Education

Anthony Davis, Aug. 21, 1908, Pratt City

On July 9, 1907, Anthony Davis, age 25, married Lucy Mitchell. A year later, on August 21, 1908, a white mob killed Mr. Davis on his way home from work. 

No record is available on the rest of his family, but a newspaper account said he was diligent in reporting to the sheriff that he had seen three men running from a violent incident in which a mob had blown up Mr. Davis’ home and that of a white, union coworker, Thomas Duggan. Although a strike was going on where Mr. Davis and Mr. Duggan worked, both men were strikebreakers and continued to show up for their jobs. 

The same day that Mr. Davis made the report, a mob of white men ambushed and killed him on his way home after dark. Three men were arrested following the bombing and Davis’ death — two black men and one white man. The names listed in the newspaper account were Alf Jones, Walter Findley, and Peter Wallace. 

April Johnson 

Lawson State Community College 

Selected Sources 

Marriage Records. Alabama Marriages. County courthouses, Alabama. 

“Young Women Hurt,” The Montgomery Advertiser, August 20, 1908, page 1.