Two married couples were killed on this day in 1946 by the hands of “persons unknown” in Moore’s Ford, Georgia. This vile act gained national condemnation and helped push the national conversation regarding civil rights, except it was all for nothing in the end, four innocent African Americans were killed by a mob of White men and there were no consequences to the murderers.
The two men, Roger Malcolm and George Dorsey were sharecroppers working on the farm of Loy Harrison. Dorsey was a veteran who had served for 5 years in the Pacific theatre during the war; he was married to Mae Murry Dorsey. He had been working for Harrison first. Roger Malcolm had been working for another landowner Barnett Hester near Madison Georgia previously but on the 14th of July Hester ordered Malcolm and his wife Dorthy, who was seven months pregnant, to get off his property. The reason for the eviction was never stated but tempers were high and Malcolm stabbed Hester with an ice pick.
Remarkably for the time Hester’s family did not lynch Malcolm right then and held him until the Walton County Sheriff could come to arrest him. Malcolm was held in the Walton County Jail for the next 11 days until Mrs. Malcolm and the Dorseys could arrange for a bond to be paid. Harrison had agreed to pay the $600 bond if the two men would work in his fields.
After posting bond Harrison was driving the two couples back to his property when they were intercepted by 20 armed White men. The odd thing was that Harrison did not take the direct and shortest route back to his property but took a secondary road over Moore’s Ford Bridge between Walton and Oconee Counties. Although he was suspected of perhaps participating in the crime Harrison insisted he was innocent of any participation for the rest of his life, and being a stout, over-weight middle age man he stated he could do nothing to defend the two couples. I fact in his own account he states when the mob called to pull Dorsey from the car they called him ‘Charlie” and Harrison tried then to interfere but the mob leaders threatened to shoot him too.
Harrison also stated in his statement that at first the mob looked like they were going to leave the women alone until Mrs. Malcolm called out some of the men by name since they were not masked. It was then that the apparent leader of the mob ordered the two women to be brought over to the trees and tied there with their husbands.
The mob then began firing their guns at the four hitting them at least 60 times each. Moore’s Bridge spanned the Apalachee River 60 miles east of Atlanta, and it was at the end of a dirt cut-off that Harrison later led law enforcement to the bodies.
The news of the killings was immediately nationwide news and rose to both the Georgia Governor’s office and the Presidency.
Georgia’s Democratic Governor Ellis Arnell called for justice and better civil rights, but he was in a heated primary against former Governor, also a Democrat, Eugene Talmadge who was a White Supremacist who fought against voting rights and when Arnall called for equal rights Talmadge shot back that there was no valid reason to give equal rights and that nothing could be gained by doing so.
Arnell offered a $10,000 reward but no one came forward with enough information to claim the reward. Arnell lost the election to Talmadge, who then stated that the lynching was regrettable and that he would do everything in his power to, “keep such atrocities at a minimum”.
While this wordplay went on President Truman ordered the FBI to investigate and they interviewed some 3000 people. Even though they took on the massive investigation they could turn up no witnesses. However many people had said that they saw Talmadge in Walton County talking with Barnett Hester’s brother. Although agents doubted Talmadge could be involved they sent the claim to Director J Edgar Hoover. What was concluded was that the Whites of the two counties were, “Clannish and silent and communicated to each other to stay quiet, the Negroes were fearful and wouldn’t talk either.”
While there were numerous questions about Loy Harrison and his decisions, Talmadge being in the area and the sheriff and arresting deputies not investigating the deaths no one ever went on record with testimony or allegations.By the end of 1946 the probe was quietly ended and the world moved on.
A federal grand jury was still empaneled in Athens, Georgia but failed to produce an indictment, deciding that the Malcolms and the Dorseys were shot multiple times, “at the hands of person’s unknown”
Sources:
https://coldcases.emory.edu/george-dorsey-mae-dorsey-dorothy-malcom-and-roger-malcom/
https://georgiahistory.com/marker-monday-moores-ford-lynching/
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