A historical marker recognizing a lynching victim is set to be erected in Monroe County.
On Sept. 18, the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission announced that it approved 45 new historical markers across the commonwealth to celebrate state history.
One of these markers will commemorate Monroe County lynching victim Richard Puryear.
According to a press release from state Rep. Tarah Probst (D-189th District), who was previously Stroudsburg’s mayor, Puryear was a Black laborer accused of murdering Tannersville storekeepers Christian and Louisa Ehlers. He was seized and lynched by a mob while he was in custody at Monroe County’s former jail in Stroudsburg in 1894. Puryear’s lynching was one of two documented lynchings in Pennsylvania.
The release said that Christa Caceres, current Pike County commissioner and former Monroe County NAACP president, brought Puryear’s story to the Borough of Stroudsburg in 2020, leading to years of advocacy from Caceres, Probst and her staff, and the Monroe County Historical Association.
“This marker represents a significant step forward for our community; it acknowledges an injustice committed against a man who was denied due process, and it ensures that this painful chapter of local history will no longer remain unspoken,” Probst said in a post on Facebook.
In a statement provided in the release, Caceres said that Puryear’s story is “not only Monroe County’s history, but also America’s history.”
“By acknowledging what happened to Richard Puryear, we join communities across the nation in confronting racial violence and building a more honest collective memory,” Caceres said.
“Proud to have been a part of something special,” Caceres said in a post on Facebook. “Richard Puryear and those who pursued due process will never be forgotten.”
Puryear’s marker will be installed in the “coming year,” and a dedication ceremony will be announced “in the coming months,” according to the press release.
