Georgia Historical Society "Killing Them by the Wholesale": A Lynching Rampage in South Georgia Author(s): Christopher C. Meyers Source: The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Vol. 90, No. 2 (SUMMER 2006), pp. 214-235 Published by: Georgia Historical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40584910 Accessed: 24-11-2015 15:59 UTC

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"KillingThembytheWholesale": A Lynching Rampagein SouthGeorgia ByChristopherC. Meyers officers and the mob had the house at the cornerof South Troup and South streetsin Valdosta,Georgia,surrounded.Theyknewtheman insidewasheavilyarmedand that was he hadswornnottobe takenalive.Leadingthepoliceofficers ValdostapolicechiefCalvinDampierand hisbrother, patrolman father ofthe M. Dampier.AttheheadofthemobwasDixonSmith, murderedHamptonSmith.As shotswereexchangedberecently officials tweenthehuntedmanin thehouseand lawenforcement and themoboutsidethehouse,a largecrowdgatheredtowitness the The local townspeople had been following the excitement. in the almost a week and of for 1918, May saga Sidney Johnson story Dixon Smith wascomingto an end. In theexchangeof gunfire, frominsidesudand bothDampierswerewounded.The shooting denlyendedand themobadvanceduponthehousetocaptureits prey.Ifhe wasnotalreadydead,themanwascertaintobe lynched. in the Mobviolenceand lynchings, whichhavea longhistory in thelatenineUnitedStates,had becomeevenmoreprevalent centuries. Therewereso manylynchteenthand earlytwentieth that between 1880 and 1930 two havecalledthis sociologists ings thousands of the era."1 men,women, Literally "lynching period An AnalysisofSouthern •StewartE. Tolnay and E. M. Beck, A FestivalofViolence: Lynching, 1882-1930(Urbana, 111.,1995), 17.

MR. MEYERSis associate professorof historyat ValdostaStateUniversity. The Georgia Historical Quarterly Vol. XC, No. 2, Summer2006

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and childrenweremurderedat thehandsofmobsin thisera of In 1882theChicago Tribune startedkeepinga yearly tally lynching. ofsucheventsin America,a numberthenewspaperpublishedat on numerofeachyear.Academicshaveattempted thebeginning in the United ous occasionsto countthe numberof lynchings States,andhistorian JamesE. Cutlerrecorded2,465between1882 fortheAdvancement ofColand 1903.The NationalAssociation between1889 ored People (NAACP) reported3,224 lynchings counted4,587fortheyears and 1918,whiletheTuskegeeInstitute 1882-1930.Lastly,the SouthernCommissionon the Studyof Lynchingconcludedthattherewere 3,724 between1889 and cameup withdifferand individuals 1930.2Thattheseinstitutions it is to ent numbersis a strongindicationofjust how difficult number of Whatever the actual victims countlynching accurately. historians to that one of the first were so common they lynchings, in 1905 that "our wrote the country's study topicsystematically withironythat It wasindeedfraught nationalcrimeis lynching." Era, whensocialjusticewas one of the duringthe Progressive thatwasunjustbecameknownas the an event reformers' goals, one historianhas suggestedthat nationalcrime.More recently, "a newnationalpastime."3 this time had become at lynching oflynching this era there was no cleardefinition Throughout a lynching, which of whatexactlyconstituted or understanding in countingthem.The confusion onlyexacerbatedthedifficulty and debatewas settledin 1940 when prominentanti-lynching that"theremustbe leaderscametoa consensus. Theydetermined legalevidencethata personhas been killed,and thathe methis at thehandsofa groupactingunderthepretextof deathillegally It shouldbe notedthatalservicetojustice,race,or tradition."4 a percommon methodoflynching was the most thoughhanging of waysto carryout theirbrutality. son, mobsutilizeda variety in theUnitedStates intotheHistory An Investigation ofLynching JamesE. Cutler,Lynch-Law:

(NewYork,1905),185.Cutleralsoseparatedhiscountbyregion.See also,NationalAsso-

in theUnitedStates, YearsofLynching ciationfortheAdvancementof Colored People, Thirty 1889-1918(NewYork,1919), 7; SouthernCommissionon the Studyof Lynching,Lynchings An and WhatTheyMean (Atlanta,Ga., 1931), 73. The commissioncited TheNegroYearbook: AnnualEncyclopedia oftheNegro,1931-1932(Tuskegee,Ala., 1931), 293, foritsnumbers. TheCultureofSegregation 1; Grace ElizabethHale, MakingWhiteness: 3Cutler,Lynch-Law, in theSouth,1890-1940(New York,1998), 205. (Atlanta,Ga., 1942), 29. ofLynching 4JesseDaniel Ames, TheChangingCharacter

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burnHangingswereoftenaccompaniedbybeatings,shootings, and sadistic torture that included dismemberment and muings, tilation.Lynchmobs spewedtheirracialhatredwithimpunity, and sadism. brutality, barbarity, Whilemobviolenceoccurredin all partsofthecountry itwas nowheremoreprevalentthanin theSouth;thevastmajority of took there. Cutler's count of the 1,997 2,465 lynchings place By lynchings(81 percent)were in the South. HistorianFitzhugh Brundagewrotethatbetween1880 and 1930 thepercentageof thatoccurredin theregionsteadily increased,from82 lynchings in the 1880s to 95 in the AndtheNAACP 1920s. percent percent calculatedthat2,834ofthe3,224lynchings itcounted(87.9 percent) tookplace in the South.5Mob violencehad become acin thisera and in parthelped to define ceptedbySoutherners theirculture.Thisviolentmentality can be attributed, in part,to a culturethathad embracedtheinstitution ofslavery foralmost of the Thir250 years.Afterthe CivilWar and the ratification and Fifteenth theReconstructeenth,Fourteenth, amendments, tionera followedwithitsshareof violence.Therewas nothing betweentheend oftheCivilWarand thebeginning oftheera of to indicatethatthispatternofviolencewouldend. lynching The causesoflynchings in theSoutharejustas difficult topinas the exact number of victims. Historians and point sociologists have put forthnumerousexplanationsand theorieson what butin theend itis virtually immightprovokea violentoutburst, to what a One possible predict exactlytriggered lynching. thing thatiscertain, isthata blackmanorwomanin theSouth however, was farmore likelyto become a victimthan a whiteman or woman.Lynching and racewereundeniably connected.One historiandescribeditthisway:"OutsidetheSouthand borderstates, 83 percentof mob victims werewhite.In theSouthand border - 85 pertheoverwhelming ofvictims states,in contrast, majority cent wereblack."6 185. Cutler'snumberincluded Mississippi,Georgia,Texas, Louisi5Cutler,Lynch-Law, ana, Alabama,Tennessee,Arkansas,Kentucky,Florida,South Carolina,Missouri,Virginia, NorthCarolina,WestVirginia,and Maryland.See also, W. FitzhughBrundage,Lynching in theNewSouth:Georgiaand Virginia, 1880-1930(Urbana, 111., Yearsof 1993) , 8; NAACP, Thirty in theUnitedStates,1889-1918,34. Lynching in theNewSouth,8. 6Brundage,Lynching

