The Lynching of Hezekiah Rankin

Asheville in Buncombe County, North Carolina.
Equal Justice Initiative, Buncombe Community Remembrance Project.

Marker inscription:
On September 24, 1891, a mob of at least 20 unmasked white men lynched a Black man named Hezekiah Rankin. Earlier that evening, a white co-worker at the Western North Carolina Railroad wanted Mr. Rankin to perform duties unrelated to his job.

Mr. Rankin declined, having previously been reprimanded for performing that specific task. His co-worker was insulted that Mr. Rankin would refuse the request of a white man, and the co-worker assaulted Mr. Rankin by throwing lumps of coal at his face.

Mr. Rankin left the scene. When Mr. Rankin returned, he was verbally accosted by the white man resulting in a second encounter during which Mr. Rankin was accused of shooting him. A group of at least 25 white railroad employees and white residents seized Mr. Rankin and held him in a nearby roundhouse.

Although notified, local law enforcement did not intervene. That night, the mob hanged Mr. Rankin from a tree along the French Broad River, just south of Smith's Bridge near the current River Arts District.

During this era, white lives held heightened value and any form of Black-on-white violence, including self defense, could spark white rage, mob violence, and lynching. Despite eyewitness testimony that identified mob members, a local jury conclude that Mr. Rankin came to his death "at the hands of parties unknown.”

Charges initially brought against four men were dropped, and no one was held accountable for the lynching of Mr. Rankin.
-End of marker inscription-
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Erected 2021 by Equal Justice Initiative, Buncombe Community Remembrance Project.
Photographed By Dave W, August 27, 2022
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Background:
The Buncombe Community Remembrance Project and the MLK Association of Asheville and Buncombe County partnered with EJI to dedicate three historical markers today in memory of three documented victims of racial terror lynching in Buncombe County: John Humphries (1888), Hezekiah Rankin (1891), and Bob Brackett (1897).

The dedication ceremony took place in downtown Asheville at Pack Square Park, where the marker memorializing John Humphries stands near the jail where a white mob abducted the teenager before he was lynched.

The marker memorializing the lynching of Bob Brackett is located at Triangle Park in The Block, a historically Black business district in Asheville.

The third marker, which memorializes the lynching of Hezekiah Rankin, was erected in front of the Craven Street Bridge in the River Arts District near the site where he was lynched.

Over 200 community members gathered at Pack Square Park on a rainy Saturday morning for the opening ceremony.

The program began after a musical selection by local performing arts group Westsound Productions, which provided the soundtrack for the event.

Coalition liaison and Vice Chair of the MLK Association of Asheville and Buncombe County Dr. Joseph Fox made opening remarks. Civil rights liaison and MLK Association Chair Dr. Oralene Simmons spoke about the coalition’s formation and how community stakeholders came together to advance the Historical Marker Project, as well as a Soil Collection Project and Racial Justice Essay Contest.

Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer connected the work of the Buncombe Community Remembrance Project to the city’s commitment to contemporary racial justice work, including a reparations initiative that is underway in Asheville.

County Commissioner Brownie Newman offered remarks reflecting on various manifestations of racial injustice in Buncombe County today and emphasized the need to end mass incarceration, housing discrimination, and the devastation of urban renewal projects.
Coalition liaison and Buncombe County Schools educator Eric Grant recognized the winners of the EJI Racial Justice Essay Contest and teachers who supported the contest.

The three winners—Sarah Ann Buchanan of North Buncombe High School, Jennifer Russ of the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences in Asheville, and Montana Gura of Asheville High School—were invited to read their essays at the marker unveilings, which took place at the site of the markers following the main ceremony.

The Rev. Brent La Prince Edwards centered the audience in prayer throughout the ceremony and unveilings.