On June 3, 1893, a mob of 1,500 white people lynched a 30-year-old Black man named Samuel J. Bush across from the courthouse lawn in Decatur, Illinois. Mr. Bush was accused of assaulting two white women — one from Mt. Zion, a “sundown town”. He was charged and held at…
In Tallahassee, Florida, between 1897 and 1937, racial terror lynchings of African Americans by white mobs created a legacy of violence, intimidation, and injustice that has not been fully acknowledged. At least four racial terror lynchings took place in Leon County, traumatizing the entire Black community. These lawless acts of…
Isaac Barrett, an African American tenant farmer, was lynched in St. Johns County, Florida, on June 5, 1897, after he was accused of assaulting the family of his white employer. According to press accounts, Mr. Barrett had a disagreement with the family about money owed to him, and the employer’s…
The lynching of Isaac Barrett did not occur in the City of St. Augustine. He was murdered in Orangedale, over twenty miles to the west of this location. Regardless, both communities are in St. Johns County and as such, this event is a part of our history. In order to…
White mobs lynched at least four Black men in Gainesville between 1877 and 1950 in complete disregard for the legal system and their constitutional rights. On February 17, 1891, a white mob abducted Tony Champion from his jail cell and hanged him from a tree near NE 6th Street. Just…
One of the West’s Longest and Bloodiest feuds took place here and around Pleasant Valley. The Grahams and the Tewksburys had been in the cattle business and it seems probable that they first fell out over the division of cattle they jointly owned (some believe stole). “Sheep were introduced into…