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BymanyaccountsGeorgianscarriedout themostlynchings between1880and 1930,theleaderinwhattheNAACPcalled"this WalterWhitedeterThat organization's unholyascendancy."7 victimsin Georgiabetween minedthattherewere549 lynching 1882 and 1927, and 510 of thosewere black (92.8 percent). in GeorgiabeFitzhughBrundagehas discovered460 lynchings tween1880and 1930;of these460 victims441 wereblack (95.8 percent).8Thereis everyreasonto believethatthereweremore in Georgia,but some probablytookplace in such relynchings mote locationsthattheywere neverdiscoveredor publicized. Whatmakesthesenumbersall themoreshockingis thatGeorgia mobviolence.Passedin 1893,thislegislation had a lawtoprevent whentheylearned law enforcement madeitthedutyof officials, "topreventsuchmobviolence"and to "useevery ofmobactivity, meansin theirpowerto preventsuchmobviolence."The lawreand in mobactivity toarrestthoseparticipating quiredthesheriff in sheriffs County "placethemin thecommonjail ofthecounty."9 mostsimplychose Georgiawerenotpowerlessto stoplynchings; in fact,assisted. and many, nottointervene PresnamedafterSouthCarolinacongressman BrooksCounty, secondtononein Georgiafor a reputation established tonBrooks, raceviolence.IthadbeencreatedbytheGeorgiaGeneralAssembly in 1858outoftheeasternpartofThomasCountyand thewestern As earlyas 1864,just sixyearsafterthe partof LowndesCounty. heardofa plannedslaveinsurreclocalcitizens founding, county's tionand hangedthreeslavesin thecourthouse squareaftera trial as described be can that only justice.Duringtheera of kangaroo for a dubiousreputation established thecounty 1880-1930, lynching, mobviolenceon an unprecedented scale;therewereatleasttwentyIn December1894,a mob of lynchings. victims fourconfirmed werecarriedouton incident. in a men five Lynchings single lynched livesinAugust1898,January a regular 1901, basis,withmobstaking 1918. and November March 1917, 1913, 1911, 1909, May June July in theUnitedStates,1889-1918,7. YearsofLynching 7NAACP,Thirty »WalterWhite,Ropeand Faggot:A Biography ofJudgeLynch(New York,1929) , 232; Brunin theNewSouth,262. In AppendixA, Brundage listedall 460 victimsand indage, Lynching cluded date, location,the crimethatprecipitatedthe lynching,and the typeof mob that carriedout the lynching. ''Actsand Resolutions oftheStateofGeorgia,1893 (Atlanta,Ga., 1894) , Assembly oftheGeneral 128. The bill passed in the House 88-0and in the Senate 30-0.

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Location of lynchingsin Brooks Countyin May 1918. The numbersindicatewhere they took place. 1. Will Head; 2. Will Thompson; 3. JuliusJones; 4. Hayes Turner; 5. Eugene Rice; 6. Chime Riley;7. Simon Schuman; 8. MaryTurner;9. Turner'sunbornchild; 10-12. threeunidentifiedmen; 13. SidneyJohnson.

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in Brooksthananycountyin Georgia; Thereweremorelynchings has thatthecounty wasthemostmobFitzhugh Brundage suggested It shouldcomeas no surprise, pronecountyin theentireSouth.10 incidentthatclaimedthemostnumthen,thatthesinglelynching in May1918,occurredin thatcounty. beroflivesinGeorgia, wereimportant fora variety of reasons. The 1918lynchings at leastthirteen, servedto confirm The sheernumberofvictims, BrooksCounty'sreputationas the mostmob-proneregionin confirmed victims Georgia.More than halfof the twenty-four which killedbetween1880and 1930died in thissingleincident, in the vioThe manner which a lynching wasliterally rampage. set thelynching lencewascarriedoutalso confirms paradigm out In in the New his South, book,Lynching BrundageesbyBrundage. of tablishedfourcategoriesof mobsand generalcharacteristics of a posse in southGeorgiafitthecategory each. The lynchings thecharacteristics and confirm Brundagedefined. AtthecenteroftheeventswereHamptonSmithand Sidney whitefarmer Johnson.HamptonSmithwas a thirty-one-year-old knownas theOldJoycePlace,justoutside whoowneda largefarm, ofBarneyon theAdeland QuitmanRoad.Smith,whowasSidney had a well-deserved reputationas a harsh Johnson'semployer, His reputation his workers. and boss,frequently abusing beating to findemployees; wasso wellknownthatSmithfounditdifficult forhelp.Georgia'sdebt thecourthouse he hadtoresorttotrolling peonage systemprovidedpeople like HamptonSmithwitha laborforce.Smithcouldgo to thecountycourthouse ready-made in Quitmanand paya convictedcriminal's fine,and thisperson In had toworkforhimuntiltheamountofthefinewassatisfied. laborerswhowereoverthiswayhe acquiredthelaborforhisfarm, African American. AmongthosewhoselaborSmithsewhelmingly who in manner was this cured SidneyJohnson, nineteen-year-old dollars. ofgaming(rollingdice) and finedthirty wasconvicted learned Smith's Once inhisemploy, manageJohnsonquickly thatincludedfreand he experiencedpoortreatment mentstyle, Justa fewdaysbeforethecrimethatprecipitated quentbeatings. a severebeatingatthehands thelynching spree,Johnsonsuffered 119.ThismaymakeBrooksthemostmob-prone intheNewSouth, 10Brundage, Lynching in thecountry. county

