Liberty and Justice for All, Denied

Liberty and Justice for All, Denied. . , In the summer of 1868, a series of documented racially motivated terror killings occurred in Williamson County. On July 19th, local Ku Klux Klan members lynched an African American, William Guthrie, for allegedly assaulting Mary Ezell, White woman. In response, unidentified African American residents killed John Ezell, Mary's brother, who they believed guilty of Guthrie's lynching. The Klan escalated the violence by lynching an unidentified African American by hanging near the Bostick home, known as Everbright, on Carter's Creek Pike. The Klan next attacked White Jewish merchant, Samuel A. Bierfield, at his Franklin business, located at the present-day intersection of 4th Avenue and Main Street. , (Continued on other side), (Continued from other side) , It is believed that Bierfield was attacked because some Klan members suspected he was present when John Ezell was killed, and others believed Bierfield sympathized with the town's African American residents. The Klan lynched Bierfield by shooting him to death and leaving his body in the street. During this event, the Klan shot Bierfield's employee and formerly enslaved African American, Lawrence Bowman who died the following day from wounds sustained in the attack. Bierfield has since been recognized as the first Jewish person lynched in the United States. This Marker is second in a series sponsored by the Williamson Remembrance Project, which believes that by confronting this history with honesty, our community will be stronger and more united in its quest for Liberty and Justice for All. Other Williamson Remembrance Project markers are at Franklin's Square and at the City Cemetery..