. Mayor Kilby refused to impose a fine and ordered the chief to give thirty licks.
The mayor defined the ordinance on the matter, saying, at the discretion of the mayor, offenders under 16 years old can be whipped. He said he did not care to punish a poverty stricken parent for the boy’s offense.
The mother of Thornton was present when the police chief administered the punishment. She begged to pay a fine and not have her boy whipped, but no avail. The boy writhed under the pain of the lash, and before the punishment was over, a stout officer was detailed to hold him. The chief of police stated he hated to whip the prisoner, but the example was good. The boy was then exhausted. The mayor gave warning that the boys would be whipped hereafter instead of fined. There was much shoplifting here during the holidays by boys.
If this boy was exhausted after this brutal treatment, what is the natural conclusion as to the nature of the torture? If the mother were present, what must have been her feelings in the matter and yet Mayor Kilby refused to accept the fine because, as he alleges, he did not care to punish the poverty-stricken parent for the boy’s offenses. God knows we are at a loss to understand the motives and purposes of some of the white office-holders in this country. Every cut of the lash, Mayor Kilby left a streak in that mother’s heart. You brutalized her boy and attempted to make an honest urchins out of a thief and by the rope’s end.You will never do it, sir.
The work must be done in the heart and not upon the skin.
It is evident that the punishment was carried to the point of brutality. It was scandalous business and there is no doubting the truthfulness of the Chief of Police, when he announced that he did not desire to execute the decree of His Honor.
Are we to understand that all of the thieves in Suffolk are to be similarly treated> Are we to believe that the white girls and colored ones, that white boys as well as colored ones are to be offered up to the paralyzing torture of the lash? We shall see. We believe that Suffolk is now under a new political regime. If it has brought with it the whipping post, with all of its horror, the time for mourning is at hand. The lash is a relle of barbarism. It brutalizes the victim and hardly ever reforms him. It must be visited upon all alike in order to have even a semblance of justice in its administration.
As the matter now stands, Suffolk has advertised itself as having within its confines the worst class of thieves in the United States. Other sections do without it and let us hope that no other city in this commonwealth will proceed to imitate Suffolk’s outrageous example.
We wish all of the thieves were dead or in prison, and we feel sure that there would be more vacant seats around some of our white folks fireside that we know, but then we have to condone with them and not lash them into insensibility because of their thieving tendencies.
Thank God, there are thousands of justice-loving white people, who will note with regret this remarkable ebullition of the distinguished Mayor of Suffolk and who will mildly condemn and kindly advise him to pursue a different course in the future.
Spencer Thornton has been punished, but in doing so many more members of that community have had their merciful instincts blunted and their sense of justice outraged.
These are indeed times in one of the most liberal towns in old Virginia.
SUFFOLK, VA. January 10th-- Spencer Thornton, a 15 year old colored boy, was cowhided in the mayor’s court last evening by Chief of Police Brinkley at the order of Mayor Kilby. Thirty lashes was the punishment.
Thornton was found guilty of shoplifting from the Thompson Company. Mayor Kilby refused to impose a fine and ordered the chief to give thirty licks.
The mayor defined the ordinance on the matter, saying, at the discretion of the mayor, offenders under 16 years old can be whipped. He said he did not care to punish a poverty stricken parent for the boy’s offense.
The mother of Thornton was present when the police chief administered the punishment. She begged to pay a fine and not have her boy whipped, but no avail. The boy writhed under the pain of the lash, and before the punishment was over, a stout officer was detailed to hold him. The chief of police stated he hated to whip the prisoner, but the example was good. The boy was then exhausted. The mayor gave warning that the boys would be whipped hereafter instead of fined. There was much shoplifting here during the holidays by boys.
If this boy was exhausted after this brutal treatment, what is the natural conclusion as to the nature of the torture? If the mother were present, what must have been her feelings in the matter and yet Mayor Kilby refused to accept the fine because, as he alleges, he did not care to punish the poverty-stricken parent for the boy’s offenses. God knows we are at a loss to understand the motives and purposes of some of the white office-holders in this country. Every cut of the lash, Mayor Kilby left a streak in that mother’s heart. You brutalized her boy and attempted to make an honest urchins out of a thief and by the rope’s end.You will never do it, sir.
The work must be done in the heart and not upon the skin.
It is evident that the punishment was carried to the point of brutality. It was scandalous business and there is no doubting the truthfulness of the Chief of Police, when he announced that he did not desire to execute the decree of His Honor.
Are we to understand that all of the thieves in Suffolk are to be similarly treated> Are we to believe that the white girls and colored ones, that white boys as well as colored ones are to be offered up to the paralyzing torture of the lash? We shall see. We believe that Suffolk is now under a new political regime. If it has brought with it the whipping post, with all of its horror, the time for mourning is at hand. The lash is a relle of barbarism. It brutalizes the victim and hardly ever reforms him. It must be visited upon all alike in order to have even a semblance of justice in its administration.
As the matter now stands, Suffolk has advertised itself as having within its confines the worst class of thieves in the United States. Other sections do without it and let us hope that no other city in this commonwealth will proceed to imitate Suffolk’s outrageous example.
We wish all of the thieves were dead or in prison, and we feel sure that there would be more vacant seats around some of our white folks fireside that we know, but then we have to condone with them and not lash them into insensibility because of their thieving tendencies.
Thank God, there are thousands of justice-loving white people, who will note with regret this remarkable ebullition of the distinguished Mayor of Suffolk and who will mildly condemn and kindly advise him to pursue a different course in the future.
Spencer Thornton has been punished, but in doing so many more members of that community have had their merciful instincts blunted and their sense of justice outraged.
These are indeed times in one of the most liberal towns in old Virginia.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Lower Right Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Emma Roberts
Citation
“That Flogging at Suffolk,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed October 9, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/138.