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ofSmith.Johnsonhad been sickand, afterrefusingto work,Smith punished him. Other Smithworkerswho sufferedfromhis physical abuse were Hayes and Mary Turner,a couple who had a lengthyhistorywithSmith.Hayes Turnerhad previouslyworked forSmith,but afterSmithbeat the black man's wife,Turnerhad verballythreatenedhis boss; as a resultof the altercationTurner had been sentencedto a shorttermon a chain gang. But afterbeing released,Turnerhad to returnto his formerjob, again suffering his employer's abuse. These beatings, along with Smith's ofhis employees,led to rumorsofa conspirgeneralmistreatment his black workers. acy among SidneyJohnsonwas among those who threatenedSmith'slife.11 Accordingto reports,severalofHampton Smith'sworkersmet in the Turners'home on the eveningof Monday,May 13, 1918, to In attendancewereSidneyJohnson,who diplan Smith'smurder.12 rectedthe plot,the Turners,and at least twootherSmithemployees, WillThompson and WillHead. Newspapersreportedthattwo additional farmhands,Eugene Rice and JuliusJones, may have been involved.13 The opportunity to carryout theplan presenteditselfthreedayslater.WhiletheSmithswereeatingtheirsupper,Will Head snuckintotheSmithhouse,stolea gun,and gavetheweapon to SidneyJohnson.Laterthatevening,a shotwasfiredfromoutside the Smithhome; the bulletwentthrougha windowand hitHampton Smith.He died instantly. Smith'swiferan frantically fromthe house whereshe wasassaulted.In theensuingstruggle,her clothes were tornand she was shot in the chest,althoughher wound was not fatal.In the days immediatelyfollowingthe shootingsthere wererumorsthatMrs.Smith'sassailantshad raped her.This issue, the rape ofa whitewomanbyblackmen,was explosivein the early AmericanSouth.Laterinvestigation twentieth-century provedthat Smithhad not been raped, but the mere possibilitythatshe had been sexuallyassaultedprovedenough forlynchmobs to go after anybodyremotelyassociatedwiththe alleged attack.14 ""MemorandumforGovernorDorseyFromWalterF. White,"July10, 1918, Papers of the NAACP, Group I, Series C, Box 353, Libraryof Congress,Washington,D.C.; Walter White,"The Workof a Mob," TheCrisis16 (September 1918), 221. 12 SavannahMorningNews,May 19, 1918. nIbid.;AtlantaConstitution, May 19, 1918. 14Walter the lynchings fortheNAACP,establishedpositively that White,who investigated Mrs.Smithwas not raped. See "MemorandumforGovernorDorseyFromWalterF. White."

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WhileMrs.Smithdraggedherselfto safety, SidneyJohnson and hisaccomplicesransackedthehome,takingthegun,ammuof and Smith'spocketwatch.The interior nition,someclothing, to safety, Smithnamed Aftercrawling thehousewasdemolished. her assailants,positively identifying SidneyJohnsonand Julius lynchmobsformedto findthe men Jones.Almostimmediately whokilledHamptonSmithand attackedhiswife. ofthe The variouslynchmobsthatgatheredin theaftermath as posses.Thereweretwoleadersofthe can be categorized killing andWilan undertaker, BrooksCounty mob,SamuelE. McGowan, a cottonbrokerand merchandise liamA. Whipple, dealer,bothof and Quitman.McGowanlaterboastedofhispartin thelynchings downSmith'skillerand accomplices to hunting wasso committed wereas thickas the thathe is allegedtohavesaid,"IftheGermans same would be doneagain."15 the in the courthouse thing yard grass thatevenifGermantroopshad invaded McGowanwasimplying America(and BrooksCountyspecifically) duringWorldWarI, the ofthe carried out. Othermembers have been would still lynchings Frank Purvis in Yates the mobincludedOrdley (clerk postoffice), Furniture Griffin , FultonDeVane (agent by Company) (employed forStandardOil Company),BrownSherrill(employedbyW. A. Whipple),George B. Vann (Quitmanbarber),a man named RichardDeVane,RossDeVane,JimDickson Lee Sherrill, Chalmers, ofHamptonSmith),WillSmith DixonSmith(father (all farmers), otherbrothers ofthevictim.16 and two of (brother HamptonSmith), ThesenameswerelaterprovidedtoWalterWhite,theNAACP but twosources.One sourcewasan admitted through investigator, unnamedmemberofthemob.The othersourcewasa mannamed toS. American whowasan assistant an African GeorgeU. Spratling, of the leaders whowasone theQuitmanundertaker E. McGowan, toldWhitethatMcGowanforcedhimtogo to ofthemob.Spratling He also claimedthatnoneofthemob thesceneofthelynchings. inhisidentifications.17 woremasksandthathewaspositive members 15Quotedin ibid. i6Ibid. The 1920 federalcensusforBrooksCountylistedMcGowan,Whipple,Yates,Purvis,Vann, and FultonDeVane. The otherscould not be foundin the census records. "For the unnamed source, see "Memorandumfor GovernorDorsey From WalterF. White."Whitenamed George Spratlingin "Memo Re Brooks-LowndesCountiesLynchings of May 1918,"undated,Group I, Series C, Box 353, Papers of the NAACP.

