On May 11, 1963, In LaBelle, Florida Henry Patterson, a negro working on a road construction crew, was thirsty and saw a home very near where the work was being done. Patterson thought he might inquire as to getting some water, it turned out to be a tragic decision. When Patterson approached the home of Hattie Crawford, a White woman who ran outside and began screaming. Now afraid for his life Patterson went on the run.
Newspaper reports from the time state that Patterson was arrested by the LaBelle Town Marshall who took him to the LaBelle courthouse where he met a mob of at least 200 Whites. The Marshall was intimidated and turned Patterson over to the mob. They then paraded him through the small town of LaBelle on the sideboard of a car, stopping at a county commissioner’s home where they shot him several times. After loading his body into the car and continuing their morbid parade while onlookers cheered and some grabbed the body and mutilated it for souvenirs. The mob then hung Patterson’s body from a tree on the lawn of the courthouse in LaBelle.
Seeing the violence many of the local Blacks ran from the town and local area out of fear of what was coming next, racial massacres were common in the deep south at this time. Also, most of the Blacks in or near LaBelle were part of the road construction and lived in camps, one of these camps was set afire by Whites the night after the lynching. A coroner’s inquest, ordered by Judge Wesley Richards with the support of several locals was held the next day, over 100 subpoenas went out to people who witnessed the lynching or might have been involved. During the inquest, Crawford stated she became scared when Patterson entered her kitchen however other witnesses called and said she told them Patterson was never in the house and she ran when she saw him on her porch.
Because the state was experiencing a land boom and rising economy the Florida Chamber of Commerce proactively initiated a call to the Governor’s office directly requesting him to send national guard troops to maintain order in LaBelle. They were very concerned the fast-spreading national news of the lynching would halt investment. The governor also received calls from the Hendry County Attorney because the sheriff was apparently unable to be reached by telephone. The next day Governor John Martin ordered Battery F, a company of 50 men, from nearby Arcadia to take defensive positions around town.
Following the inquest charges were actually brought against 17 men for the murder. The community came together and paid their bonds though and by the time the state grand jury was impaneled in November.
However, what might have been a strong case against some individuals was basically lost in September of 1926 when the catastrophic Miami Hurricane hit and destroyed the economy of Florida. The Hurricane caused $100 million in damages to the state ($235 Billion in 2023 dollars) While the case was presented the grand jury did not come back with indictments. There were accusations that the State’s Attorney Guy Strayhorn did not present the correct or enough evidence. In the end, the concerns on every level about the lingering disaster made sure no one had the enthusiasm for a case that they did in May and once again there was no justice for an innocent Black man murdered by a White mob
Sources: https://lynchinginlabelle.com/index.php/overview/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/682638894/?terms=%22Henry%20Patterson%22%20&match=1
https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/may/11
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