Note 37 — Chapter II · Origin of the Term Lynch-law

A writer (“Claverhouse”) in the New York Evening Post for June 2, 1864, says: “In America, the term ‘Lynch law’ was first used in Piedmont, on the western frontier of Virginia. There was no court within the district, and all controversies were referred to the arbitrament of prominent citizens. Among these was a man by the name of Lynch, whose decisions were so impartial that he was known as Judge Lynch, and the system was called ‘Lynch law,’ and adopted in our pioneer settlements as an inexpensive and speedy method of obtaining justice.”