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The first of themob'svictims wasWillHead, one of theemhad Head wascapturedearly ployeeswho helpedplanthekilling. Fridaymorning, May17,nearBarney.Reportssuggestedthatthe mobwantedtocaptureall thoseinvolved in theplot,takethemto thesceneofthecrime,and lynchthemall together.18 Whilebeing held,Head providedthemobwithdetailsoftheplantokillSmith. Head eventoldof themeetingat theTurnerhomeon Monday. The mob,whichone reportestimatedat threehundredmen, couldnotwaitforthecaptureofall involvedin theplot,and decidedto lynchHead on Fridaynight.He wastakento Troupville, aboutfivemilesfromValdostain neighboring LowndesCounty. There he was hangedundera large oak tree.One reportdescribedthe executionin thisway:A rope was "tiedaroundhis neck,he was compelledto climba treeandjump froma limb, whiletheotherend oftheropewassecurely fastenedto another tree.As a result,thekangaroocourtwhichheld an inquestover thebodyrendereda verdictthat'thedeceasedcameto hisdeath byjumpingfromthelimbof a treewitha rope tiedaroundhis neck.'"19 Two eventshappenedafterHead was dead thatwere in thisera- his bodywas riddledwith fairly typicalof lynchings bulletsandwhatremainedwaslefthangingforall tosee. Newspathathundredsofpeoplefromsurrounding counties persreported visitedthegrisly scenethroughout thedayon Saturday, May18.20 At thesametimethatHead wasbeingheld captive,another smallermobcapturedWillThompson,anotherconspirator in the was taken to Ground Church between killing.Thompson Camp Morvenand Barneyand hangedtherelaterFridaynight.The loOne of therituals cation,near theSmithhouse,wassignificant. wasto lynchthevictimas closeto thesceneofthecrimeas possible.Apparently withbulThompson'sbodywasnotshotthrough but it was left for most of the next The third lets, hanging day. victim, JuliusJones,was also capturedFriday.DetailsofJones's but he was apparentlyapprehendedlate captureare sketchy,

18This was reportedin the SavannahMorningNews,May 19, 1918. Press,May21, 1918. '»Memphis ^AtlantaConstitution, May 19, 1918.

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His bodywasalsoleft Fridayeveningand hangedaboutdaylight.21 hangingtheentiredayon Saturday. Bysunriseon Saturdaymorning,posseshad lynchedthree who menforthemurderbuthadyettoapprehendtheindividual in an eventful the Still,Saturday day capturproved pulled trigger. ing moreof the huntedmen. In the morningHayesTurner,at whosehome the plot to killSmithhad been hatched,was capand takento theBrooksCounty tured,placedunderarrest, Jailin that a mob was circulated reasons (rumors Quitman.For safety Wadeand Roland to lynchhim),BrooksCountySheriff forming Turnerto to decided of the clerk court, transport county Knight, waswaylaid thesheriff Moultrielaterin theday.Notsurprisingly, just threeand a halfmilesoutsideof Quitmanneara bridgeon maskedmen.These theOkapilcoCreekbya groupofaboutforty withTurnerand hangedhim mendisappearedintothedarkness later at the forkof the Morvenand Barneyroads.The sheriff claimedto be powerlessto stopthemob.Turner'sbodywasleft hangingfromSaturdaynightuntilMondaymorningand hunviewedthe remains.On Mondaycountycondredsof residents victscutdownthebodyand burieditjusta fewfeetaway.22 victim The mobcaughtandlyncheditsfifth duringthedayon was This employedon Smith'sfarm Saturday. man,EugeneRice, thekillinghad been at which the attended and allegedly meeting afternoon planned.Ricewasapprehendedand hangedSaturday In his attheCampGroundChurchbetweenMorvenand Barney.23 additwo discovered White Walter of the lynchings, investigation over the been killed to have ofthemobwhoappear tionalvictims weekend.Thesemenwerenotassociatedwiththeplottomurder for executedtoquenchthemob'sthirst Smith,butwereprobably tied the mob was Chime man named After a blood. Riley hanged, cups to hisbodyand threwit in theLittleRiver clayturpentine 21 in theThomasSavannah News, Joneswasalsomentioned May19,1918.Julius Morning

villeDaily TimesEnterprise, May 25, 1918. Walter May 18, 1918, and the Savannah Tribune,

toGovernor Whitedidnotmention Dorseyorhisarticle Julius Jonesinhismemorandum in TheCrisis.

forGovernor 22"Memorandum DorseyFromWalterF. White;"White,"TheWorkofa

Mob," 222; AtlantaJournal,May 19, 1918; SavannahMorningNews,May 20, 1918.

that »Atlanta Constitution, May19,1918;White,in "TheWorkofa Mob,"222,reported It is unclearif connectedwithHamptonSmith'skilling." Ricewas"neverevenremotely in Smith'sdeath. Ricewasone oftheconspirators

