On July 12, 1898, a mob of vigilantes in Albemarle removed John Henry James from a train bound for Charlottesville from the Shenandoah Valley where he had been transported for safekeeping after being arrested on allegations of raping a young woman.
“John Henry James was one of at least 84 people lynched during the period of 1877 to 1950 in Virginia and the national Equal Justice Initiative has determined and documented that it was in Albemarle County where Mr. James’ body was shot dozens of times and his corpse was left hanging in public for hours,” said Albemarle Supervisor Michael Pruitt at the June 12 meeting of the Board of Supervisors.
Pruitt read from a proclamation marking July 12 as John Henry James and noted that no one was punished for the action. James never had his day in court.
“What happened [happened] at the hands of over 150 unmasked white men in the presence of the county sheriff and the county’s police chief,” Pruitt said.
Supervisors first marked July 12 as John Henry James Day in 2021 and have issued a proclamation ever year since.
Supervisor Ned Gallaway said the county sanctioned the lynching in the late 19th century and must look back.
“The Board was complicit, the Board that we now represent and its incredibly important that we take responsibility for that complicity,” Gallaway said. “It would be naive to think that elected officials and government officials, based on the timing of when Mr. James was pulled off the train, the timing of all that, that there weren’t folks that were both elected or in positions to be able to protect weren’t complicit with those 150 folks.”
Supervisor Diantha McKeel took a field trip with many other community members to Montgomery, Alabama where the Equal Justice Initiative’s National Memorial stands to commemorate over 4,400 victims of lynching.
“It is a very moving memorial and while a large contingency from Albemarle County and [Charlottesville] went I would encourage everybody when you have a chance to go down there and see that memorial,” McKeel said. “It is very impactful.”
Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingeley said there were other elements of the Community Remembrance Project including the marker in Court Square to the lynching that was unveiled in 2019.
“Also this county is supporting the collection of soil from the lynching site and its displayed at different places around the county along with information about the lynching,” Hingeley said.
Last year, Hingely brought forth a motion in Albemarle County Circuit Court to dismiss the indictment against John Henry James
“It created another form of the record of this past injustice,” Hingeley said. “The lynching was countenanced by the legal system. It was not outside the legal system and that’s a hard truth, but it’s the truth.”
Hingeley said his predecessor in 1898 had convened a special grand jury to indict James posthumously to give cover to the mob.
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