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Fire in a Canebrake: The Last Mass Lynching in America

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Laura Wexler's "Fire in a Canebrake" in quite simply the best book, hands-down (fiction or non-fiction) that I've read in a decade. It's a moving, thoroughly researched, brave, and gorgeously written book that, although seemily focused on post-war rural Georgia, takes us into the heart of *today's* American South, where the secrets of the bloody past lie still and hidden in the hearts of living blacks and whites alike. Wexler's account of the lynching of four men and women in the late 40's and the aftermath of that lynching brings to light new and unilluminated facts: that a white so-called witness to the lynching couldn't have seen it at all, that the good people of Monroe, Georgia know a whole lot more than they dare say, and that even the FBI, try as they might to solve the case on a President's orders, commited in their inquiry a fatal and irrevocable sin of omission. A daring, startling piece of research; line-to-line, a stunningly written sequence of entirely footnoted scenes. Here is a new, unafraid voice, Laura Welxer's, and her book is a loud and brave addition to our current literature and knowledge about the way that race keeps us all, in the end, far too quiet.

The term, "Fire in a Canebrake", is a phrase that Walton County, Georgia residents used to describe the sounds of the fatal gunshots that commenced the last mass lynching in America; it is also the title of Laura Wexler's historical account of the Moore's Ford lynching where four blacks were murdered in late July 1946. The novel painstakingly details the "who, what, when, where and why" of the horrific crime and is supported by interviews, FBI reports, and other detailed documentation.

Wexler takes us back to the beginning when a black man, Roger Malcolm, stabs a white man, Barnett Hester, for allegedly having an affair with his common law wife, Dorothy. As Barnett lingers near death, Roger sits in jail counting his days left on earth. Eleven days later when Barnett recovers, Roger is then set free when his bail is posted by Loy Harrison, a wealthy landowner and landlord to George Dorsey (Dorothy's older brother) and his common law wife, Mae Murray. It is returning home from the jail that Roger, Dorothy, George, and Mae are dragged from Loy's car by an angry mob of white men and are murdered in cold blood. Loy claims he did not and could not recognize any of the attackers which was why his life was spared on that fateful day....and so the lying begins and never seems to end.

For years, the NAACP, FBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), and local law enforcement conduct their investigations, interrogations, and examinations only to arrive at no convictions. It is only in 1991, when an "eyewitness" steps forward to tell his story that there appears to be a slither of hope for justice. However, hope fades as holes and contradictions run rampant in his testimony as well; and unfortunately by the early 1990's all of the suspected perpetrators and potential corroborating witnesses are deceased. It appears that the leads had literally died out and one wonders if justice will ever be served.

The author does an excellent job of "peeling back the layers" to set the stage for the story and expertly blends in the national and state political agendas that influenced the course of events surrounding the lynching. By doing so, the reader understands the history of the rural Georgian townships where the story plays out, the role of the key witnesses including their family and criminal backgrounds, public displays of bigotry and drunkenness. She also shares the political tactics of the day used to deny blacks of their Civil Rights and protection under Federal law, numerous contradictions in the witness's statements/alibis/affidavits, and lack of follow-up and missed opportunities by law officials. The handling of the case by the investigators from beginning to end is totally unbelievable by today's standards, but what is moreso shocking is the blatant racism, hatred, and wantonness of the townsfolk toward an atrocity such as this.

This reader ran a myriad of emotions while reading the novel -- first, frustration in that no perpetrators were ever brought to justice and nor was anyone ever held accountable for these heinous crimes -- a fact that is unfortunately recurrent in so many lynching cases. Secondly, anger and sadness when reading about the intimidation and threats against local blacks as well as the breakdown and separation of the victim's families in the aftermath of the lynching. The murders only exacerbated their wretched existence as poor, undereducated sharecroppers. The author's skill in conveying their daily living conditions and lifestyle using census statistics and first hand accounts was outstanding and heartbreaking.

This book is a page-turner! Although Oprah, Dateline, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution have covered this story, Wexler adds a twist: her words breathe life into the pages and add color to the black and white photos in the book; she presents the evidence in such a way to allow readers to draw their own conclusions. Hats off to Ms. Wexler for her perseverance and dedication to finding truth. Well done!

