Hayneville in Lowndes County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)

Varner's Cash Store

Photographed by Mark Hilton, April 4, 2020

1. Varner's Cash Store Marker

Inscription. On August 20, 1965, Jonathan Myrick Daniels, a 26-year-old Episcopal seminarian from Keene, New Hampshire, was shot dead at point blank range here. He was a graduate of Virginia Military Institute and was attending Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Daniels came to Selma in March, 1965, and led a movement to integrate the Episcopal Church there. On August 14, he went to support a demonstration in Fort Deposit. The group was arrested, brought to the Hayneville jail, and held for six days. Released on August 20, Daniels and the others walked from the jail to Varner's Cash Store to buy soft drinks. As they approached, Tom Coleman emerged with a shotgun, raised it, and fired. Daniels pushed Ruby Sales, a seventeen-year-old Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee worker, out of the way before being killed by the blast. As the others fled, Coleman fired again, wounding Father Richard Morrisroe, a Catholic priest. Coleman was tried for manslaughter and acquitted by an all - white jury. Hours after the verdict, Federal Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. dismissed all charges from the Fort Deposit

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demonstration. Daniels is honored on August 14th on the calendar of the Episcopal Church.

Erected 2015 by Alabama Historical Association.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Civil Rights. In addition, it is included in the Alabama Historical Association series list. A significant historical month for this entry is March 1965.

Location. 32° 10.88′ N, 86° 34.845′ W. Marker is in Hayneville, Alabama, in Lowndes County. It is on South Commerce Street (Alabama Route 97) south of Oak Street, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 206 South Commerce Street, Hayneville AL 36040, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Alabama’s Tri-Counties River Region.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and in the Black Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

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 Confederate States of America,

and the

Varner's Cash Store Marker on left. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, April 4, 2020

2. Varner's Cash Store Marker on left.

Weeks before the marker was erected the former Varner's Cash Store was suddenly demolished without any notice. The building seen on the left, was built later.

Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: In Memory of Jonathan Myrick Daniels (about 800 feet away, measured in a direct line); Lynching in America / The Courthouse Lynching of Theo Calloway (approx. 0.2 miles away); First Missionary Baptist Church, Hayneville (approx. 0.3 miles away); Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church (approx. 5.4 miles away); Elmore Bolling (approx. 6 miles away); Lewis-Smith Cemetery (approx. 6½ miles away); Lewis-Smith Historic Cemetery (approx. 6½ miles away); Campsite 3 (approx. 6.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Hayneville.

Other markers no longer nearby. The Soldier Dead of Lowndes (was approx. 0.2 miles away but has been permanently removed); Hayneville (was approx. 0.2 miles away but has been confirmed missing); Town of Hayneville (was approx. 0.2 miles away but has been permanently removed).

Also see . . . Wikipedia article on Jonathan Myrick Daniels. (Submitted on April 4, 2020, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.)

Memorial to Jonathan Myrick Daniels located about 500 feet north. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, April 4, 2020

3. Memorial to Jonathan Myrick Daniels located about 500 feet north.

This memorial was erected in 1997.

Credits. This page was last revised on April 4, 2020. It was originally submitted on April 4, 2020, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 1,482 times since then and 134 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 4, 2020, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.