November 12, 1861 – Granite Township (near Prairie City), California: Chinese Man Found Hanging; Inquest Names No Suspects

On November 12, 1861, Justice Cole of Granite Township investigated the body of an unnamed Chinese man found hanging near Prairie City on the Folsom road. The Sacramento Bee reported that the inquest noted injuries and the circumstances of the hanging, but produced no identifying testimony. The jury concluded that the unnamed Chinese man “was hanged by someperson or persons unknown to us” (Sacramento Bee, Nov. 15, 1861). The same reporter said, “It is doubtful if any one be punished for this violation of the law.” This lynching repeats a common refrain in both the John Crow West and Jim Crow South: A person of color was killed by “persons unknown.” We see over and over that state officials and the white press would document the death of a person unknown and unnamed, while perpetrators of the crime went unpunished.