Barbara Brady

Dr. Gagnon

HIST 3090

October 31, 2005

Courts and the Countryside: Segregation in Jackson County, Georgia

Every county has its own personal story of segregated times. Many people refuse to talk about the darker days of history and do not like bringing up old feelings that can seem as fresh as the fall air outside. This is no different in Jackson County, Georgia. Jacksonians are a group of individuals who do not like discussing issues that have been long since buried and gone. Experience has shown that the residents can be extremely helpful, until they find out what you are really after. Once they know your true motive, they slam the door in your face and leave you cold on their doorstep. The original motive of this paper was to investigate the segregation ordinances passed in the Jackson County courthouse. Although, as time progressed, so did the intent of this paper.

No local ordinances have been discovered, so far. Just being the nature of the beast, court decisions and orders within the county, prior to 1900, were very informal, making it extremely possible for any important documents that could have contained information on local ordnances to be lost. Another angle that corresponds with the lack of organization, is that since the judge did not have any hard rules to follow, he could have been carried the precious documents home with him, which could explain why those records have not yet been found. 1

A search of the original court records of the county only further pushed the idea that the information has been lost. There were numerous boxes of documents, dating back to the creation of the county and its court system. Although, there was only one box that contained documents covering from 1870 until 1924, giving more evidence to believe that a vast array of documents have gone missing. In addition, many of the notes from court cases were written on scraps of paper. Prior to 1900, only subpoenas were on county-printed paper, and only a limited number of documents had a small county seal in the corner. It was not until the 1900’s that the court began keeping a record of case details. Prior to, they only wrote down a few sentences that included the names of the plaintiffs and defendants and what the issue at hand was. In addition, there were no records of what the court decided on the Day of Judgment. 2

It was also interesting to see that there were no records of what color the individuals were, leading onlookers to believe that the county’s judgment was blind to color. Of course since a large amount of court documents are currently missing, one can only assume that many, if not all, of the court records involving individuals of color are missing with the rest of the documents. 3

Within the current known court documents, there were no records that even hinted at a county ordinance being passed. Unfortunately, the individuals at the county courthouse could not produce any documentation or give other ideas to where the documents could be found that could prove there were any ordnances passed between the years of 1870 and 1924. This gives rise again to the issue that either they are trying to hide information, or that they themselves do not possess the information. So for 54 years, there are no records of any county ordinances that were passed.4

The next best place to find information on what issues are hot and being passed is in the county paper, The Jackson Herald. The Jackson Herald has been covering issues within the county for 130 years. It began as The Forest News and ran under that title until January 1881 when the building burned. It resurrected again in February of the same year under the title of The Jackson Herald. Reading through the paper beginning in 1875 through the mid 1880’s proved pointless on my search. Nowhere throughout the ten years of weekly paper was there any information about segregation ordinances. The only ordnances that were passed were those regarding the county’s main business, agriculture, such as who was able to weigh a bag of cotton. What was interesting is that the editor did publish laws that had been passed on the state and federal levels. For instance, the paper publicized the issues at hand regarding the “two-thirds rule” and various tax bills. 5

What was equally as interesting was the degree to which some of the articles swayed in their views of blacks. One article published quoted the Bill of Rights. The following week another article was published that stating that the rights of a man can not be taken away and that one man can not prevent another man from having his freedom or telling him what he should do or how he should feel. Articles such as these leave the reader feeling as if the county, or at least the publisher felt that if every man in the county was completely free and equal. 6

Just as every rose has its thorns, so does this issue. The editor published numerous articles on the laws that were being passed that pushed back the levels of freedoms that a black individual had. Though they began by “just telling the facts” they became increasingly more racial in their views. For instance, when the poll tax law was passed, the paper just stated the obvious, that everyone would have to pay a tax at the poll. They ignored the race issue that has been reported about in such frequency over the years, making no gestures to this tax becoming a big issue. To Jackson County, it was presented as just another tax law. Although, as time progressed, so did the severity of the publications of anti black laws. One prime example of this comes in the form of the disenfranchise-ment act, where the paper deliberately states that no white person will be disenfranchised, only a percentage of black people will be. It also goes on to state that any white man can vote, but a black man would be subjected to the discretion of the registrar. The wording in the article was extremely blunt, as not to confuse any reader. 7

