Buried Alive
September 1, 1894
Summary
A 65 year old black man is buried alive by a mob of white man after he fails to know anything about the murder of one of the white man’s child.
Transcription
Some persons have been disposed to doubt that the horrible outrages perpetrated upon our people in this country were true.
And yet Thursday, August 23rd, 1894, near Lexington, KY, a white man named Robert Tucker caught an old colored man named Andy martin, who is sixty five years of age, and endeavored to force him to tell about the murder of his son which had occurred in that neighborhood.
The old colored man knew nothing. Accordingly Tucker, assisted by another white man named Scott Van Meter took this colored man to an orchard, dug a grave, pinioned his arms and legs and buried him alive for nearly twenty minutes. They threatened him with death should he tell anything about it.
The colored man is in a precarious condition as a result of this treatment and the white men have been arrested.
In this case the horrors of the Middle Ages have been out done.
Here, in the 19th century, with the refulgent beams of the twentieth to be seen in the distance, a colored man is buried alive by white men who lay a claim to the Christiazing influences of civilization.
When will the end come?
The awful sufferings of that old man can never be fully realized. Innocent he was - his enemies concede that, and yet he was subjected to a torture which was too inhuman to be perpetrated upon the meanest criminal.
It is a sad commentary upon our civilization. It shows conclusively that our government in many particulars is radically weak and that the failure to administer impartially the laws has multiplied crime and increased the evil propensities of the vicious.
And yet Thursday, August 23rd, 1894, near Lexington, KY, a white man named Robert Tucker caught an old colored man named Andy martin, who is sixty five years of age, and endeavored to force him to tell about the murder of his son which had occurred in that neighborhood.
The old colored man knew nothing. Accordingly Tucker, assisted by another white man named Scott Van Meter took this colored man to an orchard, dug a grave, pinioned his arms and legs and buried him alive for nearly twenty minutes. They threatened him with death should he tell anything about it.
The colored man is in a precarious condition as a result of this treatment and the white men have been arrested.
In this case the horrors of the Middle Ages have been out done.
Here, in the 19th century, with the refulgent beams of the twentieth to be seen in the distance, a colored man is buried alive by white men who lay a claim to the Christiazing influences of civilization.
When will the end come?
The awful sufferings of that old man can never be fully realized. Innocent he was - his enemies concede that, and yet he was subjected to a torture which was too inhuman to be perpetrated upon the meanest criminal.
It is a sad commentary upon our civilization. It shows conclusively that our government in many particulars is radically weak and that the failure to administer impartially the laws has multiplied crime and increased the evil propensities of the vicious.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Lower Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Carlos Serrano
Citation
“Buried Alive,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed March 15, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1490.