Out-of-State Rape Stories
In 1880, coverage of rape cases was significantly more concerned with out-of-state stories, as of the total 13 selected rape stories from that year, 11 were outside of the state of West Virginia. By 1900, however, there were less out-of-state stories than in-state stories, with 6 out-of-state and 11 in-state stories. Of the 30 total stories from 1880 and 1900 combined, there were ultimately more out-of-state stories than in-state, with 17 out-of-state stories and 13 in-state.
There were more stories that specified race in the out-of-state stories than in-state coverage, with 7 of the total 9 stories from 1880 and 1900 specifying race occurring outside of West Virginia, 4 in 1880 and 3 in 1900. These stories all specify black, male alleged offenders, and most of them mention lynching, mob violence, or hanging executions. This shows that stories about the connection between race and rape was believed to be interesting to readers in West Virginia in both 1880 and 1900.
Most of the out-of-state stories are relatively close to West Virginia, with the majority occurring in Ohio (4 total), Kentucky (2 total), and Virginia (2 total). The farthest story was a story in the spring of 1900 from the neighborhood of Basak San Nicolas in Cebu City on the Island of Cebu in the Philippines. The story involved a U.S. Army private who was convicted of a rape committed in October of 1899 and was sentenced to be shot, but had his sentence commuted to dishonorable discharge and 20 years of hard labor in a penitentiary instead.