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

Reconstruction Era Lynchings in Union County
⎯⎯⎯
Union County Jail Raid Massacre

Community Remembrance Project

Reconstruction Era Lynchings in Union County<br>(<i>east side of marker</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, April 25, 2022

1. Reconstruction Era Lynchings in Union County
(east side of marker)

Inscription. Reconstruction Era Lynchings in Union County After the Civil War, Black Americans were emancipated after more than two centuries of chattel slavery. Formerly enslaved people purchased land, built churches and schools, and eligible Black men registered to vote, served in the militia, and participated on juries. In 1868, Black people elected three formerly enslaved men to represent Union County in the state legislature. White people threatened by Black freedom attacked and lynched Black people for asserting their rights, leaving plantations, participating in politics, working towards economic independence, violating white social customs, being accused of crimes, or for sheer racial terror. White leaders, sympathizers, and bystanders tolerated deadly violence and racial terrorism used to oppress Black people. At least 15 Black people were lynched in Union County from 1865 to 1877. In 1865, a white mob lynched Sax Joiner for allegedly writing a letter to a white woman. In June 1871, Reverend Lewis Thompson, an AME Zion preacher and teacher in Goshen Hill, found a death note posted on the door of his church ordering him to

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cease preaching. Soon after, he was abducted, tortured, and lynched by a white mob. Lynching inflicted terror not just on the people killed, but also traumatized their families and the entire Black community in an attempt to break their social, spiritual, and cultural bonds, and to maintain white supremacy.

Union County Jail Raid MassacreThe devastating Union County Jail Raid massacre was one example of how racial violence was designed to terrorize the Black community during Reconstruction. In early 1871, white mobs abducted 12 Black men from the county jail on January 4 and February 12. These men, Captain J. Alexander Walker, Charner Gorden, Andrew Thompson, Sylvanus Wright, Barret Edwards, Thomas Byers, Aaron Thompson, Joseph Vanlue, Ellison Scott, William Fincher, Mac Bobo and possibly Amos McKissik were either hanged or shot at the ‘hanging grounds’ before any determination was made of their guilt. These Black men were SC state militia members who were accused of killing a white man named Mat Stevens while he was illegally transporting bootlegged whiskey. Months later, the US Congress held hearings in former Confederate states

Union County Jail Raid Massacre<br>(<i>west side of marker</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, April 21, 2022

2. Union County Jail Raid Massacre
(west side of marker)

to investigate incidents of racial violence, including the Union Jail Raid Massacre. By the time of the hearings, some Black people had already fled the area, but despite intimidation, many family and community members like Eliza Chalk and Samuel Nuckles bravely testified. No one was held accountable for this massacre and other acts of violence. Union County’s Black community resisted violence by migrating to safety or staying and building community institutions. Their resilience was a powerful opposition to continued white supremacy throughout Reconstruction, Jim Crow and beyond.

Erected 2021 by Union County Community Remembrance Project, 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 month for this entry is January 1871.

Location. 34° 42.894′ N, 81° 37.539′ W. Marker is in Union, South Carolina, in Union County. It is on West Main Street (South Carolina Route 49) west of South Herndon Street, on the left when traveling west. Located

Reconstruction Era Lynchings in Union County image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, April 25, 2022

3. Reconstruction Era Lynchings in Union County

(looking northwest • related marker on right • Main Street in right background)

directly south across West Main Street from the Union County Courthouse. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Union SC 29379, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Upstate

and in the Olde English District. It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation,

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 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Lynching in America / Lynching in Union County after 1877 (here, next to this marker); John Pratt (a few steps from this marker); Union Community Hospital (within shouting distance of this marker); Union County Lynchings of 1871 (within shouting distance of this marker); Union County Jail (within shouting distance of this marker); Union County Confederate Monument

Union County Jail Raid Massacre image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, April 21, 2022

4. Union County Jail Raid Massacre

(looking northeast • related marker on left • Main Street & Union County Courthouse in left background)

(within shouting distance of this marker); Union County Revolutionary War (within shouting distance of this marker); Union Mill (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Union.

Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker.

Also see . . . Union County group honors 12 Black men killed in 1871 by Ku Klux Klan in jail raid.

“This marker is a chance to recognize one of the most significant events that happened at this jail,” said Nate Johnson, park manager for Rose Hill Plantation State Historic Site. “It’s an uncomfortable topic to address, but it needs to be addressed and the only way we can begin to approach justice is talking about the injustices that have occurred.”

(Submitted on April 25, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Union County Jail Raid Massacre Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Brandon D Cross

5. Union County Jail Raid Massacre Marker

“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 April 24, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,096 times since then and 105 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on April 24, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 2. submitted on April 25, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 3. submitted on April 24, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 4. submitted on April 25, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 5. submitted on October 15, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.

Reconstruction Era Lynchings in Union County⎯⎯⎯Union County Jail Raid Massacre

Community Remembrance Project

Reconstruction Era Lynchings in Union County
⎯⎯⎯
Union County Jail Raid Massacre