Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America (46 page)

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Authors: Patrick Phillips

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BOOK: Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America
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convictions of Knox and Daniel, 108–9, 111–15
described in
New York Times
, 108–9, 111
dynamiting of Hockenhull worker cabins, 169–70
in early 1920s, 185
and Griffith’s film
The Birth of a Nation
, 71–72
in Hall County, 122–24
“lawlessness,” 21, 63, 81, 112
long tradition of, 81
after Mae Crow’s funeral, xii, 67–69
mass meeting about violence by, 113–16
occupations and social rank, 72–73, 80
as old men, 196–97
raids after Crow assault, 62–65
raids in the 1870s, 150
and “slave patrol” system in Georgia, 80–81
threats sent through the mails, 115, 117
threats to white planters, 111–12, 160
see also
mob violence; racial cleansing

Nuckolls, Alexander Burruss, 145

Nuckolls, Archibald, 2

Nunn, Sam, 225

Obear, William, 153

Oglethorpe, James, 73

“old threadbare lie” that Negro men rape white women, 26, 192

Oliver, Beulah Rucker, 110, 157

Oliver, Byrd

Backband Church, 65, 73
flight from Forsyth County, 108–11
in Hall County, 157
photograph,
109
State Industrial and High School, 157

Oliver, Delia, 108, 109, 110, 111

Oliver, Dorothy Rucker, 109–10, 111, 157

Omilami, Elisabeth, 233

Otwell, Roy P., 196, 221, 222

Parks, Benjamin, 74

pattyrollers, 80, 81

Perkerson, Angus, 99–100, 106

Phagan, Mary, 88

Phagan, Wash, 123, 124

Phillips, Bill, xv, 199, 217, 225–27

Phillips, Nan, xv, 199–200, 217, 225–27

Phillips, Rachel, xv, 217, 225

Phillips, Will, 170–72

Pike, Bonnie, 215

Pirkle, Isaiah

arrest after Ellen Grice’s attack, 4
at Buford, Georgia,
xxi
, 87
as material witness, 85, 100
release after trials, 107

Plainville “race war,” 14–16, 17

Pleasant Grove Church, xiv, 35, 37, 67, 103, 243

Pool, Tom, 103

Price, James, 174

Prohibition law in Georgia, 117

Pruitt, Tom, 238

racial cleansing

Cherokee removals from Forsyth County, 76–77
expulsion of African Americans from Forsyth County, xii–xiii, xvi, 63, 69, 117–19, 183–86
failure in Hall County, 120–25
Forsyth County 1915–1920, 173–82
in government, by Wilson, 166, 167–68, 173
land bought or seized by whites, 183–85
“whites only” rule in Forsyth County, 173–82, 204
see also
night riders

Raeder, R. B. Cotton, 221

Ramsey, Charity, 148

Ray, James Earl, 219

Reid, William W. (Bill)

about, 2–3
absence after Edwards arrest, 47–48, 52–53, 59, 101, 116
account of “race riot,” 58–60
arrest of Joe Smith, 172
arrest of Rob Edwards, 45–47
criticism for execution spectacle, 153–54
on day of Knox trial, 97
execution of Knox and Daniel, 126–28, 129–32, 134, 137–38, 153
Grant Smith taken into custody, 8
meeting with Forsyth prisoners before trial, 88, 90–91, 101
member of Ku Klux Klan, 2, 8, 47, 61, 92
photographs,
3
,
5
search for Ellen Grice’s attacker, 1, 4
transfer of Crow suspects to Atlanta, 58

Richmond and Danville Railroad, 9

Riley, Thomas, 148

Rivers, Nelson, 238

Rocks, Marvin and Rubie, 186, 188

Rogers, Joe, 4

Roosevelt, Theodore, 166

Rose, xviii

Ross, John, 76

Rucker, Beulah, 110, 157

scaffold construction, 127, 129, 134–36

Scott, Winfield, 76

Seaman, Ron, 222

“Seeing Georgia” tour, 174–80

Selman, William, 139

Sequoyah, 73

Shadburn, Don, 77

Shakerag Church, 11, 63, 65

Sharpton, Al, 207

Shiloh Baptist, 11, 12, 65

Shiloh United Methodist, 208

Shirley, Frank, xvi, 213

Shuttlesworth, Fred, 213

Sibley, Caleb, 145

Sims, Randy, 204

“slave patrol” system in Georgia, 79–81

Smith, Aaron, 76

Smith, Annie, 169

Smith, Byel, 169

Smith, Eddie, 169

Smith, Frank, 169, 170

Smith, Grant

about, 6–7
arrest/taken into custody by Reid, 8
comment about Ellen Grice, 7
horsewhipping, 7–8, 55, 144
protection by Georgia National Guard, 22–25
threats to lynch, 12
transfer to Marietta jail, 25

