1919 Jenkins County riot

Race riot and lynchings, Georgia, USA January 2026 January 2026 Jenkins County riot of 1919 the Red Summer 1950 Census Enumeration District Map Of Jenkins County.jpg 300px Map Census Enumeration District Map Of Jenkins County White mobs attack the black community Carswell Grove Baptist Church and Cemetery, Jenkins County, Georgia April 13, 1919 Official death toll was 6: W. Clifford Brown, a white sheriff's deputy Thomas Stevens, a white police marshal Edmund Scott Henry Ruffin John Ruffin Willie Williams The New York Tribune reported that a seventh man was pulled from the Millen prison.New-York Tribune 1919 10 The Jenkins County riot of 1919 took place on Sunday, April 13, 1919, a black man killed two white police officers in an altercation during a traffic stop. In response, a white mob burned several buildings in the black community and killed four black men. Background The event began at Carswell Grove Baptist Church, a black church, which was celebrating its anniversary. Preachers from several counties were coming, the Knights of Pythias were present in uniform,Buffalo Morning Express April 24, 1919 9 Race riots at Millen, Ga. William Pickens https://www.newspapers.com/image/352945023/?terms=%22louis%2Bruffin%22 January 25, 2019 January 26, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190126000736/https://www.newspapers.com/image/352945023/?terms=%22louis%2Bruffin%22 live the choir was giving a special performance, and a cookout would follow.Red Summer. The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America Cameron McWhirter Henry Holt 2011 97808050890661 More than 3,000 were expected; it was one of the largest gatherings in east Georgia.1–2 Joe Ruffin was a prosperous farmer and distinguished black Mason, "one of the wealthiest negros of Jenkins County." He was to have been the marshal of the event. The riot Ruffin was driving to the church celebration when he had to stop because of the congestion of people. A car pulled alongside Ruffin, containing W. Clifford Brown, a Jenkins County sheriff's deputy, Thomas Stevens, a Millen, Georgia police marshal, whose presence outside his jurisdiction is unexplained, and Joe's friend Edmund Scott, in handcuffs. They were there in search of alcohol; Georgia had been a dry state since 1907. Not having found any, they arrested Scott for having a pistol. Ruffin pulled out a checkbook to cover Scott's $400 bail, but Brown, "who the white papers said had a bad temper," said that cash was needed. That much cash was not available on a Sunday, and Brown said that he was taking Scott in. Ruffin reached into the car to pull Scott out, but Brown took out his gun. He struck Ruffin in the face with his pistol, and the gun went off and struck Ruffin on the head, knocking him unconscious but not seriously injuring him. Joe's son Louis, just discharged from the United States Army, thought that his father had been killed. Louis Ruffin consequently shot and killed Brown in retaliation. Louis then shot Stevens, wounding him, and subsequently beat him to death. Scott, in the middle of the gunfire, was killed accidentally. "Hundreds of white men" came to Carswell Grove under the false impression that Joe Ruffin had been the one to fire the lethal shots, despite having been rendered unconscious by a nonlethal blow to the head.Six Persons Dead of Race Clash at Negro Church near Millen, Ga. Atlanta Constitution April 14, 1919 1 https://www.newspapers.com/image/26906277/?terms=%22joe%2Bruffin%22 January 25, 2019 January 25, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190125183638/https://www.newspapers.com/image/26906277/?terms=%22joe%2Bruffin%22 liveSix Persons Killed in a Pistol Fight Wilmington Morning Star April 14, 1919 2 https://www.newspapers.com/image/55453389/?terms=%22joe%2Bruffin%22 January 25, 2019 January 25, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190125183644/https://www.newspapers.com/image/55453389/?terms=%22joe%2Bruffin%22 live "Many of these remained out all night."Dillon Herald 1919 1 They burned the church and Ruffin's car and lynched two of Ruffin's sons, either burning them to death or throwing their bodies into the fire after they had been killed. The three black Masonic lodges in Millen were burned. White mobs roamed the county for days. The New-York Tribune reported that seven black churches had been burned down.New-York Tribune 1919 10 The Tribune also reported that a seventh man was pulled from the Millen prison and lynched.New-York Tribune 1919 10 The six fatalities included two white lawmen and four black men: Scott, two sons of Ruffin, Henry and John, and Joe's friend Willie Williams, who had been at the scene and was also lynched.Atlanta Constitution April 15, 1919 6 Louis Ruffin Sought in Three Counties https://www.newspapers.com/image/26906318/?terms=millen January 25, 2019 January 25, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190125183656/https://www.newspapers.com/image/26906318/?terms=millen live Joe's son Louis fled and despite a bounty having been issued, was never apprehended. Joe Ruffin's fate Ruffin was sure he would be lynched, and news accounts confirm that he would have been.Gives Millen Account of Recent Disorders Atlanta Constitution April 17, 1919 5 J. G. Ellison https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7442335/millen_ga_full_article/ January 25, 2019 January 26, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190126000710/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7442335/millen_ga_full_article/ liveTrial of Joe Ruffin, Negro, Facing Murder Charge, for Savannah Atlanta Constitution September 28, 1919 13 https://www.newspapers.com/image/34147305/?terms=%22joe%2Bruffin%22 January 25, 2019 January 25, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190125183748/https://www.newspapers.com/image/34147305/?terms=%22joe%2Bruffin%22 live (Georgia led the nation in lynchings in 1918.) He hid, then surrendered to Sheriff M. G. Johnston, who had arrived. Johnston drove him to the nearest large city, Augusta, for safety; he was placed in the jail. A mob headed to Augusta to lynch Ruffin. He was moved for safety to jail in Aiken, South Carolina, where he remained for two weeks,Atlanta Constitution November 12, 1919 6 https://www.newspapers.com/image/26931135/?terms=%22joe%2Bruffin%22 Trial of Joe Ruffin Is Again Postponed January 25, 2019 January 25, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190125183412/https://www.newspapers.com/image/26931135/?terms=%22joe%2Bruffin%22 live registered under a false name. A mob of some 30 Georgians came to Aiken but accepted the jailer's statement that Ruffin was not there.A Parallel Case Aiken Standard September 7, 1921 4 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11414079/editorial_joe_ruffin/ January 25, 2019 January 25, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190125183430/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11414079/editorial_joe_ruffin/ live He was indicted for the murders of the two officers; charges were not filed against any whites. Ruffin hired "the best white lawyer he could find."75 He was granted a change of venue to Savannah. He was first tried for killing Stevens, convicted, and sentenced to be hanged. A motion for a new trial was successful,Joe Ruffin Trial to be Heard Oct. 26 https://www.newspapers.com/image/26921876/?terms=%22joe%2Bruffin%22 Atlanta Constitution June 22, 1920 13 January 25, 2019 January 25, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190125183303/https://www.newspapers.com/image/26921876/?terms=%22joe%2Bruffin%22 live and he was acquitted. He was then tried for the killing of Brown and was again acquitted. "So strong was the sentiment in Jenkins county that an indictment was found charging him with the murder of his friend Scott."Color Line Is Not Drawn in Georgia Court W. G. Sutlive Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, Illinois) June 19, 1923 2 https://www.newspapers.com/image/436405085/?terms=joe%2Bruffin January 25, 2019 January 26, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190126000749/https://www.newspapers.com/image/436405085/?terms=joe%2Bruffin live He was tried for the killing of Scott,Ruffin To Be Tried Again Aiken Standard January 4, 1922 1 https://www.newspapers.com/image/13957069/?terms=joe%2Bruffin January 25, 2019 January 25, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190125183534/https://www.newspapers.com/image/13957069/?terms=joe%2Bruffin live was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years prison. The Georgia Supreme Court set that aside and ordered a new trial, which was never held.Joe Ruffin Is Freed Atlanta Constitution May 31, 1923 2 https://www.newspapers.com/image/26944392/?terms=joe%2Bruffin January 25, 2019 January 25, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190125183157/https://www.newspapers.com/image/26944392/?terms=joe%2Bruffin live Because of public sentiment he could not be totally exonerated, so he was charged, convicted, and fined $500 for embezzlement, for although he never wrote a check, he had displayed the checkbook of a church of which he was treasurer.260–261 After friends paid the fine, by 1923 he was a free man. Impoverished after his legal expenses, he lived out his days in South Carolina, since he would not have been safe in Georgia.266 References lower-alpha April 17, 1919 Race Clash Ends Fatally Dillon Herald https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86063774/1919-04-17/ed-1/seq-1/ Dillon Herald A.B. Jordan Dillon, South Carolina 2471-0431 13622262 1–8 July 24, 2019 April 15, 1919 Seven killed and churches burned in race war New-York Tribune New-York Tribune https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1919-04-15/ed-1/seq-10/# New-York Tribune New York 1941-0646 9405688 1–24 July 20, 2019 Georgia (U.S. state) Category:1919 crimes in the United States Category:1919 in Christianity Category:1919 in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:1919 riots in the United States Category:April 1919 in the United States Category:Lynching deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Jenkins County, Georgia Category:Arson in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Red Summer Category:Crimes against police officers in the United States Category:Attacks on African-American churches Category:History of Baptists Category:1919 fires in the United States Category:Arson in the 1910s Category:Church arson in the United States Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in the 1910s Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:1910s mass murders in the United States Category:1919 mass murders Category:Racially motivated violence against African Americans in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Riots and civil disorder in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:White American riots in the United States Category:African-American lynching victims Category:Mass lynchings