Lynching of Tom Farrar
Throckmorton, Throckmorton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In October 1886, 19-year-old Tom Farrar was one of several African American cowboys working on area ranches. On his way to the Buchanan Ranch, he stopped at a sheepherder’s dugout. The bodies of a father and daughter were discovered there the next day. Deputy Tom McCarver recognized a unique horseshoe print at the crime scene. Farrar was arrested and brought to the calaboose, where he confessed to the killings and sent a note to his family. During the night, a mob of dozens of men broke into the jail, put a rope around Farrar’s neck, dragged him behind a horse, then hung his body from an elm tree on the creek near this site. This act of vigilantism affected generations, with African Americans virtually disappearing from Throckmorton County. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836-2011
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In October 1886, 19-year-old Tom Farrar, one of several African American cowboys working area ranches, was arrested after two bodies were found at a dugout he had stopped at, identified by a distinctive horseshoe print. Held in the local jail, he was seized during the night by a mob of dozens of men, dragged behind a horse, and hanged from an elm on the nearby creek. In the aftermath, African Americans all but vanished from Throckmorton County for generations.
Why it matters
This marker confronts the era of racial terror lynching that drove Black families from whole communities, part of a national reckoning with a history long left unspoken.
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Related people
- · Tom Farrar
- · Deputy Tom McCarver
Related events
- · Lynching of Tom Farrar (1886)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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