Smith, Horace, 124

Smith, Joe, 172

Smith, Lula, 169

Smith, Roosevelt, 169

Smith, Roysten, 100

Smith, Silas, 6, 144

Snell, Benjamin, 135

Sojourner Truth housing project (Detroit),
189
, 190–91

Sophisticated Data Research, 200

Southern Poverty Law Center, 238

Southern Railway, 9, 15, 87, 121, 128, 171

Spencer, Lon, 123–24

Stahl, Andrew, 39

State of Georgia v. Ernest Knox

appointment of defense lawyers, 84–85
appointment of prosecution team, 84
Bud Crow testimony, 93
Ed Collins testimony, 94
George Brice testimony, 93–94
Jane Daniel testimony, 100–102, 104–5
John Hockenhull testimony, 93–94
Judge Morris, 92–93, 96–98, 100, 102–3
jury selection, 92
Marvin Bell testimony, 95–96
prosecution’s narrative, 94–96
subpoena list, 100
verdict, 103

Stephens, Thomas, 162

Stoner, J. B., 213–14

Stoney Point, 11, 65

Stovall, W. R., 100

Strickland, Ansel

and Cumming–Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce, 242
hosting of Knox and Daniel executions, 126–27, 129, 131, 138, 140, 163, 243
on replacing black workers with machines, 163–64, 165
support for Forsyth expulsions, 126, 168, 181

Strickland, Hardy Jr., 78

Strickland, Hardy Sr., 78–79, 126, 146, 147–48, 186–87

Strickland, Jacob, 78

Strickland, James, 186

Strickland, Joel, 78

Strickland, John, 124

Strickland, Kelly, 222

Strickland, Morgan and Harriet, 4, 12

Strickland, Newt, 124

Strickland, Oliver, 087

Strickland, Rosanna, 186

Strickland, Thomas, 147–48

Strickland, Tolbert, 78, 146, 187

Strickland, Tolman, 124

Strickland, Will and Corrie, 186–87, 188

Sugarman, Alvin, 230

Taft, William Howard, 167

Talmadge, Eugene, 193

Tanner, John, 123

Tate, Samuel, 158

Terry, John Byrd, 244

Till, Emmett, 4

Tillson, Davis, 145

Touissant, Randall, 242

Travis, James, 181

Treaty of New Echota, 75–76

Trotter, Monroe, 167–68

Tullus, Tobe, 123, 124

Turner, Mary, 56–57

Waldrip, Marcus, 35

Wallace, George, 199

Wallis, C. O., 100

Walraven, Wesley, xv, 211, 215, 218, 220, 224

Ward, Charley, 49

Ward, Felker, 236

Ward, Henry, 43

Washington, Booker T., 151–52

Webb, A. C., 174

Webb, Shirley, 200–205

Wells, Ida B., 26

West, Wylie, 174

White, D. P., 122

Whitmire, Steve, 228

Whitt, Joel, 69

Williams, Bryine, 202

Williams, Hosea

after First Brotherhood March, 221
after Second Brotherhood March, 230–31
call for Forsyth whites to apologize, 228–29
and civil rights movement in 1950s and 1960s, xv,
216
, 219
Coalition to End Fear and Intimidation in Forsyth County, 230–33, 237
early life, 218–19
First Brotherhood March leadership, 210, 215,
217
, 218–20, 224
letter to Roger Crow, 230–32
nonviolence, 215, 219–20
photographs,
216
,
217

Willingham, Harold, 89

Willingham, Wright, 178–79

Wills, Theo, 136

Wilson, Woodrow, 72, 166, 167–68, 173

Winfrey, Oprah, 229–30

Wingo, Calvin, 34

Young, Andrew, 225

ALSO BY PATRICK PHILLIPS

Elegy for a Broken Machine

Boy

Chattahoochee

Copyright © 2016 by Patrick Phillips

All rights reserved

First Edition

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Names: Phillips, Patrick, 1970– author.

Title: Blood at the root : a racial cleansing in America / Patrick Phillips.

Description: First edition. | New York ; London : W.W. Norton & Company,

[2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

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