Denounce Lynching Chamber of Commerce Goes on Record as Opposed to Mob Violence

An argument over a debt of six dollars between James Bearden and Caby Brynes quickly escalated, ending in the deaths of two brothers, James and Stanley Bearden who were lynched by mob violence on 29 Jun 1928, in Brookhaven, Mississippi.

Caby Byrnes was born`22 Jul 1897, son of William Reese Byrne and Laura Criscoe, all Mississippians. He and his family remained in Brookhaven after the lynchings. Caby was the proprietor of an auto repair shop, his wife Mary Ford Byrne was the bookkeeper for the business. The couple had at least two children, Virginia and Caby, Jr. The senior Caby died 16 Sep 1955 and is buried in the Rosehill Cemetery, Brookhaven, MS.

The following paragraph was published in the second printing of the local newspaper since the lynching of the brothers. There is nothing like green power, money, to make folk repentant.

W. D. Davis, the President (Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce) referred to the terrible affair of June 29, when the law was trampled under foot. He spoke of the affair with feeling, both of the deed itself and its consequences on the actors themselves, on society and on the good name of the county for law and order.

Sources:
The 1930 and 1940 Federal Censuses for Lincoln County, MS
Findagrave - Rosehill Cemetery
The Lincoln County Times
Brookhaven, Mississippi
Thursday July 12, 1928
Page 6

Photograph Courtesy of
Lincoln-Lawrence-Franklin Regional Library
100 S. Jackson St
Brookhaven, MS 39601
601-833-3369

Swift Justice Negroes Lynched in Mississippi 1874

Rape is a horrible crime. All perpetrators should be fully prosecuted under the law. Justice in this case was swift, without a trial, and no jury of peers, which is what I wish they had.

Negroes Lynched in Mississippi
Brookhaven, Miss, Aug 22 - The three negroes, Dick Cooper, Anthony Grant and Silas Johnson, who, at 3 o'clock on Sunday morning last, forcibly entered the residence of Mrs. Burnley and violated her person, were taken from the jail at 4 o'clock this evening and hung by the citizens, about 1,000 of who were present. Johnson was captured on Sunday. The other two were captured at Trenton, brought here this morning and lodged in jail. They confessed their guilt on the gallows.
Newspapers
Alton Telegraph, 27 August 1874, Page 2

Maria Burnley was the wife of Edwin Burnley, who owned Somerset Plantation. Edwin's daughters, Edwina Burnley and Bertha Burnley Ricketts, wrote the memoir describing their family and their childhood at Somerset plantation, near Hazlehurst, Copiah County, MS. Their father, Edwin Burnley (b. 1798), moved to Mississippi from Virginia in 1832 and married Maria Louisa Baxter (1820-1907) of Persippany, N.J., in 1852. The couple married in 1852, together they had five daughters: Jean, Hardenia, Fannie, Bertha, and Edwina.

Newspaper Article Detailing the Crime

How is Somerset connected to my family?
Virgina Williams/Taylor was a slave of Somerset. She married John T Demyers, my 2nd great grandmother Alice Demyers Overton Usher's brother. The Burnley family also owned an Overton family whose connection to my 2nd great grandfather, Dave Brown Overton, is unclear.