Summary

The short story “The Lynching of Jube Benson” by Paul Laurence Dunbar begins with three men having a conversation about lynching. Two of the men express their interest in seeing a real lynching, while the third, Dr. Melville, claims that he would not go to a lynching, because he has already seen one and that he played an important part in it. 

Dr. Melville says that seven years ago he had a practice in the town of Bradford, where he rented some rooms from a man called Hiram Daly. He fell in love with Hiram Daly’s daughter, Annie. 

One of the black workers, Jube Benson, was devoted to Annie and aware of Dr. Melville’s affection for her. He often arranged for the two of them to spend some time together. When a typhoid epidemic broke out in town...