It has been suggested that between 1890 and 1899, there were an average of two black people a week lynched in the United States. Think about this number for a minute… It’s stomach-turning.

The more one learns about the history of lynching in America and its relationship to the criminal legal system, the more one wants to know. I am particularly fascinated by the ways that black people resisted this horrific violence. Many years ago, while reading a book I can no longer recall, I came across the story of Jack Trice, a black man who refused to allow his son to be “regulated” by a white mob. The story first appeared in an short article was published in a black newspaper called the Cleveland Press Gazette on May 30, 1896.

JACKSONVILLE, FLA — Jack Trice fought fifteen white men at 3 A.M., on the 12th, killing James Hughes and Edward Sanchez, fatally wounding Henry Daniels and dangerously wounding Albert Bruffum. The battle occurred at Trice’s humble home near Palmetto, a town six miles south of here, to prevent his 14-year old son being “regulated” (brutally whipped and perhaps killed) by the whites.

On the afternoon of May 11, Trice’s son and the son of Town Marshal Hughes, of Palmetto, fought, the white boy being badly beaten. Marshal Hughes was greatly enraged and he and 14 other white men went to Trice’s house to “regulate” his little boy. The whites demanded that the boy be sent out. Trice refused and they began firing. Trice returned fire, his first bullet killing Marshal Hughes. Edward Sanchez tried to burn the house, but was shot through the brain by Trice.

Then the whites tried to batter in the door with a log, which resulted in Henry Daniels getting a bullet in the stomach that will kill him. The “regulators” then ran. A final bullet from Trice’s deadly rifle struck Albert Bruffum in the back.

The whites secured re-enforcements and returned to Trice’s home at sunrise, vowing to burn father and son at the stake; but the intended victims had fled. Only Trice’s aged mother was in the house. The old lady was driven out like a dog and the house burned. Posses with bloodhounds are chasing Trice and his boy, and they will be lynched if caught. It is sincerely hoped that both will escape.

How many hundreds or thousands of other Jack Trice’s existed in the United States? Most of these stories of resistance are lost to us.

I made a copy of the newspaper article and pinned it to my bulletin board in my home office. Every time I look up at the board and see this story, I say to myself: “you should really go back to search the newspapers to see whether Jack Trice and his son were in fact caught.” But something always prevents me from moving forward with this research. The truth is I would much rather believe that both successfully escaped than to consider the horrifying alternatives. In this instance, Google is not my friend.

So for today, Jack Trice, I speak your name in the hope that you lived a long and relatively happy life in spite of the trauma that you suffered.