Lynching in Anderson County / Lynching in America

Marker Text: White mobs lynched at least five Black people, including three teenagers, in Anderson County over the course of 17 years. On December 12, 1894, a mob of nearly 500 white men abducted a Black boy named Edward Sullivan from law enforcement and hanged him near Williamston after a white boy was found dead. White press excused the lynching in defense of “the good people” who participated. On May 20, 1898, after a white man’s gin house burned down, a constable handed Elbert Harris, a Black teenager, over to a mob of around 20 white men at their request. The mob brutally whipped and beat Elbert on the side of the road, and he died four days later at the Anderson County Jail. On November 24, 1901, a mob of at least 200 white people seized a Black farm worker named John Laddison after a white woman reported being assaulted. Denying Mr. Laddison’s right to due process, the mob hanged him in Rock Mills Township and shot his lynched body. On June 30, 1903, a mob of up to 50 white men fatally shot an elderly Black man named Reuben Elrod. The mob then proceeded to strip, severely beat, and terrorize three Black women who were relatives and caregivers in the Elrod home. On October 10, 1911, following a reported assault on a white girl, a mob led by a South Carolina state representative lynched 17-year-old Willis Jackson in Honea Path. No one was ever held accountable for any of these lynchings.