Though the investigation of segregation ordinances that have been passed by the county appears at first glance to be fruitless, it encourages the thoughts of new ideas. If indeed there were no laws passed, then the governing issues that pushed this community of individuals to become segregated must have been some level of de facto segregation. Since this hunt produced no evidence to show that there were actual laws that put a brick wall between the whites and blacks of Jackson County, then there must have been some level of informal, unwritten laws or practices that caused the races to become segregated. Unfortunately, the people of Jackson County do not enjoy discussing the darker days that plagued this county and have been unwilling to help expose the truth to these questions. There must have been some level of de facto segregation with in the community because evidence of it preside in the old forgotten pages of The Forest News. 8

When the paper first began publishing articles, it frequently mentioned black people and the black community. The articles were normally showing something positive about the black community and presented them in a positive light. However, as time progressed, the articles about the communities became less and less frequent until they were nearly nonexistent. Let it also be known that as the frequency of the articles decreased, the degree to which the individuals were mentioned became increasingly more severe. It was interesting to find that a large number of blacks subscribed to the newspaper, and yet knowing this, the paper chose to pin point them out and gradually turned on their source of profit in order to gain more approval from the white community, who just so happened to be more prevalent in the county. 9

This change occurred almost overnight. One week the paper wrote about blacks, the next week nothing. In 1875 every paper mentioned something about the black community, if not here in Jackson County, then there was something about another community of blacks nearby. They would publish everything from a black person breaking their jaw to updates on dividends provided by the Freedmen’s Savings Bank Commissioners; to the black volunteer firemen of the county and their activities, to ministers and churches both in state and out of state.10

Just as the articles became increasingly more infrequent, the severity of the articles published increased. The paper quickly reported when a black person was killed, arrested or had performed any other unspeakable crime. Soon, the paper became increasingly more volatile in it’s writings. It began publishing racist jokes and stories that could cause offence to any reader, but were all geared at insulting the readers and subscribers that they had once written to just a couple of years prior. The editor must have felt no remorse as he published words and phrases that caused the people of the county to look further down upon the black people of the community. 11

Within the negative and racist stories and articles that were published they reflected the racist nature of the white community in Jackson County, the rest of the South, and the world. One article in particular was published on October 28, 1876. It began by discussing how in nature, animals have different senses and how if they are lacking in a sense or two, how it would effect the animal from becoming a superior species. The author, Professor A. R. Wallace, from the British Science Association, claimed that if an animal, or person for that matter, had more pigment in their skin, thus making them more black than white, then their senses, smell in particular, is better, thus making that animal more superior to other animals that do not have a strong sense of smell. Alternately, if the animal has a lighter skin pigment, the more brainpower it has, thus making it the more dominant animal. He then continues in discussing that the senses are only needed in low or savage-like conditions and that in a civilized nation, senses are not needed as strongly as out in the wild. He finishes by saying that only in a savage-like condition, would black people be superior to whites and that as long as people live in civilized conditions, the white people will always be superior to the blacks. 12

Over time there were more and more racist letters that were published in the News. In one article published, the editor responded to a 116-page letter written to him discussing the “Negro problem”. The writer of the letter wanted his writings to be published in the paper because he thought that he had found the answer to the “problem”. The editor responded that it would be published when the space and time allowed for it. There was no record found of if or when it ever became published. 13

Another letter that was published in the paper discussed the “colored man”. It was taken from a speech made by the Honorable B. H. Hill in Atlanta. Hill discussed many things that day, but one thing in particular was how he spoke of the black people of the state and of the country. He stated that white people must take justice into their own hands and give the black men the justice that they deserve. He also stated, “He is not our equal” and discussed that he is with in their power and that the black men are cowards. This publication further emphasized the feelings of the whites in Jackson County and gave them the feeling that they had more authority than they really did. This illusion of authority gave rise to a whole other can of beans. They felt that they had the right to oppress the black people of their community and to do what they would with them. It only further emphasized their desire to lynch individuals and to do what they felt was right. 14

The Forest News began publishing articles in their paper from where individuals took justice into their own hands and began using it to their advantage to get the justice that they found right. For instance it was published that a white man killed a black man. The story alleges that the black man tried to kill the white man with an axe, and then the white man shot the black man and killed him. No record was published of any actions taken against the white man for murder or defense of himself. 15

In a different instance, a black man who was accused of assaulting a woman was taken from jail by a mob and lynched. In a similar situation a black man was burnt alive. Not surprisingly, editors published a statement that said that an “illegal execution is never excusable”, but went on to say, completely contradicting themselves, that it is ok if it is done for the right reasons. 16

It also became apparent that as the white people were taking actions of their own, the punishment for crimes began to change. If a black man killed another black man, regardless of the circumstances, he was given twenty years in prison for punishment. Contrastingly, if a white man killed a black man, the exact same crime, the white man was given the choice of spending one year in prison or paying a one hundred dollar fine. 17

