Lynching of George and Ed Hartley
Part of Vigilante Justice | |
News coverage of the Lynching of George and Ed Hartley | |
Date | October 20, 1922 |
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Location | Camden, Benton County, Tennessee |
Participants | A mob made up of 20-50 men |
Deaths |
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Ed and his son George Hartley were lynched in Camden, Benton County, Tennessee by a mob on October 20, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary they were the 54th and 55th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.[1] The two were the only lynchings in the state of Tennessee and of the 61 lynchings they were 2 of 6 white victims.[2]
Background
Ed and his son George Hartley were being held in connection with the manslaughter of Connie Hartley, nephew of Ed Hartley in Benton County, Tennessee. On February 20, 1922, Connie Hartley and his father John Hartley were cutting wood ties near Harmon Creek when they were fired upon.[3] Connie "Con" Hartley was killed instantly. His father, John Hartley, was seriously wounded and was on death's door for several days. On September 22, 1922, Ed and George were convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the Benton County circuit court. During the same trial, Vuid Hartley (the son of Ed Hartley) and Bill Conley (a local boy) were acquitted of the voluntary manslaughter charge.[4] [5]
On October 20, 1922, Ed and George Hartley were in the Benton County jail, in Camden, filing a motion for a new trial.[4]
Lynching
Sheriff E.G. Flowers was on duty in the Camden jail when he heard a knock at the door around midnight on October 20, 1922. When he opened the door he was overwhelmed by a mob of 20-50 people with black stockings pulled over their heads and eye holes cut out. While Sheriff Flowers didn't give up the keys the men of the mob quickly found where they were kept. The mob dragged Ed and George from their cell but not without a fight. At the Hugh Bivens undertakers, a post-mortem showed that Ed's arm was broken in the struggle and George was hit with a blunt object causing heavy bruising to his head. Void Hartley (the son of Ed Hartley) and Bill Conley who were in another cell were left alone. A trail of blood led police from the jail to a vacant lot, 200 yards (180 m) away, where the bodies of Ed and George were discovered.[4] Ed's corpse was naked with his clothes stripped off him.[6]
The family took possession of the bodies on Friday, October 20, 1922. Hundreds of people viewed the bodies during the funeral. The next day they were buried at the Phifer graveyard in unmarked graves.[6]
See also
Bibliography
Notes
- ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1926, p. 17.
- ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1926, pp. 17–18.
- ^ Smith, Dunn & Crawford 1979, p. 54.
- ^ a b c Evening Star, October 20, 1922, p. 1.
- ^ The Commonwealth, October 20, 1922, p. 1.
- ^ a b The Camden Chronicle, October 27, 1922, p. 1.
- "Ed Hartley and son George Hartley, are slain in raid by mob". The Camden Chronicle. Camden, Benton, Tennessee: Travis Bros. October 27, 1922. pp. 1–4. ISSN 2374-8591. OCLC 18998985. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- "Hartley and son taken from jail last night and shot to death". The Commonwealth. Scotland Neck, Halifax, North Carolina: E.E. Hilliard. October 20, 1922. pp. 1–4. ISSN 2474-9931. OCLC 25107331. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- "Mob breaks in jail, 2 prisoners lynched". Evening Star. Washington, District of Columbia: W.D. Wallach & Hope. October 20, 1922. ISSN 2331-9968. OCLC 2260929. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- Smith, Jonathan Kennon; Dunn, Joy Bailey; Crawford, Charles Wann (1979). Benton County. Memphis State University Press. ISBN 9780878700622. - Total pages: 136
- United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary (1926). "To Prevent and Punish the Crime of Lynching: Hearings Before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on S. 121, Sixty-Ninth Congress, First Session, on Feb. 16, 1926". United States Government Publishing Office. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
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Number | Name | Date | Place | Method of lynching | Number of victims |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bill McAllister | January 8, 1922 | Williamsburg, S.C. | Shot | 1 |
