Obscure history of Black lynchings in Kansas inspires activism against modern-day racism

LAWRENCE — A swarm of perhaps 100 white men forced their way into the Douglas County Jail to grab George Robertson, Isaac King and Pete Vinegar from their cells and force them to the Kansas River bridge.

What happened next may come as a surprise to residents of a city burnished by a legacy of free state abolitionist sentiment and knowledge of the mass slaughter of men and boys by William Quantrill’s pro-slavery raiders. The three Black men, with tacit endorsement of local law enforcement, were at the mercy of vigilantes. The throng placed ropes around the neck of each man. They were hung until dead from the old stone, wood and steel river crossing.

“Early one morning in June of 1882, a masked mob of 100 men broke into the city jail and pulled out three African-Americans who had been jailed just a day or two previously,” said Randy Krehbiel, a member of Plymouth Congregational Church in Lawrence. “Took them to the bridge, which was a short distance away, a bridge over the Kansas River, and hung them off steel girders.”

Two of the three had been arrested for murder of a white man, but no evidence tied Vinegar to that crime. Cindy Schott and Kathy Schott Gates wrote about the lynching in their book, “Boys, Let Me Down Easy.” The title came from reports of King’s final words. His killers apparently obliged by lowering him gingerly to allow him to slowly strangle rather than swiftly cause death by snapping his neck.

Read more: https://kansasreflector.com/2021/02/12/obscure-history-of-black-lynchings-in-kansas-inspires-activism-against-modern-day-racism/