There is a tradition in the Drake family of South Carolina which ascribes the origin of the term to the precipitate hanging, to prevent a rescue, of a Tory named Major Beard, on Lynch Creek in Franklin County, North Carolina. The following account of it is given by John H. Wheeler, to whom it was communicated by Hon. B. F. Moore, who received it from the Drake family:
“The origin of lynch-law: During the revolution there was a noted tory ... in that portion formerly called Bute County, now embraced within the counties of Franklin and Nash, called Major Beard. Major John H. Drake lived near Hilliardston; he and his family were decided whigs. He had a daughter, beautiful and accomplished, by whose charms Beard was captivated; and the tradition runs, that the handsome figure and commanding air of Beard had its effect on the young lady, notwithstanding the difference in politics between him and her father. On one occasion, Beard encamped for the night near a mill on Swift Creek. This became known to Major Drake and other whigs, and they organized a force ... and captured him.... After some consultation it was resolved to take him as a prisoner to headquarters of Colonel Seawell, commanding in camp at a ford on Lynch Creek, in Franklin County, about twenty miles off. He was tied on his horse and carried under guard. After reaching camp, it was determined to organize a court-martial, and try him for his life. But before proceeding to trial, a report came that a strong body of tories were in pursuit to rescue him; this created a panic, for they knew his popularity and power, so they hung him. The reported pursuit proved a false alarm, and it being suggested that as the sentence had been inflicted before the judgment of the court had been pronounced, therefore it was illegal. The body was then taken down, the court reorganized, he was tried, condemned and re-hung by the neck until he was dead.
“The tree on which he was hung stood not far from Rocky Ford, on Lynch’s Creek; and it became a saying in Franklin, when a person committed any offence of magnitude, that ‘he ought to be taken to Lynch Creek’; and so the word ‘Lynch law’ became a fixture in the English language.”[[24]]
In passing, the resemblance of this affair to Lydford law rather than lynch-law is to be noted, and also the fact that Wheeler, in his “History of North Carolina,” published thirty-three years earlier, gives an account of the hanging of “Captain Beard about 1778,” but says nothing about its being in any way connected with the origin of the term lynch-law. Indeed, according to this earlier account there was nothing irregular in the proceeding; he was hung in accordance with the ordinary rules of war. Beard and one of his band, named Porch, who had been captured with him, “were tried by a court-martial and both were forthwith hung. Such was the end of Captain Beard.”[[25]] The two accounts vary somewhat, but there is no room for doubt as to their having reference to the same occurrence. In short, the “tradition” in the Drake family must have arisen between 1851 and 1884. There is no evidence, further than this statement found in Wheeler’s book, that “Lynch law” became a fixture in the English language because of a saying common in Franklin County, North Carolina, that any one who committed a grave offense “ought to be taken to Lynch Creek.”
Some evidence has recently been brought forward indicating that lynch-law may have derived its name from Lynch’s Creek, South Carolina.[[26]] Some extracts from Boston newspapers in the year 1768, dated Charlestown, South Carolina, show the existence of “Regulators” at that time, and mention is made of a meeting that they were to have on Lynch’s Creek “where it was expected 1,200 would be assembled.” It is also evident that one of their methods of inflicting punishment was by whipping. One extract states that “the people called regulators have lately severely chastised one Lum, who is come to town; but we have not yet learnt the real cause of this severity to him.” The assertion has been made, therefore, that lynch-law derived its name from Lynch’s Creek, South Carolina, because at that place the practice of lynching began.
The practice which came to be known as “regulating” had its beginning earlier than 1768, however, and this beginning was not in the neighborhood of Lynch’s Creek. As early as 1766 it had begun in North Carolina and had extended from Granville County into Orange and Anson counties. Up to April, 1768, those who had taken part in these proceedings in North Carolina were designated by the appellation of the “Mob,” and seem to have adopted it themselves. But on April 4, 1768, at a general meeting, they dropped this name and formally adopted the name of “Regulators.”[[27]] When this practice of “regulating” was started in South Carolina it was instituted by Thomas Woodward, Joseph Kirkland, and Barnaby Pope,[[28]] who lived in the region between the Catawba and the Saluda Rivers, and not on the Pedee or Lynch’s Creek. Thus, a name—that of “Regulation,” not “Lynch Law,”—had been given this practice before it reached the Pedee section of the Province. If the conduct of the Regulators in South Carolina was to give the name to the practice of illegal punishment, it would have been called, not “Lynch Law,” but “Broad River Justice” or “Savannah Law.”[[29]]
No evidence has yet been found which shows any connection between “Lynch Law” and “Regulation” at this time.[[30]] Alexander Gregg, writing of the Regulator movement in the Carolinas, makes the statement: “They called themselves ‘Regulators’; and thus ‘Lynch law’ had its origin at this period.”[[31]] Dr. R. W. Gibbes had written eight years earlier than Gregg: “The Regulation, an association of respectable planters, took the matter in hand, and enforced order by a system of Lynch law.”[[32]] Neither of these writers, however, implies that the Regulation in South Carolina had anything to do with the origin of the term lynch-law. Joseph Johnson, in a book published in 1851, gave a brief account of the Regulators and Schofilites. He says, “the most respectable inhabitants united to inflict summary justice on the depredators and called themselves Regulators.”[[33]] In this connection he does not refer to lynch-law at all. In another connection he writes: “This process, in what is now called ‘lynch law,’ was then designated ‘regulating,’ and the associates for this purpose were called ‘Regulators.’”[[34]] No reference to lynch-law is to be found in Ramsay’s History of the Revolution in South Carolina which was published in 1785. Both of the accounts given by Wheeler of the occurrence at Lynch Creek, North Carolina, referred to above, imply that the term lynch-law was not in use any time previous to the Revolutionary War. As will appear later, the terms regulation and lynch-law are not found together until a much later date, and then they are not used in connection with events in the Carolinas.
Still another “Origin of Lynch’s law” is given in Niles’ Register for August 8, 1835.[[35]] An anecdote is related of an occurrence “in Washington County, Pa., many years ago.” A poaching vagabond, long under suspicion, was finally detected and told to leave the neighborhood in twenty-four hours on penalty of prosecution. The poacher refused to comply and a party of five or six of his neighbors went to his home and “proceeded to try him in due form, choosing one of their number, a farmer named Lynch, to be judge.” The judge “decided that the poacher should be tied up and receive three hundred lashes, ‘well laid on,’ and then be given twenty-four hours to leave the place under penalty of receiving three hundred more if found after that time. The first part of the sentence was inflicted on the spot, with such good intent as to render its repetition unnecessary. The culprit made off as fast as his lacerated limbs would permit him.”
Nothing further is known of this farmer named Lynch, who acted as judge at this impromptu trial, and there is no reason for regarding this incident as in any way connected with the origin of lynch-law. It is merely an instance of recourse to summary procedure against an unpopular individual. It may or may not have been known at the time as punishment by Lynch’s law.
We now come to the explanation of the origin of the term which has been most frequently given and which was for years accepted without question. It is to the effect that lynch-law originally had reference to the kind of law administered by Charles Lynch, in Virginia, during the latter part of the Revolutionary War.