Phyllis
APOOO BookClub, The Nubian Circle Book Club

Laura Wexler's "Fire in a Canebrake" is a highly important work. Carefully researched and masterfully written, it will undoubtedly remain the definitive work on the Moore's Ford lynching for years to come. Wexler's vivid account has all the elements of a great novel. But, alas, this is the true story of four African-American lynching victims, shot dead in the prime of life by a mob of mad men on the Walton County bank of the Apalachee River about nine miles from the town of Monroe, Georgia, during the afternoon of 25 July 1946. Wexler never allows her reader to forget them. After more than fifty years, a veil of lies yet covered the facts of the Moore's Ford lynching and it was yet stuck fast to the face of evil. Those who knew the truth about the lynching would never tell. Nevertheless, Wexler tenaciously picked away the rotting veil of lies. Beneath it, one can now see a mourning veil stained with tears. Wexler did not find a direct link between the Ku Klux Klan and the Moore's Ford lynching; however, FBI documents confirm that Loy Harrison and his lawyer, James Willie Arnold, were working together to impede the FBI's investigation of the Moore's Ford lynching. Both men, Loy Harrison and James Willie Arnold, were in fact active members of the Ku Klux Klan, Klavern No.5 of Athens and Bogart, Georgia, where James Willie Arnold held the high Klan office of Grand Titan. Arnold was a large land owner in Oconee County, as was Loy Harrison, and he lived quite near the Moore's Ford community. As to the important question of the Klan being active in Walton and Oconee counties at the time of the lynching, Stetson Kennedy, alas, not mentioned by Wexler, was present at a meeting of Klavern No.1, 198 1/2 Whitehall Street, Atlanta, Georgia, when the Imperial Wizard reminded those present that it was "the Klan's No.1 political job" to elect Eugene Talmadge Governor of Georgia. The Imperial Wizard then reported "that our goal of an active Klavern in each of Georgia's 159 counties, to ensure a Talmadge victory at the polls, has already been realized!" Hence, there were indeed active Klaverns in Walton and Oconee counties at the time of the Moore's Ford lynching. According to Klan protocol, it would appear highly unlikely that Loy Harrison, or any other member of the Klan, could have been present at the lynching without the approval of Dr. Samuel Green, Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. Wexler does not forsee any justice in the Moore's Ford lynching case; however, there are different forms and degrees of justice in such cases and, perhaps, the first step on the long road to final justice in this case is her own excellent work. Alas, the children of those who were present and took part in the Moore's Ford lynching must learn to live with the awful facts, just as Roger Malcolm's son, the Rev. Roger Malcolm Hayes, has had to do. And there is Divine Justice: the hateful men who murdered Roger and Dorothy Malcolm and George and Mae Dorsey in cold blood--indeed, all who hate--will never see The Beautiful City of God, which is indeed The Beautiful City of LOVE. Finally, Georgia and Walton County ought to consider the children of the Moore's Ford victims in the same light as the state of Florida did in the Rosewood lynching case. Laura Wexler's "Fire in a Canebrake" is a powerful work. This is not the last we shall hear of Laura Wexler, nor is this the last we shall hear of the Moore's Ford lynching.

Like every story that has something vital to say, Wexler's account of this Georgia lynching is both an unforgettably specific tale as well as a larger meditation on how all of us--be it with violence, silence, ignorance, or indifference--make history together. In some way or another, I guarantee this book is about you.

I live 20 minutes away from where this tragic event occurred. I have lived in this area for over 30 years and just recently became aware that the lynching occurred. I decided to read the book when a friend of mine told me it was out - we had discussed the history of the event a few months earlier as he was raised in Walton County and knew of some of the people mentioned in the book. I have to say that the entire book was very disturbing to me. I cannot in any way imagine an entire community keeping quiet about what happened. I cannot imagine the hate that caused this tragedy. I cannot understand the fear instilled in the black population so that they did not even come forward with information. I am in a interracial marriage and it is amazing to me that a few decades ago this would've caused an uproar that may have lead to murder.
The book is a good one. It will keep you interested throughout. Of course I knew before starting how it would end up - no conclusions on who did it - I learned a great deal about what actually occurred and have drawn my own ideas about what happened and who may have been involved. Knowing the area added to the "enjoyment" for lack of a better word, of reading, but it is definitely not necessary.
I am glad I was disturbed while I read this book. I hope everyone who reads it is as well. Too bad we'll never know what really happened.

This book was wonderfully written. It went into great details and sometimes the reader had to be reminded that he or she was not there, that day in 1946. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has a passion for civil rights literature.

