Wide West, 25 December 1854
The Washington Sentinel, in a long and interesting article on this subject, says:
” Lynch Law originated in what is now known as the Piedmont country of Virginia, which was at the time the western frontier. The nearest court of criminal jurisdiction held its sessions at Williamsburg, which is but seven miles from Jamestown, where the first settlement was made. When the condition of the country at that time is duly considered, it will be seen that practically the inhabitants of the Piedmont country had no law, and were actually forced to be a law unto themselves. Misdemeanors and crimes of every sort were of frequent occurrence, and yet the apprehension and delivery of a crime involved an arduous journey of hundreds of miles, mostly through a wilderness, which not only occupied weeks but months-a journey which suggested the propriety of one’s making his will before undertaking it. But even supposing the arrest to be made and the criminal safely delivered to the officers of the law at Williamsburg, even then his conviction was next to impossible. The prosecuting attorney was of course entirely ignorant of the facts and of the evidence which he adduced. He could not spend weeks toiling on horseback or on foot, amidst the spurs of the mountains through a sparsely settled country, to hunt up witnesses and ascertain what knowledge they had of the circumstances connected with the criminal transactions.
In every district there were men of sound judgment and high character, to whom controversies were constantly referred, and whose decisions were regarded as final. Prominent among these was a man named Lynch, whose awards exhibited so much justice, judgment and impartiality that he was known throughout the country as Judge Lynch. In the course of time criminals were brought before him; and he awarded such punishment as he considered just and proper. He considered every case calmly and dispassionately, and when he entertained doubts as to the course to be pursued, he would consult with calm and dispassionate men before he proceeded to pronounce that sentence, from which there was no appeal. There were other persons, in different districts, who acted as arbitrators, and who awarded punishments; but Judge Lynch was the most conspicuous, and consequently the system took his name and was called Lynch Law. This was a compliment to his integrity and high character, but of late years it has been regarded as a reproach, because violent and unprincipled men, such men as he was wont to punish, have set the laws at defiance, and while inflamed with passion or maddened by a thirst for revenge, have usurped the prerogatives of the courts of justice.”