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Lynching of Nevlin Porter and Johnson Spencer

UNSOLVED1879Near Starkville, Mississippi3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative

On April 23, 1879, Jordan Moore, a farmer living near Starkville, Mississippi, reported that an unknown person had shot at him. The following day, April 24, a barn containing corn on Moore's property was burned. In connection with this fire, a Black man named Johnson Spencer was arrested and incarcerated.

While Spencer remained in custody, a second barn on Moore's property—this one containing farm implements and other machinery—was burned on April 25. That same day, Moore reported finding another Black man, Nevlin Porter, in his bedroom. According to the account, Porter confessed to setting the second barn fire, stating he did so in order to divert suspicion away from Spencer.

In the days that followed, press reports circulated claiming Porter had been lynched while being transported to jail; these reports were confirmed false as of April 30, 1879. Porter's case was scheduled for a hearing in circuit court on May 1, 1879.

On May 5, 1879, before that legal process could run its course, a mixed-race mob of approximately 121 men arrived at the jail. The sheriff provided the mob with keys to the jail. The mob locked up jailer Henry Isaacs and removed Porter and Spencer from custody. The men were taken to a trestle of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad located about one mile east of Starkville, where they were hanged with cotton ropes and killed.

Following the killings, an inquest was held, after which the bodies of Porter and Spencer were released to their friends.

No individuals involved in organizing or carrying out the lynching are named or identified as charged or convicted in the available record. The case remains an extrajudicial killing carried out outside any court proceeding, occurring before Porter's scheduled circuit court hearing could take place.

Key facts

Victims
Nevlin Porter, Johnson Spencer
Date
1879
Location
Near Starkville, Mississippi
Case status
unsolved

Case timeline

  1. 1879-04-23

    Jordan Moore, a farmer near Starkville, Mississippi, reported being shot at by an unknown person.

  2. 1879-04-24

    A barn containing corn on Moore's property was burned; Johnson Spencer, a Black man, was arrested in connection with the fire.

  3. 1879-04-25

    A second barn containing farm implements and machinery on Moore's property was burned. Moore reported finding Nevlin Porter in his bedroom; Porter reportedly confessed to the second fire, saying he acted to divert attention from Spencer.

  4. 1879-04-30

    Press reports claiming Porter had already been lynched en route to jail were confirmed false.

  5. 1879-05-01

    A circuit court hearing in Porter's case was scheduled.

  6. 1879-05-05

    A mob of about 121 men obtained jail keys from the sheriff, locked up jailer Henry Isaacs, and took Porter and Spencer to a Mobile and Ohio Railroad trestle one mile east of Starkville, where both men were hanged with cotton ropes and killed. An inquest followed and the bodies were released to friends.

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People

  • Nevlin Porter

    VICTIM

    African-American man lynched by a mob on May 5, 1879, after being accused of barn burning and allegedly confessing to divert attention from Johnson Spencer.

  • Henry Isaacs

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Jailer who was locked up by the mob before it removed Porter and Spencer from custody.

  • Johnson Spencer

    VICTIM

    African-American man arrested for an alleged barn burning and lynched by a mob alongside Nevlin Porter on May 5, 1879.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Places

Near Starkville, Mississippi

33.4504, -88.8184

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Nevlin Porter and Johnson Spencer, two African-American men, were seized from jail and lynched by a mob near Starkville, Mississippi, on May 5, 1879, following accusations of barn burning on a local farmer's property.
Where did the crime happen?
Near Starkville, Mississippi.
What is the current status of the case?
Status: unsolved.
More cases in Mississippi

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDICLynching of Nevlin Porter and Johnson SpencerWikipedia · 2026-07-07
  2. OFFICIAL / AGENCYContemporaneous coverage — chroniclingamerica.loc.govchroniclingamerica.loc.gov · 2026-07-07
  3. OFFICIAL / AGENCYContemporaneous coverage — digital.ncdcr.govdigital.ncdcr.gov · 2026-07-07

Record history

First published
JUL 07, 2026