1884 Virginia Lynching

(My great grandpa is seated in the chair with two of his brothers beside him.)

I received the following email in answer to some questions of a 1884 lynching around Monterey, Virginia, in which my Great Grandfather John Robert Warwick may have been a part of the 1884 lynching mob in Monterey, Virginia of 1884. There was an older John Robert Warwick, which was an uncle to my great grandpa J.R. Warwick. (The email was dated 29 April 2011, from Michael Sellers)

This is an update of the 1884  lynching as it was sent to me.

"Hi, Linda, Just came across your message from March 20 seeking information about you great grandfather, John Robert Warwick, and the January 1884 lynching of E. D. Atcheson in Monterey, Highland County, VA.  I've done quite a bit of research regarding the lynch-murder of Atcheson.  I am a distant cousin of three of the men involved.  My research was more involved in what happened to and became of the men after they fled Highland County.  Another elder cousin of mine is a direct descendant of one of the men, while being related as a cousin to two others.  His research was extensive, which he then developed into a book.

"I regret to report that your great grandfather, John Robert Warwick, was not the lone man tried and acquitted by a Rockbridge County jury.  In fact, evidence and firsthand testimony shows that your great grandfather was not only an active participant but also nearly committed another murder during the lynch mob's removal of E. D. Atcheson from his jail cell.

"First, the lone man tried and acquitted of the charges by jury was John Anderson"J. A." Chestnut.  J. A. Chestnut was the only one of the 10 involved in Atcheson's murder to not flee Virginia.  Chestnut had been married for 11 years to Nancy Wiley and had 6 young children at the time of Atcheson's lynch-murder, plus his wife was 8 months pregnant with their 7th child.  I suspect that having 6 young children with the imminent arrival of a 7th were large reasons why he didn't flee.  Chestnut was born in Highland County and was well-known.  The trial was moved from Highland County to Rockbridge County in order for Chestnut's lawyer(s) to convene an impartial jury and to receive a fair trial.  

"I don't have the particulars of the trial itself, however, Chestnut was indeed acquitted of all charges.  After the trial, Chestnut returned to Highland County where he and his wife, Nancy, had at least two more children prior to 1890.  Chestnut and his wife separated shortly after 1910 and were divorced by 1920.  Upon the separation, Chestnut removed to the town of Cass in neighboring Pocahontas County, WV.  Chestnut died there on July 1, 1926, at the age of 77.  His body was returned to Mill Gap in Highland County where he was buried in Bird Cemetery.

"Second, in regards to your great grandfather, John Robert Warwick, he was positively identified by the jailer, Joseph Hiner, as being one of the 10 men who removed Atcheson from the jail and lynched him.  The following is somewhat of a paraphrase of Joseph Hiner's testimony when arrest warrants were issued for 9 of the 10 men involved in Atcheson's lynch-murder.  The 10th man has escaped anonymously into history as Hiner was unable to identify him:

"Just after midnight, in the early morning hours of Friday, January 4, 1884, 10 men broke into the Monterey jail, took E. D. Atcheson from his cell and lynched him from a tree on Trimble's Knob near Monterey. The jailer, Joseph Hiner, gave sworn testimony that 10 men, all smelling of liquor, approached and demanded the keys to the jail in order for Atcheson to be taken. Hiner refused, stating that he didn't have the keys, and the men abruptly left. A short time later the men again approached the jail but, this time, they were in possession of all the guns and weapons they could carry along with a rather large log that was to be used as a battering ram against the doors of the jail and Atcheson's cell itself. Hiner, however, stood in their way and, after a heated exchange in which one of the men, Robert Warwick, attempted to fire a rifle at Hiner himself, the men contented themselves with firing their weapons into the jail. Hiner further testified that many of the men were able to fire at Atcheson from close range, so close that Atcheson was able to knock the gun or rifle out of the hands of at least two of the men. Finally, the men were able to bust through the doors of the jail and into Atcheson's cell. Hiner stated that Atcheson was shot multiple times, at least four times from what he could see, and was barely breathing and nearly unconscious when the men dragged him out of the jail and into the snow. 

