John Taylor was born into slavery in Kentucky and was liberated by Union troops during the Civil War. In August 1864, he enlisted in the 1st Michigan Colored Infantry. After the war, Taylor worked for farmer John Buck in Delhi Township. When Taylor left to seek employment elsewhere, Buck refused…
Beneath the wooden trestle which originally stood on the site of the railroad bridge north of here, lynch mobs hanged at least four persons in the wild days. In the wee hours of January 7, 1869, Luke Barnes, Lee Watkins and James Sponder, Black soldiers of the 38th U.S. Infantry,…
The era of Reconstruction following the Civil War opened with great promise in Gainesville but soon gave way to racial terror, unparalleled violence, and racial oppression. White mobs lynched at least eight Black people during this period: Harry Franklin 1868; Mr. Stephens 1868; an Unnamed Person 1870; Christopher Cummings 1870;…