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near Barney.Another,Simon Schuman, was called out of his house near Berlinon the MoultrieRoad and was not seen again.24 The mob's sixthand seventhvictimsmay have simplybeen two blackmen who werein thewrongplace at thewrongtimeand sufferedthe mob's wrath. The mob's eighthand ninthvictims,lynchedon Sunday,May 19, were killedin the mostsensational,brutal,and barbaricmanner in thissouth Georgia tragedy.These twovictimswere Mary Turner,wifeof Hayes Turner,and her unborn child. AfterHayes Turner was lynched on Saturday,Mary Turner made what the newspapersreported as "unwise remarks"concerning her husShe apparentlystated that her husband knew band's killing.25 of nothing the plot to murderSmith,was not a partyto the crime, thather husband's hangingwas unjust,and ifshe discoveredthe identitiesof the membersof the mob she would swearout warrantsagainstthem.26 These werecommentsthatonlyinflamedthe mob, and she became its next target.MaryTurner,eightmonths pregnantand in possessionofHampton Smith'spocketwatch,was apprehended on Sundayafternoonand takento Folsom's Bridge over the Little River,just outside of Barney on the BrooksLowndes border. AtthislocationMaryTurnerand her unbornchildwerekilled in an especiallybarbaricand brutalmanner.The mob tiedher anklestogetherand hung her to a treehead downand gasolinefrom automobileswas poured over her. Turner'sclothingwas burned offofherbody.A memberofthemob produced a sharpknifeand her stomachwas laid open; her unborn child fellto the ground. Hundreds of bullets were then firedinto Turner until she was barelyrecognizableas a human being. Both Turnerand her child were buried about ten feetfromthe tree,the gravemarkedby a whiskeybottlewitha cigar placed in the neck.27The lynchingof womenwas not uncommonin Georgia- tenwomenwerelynched in Georgiabetween1880 and 1930- but thisepisode standsout as being particularly gruesome.It is also an indicationthatthe mob 24"Memorandum forGovernorDorseyFromWalterF. White." 25SeeAtlantaConstitution, May20, 1918; Atlantajournal, May20, 1918; SavannahTribune, May25, 1918. forGovernorDorseyFromWalterF. White." 26"Memorandum "Ibid.

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evenifitmeantkillwouldspareno personinexactingitsrevenge, ingan unbornchild. Atsomepointin themidstofthisrampagethebodiesofthree blackmenweretakenfromthe LittleRiverbelow unidentified Little was knownof theseindividualsand it is unclear Barney. ofthemobor thebodiesof whether theywereadditionalvictims neverlearned thosealreadylynched.The NAACP'sinvestigator theirnamesand he could notlocatethebodieswhenhe visited thesethreemenhavebeendeterthecountyinJuly. Nevertheless, minedto be additionalvictimsof themob,the tenth,eleventh, victims.28 and twelfth victimof the mob violence,the thirThe finalconfirmed teenthto die,wasthemanwhoactuallyshotHamptonSmith Johnsonhad eluded boththemob and lawenSidneyJohnson. forthebetterpartofa week.Reportshad him officials forcement in hiding theswampsaroundValdosta,butJohnsonwasin factin statedto several the townitself.Duringthistimehe apparently killed Smith. that he alone in Valdosta Johnsonhopedto persons waitoutthemobinValdostauntilitwasquietenoughforhimto May22,Johnsonwaslocatedin Valdosta escape.On Wednesday, a blackman fromwhomJohnson at the home ofJohnBryant, in escaping.Bryant askedfoodand assistance gaveJohnsonsomecontact lawenforcement his home to left thingtoeat,butquickly officials. led byChief In theeveningofMay22 Valdostapoliceofficers, at South located to the went house, Troupand South Dampier, toarrestthesuspect.A coupleofpoliceofficers streets, accompaofHampniedthepolicechief,alongwithDixonSmith,thefather ton Smith.TheyknewJohnsonwas in the house, thathe was armed,and thathe had allegedlyswornthathe wouldnot be enteredthe takenalive.Johnsonopened firewhenthe officers house and a gun battleensued.In the exchangeof fire,Chief Dampierwas wounded,as was PatrolmanDampierand Dixon atseva largecrowd,estimated Smith.The shootingalsoattracted frominsidethehouse eralhundred.Aftera shorttimethefiring ^Whitealso mentionedthesethreebodies in hisJuly10, 1918, memorandumto Governor Dorsey.None of the newspapersreportedthatthe bodies were takenfromthe river. in theNewSouth,counted these White,"The Workof a Mob," 222. Brundage,in Lynching bodies as additionalvictimsof the mob.

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towalkintoa traptheofficers fireda few stopped,butnotwanting moreshots.Whentheofficers and someofthecrowdfinally enteredthestructure theydiscovered Johnsondead. Whatwasto be done withthebody?It wascertainly too anticlimacticforthekillerof HamptonSmithto die in a gun battle withpolice officers. Besides,the mob,feelingcheatedout of a still wanted to exact its vengeance.WalterWhiterelynching, that the crowd "tookthe body,unsexedit witha sharp ported threw the knife,[and] amputatedpartsintothestreetin frontof thehouse."29 The mob thentieda rope aroundthedead man's neckand attachedtheotherend to thebackof an automobile. The bodywasdraggeddownPatterson StreetinValdostaand then on toBarneywheretheremainswereputon exhibit. AttheCamp betweenBarneyand Morven,the Ground,locatedabouthalfway bodywaspreparedforburning.One newspaper reportedthatthe was a fat and of corpse "placedupon pinestump largequantities wood piled aroundit,and thewholewas thenthoroughly saturatedwithoil."30 was then burned until SidneyJohnson nothing butashesremained. victimofthemob'srampage Johnsonwasthelastconfirmed rethroughBrooksand Lowndescounties.Mostcontemporary count eleven as do most historical but victims, accounts, ports and victims, clearlythereweremore.Therewereat leastthirteen WalterWhite,in thecourseofhisinvestigation, wastoldthateighteen personshad been lynched.31 Whateverthe actualnumber, thislynching BrooksCounty'splace as the most spreeconfirms in mob-prone county Georgia.32 Howdid Gov.HughDorseyrespondto thelynchings in Georhis administration and this incident The gia during specifically? evidencesuggests he tooklessthanadequateaction.A monthand a halfbeforetherampagein BrooksCountythegovernor wasunsureexactly whatauthority he possessedin regardtothelynching ofblacks.On April2, 1918,Dorseysenta memoto Georgiaattor^White,"The Workof a Mob," 223. *>Valdosta Daily Times,May 25, 1918. 31 "Memorandumto GovernorDorseyFromWalterF. White." 32Brooks victimsand EarlyCountywas nextwitheighteenvicCountyhad twenty-four tims.These numberswere extractedfromBrundage,Lynching in theNewSouth,Appendix A, 270-80.