2 | Lincoln Hickson | January 8, 1922 | Williamsburg, S.C. | Shot | 1 |
3 | Willie Jenkins | January 10, 1922 | Eufaula, Alabama | Shot | 1 |
4 | Jake Brooks | January 14, 1922 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | Hanged | 1 |
5 | Charles Strong | January 17, 1922 | Mayo, Florida | Hanged | 1 |
6 | Will Bell | January 29, 1922 | Pontotoc, Mississippi | Shot | 1 |
7 | Unidentified | January 29, 1922 | Pontotoc, Mississippi | Shot | |
8 | Drew Conner (White) | January 28, 1922 | Bolinger, Alabama | Burned | 1 |
9 | Will Thrasher | February 1, 1922 | Crystal Springs, Mississippi | Hanged | 1 |
10 | Harry Harrison | February 2, 1922 | Malvern, Arkansas | Shot | 1 |
11 | Manuel Duarte | February 2, 1922 | Cameron County, Texas | Shot | 1 |
12 | P. Norman | February 11, 1922 | Texarkana, Arkansas | Shot | 1 |
13 | Will Jones | February 13, 1922 | Ellaville, Georgia | Shot | 1 |
14 | William Baker | March 8, 1922 | Aberdeen, Mississippi | Hanged | 1 |
15 | Alfred Williams | March 12, 1922 | Harlem, Georgia | Hanged | 1 |
16 | Brown Culpepper (White) | March 13, 1922 | Holly Grove, Louisiana | Shot | 1 |
17 | Jerry Ingram | March 17, 1922 | Crawford, Mississippi | Shot | 1 |
18 | Unidentified (white) | March 19, 1922 | Okay, Oklahoma | Drowned | 1 |
19 | Alexander Smith | March 22, 1922 | Gulfport, Mississippi | Hanged | 1 |
20 | Snap Curry | May 6, 1922 | Kirvin, Texas | Burned | 1 |
21 | H. Varney (or Johnnie Cornish) | May 6, 1922 | Kirvin, Texas | Burned | 1 |
22 | Mose Jones | May 6, 1922 | Kirvin, Texas | Burned | 1 |
23 | Tom Cornish | May 8, 1922 | Kirvin, Texas | Hanged | 1 |
24 | Thomas Early | May 17, 1922 | Conroe, Texas | Burned | 1 |
25 | Charles Atkins | May 18, 1922 | Davisboro, Georgia | Burned | 1 |
26 | Hullen Owens | May 19, 1922 | Texarkana, Texas | Hanged (body burned) | 1 |
27 | Joe Winters | May 20, 1922 | Conroe, Texas | Burned | 1 |
28 | Mose Bozier | May 20, 1922 | Alleyton, Texas | Hanged | 1 |
29 | Gilbert Wilson | May 23, 1922 | Bryan, Texas | Beaten to death | 1 |
30 | Jesse Thomas | May 26, 1922 | Waco, Texas | Shot (body burned) | 1 |
31 | William Byrd | May 28, 1922 | Brentwood, Georgia | Shot (body burned) | 1 |
32 | Robert Collins | June 20, 1922 | Summit, Mississippi | Hanged | 1 |
33 | Warren Lewis | June 23, 1922 | New Dacus, Texas | Hanged | 1 |
34 | James Harvey | July 1, 1922 | Lanes Bridge, Georgia | Hanged | 1 |
35 | Joe Jordan | July 1, 1922 | Lanes Bridge, Georgia | Hanged | 1 |
36 | Philip Tankard | July 5, 1922 | Belhaven, North Carolina | Shot | 1 |
37 | Joe Pemberton | July 7, 1922 | Benton, Louisiana | Hanged | 1 |
38 | Jake "Shake" Davis | July 14, 1922 | Miller County, Georgia | Hanged | 1 |
39 | Oscar Mack | July 18, 1922 | Orange County, Florida | Hanged (False report, Oscar Mack survived) | 1 |
40 | Will Anderson | July 24, 1922 | Allentown, Georgia | Shot | 1 |
41 | John West | July 28, 1922 | Guernsey, Arkansas | Shot | 1 |
42 | Gilbert Harris | August 1, 1922 | Hot Springs, Arkansas | Hanged | 1 |
43 | John Glover | August 1, 1922 | Holton, | Shot | 1 |
44 | Bayner Blackwell | August 6, 1922 | Swansboro, North Carolina | Shot | 1 |
45 | John Steelman | August 23, 1922 | Lambert, Mississippi | Burned | 1 |
46 | Thomas Rivers | August 30, 1922 | Bossier Parish, Louisiana | Hanged | 1 |
47 | F. Watt Daniels (White) | August 1922 | Mer Rouge, Louisiana | Ku-Klux Klan | 1 |
48 | Thomas F. Richards (White) | August 1922 | Mer Rouge, Louisiana | Ku-Klux Klan | 1 |
49 | Jim Reed Long | September 2, 1922 | Winder, Georgia | Ku-Klux Klan | 1 |
50 | O.J. Johnson | September 7, 1922 | Newton, Texas | Hanged | 1 |
51 | Jim Johnston | September 28, 1922 | Sandersville, Georgia | Hanged | 1 |
52 | Grover C. Everett | September 28, 1922 | Abilene, Texas | Shot | 1 |
53 | John Brown | October 3, 1922 | Montgomery, Alabama | Shot | 1 |
54 | Ed Hartley (white) | October 20, 1922 | Camden, Tennessee | Shot | 1 |
55 | George Hartley (white) | October 20, 1922 | Camden, Tennessee | Shot | 1 |
56 | Elias V. Zarate | November 11, 1922 | Weslaco, Texas | Shot | 1 |
57 | Cupid Dickson / Cubrit Dixon | December 5, 1922 | Madison, Florida | Shot | 1 |
58 | Charles Wright | December 8 ,1922 | Perry, Florida | Burned | 1 |
59 | Less Smith | December 9, 1922 | Morrilton, Arkansas | Burned | 1 |
60 | George Gay | December 11, 1922 | Streetman, Texas | Hanged | 1 |
61 | Arthur Young | December 11, 1922 | Perry, Florida | Hanged | 1 |