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!

#86 The Graceville "Spook Lights" (100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida)

The Graceville Spook Lights

The mysterious Graceville Spook Lights are #86 on my list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

Please click here to see the entire list as it is unveiled.

On the west side of Graceville, there is a spot where you can look up the old railroad bed and see two strange lights that appear at unpredictable intervals almost every night. Legend says the lights are the unhappy ghosts of a man and woman who were hanged from the railroad trestle over 100 years ago.

Graceville Spook Lights

To see them, head west on State Highway 2 across Holmes Creek into Holmes County and turn left onto St. Johns Road. Pull off the side of the road and walk back east on Highway 2 a short distance to the old rail bed. From that point, if you look up the old railroad into Graceville and have a little luck, you will see the lights. You have to look for them from the Holmes County side of the line, but the lights themselves are in Jackson county.

(One note, please respect private property rights and don't walk up the old railroad bed to try to see them better. Not only is it disrespectful, illegal and dangerous, the lights will just vanish. They can only be seen from the spot by Highway 2. Also, please do not stand in the roadway!  You might become a ghost yourself.)

Now on with the story...

Spook lights or ghost lights are popular parts of Southern culture and folklore. North Carolina has its Maco Light. Georgia has the Surrency Spooklight. Arkansas is known for the Gurdon and Dover Lights and Missouri is famed for the Seneca Light. Like the Graceville Spook Lights, such phenomena appear almost nightly under the right conditions.

The ghost story behind the Graceville lights revolves around the all but forgotten 1910 hangings of Hattie Bowman and Edward Christian. The two had been arrested on charges related to the murder of Deputy Sheriff Allen Burns, who had gone to Bowman's home while investigating the theft of a gold watch from a Graceville merchant.

Residents of northwestern Jackson County were infuriated by the murder of Deputy Burns. A large group of people forced their way into the jail on the night of September 2, 1910, and dragged away the prisoners:

Graceville, Fla., Sept. 3 - Dangling from a trestle just outside the town, this morning, were found the bodies of Ed. Christian...charged with shooting Deputy Sheriff Allen Burns, and Hattie Bowman...who had been arrested on the charge of being implicated in the crime. (Toledo Blade, September 8, 1910)

The mob had taken Christian and Bowman to the trestle over Holmes Creek, tied nooses around their necks, tied the other ends of the ropes to the trestle ties, and kicked the two off the bridge. No one was ever arrested for their murders.

Graceville Spook Lights

Two strange flickering lights have been seen ever since from the point where the railroad crosses the road just west of Graceville. The lights are best seen in the winter, when the leaves have fallen from the trees, and first appear as a bare flicker, then grow in brightness briefly before fading away. Legend holds they are the ghosts of Hattie Bowman and Edward Christian, still seeking justice 104 years after they died.

While the story itself is tragic, the mysterious lights are on the list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

The story is included in my book, The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge: Ten Stories of Ghosts & Monsters from Jackson County, Florida. It is available at Chipola River Book & Tea in downtown Marianna or online from Amazon.com in both print and Kindle editions:

The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge [Paperback]

The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge [Kindle]

The 1845 Marianna Hanging

In 1845, the citizens of Jackson County were plagued by a band of outlaws led by a man named Avant. He and his fellow outlaws hid in the vast woods between Marianna and the Gulf Coast. He had been accused in the murder of a sheriff in Alabama and was implicated in the death of another officer in Jackson County.

In June of 1845, the citizens of the area had finally had enough. They went after Avant and his men. The outlaw leader and another man named Powers were taken to the courthouse in Marianna and summarily hanged without trial or due process.

This is the report that was repeated in the Southern Patriot newspaper on July 9, 1845:

LYNCH LAW. – A man named Avant and one of his confederates, were recently hanged at Marianna, Jackson county, Florida, without the form of trail, Notice was also given to four black legs to leave town or share the same fate. The Pensacola Gazette, though it thinks this summary mode of punishment should generally be condemned, thus justifies the present case.

Avant was a monster in human form, and his life for a series of years has been marked by crimes of the deepest die. He came to our city some years ago, a fugitive from justice from the State of Alabama, where he had murdered a sheriff. He had not been here long before he attempted the assassination of one of our citizens, and being obliged to fly from here he went to Marianna, where he was concerned in the murder of another officer – he then fled to the swamps contiguous to that town, where he has since, up to the time of his apprehension, and at the head of a band of outlaws, perpetrated murder and robbery upon all who fell in his way. To such a length had his audacity been carried, it was considered dangerous to travel through that part of the State. The peace and well-being of the community demanded that such a villain should meet with retribution for his outrages – and owing to the inefficiency of our Territorial government no jails have been provided for the security of criminals; he and his accomplice, therefore, in order to insure their punishment were brought to a speedy execution. Those concerned were actuated by a nother motive; there are still remaining a number of men of the same desperate character in the swamps about the country, and an example which, the slow process of law could not afford, was necessary to strike them with terror. The only sentiment which we can express on the subject is, a regret that the necessity of the case should have demanded an application of Lynch’s code.