Abbeville in Abbeville County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

The Lynching of Anthony Crawford
⎯⎯⎯
Racial Violence in South Carolina

Community Remembrance Project

Lynching of Anthony Crawford / Racial Violence in South Carolina Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Brian Scott, January 17, 2017

1. Lynching of Anthony Crawford / Racial Violence in South Carolina Marker

Inscription.
The Lynching of Anthony Crawford In Abbeville on Saturday, October 21, 1916, a white mob lynched a black leader named Anthony Crawford for cursing a white man. A 56-year-old planter, "Grandpa" Crawford owned 427 acres of land, had 13 children, and helped establish a school, a church, and farms in the local black community. During the Jim Crow era, successful black people were conspicuous - and arguing with whites was dangerous. That day, a white merchant demanded to buy Mr. Crawford's cottonseed for a lower price. Mr. Crawford, who used to tell his family he'd rather "throw the seed in the Penny Creek," refused to sell. After an argument, Mr. Crawford was arrested. A few hours later, 300 white men seized him from jail and dragged him through town behind a buggy. Finally stopping at the fairgrounds, the mob stabbed, beat, hanged, and shot Mr. Crawford over 200 times - then forbade the Crawford family to remove his hanging body from the tree. Terrorized, the well-established, multi-generational Crawford family and many other local black people realized that Abbeville was not safe for them. Amid continued threats, most

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

of the family scattered North, leaving behind what their patriarch had built, and carrying the painful loss of his wisdom and humor. A century later, this maker symbolizes their continued remembrance - and hope that Abbeville never forget or repeat that horrendous October day.

Racial Violence in South Carolina Before the Civil War, South Carolina relied on a plantation economy and enslaved Africans outnumbered white residents. Dehumanized, brutalized, and treated as property, black people resisted in ways small and large to survive. After the Confederacy's defeat, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution ended slavery and guaranteed black citizenship rights. Reconstruction promised federal enforcement and gave African Americans hope for the future. Black men used their new voting rights and, in South Carolina, elected African-American candidates to all levels of government. African Americans' political and economic advancement soon sparked resentment and violence. When federal protection ended in 1877, lynching - or murder at the hands of a mob - became a tool for re-establishing white supremacy and terrorizing

Photographed by Brian Scott, January 17, 2017

2. Lynching of Anthony Crawford / Racial Violence in South Carolina Marker

the black community. White mobs lynched more than 4000 black people in the south between 1877 and 1950, and more than 180 of them were killed in South Carolina. In addition to Anthony Crawford in 1916, at least seven other men were lynched in Abbeville County during the era: Dave Roberts (1882); James Mason (1894); Thomas Watts and John Richards (1895); Allen Pendleton (1905); Will Lozier (1915); and Mark Smith (1919).

Erected 2016 by Equal Justice Initiative.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Law Enforcement. In addition, it is included in the Lynching in America series list. A significant historical date for this entry is October 21, 1916.

Location. 34° 10.648′ N, 82° 22.701′ W. Marker is in Abbeville, South Carolina, in Abbeville County. It is on Court Square (State Highway 202), on the right when traveling north. Marker is near the city clock between the Opera House and City Hall. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Abbeville SC 29620, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Upstate.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 10 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Abbeville County Courthouse (1908) (here, next to this marker); The Bricks of Abbeville Town Square (here, next to this marker); Abbeville Opera House (1908) (a few steps from this marker); Belmont Inn (1903) (a few steps from this marker); Abbeville County Veterans Memorial

Photographed by Brian Scott, January 17, 2017

3. Lynching of Anthony Crawford / Racial Violence in South Carolina Marker

(within shouting distance of this marker); Operation Desert Shield / Storm Monument (within shouting distance of this marker); The Law Offices of John C. Calhoun (within shouting distance of this marker); Humane Society Alliance Fountain (1912) (within shouting distance of this marker); "Big Bob" (within shouting distance of this marker); Abbeville Square (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Abbeville.

Also see . . .
1. Anthony Crawford. Wikipedia entry:
Anthony Crawford (ca. 1865 – October 21, 1916) was an African American man killed by a lynch mob in Abbeville, South Carolina (Submitted on February 19, 2017, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

2. Lynching of Anthony Crawford. Christine's African American Genealogy Website entry:
Doria Johnson, great-great granddaughter of Anthony Crawford recounts his lynching and the effect it had on the lives of his descendants. (Submitted on February 19, 2017, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

3. Anthony Crawdord, a Negro of wealth lynched Saturday. Library of Congress website entry:
Abbeville

Photographed by Brian Scott, January 17, 2017

4. Lynching of Anthony Crawford / Racial Violence in South Carolina Marker

Press Banner newspaper of October 25, 1916. (Submitted on February 19, 2017, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

4. Hundreds Dedicate Lynching Marker to Anthony Crawford in Abbeville, South Carolina. Equal Justice Initiative:
This weekend, community members, college students, and supporters from near and far gathered in Abbeville, South Carolina, to commemorate and reflect upon the 100th anniversary of a tragic event: the lynching of Anthony P. Crawford. (Submitted on February 19, 2017, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

5. Abbeville lynching memorial rises near Confederate sites. Go Upstate website entry:
In this small South Carolina town near the Georgia line, where some say the Confederacy was born and died, descendants of a man lynched 100 years ago are erecting a downtown memorial to him and other black men killed by white mobs after the Civil War. (Submitted on February 19, 2017, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.)

Photographed by Brian Scott, January 17, 2017

5. Lynching of Anthony Crawford / Racial Violence in South Carolina Marker

Anthony Crawford in 1910 six years before his lynching image. Click for full size.

Library of Congress, 1910

6. Anthony Crawford in 1910 six years before his lynching

The Lynching of Anthony Crawford image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Brandon D Cross

7. The Lynching of Anthony Crawford

“A Replica marker of one side is located at the Equal Justice Initiatives' National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. The Equal Justice Initiative supports efforts to locally memorialize documented victims of racial violence and to educate communities about the history of racial injustice.” Mark Hilton

Credits. This page was last revised on October 16, 2024. It was originally submitted on February 19, 2017, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 3,383 times since then and 177 times this year. Last updated on March 8, 2017, by Byron Hooks of Sandy Springs, Georgia. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on February 19, 2017, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. 7. submitted on October 16, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

The Lynching of Anthony Crawford⎯⎯⎯Racial Violence in South Carolina

Community Remembrance Project

The Lynching of Anthony Crawford
⎯⎯⎯
Racial Violence in South Carolina