John Shallington was hanged on 12 April 1878 in Greene County, North Carolina, for the murder of his step-daughter Serena (or Lorena) Thompson. According to news accounts, Shallington and Thompson had been in a relationship (consensual?) for two to three years, and he had shot her in a fit of jealousy. Shallington fled and was on the lam for several weeks, pursued by both black and white vigilantes before being arrested in Wilson County.

An “esteemed correspondent,” apparently enthralled with Shallington’s person and exploits, provided breathy details — his ownership during his enslavement in Wilson County; his reputation for violence, craftiness, and superhuman strength; his physical description; his impassiveness at trial. As later reported, Shallington was hanged in front of a crowd of 2000 people in Snow Hill after asking from the gallows to be baptized.

Goldsboro Messenger, 11 April 1878.