Asbury Green
MSA SC 3520-13739
Lynched in Centreville, May 13, 1891
Biography:
Asbury Green, an African American man, was lynched in Centreville, May 13, 1891 for the assault of Mrs. Howard Tolsen. Mrs. Tolsen was the wife of a farmer residing on Kent Island. Her husband was away on business when she claimed Green entered her home around 9:30 at night on February 28, 1891. Green was arrested the following day and placed in the county jail to await trial. An investigation was done and at the preliminary hearing Green was only charged with assault with intent to rape. Mrs. Tolsen did not want to disclose the fact that she had actually been raped by her attacker. It was not until a Grand Jury was sworn in during the month of May that all facts of the attack were made known.
Asbury Green's trial was held with Judges Robinson, Wickes and Stump presiding over the case. On the behalf of Green's defense several men testified that they could account for Green's whereabouts during the time of the assault. However, the jury was not convinced. The trial only lasted one day and Green was convicted on the charge of rape. He was sentenced to 21 years of confinement and hard labor in the state penitentiary. Many in the town were outraged that Green was not sentenced to death. The court did not sentence Green to death because they claimed there was some doubt of whether Green was the true attacker. At the end of the court proceeding there were several vague rumors that Green would be lynched.
Sheriff T. B. Turner increased the number of guards in case there was an attempt to lynch Green. The Sheriff added seven more guards to the night shift. However, this did not protect Green from harm. Around one o'clock that next morning there was a call from the outside gate of the jail. When deputy sheriff Seward went out to see who the call was coming from a mob of men rushed him and demanded the keys to the jail. When he refused they threw him down and forcibly took the keys from him. The mob then entered the jail armed with guns, pistols, rifles, and axes. They commanded the guards to keep quiet. The men unlocked the cell and placed a rope around Green's neck and dragged him out of the jail.
Green was dragged 300 yard away from the jail to an orchard. The mob then hung him by the neck with a rope from a peach tree. Witnesses believed Green was half dead when the mob reached the orchard. The crowd of 150 to 250 men quickly and quietly dispersed. On Tuesday a jury of inquest was summoned and their verdict follows:
"Certain parties, feloniously, voluntarily and of malice aforethought, dragged from the county jail the said Asbury Green did kill by strangulation and dislocation of the spinal column and by hanging to a tree, said parties being to the jury unknown, and did then and there kill and murder the said Asbury Green" ( Centreville Record, 16 May 1891).The body of Asbury Green was buried that next Wednesday by the Sheriff and his deputies. African Americans in the area were outraged by the lynching. Several threats to burn down the town frightened citizens of Centreville. The citizens of Centreville claimed they were not responsible for the lynching. It was believed that the mob came from out of town. The Good Will Fire Company patrolled the town to ensure peace. Regardless of the threats no retaliation was reported.
Link to Lynching Profile Questionnaire
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