Wesley Brown and Horace Maples

In 1883 and 1904, the downtown courthouse square was a site of mob violence and lynchings that terrorized the Black community in Huntsville, Alabama.

On October 9, 1883, a mob of at least 50 masked white men lynched a Black man named Wesley Brown after seizing him from the county jail. The mob scaled the jail fence, forced their way inside, and found Mr. Brown’s cell. Rather than resist the mob, the lone jailer who was legally responsible for protecting Mr. Brown gave the mob the keys to prevent further damage to the jail. The mob then took Mr. Brown to a tree on the courthouse lawn and hanged him. The mob left his lifeless body hanging to the tree, where it was viewed by hundreds of spectators and further terrorized Black residents.

On September 7, 1904, an armed mob of over 2,000 white people again gathered at the county jail intent on seizing a Black man named Horace Maples. The mob set the jail on fire and demanded that Mr. Maples be handed over to them. Huntsville City Police, the Sheriff’s Department, and members of the Alabama National Guard were present at the scene but failed to stop the mob from capturing Mr. Maples. The mob dragged Mr. Maples to a tree in front of the courthouse and hanged him before shooting his body repeatedly. After Mr. Maple’s lynching, a rare investigation and trial identified some of his lynchers. However, no one was held accountable in 1883 or 1904 for Mr. Brown’s and Mr. Maples’s lynchings.