Fred Rochelle (c. 1885 – May 29, 1901) was an African-American teenager from Bartow,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, who was

lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

and burned to death on May 29, 1901, following the alleged rape and murder of a white woman, Rena Smith Taggart, the previous day. He was said to have been seen near where Taggart's body was found. Newspapers misreported the 16-year-old boy as "35 years of age". A mob of over 100 men as well as

bloodhound The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is called, ...

s from Mulberry and Pebble was assembled to search for him but a local paper mentioned a possible lynching before any evidence was recovered or he was charged. Rochelle was captured two days later by two black men, who evaded the mob and turned Rochelle over to the Sheriff of

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal ci ...

. Ten minutes later, Rochelle was turned over to a mob. The mob took Rochelle back to Bartow. A special train was arranged from Lakeland so that a large crowd of spectators could attend a "barbecue" in Bartow where Rochelle was to be the "chief actor." He was taken to the site of the Taggart murder, where he was chained to a barrel and doused with quantities of

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

. At 6:00 p.m. the match was struck. He was burned alive for 15 minutes, and the crowd dispersed by 8:30 that evening.

Legacy

Ossian Sweet Ossian Sweet ( /ˈɒʃən/ ''OSH-ən''; October 30, 1895 – March 20, 1960) was an African-American physician in Detroit, Michigan. He is known for being charged with murder in 1925 after he and his friends used armed self-defense against a h ...

, an African-American doctor in Detroit who was tried for defending his house from a mob in 1925, testified at his trial that he had witnessed Rochelle being lynched as a five-year-old child in Bartow.

References

External links

The Lynching of Fred Rochelle: Bartow, Florida, 28 May 1901
blog, February 2011 1880s births 1901 deaths 1901 murders in the United States Murdered African-American people Year of birth uncertain Lynching deaths in Florida Deaths from fire in the United States {{US-crime-bio-stub