Lay This Body Down: The 1921 Murders of Eleven Plantation Slaves

by Gregory A. Freeman

Overview

The John S. Williams plantation in Georgia was operated largely with the labor of slaves—and this was in 1921, 56 years after the Civil War. Williams was not alone in using “peons,” but his reaction to a federal investigation was almost unbelievable: he decided to destroy the evidence. Enlisting the aid of his trusted black farm boss, Clyde Manning, he began methodically killing his slaves. As this true story unfolds, each detail seems more shocking, and surprises continue in the aftermath, with a sensational trial galvanizing the nation and marking a turning point in the treatment of black Americans.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781556524479
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	07/01/2002
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	436,207
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.59(d)

About the Author

Gregory A. Freeman is the author of Sailors to the End and has written for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He lives in Roswell, Georgia.

Editorial Reviews

A horrifying tale of the Old South. . . . Freeman walks the reader though the eleven murders and their aftermath with cool detachment. The book is scrupulously researched, with an eye for the telling detail. A good true-crime story, with far-reaching implications.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Horrific real story.

Today's Black Woman