Lay This Body Down The 1921 Murders of Eleven Plantation Slaves

by Freeman, Gregory A.

• ISBN13: 9781556524479
• ISBN10: 1556524471
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-07-01
• Publisher: Lawrence Hill Books

Summary

The John S Williams plantation in Georgia was operated largely with the labour of slaves -- and this was in 1921, 56 years after the Civil War. Williams was not alone in using 'peons', but his reaction to a federal investigation was almost unbelievable: he decided to destroy the evidence. Enlisting the aid of his trusted black farm boss, Clyde Manning, he began methodically killing his slaves. As this true story unfolds, each detail seems more shocking, and surprises continue in the aftermath, with a sensational trial galvanising the nation and marking a turning point in the treatment of black Americans.

Author Biography

Gregory A. Freeman is the author of Sailors to the End and has written for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He lives in Roswell, Georgia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
Participants	xvii
``Don't Throw Me Over''	1	(8)
``When I First Remember Myself, I Was in Jasper County''	9	(12)
``The River Was Full of Dead Negroes''	21	(14)
``You Lying Scoundrel, You''	35	(6)
``I Hate to Do It''	41	(8)
``I'll Go, Mr. Johnny''	49	(8)
``Don't Make No Miss Lick''	57	(8)
``I Believe Clyde Can Tell You All About It''	65	(20)
``Things Were Sort of Bad on the Williams Place''	85	(16)
``He Wanted to Look Good Because He Was Going Home''	101	(20)
``Before God, I Am as Innocent as a Man Can Be''	121	(18)
``This Is the Spirit of Justice in Georgia''	139	(10)
``There Was Fear Among the Hands''	149	(12)
``Stand Up, Clyde''	161	(16)
Epilogue	177	(2)
Conclusion	179	(6)
Notes	185