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Killing of Thomas Coleman

UNSOLVED1865Near the Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City, Utah3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative

Thomas Coleman (c. 1832 – December 10, 1866) was a Black man who had formerly been enslaved by Mormon settlers. He was killed in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1866, in what sources describe as a lynching and a hate crime. According to accounts of the case, he was attacked and killed, reportedly in connection with allegations that he had been seen with a White woman, and his body was left near the site where the Utah State Capitol now stands. A note left with his body carried a racist threat warning Black men against associating with White women. No individual has been identified or charged in connection with the killing, and the case remains unsolved.

Coleman's killing has been situated within the racial and religious climate of Salt Lake City at the time. The city's population was overwhelmingly White and predominantly Mormon, and leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had preached against interracial marriage, which the territorial government had also outlawed in 1852. More broadly, the stereotype portraying Black men as threats to White women was commonly used to justify lynchings in the post-Civil War United States, and Coleman's killing is described as part of that wider pattern of racial violence.

Key facts

Victims
Thomas Coleman
Date
1865
Location
Near the Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City, Utah
Case status
unsolved

Case timeline

  1. 1832

    Approximate birth of Thomas Coleman (c. 1832).

  2. 1852

    Utah's predominantly LDS territorial government outlaws Black–White marriages.

  3. 1865

    Brigham Young reiterates teaching that the punishment for Black–White interracial marriage is death.

  4. 1866-12-10

    Thomas Coleman is murdered in Salt Lake City; his throat is slit and his body castrated, then left near the site of the present-day Utah State Capitol with a threatening note pinned to his chest.

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People

  • Thomas Coleman

    VICTIM

    Black man formerly enslaved by Mormons; lynched in Salt Lake City on December 10, 1866, allegedly for having been seen walking with a White woman.

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

Places

Near the Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City, Utah

40.7608, -111.8910

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Thomas Coleman, a Black man formerly enslaved by Mormon settlers, was killed in Salt Lake City on December 10, 1866, in what has been described as a racially motivated lynching and hate crime; his killer or killers were never identified or charged.
Where did the killing happen?
Near the Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City, Utah.
What is the current status of the case?
Status: unsolved.
More cases in Utah

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDICMurder of Thomas ColemanWikipedia · 2026-07-10
  2. OFFICIAL / AGENCYContemporaneous coverage — historytogo.utah.govhistorytogo.utah.gov · 2026-07-10
  3. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — exhibits.lib.utah.eduexhibits.lib.utah.edu · 2026-07-10