December 8, 1915, Even being a ‘respected’ member of the community in the eyes of Whites would not stop them from harming you once they decided you were guilty of something. So it was in the case of Cordelia Stevenson.
On October 25th of 1915, the barn of local White planter G.C. Franks
was burned to the ground causing a huge loss of equipment and four mules. The
sheriff’s investigation turned toward the son of Cordelia and Arch Simpson.
The Simpsons were said to be ‘respected’ members of the community for their
work ethic and church-going. When their son could not be found the sheriff
brought the couple in for questioning. However, they apparently had no
information about their son or the fire so they were released after five days.
If the couple hoped to return to their previous lives, they
were mistaken. At approximately 12:00 AM a mob of White men broke into the
Stevenson’s cabin and kidnapped Cordelia. They aimed guns at her husband who
ran out a back door.
The mob took Cordelia to a train stop ten miles from Columbus
Mississippi and hung her. The body was left there for two days because the Justice of the Peace was out of the county. Because she was
found nude and beaten severely it is believed she was raped and beaten before
being hung.
The local papers and papers throughout the south reported
that “The discovery of the body is a mysterious affair and efforts to the cause
of her death still unavailing.”
No one was ever charged with her murder and her husband
disappeared.
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