In this letter to Virginia governor Benjamin Harrison dated June 10, 1782, commercial agent William Hay relays the conditions at Chiswell’s lead mines based on a report from Colonel Charles Lynch, who oversaw the mines. Hay describes the experiences of both Welsh workers and enslaved workers. At the end of his letter, Hay notes that militia officers used “Lynch’s law” against Black laborers as well as suspected Loyalists in and around the mines. Colonel Lynch’s summary punishments are thought to be the origin of the term “lynching.”
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