Alonzo and James D. Green were innocent father-and-son African-Americans lynched near Round Oak and Wayside, Jones County, Georgia in retaliation for the murder of popular white farmer Silas Hardin Turner on July 4, 1915. A third man, William Bostick, was also lynched on this day. None of those killed received a trial.
Background
Alonzo Green worked as an axeman in a local sawmill. He had married Cora in 1902 and had two children James D. (born about 1901) and Annie M. (born about 1903). White farmer Silas Hardin Turner was a prominent planter in Jones County, Georgia and the son of John D. Turner (1851–1930) and Mattie Hardin (1865–1946).
Lynching
Silas Turner was reportedly attempting to collect a debt from someone in the house of W. H. King when he was allegedly murdered by a Black man on the morning of Sunday, July 4, 1915. A White mob, some 500 men strong, quickly formed and rounded up the local black population. The Tampa Tribune reported that local Sheriff Etheridge and his deputies hunted for the murderers of Turner. The mob killed father and son Alonzo and James D. Green. To prevent word of the lynching from reaching the outside world the lines of communication were cut. Sheriff Etheridge was quoted as saying that Alonzo and James Green had nothing to do with the murder of Turner. After the lynching, Sheriff Etheridge brought in three suspects for Turner's murder, Will Gordon, Scott Farr, and Squire Thomas.
Alonzo's wife was eight-months pregnant with their daughter.
Aftermath
In the Jim Crow Era a documented around 675 people lost their lives to lynchings in Georgia. A few of these are listed below:
Date Place Event Death toll Property Damage February 8, 1919 Blakeley, Georgia Race Riot 4 killedApril 13–15, 1919Jenkins County, GeorgiaRace Riot 6 killed3 black Masonic lodges and 7 black churches burned down May 10, 1919 Sylvester, Georgia Race Riot 1 killed May 27–29, 1919Putnam County, GeorgiaArson attack2 black Masonic lodges and 5 black churches burned down July 6, 1919Dublin, GeorgiaBlack protection group prevents lynching August 27–29Laurens County, Georgia Race Riot 1 killed1 black Masonic lodges and 3 black churches burned down
Four years after the Green family lynchings these race riots were one of several incidents of civil unrest that began in the so-called American Red Summer of 1919, which included terrorist attacks on black communities and white oppression in over three dozen cities and counties. In most cases, white mobs attacked African American neighborhoods. In some cases, black community groups resisted the attacks, especially in Chicago and Washington D.C. Most deaths occurred in rural areas during events like the Elaine massacre in Arkansas, where an estimated 100 to 240 black people and 5 white people were killed. Also in 1919 were the Chicago Race Riot and Washington D.C. race riot which killed 38 and 39 people respectively. Both had many more non-fatal injuries and extensive property damage reaching into the millions of dollars.
National memorial
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice opened in Montgomery, Alabama, on April 26, 2018, in a setting of . Featured among other things, is a sculpture by Kwame Akoto-Bamfo of a mother with a chain around her neck and an infant in her arms. On a hill overlooking the sculpture is the Memorial Corridor which displays 805 hanging steel rectangles, each representing the counties in the United States where a documented lynching took place and, for each county, the names of those lynched. For Jones County, Georgia, Alonzo and James Green, William Bostick (July 4, 1915), and John Gilham (September 3, 1918) are memorialized as lynching victims. Even though the members of the Green family stayed in the region the community did not talk about the lynching until recently when they reached out to the National Memorial for help in memorializing the lynching.
Bibliography Notes
References