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Lynching of Bayner Blackwell

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Lynching in Swansboro, North Carolina
Part of Jim Crow Era
DateAugust 6, 1922
LocationSwansboro, Onslow County, North Carolina
DeathsBayner Blackwell

Bayner Blackwell (Multiple names were used including Jim Blackledge and M. Blackleg) was an African-American man who was lynched in Swansboro, Onslow County, North Carolina by a group of men on August 6, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 44th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.

Background

After completing his rural mail run in Swansboro, Cy Jones, (The name Cyrus Long was also used in the newspapers) headed to his home in Maysville, North Carolina around 7:00 PM. Under an hour later his car was found back in Swansboro. In the vehicle, Jones was unconscious, with a gunshot wound to the head. Investigators were able to track down the location of the attack, noting that a mighty struggle must have taken place as there were many broken branches. Jones would later die of his injuries.

The Phoenix Tribune reported that the African-American community claimed that the attackers of Cy Jones were actually whites in blackface who then reported the attack as a Black gang beating Cy Jones.

Lynching

A mob quickly gathered as word of the attack on Cy Jones spread. They began hunting for Blackwell and terrorizing the local Black community. As many as five Black families left their homes in Swansboro due to anti-Black actions.

Sheriff Gurgenus of Onslow County, North Carolina stated that Blackwell was not lynched, rather he was chased out of town. The Sheriff claimed that a white mob visited Bayner Blackwell's house, on August 12, 1922, and told him to leave town.

National memorial

Memorial Corridor, National Memorial for Peace and Justice

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice opened in Montgomery, Alabama, on April 26, 2018. Featured among other things is the Memorial Corridor which displays 805 hanging steel rectangles, each representing the counties in the United States where a documented lynching took place and, for each county, the names of those lynched. The memorial hopes that communities, like Onslow County, North Carolina where Bayner Blackwell was lynched, will take these slabs and install them in their own communities.

See also

  • Oscar Mack was reportedly lynched on July 18, 1922, but actually escaped to another State and lived under a new name.

