James M. Stone

The Murder of Mingo Jack: New Jersey's Only Nineteenth Century Lynching James M. Stone

In March 1886 in the quiet town of Eatontown, New Jersey, a brutal beating and rape took place of a young white woman named Angelina Herbert. She implicated an elderly African American man named Mingo Jack in the crime. The townspeople wanted vengence and lynched Mingo Jack before he could even be questioned about the crime. What followed was an inquest to find the murderers and an attempt to prove Mingo Jack was not guilty of the crime. Was Mingo Jack guilty of the assualt against Angelina Herbert or was it a case of mistaken identy? Largerly forgotten, this story will be fascinating to anyone interested in the history of New Jersey.