A Boy Lynched
August 13, 1904
Summary
The Planet suggests “if Virginia proposes to permit the execution of children, it would be well for the world to know it” after color boy is killed without trial.
Transcription
Andrew Dudley, a colored boy who said to have been fourteen years of age, but is alleged by some people to have been about nine years of age was taken from the constable at Afton, Va., Thursday, August 4th and lynched.
He was charged with having attempted to criminally assault two little white girls, near greenfield, nelson county, Va. The report states that he struck the small girl, named Dameron, when she ran crying to Mrs. Mclain. In absence of this one, he attempted to assault the other one, Bloomer McLain, nine years of age. The girl’s mother arrived during the altercation. The white children were not injured.
The lynching was without palliation or excuse and men guilty of this murder should be apprehended and punished. If Virginia proposes to permit the execution of children, it would be well for the world to know it.
It was murder-cold-blooded and premeditated. It is now reported that the colored people in that section are much aroused and are making threats. This will do no good and may cause much harm.Talk is cheap. It is action that counts. If the lynchers are known, secure warrants for their arrest and put them to the expense and trouble of being charged with and tried for murder.
Men, who would hang an irresponsible boy, without trial and in violation of the law of the land, are guilty of murder in the first degree and should be themselves hanged and the accessories to the crime should be given a long term in the penitentiary.
The case is a sad one. Nothing is said about Dudley's parents or of his opportunities or of his training. He was brutally murdered and silence reigns in the neighborhood.
The fault is with the officer, who failed to protect his prisoner and with the murderers, who lynched him.
The guilty parties are known to the officers of the law. The Common wealth's Attorney should do his duty and the machinery of the law should lie put in motion to the end that none of the guilty men shall escape punishment.
Lynch-law must go!
He was charged with having attempted to criminally assault two little white girls, near greenfield, nelson county, Va. The report states that he struck the small girl, named Dameron, when she ran crying to Mrs. Mclain. In absence of this one, he attempted to assault the other one, Bloomer McLain, nine years of age. The girl’s mother arrived during the altercation. The white children were not injured.
The lynching was without palliation or excuse and men guilty of this murder should be apprehended and punished. If Virginia proposes to permit the execution of children, it would be well for the world to know it.
It was murder-cold-blooded and premeditated. It is now reported that the colored people in that section are much aroused and are making threats. This will do no good and may cause much harm.Talk is cheap. It is action that counts. If the lynchers are known, secure warrants for their arrest and put them to the expense and trouble of being charged with and tried for murder.
Men, who would hang an irresponsible boy, without trial and in violation of the law of the land, are guilty of murder in the first degree and should be themselves hanged and the accessories to the crime should be given a long term in the penitentiary.
The case is a sad one. Nothing is said about Dudley's parents or of his opportunities or of his training. He was brutally murdered and silence reigns in the neighborhood.
The fault is with the officer, who failed to protect his prisoner and with the murderers, who lynched him.
The guilty parties are known to the officers of the law. The Common wealth's Attorney should do his duty and the machinery of the law should lie put in motion to the end that none of the guilty men shall escape punishment.
Lynch-law must go!
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Megan Brooks
Citation
“A Boy Lynched,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed February 19, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/660.