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Valdosta Police Chief Calvin Dampier, who was wounded in a gun battle with Sidney Historical Society. County oftheLowndes Johnsonon May22, 1918. Courtesy

Walker:"Kindlyadviseme whetherin your neygeneralClifford take I can legally anystepsto apprehendtheparticipants opinion in Taliaferro in the recentlynching County,otherthanoffera

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rewardfor theircapture."33 Yet as governor,Dorsey should have knownthathe possessed authoritynot only to apprehend membersofmobs,but also to prosecutethem.To hiscredit,he did take some action in the midstof the eventsin south Georgia. In the afternoon of May 22, the day the mob apprehended Sidney Johnson, Dorsey declared a state of insurrectionand ordered militiatroops fromSavannah to the region. On the evening of May 23 between 140 and 150 membersof the Chatham Home Guardboarded a trainforValdosta.Bythe timethetroopsarrived, about 1:30 A.M.,SidneyJohnsonhad been lynchedand the situationhad calmed significantly. The governor'sdecision to dispatch was too little too late. troops simply In July1918 Dorsey included a statementon lynchingin his annual message to the General Assembly.This statementread, in part: "Mob violence should be suppressed;and by State authorities.Ifthisis not done, itis veryprobable thatfederalintervention willnot long be delayed."34 The governoralso put theissue ofmob violence on the agenda of an executivemeetingofJuly10. The minutesforthatdate include a shortstatementon mob violence: "Mob violence should be suppressed;and by State authorities."35 Dorseyseemed willingto move to stop mob violence onlybecause he did not wantfederalofficialsin his state. Almostthree yearslater,on April 22, 1921, Dorsey issued a pamphlettitled"A StatementfromGovernorHugh M. Dorseyas to the Negro in Georgia,"more commonlyknownas "The Negro in Georgia."In thisdocumentDorseyoutlined 135 examples of acts ofviolenceagainstAfricanAmericansin thestate,includinglynching,peonage, and othercruelmeasures.His purposein producing thebookletwasto saveGeorgiafromrace violence:"To me itseems thatwe standindictedas a people beforetheworld.Ifthesecharges should continue,both God and man wouldjustlycondemn GeorThe governordid recognizethe severeprejudicein Georgia gia."36 and tookaction,perhapsan effortto rehabilitatethestate'simage. 33HughDorsey to CliffordWalker,April 2, 1918, Governor's Incoming Correspondence, GeorgiaDepartmentofArchivesand History,Morrow(hereinaftercitedas GDAH). ^JournaloftheSenateoftheStateofGeorgia(Atlanta,1918), 50. '»ExecutiveMinutes,1917-1919,GDAH. His36Quotedin TimothyJ.Pitts,"Hugh M. Dorseyand "TheNegro in Georgia,'" Georgia toricalQuarterly 89 (Summer2005): 186.

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Whatactionsdid the NAACPtakein the aftermath of this It an sent assistant Walter F. lynching secretary spree? investigator, White,toBrooksCountytolookintotheaffair. White,becauseof hislightskinand blue eyes,wasable to infiltrate southernwhite and with the men who had carriedout society frequently spoke in Thiswasexactly whathappenedin hisinvestigation lynchings. south Georgia;he conversedwithmembersof the mob and learnedthenamesnotonlyoftheindividuals butalsothe involved leaders.Withthisinformation Whitepenned an articleon this southGeorgialynching the rampagethatappearedin TheCrisis, officialpublicationof the NAACP.In addition,Whitewrotea forGovernorDorseythatoutlinedthe incident memorandum and providedthenamesoftheleadersand membersofthemob. WalterWhiteand John R. Shillady,the secretaryof the distributed newsreleasesabouttheagency's NAACP, continuously in in efforts investigating theevents southGeorgia.Thesereleases, issuedon May22,August1,August26,September7 and 14,conin general,butall includedinformation cernedlynching and deAllofthesedocuments tailson theeventsinBrooksCounty.37 were sentto thegovernor's officeas wellas toAmerica'smajornewspaAfter White delivered hismemorandum in persontoDorsey pers. onJuly10,Whiteand Shillady in contact withthegovernor. stayed On August21 Shillady senta telegram toDorseyaskingifthegovernorwould"inform us ofactiontaken,ifany,on memorandum submitted to youJulytenthon Brooksand LowndesCounties "So faras I amabletoascertain no Dorseyresponded, lynchings."38 definite results havebeenobtainedin theeffort toapprehendthe It seems evident that did guilty parties."39 Dorsey littleto "apprehendtheguilty and did nothingin thewayofinvestigatparties" In ing. late November1918 the governoransweredadditional thathe had "nothad theopportunity to learn inquiriesbystating thefactsconcerning thelynchings towhichyourefer."40 It seems clearthatthegovernor did notintendto takeaction. 37Thesenewsreleasesare availablein Group I, Series C, Box 353, Papers of the NAACP. '"WesternUnion telegram,JohnShilladyto GovernorDorsey,August21, 1918, ibid. wHughDorseytoJohnShillady,August27, 1918, ibid. ^Hugh Dorsey to John Shillady,November 30, 1918, Governor's Correspondence, GDAH.

