He was ly.nched by a white mob General Lee was ly.nched on January 13, 1904, near Reevesville, Dorchester County, South Carolina.
He was an African American man, approximately thirty years old, with a wife named Henrietta and six children named Willie, Curtis, Bertha, Timothy, Nellie, and Lila. At the time of his death his estate did not exceed $50.
He reportedly had a bad reputation among the other African American people in his neighborhood, with The Manning Times reporting that members of his community expressed surprise that he had not been ly.nched earlier due to his behavior. He was accused of the attempted burglary and ra.pe of Miss A.P. Wimberly, a white widow, in her home.
He had allegedly been stalking her at the store she owned before attempting to burglarize her home and ra.pe her. Wimberly claimed that she frightened him away by her cries for help. Several pieces of evidence that indicated he was the assailant, including footprints that matched his shoes and step, were reported. Brass knuckles were found outside Wimberly’s door.
He was arrested and kidnapped from custody on the way to jail. A mob of about 50 unknown men hanged and shot him. Governor Heyward, moved by Lee’s lynching, delivered an anti-lynching message to the General Assembly on January 20, 1904.
He recommended that the state pass special legislation that would give power back to law enforcement officials and provide more effective measures to apprehend lynchers who take the law into their own hands.
Heyward knew that he, as governor, did not have the power to create such legislation, so he also asked that the governor be given a fund for “suppressing lynching, accomplished by offering rewards for obtaining evidence against lynchers.
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