This book is an accurate and detailed historical account of The Morre's Ford Bridge Lynching that took place in Walton County, GA in 1946. For those of you doing the math that's only 57 years ago. Though certainly not the last recorded lynching, it was significant in that it eventually affected the political landscape of the country. The book combines the best of history, politics, race relations, slavery, and good old fashion detective work.

Laura Wexler is an author and researcher extraordinaire. Her talents are unmatched by anything I have read in recent times and certainly on par with American Literary Giants. Ms. Wexler's (a white woman) only shortcoming is that she fails to capture the anger a person of color could have brought to such events. Without saying anything more, yesterday afternoon I gave the book to my wife, by 11:00pm she had read 168 pages.

As you read be mindful of the following. Focus on the dates of those events, how relatively few years have passed between 1946 and 2003. For that matter think about the climate of America back in 1966. Only twenty years removed from the Morre's Ford Bridge lynching and unilaterally all whites would agree times were still overtly oppressive for blacks. With that, think about Affirmative Action and how 1966 represents one generation of blacks, still not fully removed from out right racist attitudes. I also want my friends to consider the prevailing attitude of whites in 1946 and how to this day, or at least 1997-1999 how those attitudes stood the test of time. Consider not just the rural, simplistic, racist cotton farmers, but the complex, covert, economic, and political powers of those white racists in place at the time. What do you think the power elite taught their children? If they taught their children their core values and belief system (which all good parents do), do you think those children (today's white leaders) would act upon their beliefs overtly or covertly? What struggles do you think Blacks might still face today?

As we STRUGGLE to understand and move past our differences, it is imperative that we recognize the RECENT history of overt racial oppression and the healing power of Affirmative Action. Growing up, Black men used the phrase "my brother" as a greeting. In that greeting we recognized not our biological sibling, nor our color, but more deeply our common struggle. To remove it from the vernacular and express it for what we were really trying to say, "my partner in struggle."

Your Brother,
habworks

In the town of Walton County, Georgia a mass lynching took place on the eve of July 25, 1946. Four victims were found shot to death at Moore's Ford Bridge and for five decades the person or persons responsible for the mass lynching have remained a mystery. This book chronicles the shocking story of the events that took place on that tragic day and the aftermath, which continues to the present day.

The FBI was called in to conduct an investigation into the deaths of the four victims. Black people were shocked and feared for their own lives so when questioned by the agents, they did not tell what they knew. Whites on the other hand had alibis for the day in question and pretended not to know anything about the lynching. After four months of intense investigations the case was still unsolved. Can you imagine what affect this mass lynching had on the people of the United States? To this very day no one has been convicted.

Laura Wexler, a young writer, became interested in this in 1997; she did an excellent job in her presentation of this tragic story. After extensive research into FBI data she conducted over one hundred interviews with people in Walton County, Georgia related to the lynchings. Her descriptive writing gives us the full story of the events that occurred during that tragic time in history.

Reviewed by Dorothy Cooperwood
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

July 25, 1946, is a day that forever changed the lives and history of Walton County, Georgia. I wasn't even a glimmer in my parents' eyes on this day as they would not be born until 1951 and 1955. However, I feel a connection to this event in a small way.

On this fateful day, I'm sure that Roger and Dorothy Malcom and George and Mae Murray Dorsey had no idea what would happen to them as they climbed into Loy Harrison's car to travel back to the farm from the jailhouse in Monroe. Loy had just bailed Roger out of jail after being cleared of murder charges when Barrett Hester recovered from his stab wound. Roger would have to work off the bail paid by Loy by working on his farm. Totally acceptable to him! Needless to say, they never made it past Moore's Ford Bridge before being ambushed. The Malcom's and the Dorsey's lives would end at the bridge when they were lynched. The reason? No one really knows for sure but one could surmise it's because they were black. Roger had attempted to murder Mr. Hester over comments made concerning him and some white girls.

I am drawn to this story because I now teach school in Walton County. I have always wondered what was causing the racial tension I was witnessing. It was more than I've seen in other places, such as my hometown. I read this book on the recommendation of a teacher friend, Susan, who stated that "this should be a required read for anyone living in the south not raised here."

