Only documented lynching in New Jersey memorialized, mayor apologizes for past wrongs

EATONTOWN, NJ — “Mingo Jack” Johnson was a Black man who was lynched in New Jersey, post slavery in the 1880s.

Finally memorialized

To lynch a Black man in the south by angry white mobs was a common occurrence before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious people of color and women.

In the north, the town of Eatontown, New Jersey became the only documented case of a lynching in New Jersey.

Samuel “Mingo Jack” Johnson was taken from the Nicken’s family home by authorities located right off of highway 36 and put into a holding cell.

There, he was grabbed by an angry white mob. He was stomped, beaten, and hung because they believed he had raped a white woman. Subsequent trials discovered that he could have been innocent.

Mayor Gerald Tarantolo described the incident as “a low point in the history of Eatontown” during the ceremony in Wampum Park as a memorial was placed to mark the location of the lynching. Tarantolo publicly apologized to Mingo Jack’s ghost, wife and family.

“No man should ever be denied the civil rights granted to him by God. No man should be denied a fair trial, and no man should be subject to a goon mob”, Tarantolo said.

Book written about the lynching of Mingo Jack

Author James Stone of The Murder of Mingo Jack

The story was little known until James Stone, a local author, wrote a book about the lynching entitled “The Murder of Mingo Jack: New Jersey’s Only Nineteenth Century Lynching”.

The book tells the story of Johnson, a former slave of the prominent Laird family of Colts Neck.

On March 5, 1886, a white woman was raped and beaten as she walked to a neighbor’s house. During the attack, the assailant asked the woman “Do you know Mingo Jack?”. That was the only thing the man said to her. This led the woman to identify Johnson as her attacker, Stone said Sunday.

During the night, a mob of 12 to 20 people broke into the Eatontown lockup where Johnson was being held, brutally beat him and then hanged him. But information that was discovered during a later trial, including testimony from the woman herself, led many people to believe that Johnson never committed the crime at all.

Stone said that he wrote the book because he was shocked that something like that had happened in Eatontown. Moreover, that a lot of people, including himself, had never heard about it before.

Keith Covin, founder of Unheard Voices Magazine and Sonny Thornton, at Mingo Jack Memorial at Eatontown, NJ Park

African American Sonny Thornton and long time resident of the area knew all so well about the lynching that his family shared and passed down throughout the generations. Mr. Thorton is a part of coalition that has made this memorial possible.

My thoughts

As Unheard Voices founder, I also thought that it was strange this incident was never documented from this shameful period of our history.

Eatontown, Neptune, Hightstown and other parts of New Jersey was filled with Klan’s men that made life hell for African Americans during that time period.

I was always on guard when driving through those towns. Today, you still have the same feelings of being unsafe when passing through some of those towns. There was no justice at all for Black people.

We have come a long way in race relations but still striving for human and civil rights for all people.

The memorial is a small plaque attached to a rock near Wampum Pond. A coalition made this possible. Tarantolo said he hopes that its presence will have a positive lasting impact.