References

Notes
  1. The Pensacola Journal, August 10, 1922, p. 1.
  2. ^ The Independent, August 18, 1922, p. 3.
  3. ^ Hickory Daily Record, August 10, 1922, p. 1.
  4. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1926, p. 17.
  5. ^ Hickory Daily Record, August 7, 1922, p. 1.
  6. Phoenix Tribune, August 26, 1922, p. 1.
  7. Robertson 2018.
Bibliography
List of lynchings in the United States in 1922
Number Name Date Place Method of lynching Number of victims
1 Bill McAllister January 8, 1922 Williamsburg, S.C. Shot 1
2 Lincoln Hickson January 8, 1922 Williamsburg, S.C. Shot 1
3 Willie Jenkins January 10, 1922 Eufaula, Alabama Shot 1
4 Jake Brooks January 14, 1922 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Hanged 1
5 Charles Strong January 17, 1922 Mayo, Florida Hanged 1
6 Will Bell January 29, 1922 Pontotoc, Mississippi Shot 1
7 Unidentified January 29, 1922 Pontotoc, Mississippi Shot
8 Drew Conner (White) January 28, 1922 Bolinger, Alabama Burned 1
9 Will Thrasher February 1, 1922 Crystal Springs, Mississippi Hanged 1
10 Harry Harrison February 2, 1922 Malvern, Arkansas Shot 1
11 Manuel Duarte February 2, 1922 Cameron County, Texas Shot 1
12 P. Norman February 11, 1922 Texarkana, Arkansas Shot 1
13 Will Jones February 13, 1922 Ellaville, Georgia Shot 1
14 William Baker March 8, 1922 Aberdeen, Mississippi Hanged 1
15 Alfred Williams March 12, 1922 Harlem, Georgia Hanged 1
16 Brown Culpepper (White) March 13, 1922 Holly Grove, Louisiana Shot 1
17 Jerry Ingram March 17, 1922 Crawford, Mississippi Shot 1
18 Unidentified (white) March 19, 1922 Okay, Oklahoma Drowned 1
19 Alexander Smith March 22, 1922 Gulfport, Mississippi Hanged 1
20 Snap Curry May 6, 1922 Kirvin, Texas Burned 1
21 H. Varney (or Johnnie Cornish) May 6, 1922 Kirvin, Texas Burned 1
22 Mose Jones May 6, 1922 Kirvin, Texas Burned 1
23 Tom Cornish May 8, 1922 Kirvin, Texas Hanged 1
24 Thomas Early May 17, 1922 Conroe, Texas Burned 1
25 Charles Atkins May 18, 1922 Davisboro, Georgia Burned 1
26 Hullen Owens May 19, 1922 Texarkana, Texas Hanged (body burned) 1
27 Joe Winters May 20, 1922 Conroe, Texas Burned 1
28 Mose Bozier May 20, 1922 Alleyton, Texas Hanged 1
29 Gilbert Wilson May 23, 1922 Bryan, Texas Beaten to death 1
30 Jesse Thomas May 26, 1922 Waco, Texas Shot (body burned) 1
31 William Byrd May 28, 1922 Brentwood, Georgia Shot (body burned) 1
32 Robert Collins June 20, 1922 Summit, Mississippi Hanged 1
33 Warren Lewis June 23, 1922 New Dacus, Texas Hanged 1
34 James Harvey July 1, 1922 Lanes Bridge, Georgia Hanged 1
35 Joe Jordan July 1, 1922 Lanes Bridge, Georgia Hanged 1
36 Philip Tankard July 5, 1922 Belhaven, North Carolina Shot 1
37 Joe Pemberton July 7, 1922 Benton, Louisiana Hanged 1
38 Jake "Shake" Davis July 14, 1922 Miller County, Georgia Hanged 1
39 Oscar Mack July 18, 1922 Orange County, Florida Hanged (False report, Oscar Mack survived) 1
40 Will Anderson July 24, 1922 Allentown, Georgia Shot 1
41 John West July 28, 1922 Guernsey, Arkansas Shot 1
42 Gilbert Harris August 1, 1922 Hot Springs, Arkansas Hanged 1
43 John Glover August 1, 1922 Holton, Shot 1
44 Bayner Blackwell August 6, 1922 Swansboro, North Carolina Shot 1
45 John Steelman August 23, 1922 Lambert, Mississippi Burned 1
46 Thomas Rivers August 30, 1922 Bossier Parish, Louisiana Hanged 1
47 F. Watt Daniels (White) August 1922 Mer Rouge, Louisiana Ku-Klux Klan 1
48 Thomas F. Richards (White) August 1922 Mer Rouge, Louisiana Ku-Klux Klan 1
49 Jim Reed Long September 2, 1922 Winder, Georgia Ku-Klux Klan 1
50 O.J. Johnson September 7, 1922 Newton, Texas Hanged 1
51 Jim Johnston September 28, 1922 Sandersville, Georgia Hanged 1
52 Grover C. Everett September 28, 1922 Abilene, Texas Shot 1
53 John Brown October 3, 1922 Montgomery, Alabama Shot 1
54 Ed Hartley (white) October 20, 1922 Camden, Tennessee Shot 1
55 George Hartley (white) October 20, 1922 Camden, Tennessee Shot 1
56 Elias V. Zarate November 11, 1922 Weslaco, Texas Shot 1
57 Cupid Dickson / Cubrit Dixon December 5, 1922 Madison, Florida Shot 1
58 Charles Wright December 8 ,1922 Perry, Florida Burned 1
59 Less Smith December 9, 1922 Morrilton, Arkansas Burned 1
60 George Gay December 11, 1922 Streetman, Texas Hanged 1
61 Arthur Young December 11, 1922 Perry, Florida Hanged 1
Lynching in the United States
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