This country has a long history of racism, white supremacy, Jim Crow and discrimination.
NAACP Banner, LOC, id ppmsa 09705
Violence is at the core of those systems. Without violence, they couldn’t exist. Far from being passive or willing subjects, African and Native peoples and their descendants fought back in myriad ways.
That’s why slave rebellions were often dealt with by using ever-increasing levels of depravity, such as burning bodies and cutting off heads.
Lynching is what I call the original American brand of terrorism. These murders were unique. Lynching sent a message to the community. Its goal was to stifle black achievement and keep black people “in their place.”
The 1874 drawing below shows the KKK and White Leagues shaking hands over defeating a black family. There is lynching and a school burning in the background.
The Union As It Was, Harper’s Weekly, October 10, 1874. Drawing by Thomas Nast
The NAACP conducted extensive research into lynching and pushed for federal legislation that never passed. Brave journalists like Ida B. Wells-Barnett spoke and wrote about lynchings.
It must have been a frightening time for our ancestors who risked their lives to vote, buy land, build schools and teach. I am filled with a deep sadness whenever I think about how striving to better oneself was met with violence.
I am glad I live in a time and place where I can have friends and family of all colors, ethnicities, religious beliefs and sexual preferences. That does not mean that the forces of hate are not alive and well. The battle continues.
George Holt
Early in my research, I discovered the story of a lynching of one of my Holt ancestors. I never thought I would find documentation, but I did. The Savannah Courier was the local paper in Hardin County, Tennessee. Like other newspapers of the time, it was replete with stories of race riots and lynchings throughout the 1880s and 1890s.
In May, 1887, one sentence in the paper read:
“George Holt, col., who lived near Sibley met his fate by the rope route last Friday.”
George Holt
I was shocked by the sarcasm and brevity of it, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The author had the audacity to write “Suicide” atop this notice, which of course is a fabrication.
George Holt, I later discovered, was the brother of my gggrandfather John W. Holt. He owned hundreds of acres of land at the time of his death, and he had a wife and six children. Some of George Holt’s descendants believe it had to do with a dispute over his land. However, I’m sure we will never know the true reason.
This happened in a rural West Tennessee community that never had a large black population. Though slavery and racism existed, I know this act of terror must have rocked this small African-American community.
A Million Questions
Did George know his assailants? How did his family go on after that? Why did they stay there? How do you rebuild? Is revenge ever an option? His brother John became one of the most prominent blacks in the county– land wealthy, a merchant and former Postmaster.
How did John react? Did he know who did this? I think what I cannot fathom is the idea that there could be no assumption or hope for justice. Law enforcement did not protect black people.
These are questions for which I’ll never know the answer. Our ancestors take many of their secrets with them, never to be discovered. Years ago, I was searching through the local black cemetery in the community. Digging through the bushes, I came face-to-face with George Holt’s headstone.
The vines and roots came out of the ground and wrapped around the headstone. I got chills up my spine. That moment really shook me.
Today, I remember George Holt and all the others, named and unnamed. All those men, women and children who met their fate “at the hands of persons unknown.” May they rest in eternal peace.
PS—Check out the Project HAL database—Historical American Lynchings
(Update, 2018: Finally, a memorial to lynching!)
I am an engineer by day, but my true passion lies in genealogy. I have been a researcher, writer, lecturer and teacher for over twenty years. This blog is where I share family history methods, resources, tips and advice, with an emphasis on slave research, slavery and its aftermath. This lifelong quest has helped me to better know my family’s past. I’ve taken back– reclaimed– some of that lost memory, especially that of my enslaved ancestors. I hope you’ll sign up to receive my posts—if you do, you’ll get a free PDF with some of my favorite tips! And please do share posts that interest you.
Robyn an excellent post and a sad story for your family. I am always amazed and impressed with the strength of our ancestors. They had to endure so much. So many of the “problems” we complain about today pale in comparison to what they experienced on a daily basis. Yet, they found the strength to forge ahead and make things better for the next generation.
Lynching IS indeed America’s original brand of terrorism and I shudder to think that I too will eventually find an ancestor in my tree who fell victim to this brand of terrorism. Your excellent post also brings to mind a promotional book review my colleague and I had to do for the book – “Without Sanctuary: Photographs and Postcards of Lynching in America” – http://withoutsanctuary.org. That was one very difficult book to read, view, and review . . . and it is one book I’ll never forget!
OMG! I am also in awe of their strength and endurance. I haven’t yet found anyone in family history who was lynched, but with the thousands of lynching/hate murders (many unreported) I’m sure it’s touched most Black famils in the US. I made a brief post about it in honor of Black History Month last year http://stylesource01.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/oh-freedom-oooooh-freedom-oooh-freedom-over-me/.
I’m so sorry that this form of terrorism touched your family and others who’s lives where cut short by racism, hate and violence.
My g grandmother’s brother was lynched by Pinkerton agents 1 Aug 1917 in Butte, Montana. He was a Wobbly and was working to get a strike up against the Anaconda Mine. He is on findagrave #36564678. Until I started researching my family, I knew nothing about it. No one in the family did. They kept quiet because they were afraid of reprisals. My g grandparents were living in a tent in Drumright Oklahoma when they fights and riots were there.
Carolyn, isn’t it sad when we find these things out? How did you find out about it? Yours is an interesting story because it ties into economics. Southern whites were desperate to keep their agricultural labor force. They also wanted to keep mining and other industrial jobs–as dangerous as they were–the domain of the white man.
My grandmother’s sister was doing genealogy back in the 70’s She found some information on it. I found the rest. I started by following the census records, and then searching for newspaper articles and books.
Another brother of my great grandmother married and had children. I am in contact with one of those descendants, and we have become friends. She is writing a book on him and I am helping. I had the pictures, and the FBI files from the FOIA program. There were even telegrams from the president and J Edgar Hoover regarding their spying on him, and using the Pinkerton agents. They “investigated” his death and “determined” it was a group of unknowns who hung him on a railroad trestle after they had dragged him behind a car tearing off his kneecaps.
They grabbed him out of his bed in the middle of the night. They called him a half breed hobo. They believed he was Native American, I have never been able to verify any of that story to date, but hobo, he probably was. He was poor, but very strong in his determination for safety for the workmen. He dedicated his life to it. We have not yet figured out what was the deciding factor in his life to lead him this way. He has been a very interesting person to research. I so admire his dedication, stubborness, and his strength in following through his ideas and beliefs. He was of German, Irish, and Scottish descent.