John Henry James

On July 11, 1898, Charlottesville authorities arrested John Henry James on suspicion of sexually assaulting Julia Hotepp, a young white woman from a wealthy local family. That same night, authorities places James on a train to Staunton in an attempt to avoid extralegal violence from the growing white lynch mob.

The next day, Frank Parish (Charlottesville Chief of Police) and Lucien Watts (Albemarle County Sheriff) took James into their custody in Staunton. Supposedly intent on returning to Charlottesville for a trial, James would never make it back to town alive.

Armed men board the train about four miles east of Charlottesville at Wood's Crossing Station and seized James. These men when murdered James by hanging him from a locust tree. The body of John Henry James was further mutilated and left to hang for hours. Even though James was now dead, a grand jury still convened and handed down a guilty verdict.