"Once outside, the men bound his ankles and wrists and began dragging him through the snow towards Trimble's Knob. Hiner further stated that one of the men shouted at him that he [Hiner] could find Atcheson at a particular tree along the road in the morning. At daylight the following morning, Hiner followed the trail of blood in the snow left by Atcheson being shot and dragged and indeed found him hanging from a white oak tree on Trimble's Knob located on Spruce Street just south of Monterey.

"Based on Hiner's eyewitness testimony, murder warrants were sworn out against 9 of the 10 men. In swearing out the warrants, Hiner stated that he was able to positively identify 9 of the 10 men because the masks worn by each of them had fallen during the course of the night. By the time the men had finally broken into the jail and retrieved Atcheson, they were no longer trying to hide their faces. All of the men identified were from, by all accounts, "outstanding families in the area", and most all of them were related in some way whether as cousins or by marriage.

"The family of one of the men involved, Giles H. Gum, independently corroborated Hiner's testimony by stating that Robert Warwick had indeed leveled a rifle at the jailer, Joseph Hiner, at close range with his finger on the trigger and was about to fire when Gum knocked the rifle from his hands at the last moment.  

"There is some speculation that Warwick did indeed fire his rifle at Hiner but that Gum knocked the rifle away a split second prior and the bullet instead richocheted off the jailhouse rather than striking Hiner.

"Though positively identified by the jailer, Joseph Hiner, the reason and/or cause of Robert Warwick's involvement in Atcheson's lynch-murder is the hardest to figure.  Most of the other men involved lived in the area around Mill Gap in Highland County and were related as cousins or by marriage, however, Warwick doesn't seem to be related to any of them and was, according to the previous 1880 Census, living in Huntersville in Pocahontas County, WV, some 25 miles southwest of Mill Gap.  Robert Warwick was definitely there and was well-known to the jailer, Joseph Hiner,  But, why or how Robert Warwick came to be in the Mill Gap area and how or why he came to be involved in Atcheson's lynch-murder is still murky, at best.

"According to John Robert Warwick's obituary in the "Fairview Newspaper" of Woods County, OK, he was married to Signora Gwin on January 16, 1882, in Harper's Ferry, WV.  He later "came to Kansas and taught school at Coldwater, waiting for the opening of Oklahoma's Cherokee Strip for settlement.  He 'made the run' Sept. 16, 1893.  As he was accustomed to the water and wood in abundance on the wooded hills and plains of West Virginia, he looked first for wood and water when looking for a homestead. He staked a claim 7 miles south of Alva, on Eagle Chief, but learning by experience that more abundance lay in the level wheat lands--he sold his wood-and-water farm and bought level wheat land 5 miles south of Alva. Here he and his wife lived until 1929 when they moved to Alva. His wife preceded him in death three years, almost to the exact time of his death, dying in Nov., 1934. John R. was said to have had cancer of his jaw."

"According to what I have, his 2nd child, Robert Lee Warwick, was born in November 1887 in West Virginia.  John Robert Warwick likely made the move to Kansas in either 1888 or 1889 before then "making the run" into Oklahoma in 1893.  Third child, Wilbur, was then born in Alva, Woods County, OK, on Oct. 13, 1895.

"I'm sure that Robert, as most did, came out to OK in 1893 and likely staked out where he was going to "make his run" in preparation for the Sept. 16, 1893, run into OK for the land grab.  I don't know, however, exactly when he left WV for KS prior to making the run into OK.

"Hope the above helps answer some of your questions.  I'm curious if there have been any stories handed down regarding his involvement in Atcheson's murder, even if its just rumor.  I've spoken to a good many descendants of the men involved, and invariably they report stories of the families uprooting in the middle of a night, piling into wagons all they could carry and simply disappearing into the night fleeing from Virginia.  Warwick appears to have just simply returned to neighboring Pocahontas County, WV, before then heading on to KS some years later.  I'd be interested in any info you have that could fill in some of the blanks.