T. J. Hampton (born Thomas J. Hampton; died December 6, 1901) was a 19th-century American

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

who was

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

in 1901 for the murders of two men in

Fort White, Florida Fort White is a town in Columbia County, Florida, United States, named after a military fort built in the 1830s. It is the closest town to Ichetucknee Springs State Park. Fort White High School and the Fort White Public School Historic Distri ...

. On the day of his execution, Hampton confessed to a further three murders committed in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

years prior.

Biography

Little to nothing is known about Hampton's childhood. According to his confession, he committed his first murder in 1887, that of a train conductor while aboard a freight train in

Lexington County, South Carolina Lexington County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 293,991. Its county seat and largest community is Lexington, South Carolina, ...

. Being a drifter, Hampton had left the state not long after, successfully evading capture and not becoming a suspect. During the years after, Hampton moved to Georgia, where he committed two more murders, but would not elaborate on the victims. By 1893, Hampton was working at a turpentine camp in Fort White, Florida. On March 25 of that year, Hampton shot at three

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Common meanings *Anything from the Caucasus region or related to it ** Ethnic groups in the Caucasus ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus re ...

men; Sessom Calhoun and John Bell were killed while J. W. Holliday, the third man, was wounded but survived. Shortly after, Hampton was arrested and charged with the two murders. Subsequently, he was tried and convicted on two counts of

first degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

, and was sentenced to hang. Due to an outcry of threats, governor

William Sherman Jennings William Sherman Jennings (March 24, 1863February 27, 1920) was an American politician who served as the 18th governor of Florida after being a lawyer, county judge, and state representative. Early years and education He was born near Walnut Hil ...

assigned state troopers to protect Hampton, who was

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, from a possible

lynching 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 or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of i ...

. On December 2, 1901, governor Jennings signed a death warrant which scheduled Hampton to be execution on December 6. On that day, Hampton was hanged at

Lake City Lake City may refer to: Places *Lake City, Arkansas * Lake City, California (disambiguation) *Lake City, Modoc County, California * Lake City, Nevada County, California *Lake City, Colorado *Lake City, Florida * Lake City, Georgia * Lake City, I ...

. Shortly before his execution, Hampton, who was smoking a cigarette, made a statement in which he confessed to the previous three murders.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton, T. J. 1800s births 1901 deaths Executed African-American people Executed American serial killers People convicted of murder by Florida People executed by Florida by hanging Serial killers from Florida Serial killers from Georgia (U.S. state) Serial killers from South Carolina

Biography

See also

References