Col. Lynch had Loyalists tied to a tree and whipped until they cried ‘Liberty Forever!’ That’s where the term ‘Lynch law’ comes from.

Col. Lynch, an Altavista judge and militia colonel, is infamously linked to the origin of the term "Lynch law," even though he never executed anyone. During the American Revolution, he reportedly whipped Loyalists tied to a tree until they proclaimed "Liberty Forever!" This act of vigilante justice has since become synonymous with extrajudicial punishment. The story highlights the darker side of revolutionary fervor and how terms can take on meanings detached from their original actors.