Frank Embree shortly before his lynching, Fayette, Missouri, 1899. He was accused of raping a 14-year-old white girl and only confessed after being whipped over 100 times

Frank Embree, in Fayette, Missouri was accused of assaulting a white girl named Miss Willie Dougherty. A mob of over a thousand people captured him, and he was taken to the scene of the crime, where he was asked to make a statement. His persistent refusal to admit his involvement angered the mob, and he was stripped of his clothing, and half-a-dozen men whipped him over and over using buggy whips. Each lash opened the skin, and the blood trickled down.

He never winced. He gazed abstractedly into the faces of the crowd, and never uttered a word. Twice he fell, either from exhaustion, or in the hope of ending his agony by breaking his neck. He was given 103 fearful lashes, and then allowed to sit down. Again he was questioned, but he still maintained his innocence.

He was made to stand up again, and he was whipped once more. Embree’s sense of feeling had returned, and he screamed for mercy.

Promising to tell all, he told the crowd that if they would not torture him any more, and would not burn him, but instead would either shoot or hang him, he would make a confession. Embree then acknowledged that he had assaulted Miss Dougherty. Without further delay, he was hanged and his lifeless, battered and bleeding body was left on display for hours