A soil collection is taking place at this Saturday’s dedication of a new Essex County historical marker. According to the Southside Sentinel the marker on Tidewater Trail in Center Cross memorializes Thomas Washington who was lynched in March 1896 for the alleged attempted assault of a young white girl. Gallon-sized glass jars will be filled with soil to be placed at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama and at the Essex County Museum and Historical Society.