William Keemer (born ca. 1852) of Carthage was a Black carpenter with ties to the nearby free Black community of Beech Settlement (begun ca. 1828). In 1875, white Hancock County farmer William Vaughn accused Keemer of raping his wife. Keemer was arrested and jailed at Greenfield. He maintained his innocence,…
Monett has always been known as a nice, peaceful railroad town. However, in 1894, that was disrupted. There were five lynchings in twelve years near the turn of the century in this area, however, only one of these was in Monett. On June 28, 1894 on what seemed to be…
From a Sycamore near this spot, L.V. Grime and C.B. Hawley were lynched on Aug. 24, 1882 for the hold up – murder of Andrew Hall, Wells Fargo Packer, and Dr. S.T. Vail. The culprits had a fair hearing before JP Allen on Wednesday eve, and at 2 AM Thursday…
In respectful memory of the thousands across America, denied justice by lynching; victims of hatred, prejudice, and ignorance. Between 1880-1946, ~570 Georgians were lynched….
200 yards north of here, a granite boulder bears this inscription “John and William Driscoll executed here June 29, 1841,” These two men, father and son, were tried by 500 aroused citizens and then executed by a firing squad of one hundred eleven men. “Doctors and scholars, ministers and deacons…
In March 1871, York Co. Ku Klux Klan members, led by Dr. J. Rufus Bratton, lynched black militia Capt. James Williams, hanging him from a tree near his home 1.5 miles away. His body was carried to the Brick House the next day where a coroner’s inquest was held. The…