THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF LYNCH LAW. BY HOWELL COLSTON FEATHERSTON, OF THE LYNCHBURG (VA.) BAR. THERE is, perhaps, no term in general and common use among the English speaking people, the true origin and signifi cance of which are so little understood as are those of the name lynch law. It is sup posed by most persons that it had its origin, as it has its modern application, in deeds of wild lawlessness or ruthless murder; and that the man whose name it commemorates was one whose inclinations, habits and accomplish ments well fitted him for the leadership of such a pirate band as could best execute his ¿aw. Such, however, is not the case. There exists the warrant of statute law — though, indeed, it is r.r post facto — for the commis sion of the acts which first found an applica tion for this term; and the man who by it is " damned to everlasting fame " was one of the first gentlemen in an age and community of gentlemen, whose superiors in true court liness, manhood, and self-sacrificing patri otism, the world has never seen. It is a remarkable fact that no authentic and exhaustive history of lynch law has ever been published, and it is the purpose of the present article to supply this deficiency. In its preparation the writer has not hesitated to make use of, or even to take passages from, the several articles he has seen on this subject, when found historically correct. In this connection he would particularly mention the valuable sketches which from time to time appeared from the pen of the late Robert W. Carroll, of the Cincinnati (Ohio) bar, a descendant of the Lynch family. From the days when Cain"slew Abel, men have been wont occasionally to take the law into their own hands, and execute summary justice, or injustice, on the objects of their suspicion, enmity or mistrust. No name of general use and application, however, other than that of mob law, was ever coined to
characterize acts of this kind prior to the general acceptation of the term lynch law. In one section of England, some centuries ago, mob law %vas called " Lydford Law "; but that term never became more than a localism. A Devonshire poet wrote of it: •• I oft have beard of Lydford law. How in the morn they hang and draw. And sit in judgment after."
It was entirely provincial, however, and failed to secure the recognition of contemporary lexicographers. Lynch law, though originally a localism and restricted in its application to a systematic, though summary, mode of trial and punishment when guilt was established, has now become an accepted term of the English language, and the common name by which all acts of lawless violence are usually designated. None of the earlierEnglish lexicographers, such as Sheridan, Johnson, Richardson, Walker and Boag, give the terms " lynch ing" or "lynch law," or any word derived from the same stem; whilst Craig's Edin burgh edition, 1859, has "to lynch" and characterizes it as an Americanism. Wor cester gives "lynch " and " lynch law," defin ing them practically as Webster (whose definition is given below) does, but ventur ing no opinion as to their origin. He merely mentions the fact that these terms find an occasional application in the southeastern portion of the United States. In the several editions of Webster we see something of the development of these words. In his edition of 1856, he gives as the defini tion of lynch, " To inflict pain, or punish, without the forms of law, as by a mob, or by unauthorized persons," marking it as of American origin. At the same time he de fines "lynched" as "punished or abused without the forms of law," and " lynch law " as
