Lynchings and my Ancestors

The Lynching in America Project has done historians and genealogists a service with their interactive map showing where in America lynchings have occurred, and how many there were, by county. Luckily I have not documented that any of my ancestors participated in a lynching, but it is definitely possible. Several of my pre-1865 Southern ancestors were Slave owners and Confederates, so their twisted values were likely passed on through a few generations. Up to at least my father's maternal grandmother, some parts of my family were openly racist. In the interest of documenting the openly racist society that my paternal ancestors grew up in, I have compiled a list of the counties that my Southern ancestors lived in, with the number of lynchings that they possibly witnessed or participated in, using the Lynching in America Project. 

• Dyer County, Tennessee (Freels): 7 Reported Lynchings 
• Haywood County, Tennessee (Clemons, Freels): 4 Reported Lynchings 
• Laurens County, South Carolina (Winn): 11 Reported Lynchings 
• McDowell County, West Virginia (Saddler): 4 Reported Lynchings 
• Mercer County, West Virginia (Saddler, Morris): 10 Reported Lynchings (worst in the State of West Virginia)
• Navarro County, Texas (Humphreys): 5 Reported Lynchings 
• Polk County, Florida (Winn, Clemons): 20 Reported Lynchings (one of the brighter counties on the map, and tied with Columbia County for 2nd worst in the State of Florida)
• Tattnall County, Georgia (Winn, Benton): 5 Reported Lynchings 
• Toombs County, Georgia (Pittman): 3 Reported Lynchings 
• Volusia County, Florida (Winn): 4 Reported Lynchings 

Some counties that ancestors of mine lived in before 1865 had several reported lynchings as well:

• Colleton County, South Carolina (Benton): 10 Reported Lynchings 
• Tazewell County, Virginia: 7 Reported Lynchings
• Wythe County, Virginia: 3 Reported Lynchings 

My grandmother's first husband (she wasn't married to my grandfather), the father of my uncle and aunt, was from Pemiscot County, Missouri, which had 3 Reported Lynchings. 

One thing to note, is that not all of my ancestors lived in these counties for the entirety of the time covered by the Lynching in America Project, so there are probably several Lynchings that my ancestors could not have witnessed or participated in. But this is only the beginning of my research and it is very possible I'll never know if any of my ancestors were involved in such a sordid, terrible act. 

FURTHER RESOURCES: 

• https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/explore   Lynching in America Project Interactive Map
• https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/sep/5  Walter Johnson Lynched in Princeton, West Virginia
• https://www.newschief.com/news/20180505/lynchings-klan-activity-part-of-polks-history  Lynchings, Klan activity part of Polk’s history
• http://peachypast.blogspot.com/2017/12/4-members-of-padgett-family-go-down-in.html  4 Members of the Padgett Family Go Down in a Hail of Bullets
• https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/emmett-lynching-america/  Lynching in America

Rest in peace to all victims of Lynching. You will be remembered forever