Moore's Ford Lynchings

6 Pages 1422 Words

The Long Route Home: On July 25, 1946, two young black couples- Roger and Dorothy Malcom, George and Mae Murray Dorsey-were killed by a lynch mob at the Moore’s Ford Bridge over the Appalachee River connecting Walton and Oconee Counties (Brooks, 1). The four victims were tied up and shot hundreds of times in broad daylight by a mob of unmasked men; murder weapons included rifles, shotguns, pistols, and a machine gun. “Shooting a black person was like shooting a deer,” George Dorsey’s nephew, George Washington Dorsey said (Suggs C1). It has been over fifty years and this case is still unsolved by police investigators. It is known that there were atleast a dozen men involved in these killings. Included in the four that were known by name was Loy Harrison. Loy Harrison may not have been an obvious suspect to the investigators, but Harrison was the sole perpetrator in the unsolved Moore’s Ford Lynching case. The motive appeared to be hatred and the crime hurt the image of the state leaving the town in an outrage due to the injustice that left the victims in unmarked graves (Jordon,31). Many African Americans lived on farms and tended for white landowners. Bob Hester was a landowner, on this farm the Moore’s Ford Lynching began. On July 14, Roger Malcom followed Dorothy Malcom to Hester’s farm, Roger was arguing with her. According to the original FBI report, Hunter 2 Hester’s son, Barney, told Malcom to leave. As he was leaving a fight broke out between Malcom and Hester. Malcom then pulled out a knife and stabbed Hester in the chest. The reason for the argument is uncertain although at that time Barney Hester may have been having an affair with Dorothy Malcom. One of the neighbors said that the black community felt it had more to do with sex than anything else did (Suggs,C1). After the fight broke out, Barney Hester was taken to the hospital and Roger Malcom was taken to jail. On the morning before the lynchings, Harrison d...