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Despite the lack of interestfromGovernorDorsey,the NAACPcontinuedto pressforaction.WalterWhitemovedto whomWhitehad buildon thecooperationofGeorgeSpratling, In his initial interviewed during investigation. November1918 White again visitedBrooks County,this time to determine totestify abouttheeventsthepreviousMay. Spratling's willingness had reswhowassickwiththefluat thetime,naturally Spratling, Personalsafety washisprimary ervations aboutpublictestimony. in BrooksCountyand theserelaconcern.Spratlinghad family becometargets ofa mobifhe testified. Durtiveswouldcertainly that since the in learned events this White Mayeight ing trip persons,all relatedto the lynchingvictims,had eitherbeen concernswere safety lynchedor simplydisappeared.Spratling's that the in reloreal. White NAACP assist very proposed Spratling his would not be threatto the North where physical safety cating consideredtheoffer.41 ened.Spratling ThroughNovemberand DecemberWhitestayedin contact theReverendSamuelS. Broadnax, withSpratling, usuallythrough in Brooks minister at Spratling's church,and a blackphysician N. Grant. and Shillady White,havingmade County,Dr. Athens contactwithIowa senatorWilliamKenyon,wantedSpratlingto The NAACPsecretary asbeforea U.S. Senatecommittee. testify fundwouldcover suredthesenatorthattheagency'santi-lynching ifKenyonwas"willing all expensesrelatedtoSpratling's testimony In early to takehold of thematterand go to thebottomofit."42 DecemberWhitecontactedBroadnaxand Grantand implored On December14, themboth to convinceSpratlingto testify. Whitethatthecase washopeless, ReverendBroadnaxinformed thathe should considerSpratling"a hard case."43But George totestify wasunderstandable; he and continuedrefusal Spratling's if harm he went hisfamily stoodto suffer greatphysical public.It and effectively wasa blowto theNAACP's ongoinginvestigation closedthebookon theeventsin southGeorgia. 41"MemoFrom WalterF. White,AssistantSecretary,toJohn R. Shillady,Secretary,Re InterviewwithGeorge U. Spratlingat Quitman,GA Nov. 12, 1918,"Group I, Series C, Box 355, Papers of the NAACP. 42John Shilladyto SenatorWilliamKenyon,November13, 1918, ibid. «WalterWhiteto Dr. AthensN. Grant,December 9, 1918; WalterWhiteto Rev. Samuel ScottBroadnax,December 10, 1918; Rev.S. S. Broadnax to WalterF. White,December 14, 1918. All in ibid.

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Therewereno legal repercussions forthe membersof the and no one ever held accountable was fortheiractions. mob, Therewas not a singleindictment of anymemberof the mob. Thereareseveralreasonsthatno indictments wereissued.In this blackmen erawhitemensimply werenotpunishedforlynching ifthelynching andwomen,especially waspunishment fora crime. in action was not taken south for another reaLegal Georgia yet oftheBrooksCountygrandjuryinMay1918was son:theforeman Thisensured WilliamA.Whipple,one oftheleadersofthemob.44 thatno chargeswouldbe broughtagainstanyoneinvolved. Howdoes thislynching and sociospreefitintothehistorical In examinations of south Georthe logical lynchings? manyways withmanyofthevariousexplanations for giaincidentisconsistent the causesof mob violence.Noted sociologistArthurRaper,in one ofthefirst studiesoflynching, thatmob systematic suggested in werelikelyto occur "moresparsely settledruralcounkillings betweenthepopulationper ties.Thereis an inversecorrelation the ratebeinghighestin the countyand the rateof lynching, inhabitants."45 Thisis partially borneout countieswiththefewest In 1910theCensusBureaurecorded byeventsin BrooksCounty. 23,832personsin BrooksCounty;thisdoes notmakeitone ofthe mostsparselysettledcountiesin the state.On the otherhand, as livingin a rural 19,917(83.5percent)personswerecategorized The county's1920population,24,538,is similarin many setting.46 to wascategorized as rural,butthe respects 1910;thevastmajority totalpopulationstilldid not makeit one of theleastpopulated countiesin Georgia(ofthe155 countiesin Georgiain 1920,126 had smallerpopulationsthanBrooks).47 Yettheeventsin Brooks thesis that mob violence wasmorelikely CountysupportRaper's to occurin ruralareas. In otherwaysthelynchings in southGeorgiaare consistent withand supportaccepted interpretations of mob violence. that the FitzhughBrundagesuggested "unspeakablecrime"of "BrooksCountySuperiorCourtMinutes,Book G, 1913-1920, 369, BrooksCounty Courthouse, Quitman, Georgia. 45Arthur F. Raper,TheTragedy ofLynching (ChapelHill,N.C.,1933),28.

^Thirteenth CensusoftheUnitedStatesTakenin theYear1910; Abstract oftheCensuswithSupplement forGeorgia(Washington,D.C., 1913), 604. ^Fourteenth CensusoftheUnitedStates:1920 Bulletin(Washington,D.C., 1923), 8.

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ofwhitesto a fargreaterextent rape "grippedtheimaginations thananyotheroffense" and that"rapein southernracerelations in a vital role mob violence."48 This is also played legitimating borneoutbyeventsin BrooksCounty. The meresuggestion that Mrs.Smithwassexually assaultedwasenoughforthemobtohunt downSidneyJohnsonand lynchhimas wellas anybody whowas associated with or who him remotely anybody simplygot in the - whatmattered It did not matter that she was not assaulted way. wasthatshemighthavebeen.Brundagealso suggested thata hoa lynching micidethatprecipitated was the spree usually resultof a simmering feud.Again,thisis exactly whathappenedin Brooks Smith had abused his workers overa lengthy County.Hampton tookmatters intotheirownhands. periodoftime,and theyfinally ofthemurderofHamptonSmithand thealleThe combination gations(howeveruntrue)of the sexualassaultof his wifewere victims. enoughforthelynchmobto murderat leastthirteen The eventssurrounding WorldWarI providedanotherexplanationformobviolence.A usefulexcuseforlynchmobswasthat Germanpropagandawasbeingcirculated amongtheblackpopulationor thatGermanagentswerestirring up a racewar.Too frethese rumors were at accepted face value, and this quently in occurred Brooks County.The AtlantaConstitution apparently rana storyas earlyas May20 thatblamedGermanagentsforthe murderofHamptonSmith.It statedthatthosewhokilledSmith orindirectly and shothiswifewere"eitherdirectly urgedtocrime have been working secretly amongthenebyGermanagentswho resultofa Gergroesin thissectionand thatthecrimewasthefirst a racewar." to stir the and cause mansouth-wide negroes plot up Othernewspapercarriedsimilarstorieseventhoughtherewere no knownGermanagentsin thecounty.49 An explanationforwhobecamea victimof lynchmobswas to a U.S. Senate putforthbyWalterWhitein a 1934 statement thesenatorsthat"themajority ofthe committee. Whiteinformed victimsof lynchingmobs are friendless, pennilessindividuals, whichmightaid them without wholly politicalor otherinfluence in theNewSouth,58. ^Brundage, Lynching *>AtlantaConstitution, 20, 1918. See, for May example, Baltimore Daily Herald,May 21, NewsScimitar, 1918,and Memphis May21, 1918.

