Sundown towns. Let’s talk about it. Posey county, Indiana. We’re gonna zoom in on Mt. Vernon. Over three days…a white mob murdered seven Black men in Mt. Vernon. In public. Let’s learn history.
If you’ve been following my work, you already know…I talk about the sundown infrastructure:
Segregation. Terror. Violence. So, ofc posey county must have all 3 to make the list.
But, Before the sundown infrastructure set in…
Our ancestors built community in Posey County.
From 1820 to 1900…we made our way to the county. It was just a handful of us at first…
then thousands of our ancestors found themselves in Posey county. We had Churches. And Schools. We owned Land in our community Like in our Half moon pond community. But y’all what happened next… destroyed what we built.
In October of 1878…several Black men were accused of a crime. 4 men from the crime were arrested and locked up at Mount Vernon jail.
A few accused men were still at large. A mob formed. A brother of one of the accused, Daniel Jr’s, his brother, John was murdered and…..read it
That night, the sheriff went out to find the other accused men. Well, the went to find Daniel Jr. You know the one whose brother was already murdered
Daniels dad, Daniel Sr. said No! you will not take another of my sons. He shot and killed a cop. Daniel Sr. was wounded in this fight. They took him to jail. The mob gathered outside the jail. More than 100 men. All wearing masks. They were organized and deliberate. They stormed the jail. Overpowered the officers. And took the 4 men.
Mr. Daniel Harrison Sr., the one that murdered the sheriff, and had already been injured, the mob killed him right there inside the jail. Some accounts say he was secretly buried while other reports say the mob took pieces.
6:30 PUBLIC EXECUTION
The other men were dragged out of the jail with their hands bound and the Ropes already around their necks. Then The men tried to speak. They Tried to explain. But it didn’t matter. Jim Good.
Jeff Hopkins. Ed Warner. And William Chambers.
were lynched right outside the courthouse.
Left hanging…for everyone to see. PAUSE
And the people came. Thousands of people came.
To look. There’s a picture of this lynching online in 2026. This was a message. Where Segregation drew the lines, violence enforced it, and terror like this made sure we didn’t cross it again. And according to newspaper reports, our ancestors started leaving that place. We didn’t need a sign.
And then, y’all After the violence…came silence for decades. I talk more about the role silence played in the Infrastructure in my book,
The silence helped white people start believing nothing ever happened. The place has always just been 95% white.
Sundown often started with moments like this. And Posey County is one of many. I’m going county by county…documenting the system that shaped where we could live and safely exist.
If you’ve ever heard of a place that people warned you about… drop the name below.
And if you want to follow my work… make sure you’re subscribed. Because this isn’t just a series.
This is my life’s work. So, I’ll meet you in the comments. Until next time.
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