Two Trees, a Lynching, and the Future

Dealing with yesterday to improve tomorrow.

A Commentary by Dale Cox

The actual "Claude Neal" tree at the Jackson
County Courthouse faces Madison Street. 

Thirty years before I was born, six men took a man named Claude Neal into the deep swamps of the Chattahoochee River in Jackson County, Florida. They chained him to a tree, tortured him, and murdered him.

The crime was so brutal that residents miles away heard the farm laborer's screams. After Neal was dead, the men of the self-dubbed "Committee of Six" threw his body onto the back bumper of a car and carried it to the Cannady farm near Greenwood. The remains were kicked from the bumper as the vehicle approached the house. The body was dragged by the neck into the yard.

Claude Neal was accused of killing Lola Cannady, the 18-year-old daughter of farmer and furniture maker George Cannady. She was attacked as she pumped water for the family livestock, beaten with a hammer, and thrown into a muddy pen for the hogs to eat. She regained consciousness, climbed over a fence, and started to crawl across a peanut field, but her murderer saw her and attacked her again. This time she was dragged deep into a wooded area where her skull was crushed with an oak limb. Her body was hidden beneath fallen trees and debris.

The Jackson County Courthouse as it appeared in
1934. The structure was later demolished.

Lola Cannady slept in a cold grave by the time Claude Neal's body was shot full of bullet holes in the front yard of the Cannady home. He was already dead by then. Neighbors threw his body onto a flatbed truck and carried it to Marianna. 

Neal was hanged from a tree outside the courthouse as a message to Sheriff W.F. "Flake" Chambliss, who had gone to extraordinary lengths to save the unfortunate man from death at the hands of the mob. The lawman found the body a short time later, cut it down, and carried it to the nearby jail.

Claude Neal was black. Lola Cannady was white. He was married with a young daughter. She was engaged to be married. Both were murdered in the most brutal ways imaginable. Rumors about them turned into legends, which many now accept as fact. As if anything could excuse murder and the brutal way in which the two of them were killed.

The ghosts of Claude Neal and Lola Cannady still haunt Jackson County, crying out for justice. 

Lola is the more forgotten of the two. Not even a gravestone reminds us that she ever lived. For some reason, people seem not to care, yet she was a victim too.

"Cut it Down," and "Claude Neal" signs were
posted hist week on an oak tree at the Jackson
County Courthouse. The actual tree is visible at
left in the background.

Claude is better remembered. And there is the controversy that rises again to wrap itself around Marianna and Jackson County. A petition is circulating on the internet, demanding that a tree in front of the courthouse be cut down (see it here). Signs also went up on one of the courthouse oaks this week, pointing it out as the "Claude Neal" tree with the demand "Cut it down."

It is a refrain that rises and falls with the times. I have long known that many older people in Jackson County's African American community are sensitive about the tree, and understandably so. Some remember the terror of the riots that followed the Neal lynching and the fear that their homes would be burned down around them. They are fewer in number now, but they are still here.

I admit that I have been surprised by the growing passion among younger generations about the tree, even if there is sometimes confusion about which tree it is (more on that in a minute). This growing passion has caused me much reflection.

Aesop Bellamy's trees are seen here about
20-years after they were planted by the African
American businessman.

The courthouse trees - including the one used for less than one hour to display the body of Claude Neal - are historic in their own right. They were planted in 1873 by a man named Aesop Bellamy. A freedman or former slave, he was one of the county's first black businessmen. In what may be the earliest contract award by Jackson County to an African American, Bellamy was hired to plant 36 live oak trees around the courthouse. Not many of them survive, but they stand as a monument to this early entrepreneur.

The actual "Claude Neal" tree at the Jackson County Courthouse is not the oak in front that many people point to. It is the second tree from the northeast corner on the Madison Street side. The sheriff's office faced Madison Street in 1934, and Neal's body was hung there as a message to Sheriff Chambliss. The actual limb from which the body was suspended is no longer there, it was cut off years ago, but the tree remains.

The tree where the "Committee of Six" killed
Claude Neal was destroyed by Hurricane Michael
in 2018. Only the base of the trunk remains.

The other "Claude Neal" tree is the so-called Hanging Tree near Parramore Landing in eastern Jackson County. He was chained to it while he was tortured and murdered. I have guided classes from Florida State University to the tree on numerous occasions, braving snakes and briars to help them with their studies. Hurricane Michael largely destroyed it, leaving only the base of the trunk. 

So how do we, as a community, begin the process of putting the ghosts of Claude Neal and Lola Cannady to rest? 

That is a question that we should all put some time and thought into answering. The Bible teaches us to be merciful and kind to one another. We all see the world through different eyes, but there are many things that we all have in common, no matter our race or culture or background or religion. We all want our children and grandchildren to have better lives and a better place to live in.

I have some suggestions - and that's all they are, just suggestions - I have no more power than anyone else. Perhaps they are worth considering.

1. Let's begin by offering the families of Claude Neal and Lola Cannady to place headstones on their graves. Neither grave is marked. If the exact burial spots cannot be identified, then the stones can be placed nearby.
2. Jackson County, working with the Florida Division of Historical Resources, should place historical markers near the Neal murder site at Parramore Landing and the Cannady/Smith farm sites near Greenwood to interpret the events of 1934. Independent state historians should develop the text for the markers.
3. The Jackson County Commission should convene a hearing to receive public input on the fate of the actual "Claude Neal" tree on the courthouse square. This tree is the second one south of the northeast corner of the square on the Madison Street side. Despite its historical significance, if the commissioners believe after hearing public input that community healing will result from its removal, it should be taken down and proper interpretive signage placed to explain why.
4. If the tree is removed, "Aesop Bellamy Trees" rooted from acorns produced by the other oaks on Courthouse Square should be planted each year for 10-years at Jackson Blue Springs and other county parks.
5. Regardless of the fate of the "Claude Neal" tree, the County Commission should adopt an ordinance declaring the other live oaks planted by Aesop Bellamy on the courthouse square to be Landmark Trees and providing for their permanent protection and care. The county should work with the Florida Division of Historical Resources to prepare an application for listing the trees (less the Claude Neal tree) on the National Register of Historic Places due to their connection to Aesop Bellamy, an African American entrepreneur of the Reconstruction era. The county should place a marker telling the story of Bellamy's trees.
6. Finally, the Jackson County Tourist Development Council is encouraged to work in cooperation with the Jackson County Commission, the Jackson County Branch of the NAACP, the Florida Panhandle Natural and Cultural Resources Association (FPNCRA), and the Chipola Historical Trust to develop a multi-cultural driving tour of Jackson County. This tour should feature historic sites and landmarks of interest to people of all races and cultures, to inspire our young people and show them that it is possible to rise above circumstances to achieve great things.

These are my suggestions. I welcome you to make suggestions of your own as comments, and perhaps we can come up with a plan to move past the ghosts of the past and into a better future together.

All comments are moderated, so just be polite, and your thoughts will be shared. No bad language!