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Citizens Seized Ah Sing from Officers and Hanged Him

Date:April 13, 1874
Location:Corrine, Utah
Event Type:Lynching
Victim Names:Ah Sing
Victim Gender:Male
No. of Victims:1
Accusation:Murder
Killing Method:Hanging
Compiled By:Monroe Work Project

Narrative

In April 1874, a Chinese prisoner in Corinne, Utah Territory, was taken from officers who were trying to move him to Brigham City for safekeeping after the Bornstein murder. As several newspapers reported, citizens seized him “en masse,” marched him to the railroad bridge east of town, and hanged him from the trestle-work. The killing is a clear case of vigilantes overriding an active legal process rather than acting in its absence.

Related Newspaper Article(s)

Chinaman Lynched

The St. Louis Republican (St. Louis, Missouri)

April 15, 1874 (Page 1)

Citizens of Corinne, Utah, seize a jailed Chinese murder suspect (accused of killing Bornstein) from marshals and hang him from a railroad trestle while he is being moved for safekeeping, declaring vigilante justice served.

A Chinese Malefactor Lynched at Corinne

The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California)

April 15, 1874 (Page 3)

A fuller Corinne dispatch credits Detective Thayer with proving a Chinese prisoner’s guilt in Bornstein’s murder; citizens then overpower officers, march the man to a railroad bridge, and lynch him, restoring “quiet” to the town.

Lynched

Fort Scott Daily Monitor (Fort Scott, Kansas)

April 15, 1874 (Page 1)

A Corinne, Utah mob seized a Chinese prisoner proven to have murdered merchant Bornstein and, despite officers escorting him to Brigham City, hanged him from a railroad trestle east of town on 14 Apr 1874; Detective Thayer and a Denver interpreter had traced the case.

A Chinaman Lynched

Marysville Daily Appeal (Marysville, California)

April 15, 1874 (Page 3)

Corinne, UT citizens seize a Chinese murder suspect being moved for safekeeping and hang him from a railroad trestle despite detectives’ efforts.