I was born in a small town in Illinois in the 1970's. I have seen KKK cross burnings and witnessed first hand the hatred that my community had for people of different races. In 1994, while working at Dairy Queen, we had a black family travel through town looking for a meal. When my co-workers saw them get out of the car, they started turning lights off and moving away from the public eye in the hopes that this family would "get the hint" that they were not welcome. My parents taught me well to respect people of all races, colors, sizes, etc and I took the high road that day to make sure this family felt welcome. I waited on them, cooked their food, and delivered it to their table while my co-workers cowered in the back room of the store in fear of what these people might do. We didn't have any other customers while they were there either, which I could not understand. Looking back now, I realize just how racist my hometown was, and still is. It has "grown up" a little and now it is more diverse but when I graduated high school in 1995, I had never been to school with a person of another race. I left that small town in the fall of 1995 and moved to Arkansas to go to nursing school. All of a sudden, I was surrounded by people of all different cultures, races, and backgrounds. I'm thankful my parents taught me so well. They said to treat others as I wanted to be treated, which is what I did. Many of my friends now do not look like me at all and they have taught me a lot about their various backgrounds and beliefs.

My students are amazed to hear my story and how recent I experienced some of these things. I've lived in a neighboring GA county for 10 years now after leaving Arkansas. Some of those students are ancestors to the people involved in the lynching of 1946. I wish the details of the lynching weren't such a mystery. Maybe the people of Walton County could have more trust in each other if they only knew. I fear that if this mystery is ever solved, however, that tensions will heighten once more. In recent years, some have come forward with information. However, the FBI has found it to be conflicting with testimony of 1946. Are people coming forward with information for the fame and glory or do they finally want to put this story to rest?

I can't say that I "enjoyed" this book because it's not meant to be enjoyed. I found myself totally engrossed in the twists and turns, wanting to drive the routes mentioned (I only know where a few are and have not ever been to Moore's Ford Bridge. I would like to go just to see it, to get a glimpse of what it might have been like that day for those involved). I do pass the old cotton mill and some of the lesser mentioned places and doing so today gave it a rather nostalgic feel. Do I feel different about Walton County knowing all of this? Yes and no. I have a greater appreciation for the events that happened. I have a better understanding of some of my students and their families. I have a desire for people to find a more cohesive sense of community within themselves and to be more accepting of others, like them or not. My personal feelings of the people in the community have not changed just from reading this book.

One thing about this book that really stood out, literally, from the beginning, is the use of the picture in the front of this book. It is of the lynching victims in the funeral home. There were no fancy caskets or mounds of flowers everywhere. It is a picture of the mourners looking over the bodies of the Dorsey's and Murray's. It's graphic. It's sad. It's sickening. It shows so much though in the ways that blacks were treated differently. No way would the picture have even been taken had it been four white victims.

I also did not know what "canebrake" looked like or even it's purpose. However, the title implies a "fire in a canebrake." Witnesses would say that this is what the lynching sounded like.

To date, many federal and state laws have been passed in regards to Constitutional Rights, especially after this event. However, there is no law prohibiting lynching, which I think is a shame. There were other lynchings to take place after this one, but none since this one have been this large. In 1946, this made national news that even involved then President Truman issuing orders to the FBI during the investigation. People still flock to the site of Moore's Ford in an attempt to find evidence that might bring this story to rest. They still interview people about the events, much like Laura Wexler did in writing this story. Many of the people there in 1946 have since passed on and left their stories and legacies to family members, who may or may not know what to do with the information. The fear of passing along information is still there so this mystery may never see itself resolved. I only hope the efforts by the Moore's Ford Memorial Committee have brought about some peace to the communities in Walton County.

To read the first two chapters and to see pictures of the area (no graphic pictures...just those of tombstones and of the original site plus new bridge) please visit the author's website [...]

I purchased this book on the recommendation of Susan.

This book is perhaps the best book I have ever read. I could not put it down!!! I live in Georgia and partly wanted to read it because it happened here. It is an eye opening book. I really appreciated the fact that the author presented the facts without interjecting her personal beliefs. The reader is able to come to their own conclusions about who you think was in on it and whether you believe certain things-like the "eye witness" account. My friend is reading it now, and I can't wait until she is finished so I can discuss it with her.
I also wanted to just say that as everyone knows, this happened a long time ago. Georgia, along the rest of the country has came a long way since then. What happened makes me sick and angry, and I am sure most Georgian's feel the same way. There are a lot of good people in Georgia, so don't judge us for what other's did.
Anyway, I highly reccommend this book. It is wonderful. If this author has writes any other books, I will read them!!!!She did an awesome job sorting this story out. No wonder it took so long to write!