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Lynching of George and Ed Hartley

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Lynching of George and Ed Hartley
Part of Vigilante Justice
News coverage of the Lynching of George and Ed Hartley
DateOctober 20, 1922
LocationCamden, Benton County, Tennessee
ParticipantsA mob made up of 20-50 men
Deaths
  • Ed Hartley
  • George Hartley

Ed and his son George Hartley were lynched in Camden, Benton County, Tennessee by a mob on October 20, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary they were the 54th and 55th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States. The two were the only lynchings in the state of Tennessee and of the 61 lynchings they were 2 of 6 white victims.

Background

Ed and his son George Hartley were being held in connection with the manslaughter of Connie Hartley, nephew of Ed Hartley in Benton County, Tennessee. On February 20, 1922, Connie Hartley and his father John Hartley were cutting wood ties near Harmon Creek when they were fired upon. Connie "Con" Hartley was killed instantly. His father, John Hartley, was seriously wounded and was on death's door for several days. On September 22, 1922, Ed and George were convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the Benton County circuit court. During the same trial, Vuid Hartley (the son of Ed Hartley) and Bill Conley (a local boy) were acquitted of the voluntary manslaughter charge.

On October 20, 1922, Ed and George Hartley were in the Benton County jail, in Camden, filing a motion for a new trial.

Lynching

Sheriff E.G. Flowers was on duty in the Camden jail when he heard a knock at the door around midnight on October 20, 1922. When he opened the door he was overwhelmed by a mob of 20-50 people with black stockings pulled over their heads and eye holes cut out. While Sheriff Flowers didn't give up the keys the men of the mob quickly found where they were kept. The mob dragged Ed and George from their cell but not without a fight. At the Hugh Bivens undertakers, a post-mortem showed that Ed's arm was broken in the struggle and George was hit with a blunt object causing heavy bruising to his head. Void Hartley (the son of Ed Hartley) and Bill Conley who were in another cell were left alone. A trail of blood led police from the jail to a vacant lot, 200 yards (180 m) away, where the bodies of Ed and George were discovered. Ed's corpse was naked with his clothes stripped off him.

The family took possession of the bodies on Friday, October 20, 1922. Hundreds of people viewed the bodies during the funeral. The next day they were buried at the Phifer graveyard in unmarked graves.

See also

Bibliography

Notes

  1. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1926, p. 17.
  2. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1926, pp. 17–18.
  3. Smith, Dunn & Crawford 1979, p. 54.
  4. ^ Evening Star, October 20, 1922, p. 1.
  5. The Commonwealth, October 20, 1922, p. 1.
  6. ^ The Camden Chronicle, October 27, 1922, p. 1.
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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