Lynch Law
Aiton's Encyclopedia: a term used in the United States to characterize justice administered without due process of law. The origin of the term is quite uncertain. It was applied at first to the orderly action of communities taking justice into their own hands. In the early days of San Francisco , for instance, the settlers organized in an orderly manner and hanged a large number of desperadoes and gamblers who had terrorized the town. Such proceedings were called sessions of the court of "Judge Lynch." Latterly, however, lynching has come to mean the more or less disorderly whipping or execution of persons suspected of crime. The Ku Klux Klan of the South was accused of frequent lynchings. In 1902, deplorable as it may seem, there were 241 lynchings in the United States, 162 of the persons lynched being negroes. 2026 Editor's Note: This page uses language about race that was commonplace when the book was published and is offensive by today's standards. The text has been left exactly as it was printed, rather than cut or softened, so that the historical record — including how ordinary such language once was — is preserved. (Ed: BR 2026-07-22)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: punishment, especially capital, inflicted by private individuals, independently of the legal authorities. LYNDSAY. See LINDSAY.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Lysander
1000 Classical Characters: A celebrated general of Sparta in the He last years of the Peloponnesian war. drew Ephesus from the interest of Athens , and gained the friendship of Cyrus the Younger. He gave battle to the Athenian fleet, and destroyed it all except three ships. In this battle, which was fought 405 years before the Christian era, the Athenians lost a great number of men, and in consequence of it forfeited their influence over neighboring states. Lysander was killed in battle, B. c. 394. 2026 Editor's Note: Following his victory at the Battle of Aegospotami, Lysander oversaw the dissolution of the Delian League and the installation of Spartan-style oligarchies, such as the Thirty Tyrants in Athens. His vision for Spartan hegemony relied on a Persian-financed fleet and the support of the Persian Empire, which had intervened in 413 BC to break Athenian naval superiority. Although he successfully ended the Peloponnesian War , the resulting Spartan dominance was short-lived, as Athens regained independence only a decade later. (Ed: BR 2026-06-10)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: a Spartan naval and military commander; lived in the 4th century B. C. He had the command, 407 B. C., of the Spartan fleet off the coast of Asia Minor, where he defeated the Athenians under Antiochus, and gained great influence, among both the Greeks and Persians. Lysander fell at the battle of Haliartus in 395.
Covered by 1000 Classical Characters and Collier's New Encyclopedia