Date: November 14th, 1890 Alleged Crime: Assault of white woman Place: Dolomite Detail: Mosley was being sought by a mob after an accusation of assaulting a white woman, but it’s unclear whether he was caught and whether he was killed. Adamantia Dia Stathakes University of Alabama at Birmingham Selected Sources “Scouring the Swamps
These Jefferson County Memorial Project Fellows researched lynchings in the county for the “Jefferson County’s 30 Residents” report. FELLOWS Tammy Blue, MA in History University of Alabama at Birmingham Jamilria Bryant Lawson State Community College Madelyn Lisette Cantu University of Alabama at Birmingham Katie Fagan, MA in Anthropology University of Alabama at Birmingham Becca
Read the Jefferson County Memorial Project’s inaugural report, “Jefferson County’s 30 Residents,” for information about the project and stories on the 30 lynching victims in the county.
“This report will be hard to read:” Jefferson County Memorial Project Puts the Spotlight on Lynchings, and There’s More to Come Researching Birmingham’s Lynchings was Disturbing, Eye-Opening for College Students Who Took on the Project How They Did It: College Students Were
The Jefferson County Memorial Project focused on incidents that occurred between 1883 and 1940. Killings were defined as lynchings if they were an act of racial terrorism by white mobs of three or more people, whether they were killed by hanging, burning, mutilating, shooting or other forms of assault. There were more incidents not included
Read more about the Jefferson County Memorial Project at the group’s website.
Students at colleges in the Birmingham area researched lynchings of 30 victims, including facts they found mostly in government documents and press reports, along with some of their impressions of the situations. Here are a few of the victims’ stories. Read more.
The lynching of James Thomas occurred on July 3, 1897, in the Jefferson County mining town of Blossburg. The Birmingham News reported that his body was found “in Pickney branch, a mile or two above Blossburg, riddled with bullets and very much dead.” A group of white men lynched Mr. Thomas because he said he had information about a white woman who was assaulted in Blossburg. Unlike most cases of racial violence, a trial ensued against these men. The black population of Blossburg raised a fund to prosecute four men: Sam Jones, Charles Clark, Joe Williams and Jack Hollins. The Birmingham News wrote, “The negroes held that the summary death of Thomas was an outrage … there was no extraneous evidence to tend to show that he was connected with it. They argued that if he was suspected, there ought to have been some examination into the facts.” They were granted this examination, albeit posthumously, and the hearing was covered in full detail in the papers. There was great local interest in the case, with 20 black folks and 40 white folks attending the public hearing, and 50 witnesses slated to be heard. The hearing took place over three days. Read more.
Lewis Houston was accused of assaulting a white woman and arrested by police. Rumors swirled about plans to lynch him. A mob of white men began to gather outside the jail. On Saturday evening, Nov. 24, 1883, a mob of 150 men approached the jail to apprehend Lewis. The mob of men broke into the jail with pistols and took Mr. Houston from his cell. The mob dragged Mr. Houston from Fourth Avenue North to Capitol Park, now known as Linn Park. The mob took Mr. Houston to a pine tree in the park and told him to confess to raping the woman. Lewis responded, “Gentleman, before God, I didn’t do it.” Following this, the mob adjusted the rope around his neck. His last words were “Jesus, take me home.” Read more.
O.D. Henderson, a 25-year-old African-American man from Fairfield, worked at the Tennessee Coal and Railroad Iron Company. Mr. Henderson was not married and had no children, but he had two parents, Ben and Lillie Henderson. On May 9, 1940, Mr. Henderson was walking to work when a coworker, M.M. Hagood, accused Mr. Henderson of bumping into him and knocking him down. Mr. Hagood called a nearby officer, named Glenn, over. Officer Glenn allowed Mr. Hagood to beat Mr. Henderson on the street. Officer Glenn then dragged Mr. Henderson to the local Fairfield police station where he, Mr. Hagood, and another police officer, Thomas Nelson, continued to beat him. Mr. Henderson’s face became swollen, bruised, and unrecognizable. Other officers watched and did nothing to stop the beating. A police officer who was a witness reported hearing Mr. Henderson say, “let me explain,” and “have mercy on me.” Mr. Nelson shot Mr. Henderson three times in the chest, killing him. The town coroner labeled the death an “unjustifiable homicide.” Read more.
