Frank Jones and a Lynching in Chambersburg: A Civil War Murder and Its Forgotten Legacy

Posted on by Jake Wynn

While researching Letters from War: 1861, a single line in a Coal Region newspaper stopped me cold. A sergeant had written home describing the murder of a Black man by Union soldiers. This is the investigation into what really happened on June 1, 1861 and the lynching of a man named Frank Jones.

Letters from War: 1861 | A lynching at the hands of Pennsylvania soldiers at Chambersburg

Posted on by Jake Wynn

On June 1, 1861, an African American man named Frank Jones was murdered by soldiers near Camp Slifer in Chambersburg. A sergeant from Luzerne County wrote home to describe it. His letter is one of the most disturbing documents in this series — and an unflinching look at deep-rooted racism lurking beneath the Union war effort. Read the letter.