Five Chinese Men Were Taken from Jail and Lynched

Narrative

In late September 1885, five Chinese men accused of murdering and robbing Daniel Frazer at Pierce City were taken from jail and hanged by a citizens’ mob. The Inter Ocean called the bodies “Ghastly Fruit on Pierce City Trees.” The Springfield News-Sun reported that the men were “summarily disposed of” after alleged confessions. The case formed part of the broader anti-Chinese purge climate then spreading across the Northwest, where murder accusations, labor hostility, and mob action merged into campaigns of terror and expulsion. For more details, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1885_Pierce_City_lynching.

Related Newspaper Article(s)

Five Celestials Lynched in Idaho

The Courier (Connellsville, Pennsylvania)

June 30, 1885 (Page 1)

Connellsville paper repeats Pierce City lynching account: five Chinese confessed to murdering merchant Daniel Frazer, then were taken from jail and hanged by citizens seeking swift justice.

Five Chinamen Lynched

Springfield News-Sun (Springfield, Ohio)

September 23, 1885 (Page 1)

Reports from Lewiston say five Chinese men, jailed for murdering merchant Daniel Frazer and robbing his Pierce City store, were seized by a citizens’ mob and hanged from a tree; fifteen suspects had been arrested before the confessed killers were “summarily disposed of.”

Chinese Lynched

The Inter Ocean (Idaho (unspecified town))

September 23, 1885 (Page 1)

After pioneer Daniel Frazier is robbed and mutilated at Pierce City, five Chinese suspects confess and are taken from Lewiston jail on 22 Sept 1885; citizens hang them from trees amid rising anti-Chinese violence across the Northwest.

Five Chinese Murderers Lynched

The Boston Globe (Idaho (unspecified town))

September 23, 1885 (Page 1)

The Boston Globe relays Lewiston report: five Chinese murderers of merchant Frazier were summarily hanged after confession; local outrage over the brutal crime spurred swift vigilance justice.

Chinese Lynched, Others Arrested in Idaho

Emmons County Record (Linton, North Dakota)

September 30, 1885 (Page 2)

A report echoes Cheney’s lynching: eighty citizens seize and hang a Chinese suspect accused of murdering a compatriot and stealing her gold.

Five Celestials Lynched in Idaho

The Griggs Courier (Idaho)

October 2, 1885 (Page 2)

Following Daniel Frazer’s gruesome murder and robbery at Pierce City, Idaho, citizens hanged five jailed Chinese suspects from surrounding trees, ending local outrage over the pioneer merchant’s death.