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in escapingswift HistorianEdwardAyerscame to punishment."50 tended a similarconclusionand explaineditthisway:"Lynchings to flourishwherewhitesweresurroundedby whattheycalled 'strangeniggers,'blackswithno whiteto vouchforthem,blacks This was Sidney withno reputationin the neighborhood."51 Johnson'ssituation exceptforcourtappearanceshe waslargely in BrooksCountyin 1918.Johnsonhad no rootsin the unknown ofand no one to defendhim;evenlawenforcement community ficialscouldnotprotecthim. HistorianGraceElizabethHale, in herstudyofthecultureof underwent a transformation thatlynching suggested segregation, that waschangin theearlytwentieth She wrote lynching century. justice to a modernpublic spectacle. ing fromquiet vigilante eventsthatinwere becomingwell-choreographed Lynchings announcement cludedthechase,capture,publicidentification, ofthesite,and oftheupcomingevent,selectionand preparation torwhichusuallyincludedmutilation, lastlythespectacleitself, in events the crowd.52 The ture,and thecollectionofsouvenirs by butaspects madethetransformation, BrooksCountyhad notfully ofpublicspectacle.Whilethelynchfitthepattern ofthelynching as Hale outlines,hundreds not as well were choreographed ings counties and probablythousandsof people fromsurrounding left of several who were the remains viewed victims, hangingon werenotpublic publicdisplay.The actualkillingsof thevictims events,but thefactthatseveralof thebodieswerelefthanging madethelynchings publicspectacles. in Georgia,categolynching Brundage,in outlining Fitzhugh Accordrizedthevarioustypesofmobsthatcarriedoutlynchings. include swift of a the characteristics to posse ing Brundage general innocent indiscriminate violence blacks, against summary justice, and the absence of legal the popularblessingof the citizenry, The BrooksCountymob actionagainstthemob afterthefact.53 without tohearfromthe carriedoutswift waiting summary justice ofBlackAmerica ^Quoted in Philip Dray,At theHands ofPersonsUnknown:TheLynching (NewYork,2002), 317. Reconstruction 51EdwardL. Ayers,ThePromiseoftheNew South:LifeAfter (NewYork, 1992), 157.

of 204. For a complete descriptionof the transformation 52Hale,Making Whiteness, lynching,see 199-239. in theNewSouth,33-36. MFormore about posses,see Brundage,Lynching

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manwhoshotand killedHamptonSmith.WhenSidneyJohnson wasfinally locatedhe statedthathe alone shotSmith;he implicatedno others.The BrooksCountyaffair wasmarkedbyindiscriminateviolenceagainstseveralinnocentblackswho found in thepathofthemob.JohnsonaloneshotSmithand themselves yetthemobsawfitto lynchat leastthirteen personsand perhaps as manyas eighteen.The citizensofBrooksand Lowndescounties certainly supportedthemob'sactionsand gavetheirblessingby thefactthatthousands viewedthelifelessbodiesofseveralofthe victims. One BrooksCountyresident, GarrardHarrell,approved of thelynchings fromafar.Working in Nocatee,Florida,Harrell learnedof the eventsthroughcorrespondence withhis mother and father. "I hope theycaughtthat'nigger,'" he wrotehisfather. "Andwhentheycaughthim I hope theyhunghimwithoutso muchas a mocktrial."Threedayslater,afterhis motherapparentlydescribedtheactionsofthemob,Harrellreplied"Fourneis whatI groeshungbecauseofa crimethatanothercommitted call killingthembythewholesale."54 The finalcharacteristic ofa that described was in also evident this posse Brundage episode: theabsenceoflegalactionagainstanyofthemobmembers. Condemnations of the lynchings werefairlyuniversal.The in New York called the "a blowat theinBrooklyn Eagle lynchings dustrial oftheSouth"and suggested vitalism thatitwasimportant forGeorgiato hangone whitemanforparticipation in themob violence.The Baltimore Heraldran a under the headline: Daily story Huns Woman and Three Men." The Chi"Georgia LynchNegro called thelynchmob "crackers," and the Pittsburgh cagoDefender Courier labeledthem"inhumanfiends." EventheAtlantaConstitutioncondemnedtheoutragesin BrooksCounty. A story on May24 statedthattheeventsleft"thestatedisgracedand humiliated beforethe world."The vastmajorityof the civilizedworldcondemned and criticizedthe lynchingrampagein Brooksand Lowndescounties.55 54Garrard Harrell to his father,May 18, 1918, and GarrardHarrell to his mother,May 21, 1918, HarrellCollection,Lowndes CountyHistoricalSociety,Valdosta,Georgia. M BrooklynEagle, May 20, 1918; BaltimoreDaily Herald, May 20, 1918; Chicago Defender,May

25, 1918; Pittsburgh Courier, May 25, 1918; AtlantaConstitution, May 24, 1918. These issues are availablein Group I, Series C, Box 355 (Valdostafile),Papers of the NAACP.

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Mob violencein BrooksCountyoccurredat an unprecedentedrateduringthe fifty-year era of lynching, and the 1918 closed out the an with historic burst ofviolence. rampage period in Therewereno moreconfirmed the countythroughlynchings outtherestoftheera.The 1918lynchings helpedto establishan unparalleledlegacyof raciallyinspiredmob violence in the a reputation county, unequalledin Georgia,theSouth,and possithe Those confirmed thatBrooksCounty bly country. lynchings wasthemostmob-prone andlynch-prone countyina statethatled thenationin mobviolence.

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