One of the final documented instances when white people tried to take actions into their own hands was in 1913. It was also reported that the farmers in Talmo, a small community in Jackson County, wanted the entire area to be white. So, to ensure that the area remained white, the farmers were exchanging their colored labor for white labor. 18

Jackson County is not very different from other counties in Georgia. There are always the groups of individuals who are unwilling to help you find the truth to your answers, but then there are the people who want to show people what being a resident of this county really means. Every area of the globe has its trial and errors, some more horrific than others, but Jackson County is just one more story to add to the pile. Though much of the documentation is missing, either by accident or by fault, it just goes to show that Jackson County was run not by the written laws, but by the unwritten. Through the trial and error process, we all have much to learn from the unheard, untold stories, and much to learn about ourselves.

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1 William “Tim” Murray, UGA Main Library, Serials Department, 27 Oct 2005. Jackson County Court Records 1870-1924, UGA Main Library, Box Number 28, M.S. 68.

2 Jackson County Court Records

3 Jackson County Court Records

4 Jackson County Court Records

5 The Forest News Microfilm, UGA Main Library, Serials Department, FILM AN13.J4J3. “An Important Law,” The Forest News, 9 October 1875. “The Two-Thirds Rule,” The Forest News, 24 June 1876. “The Tax Bill,” The Forest News, 5 February 1876. “The Bill of Rights,” The Forest News, 4 August 1877. “Rights,” The Forest News, 11 August 1877.

6 “Poll Tax Law,” The Forest News, 1 April 1876. Jana Adams, Angela Gary, and Staff of The Jackson Herald, Our Time and Past: A History of Jackson County, Georgia (Jefferson: The Jackson Herald, 2000) 3-13.

7 John David Smith, When Did Southern Segregation Begin? (Boston, New York: Bedford/ St. Martin’s), 7

8 Jana Adams, Angela Gary, and Staff of The Jackson Herald, Our Time and Past: A History of Jackson County, Georgia (Jefferson: The Jackson Herald, 2000) 1-27. “The Colored People and The News,” The Forest News, 24 July 1875. Jana Adams, Angela Gary, and Staff of The Jackson Herald, Our Time and Past: A History of Jackson County, Georgia (Jefferson: The Jackson Herald, 2000) 1-30.

9 Jana Adams, Angela Gary, and Staff of The Jackson Herald, Our Time and Past: A History of Jackson County, Georgia (Jefferson: The Jackson Herald, 2000) 1-30.

10 “Gleanings,” The Forest News, 17 July 1875. ”Gleanings,” The Forest News, 3 July 1875. “Our Colored Firemen and Their Visiting Friends,” The Forest News, 17 July 1875. “Gleanings,” The Forest News, 3 July 1875. “African Methodists,” The Forest News, 19 February 1876.

11 “Killed,” The Forest News, 17 July 1875. “Arrested,” The Forest News, 21 August 1875. “Gleanings,” The Forest News, 4 December 1875. “A Brutal Affair,” The Forest News 1 July 1876. “Gleanings,” The Forest News, 5 August 1876. “Gleanings,” The Forest News, 18 November 1876. “Death of a Colored Lunatic in Jail,” The Forest News, 16 June 1877. “Brieflets,” The Forest News, 3 February 1877. Jana Adams, Angela Gary, and Staff of The Jackson Herald, Our Time and Past: A History of Jackson County, Georgia (Jefferson: The Jackson Herald, 2000) 1-27. “More ‘Colored’ Freaks,” The Forest News, 11 November 1876. Jana Adams, Angela Gary, and Staff of The Jackson Herald, Our Time and Past: A History of Jackson County, Georgia (Jefferson: The Jackson Herald, 2000) 3-14

12 “The Color Line in Nature,” The Forest News, 28 October 1876.

13 “The Negro Problem,” The Forest News, 10 March 1877.

14 “The Colored Man,” The Forest News, 7 September 1878.

15 “Killed”.

16 Jana Adams, Angela Gary, and Staff of The Jackson Herald, Our Time and Past: A History of Jackson County, Georgia (Jefferson: The Jackson Herald, 2000) 3-13,3-14.

17 Jana Adams, Angela Gary, and Staff of The Jackson Herald, Our Time and Past: A History of Jackson County, Georgia (Jefferson: The Jackson Herald, 2000) 3-12.

18 Jana Adams, Angela Gary, and Staff of The Jackson Herald, Our Time and Past: A History of Jackson County, Georgia (Jefferson: The Jackson Herald, 2000) 3-13.