Sundown towns. Let’s talk about it. Spencer County, Indiana.
BEFORE THE TERROR
Indiana became a sundown state during slavery…But, our ancestors had already been living in Spencer County since the mid-1800s. Word is…with the geography of this place, some places could hide people really well. this became a path north towards freedom! But, it wasn’t just like a throughway, our ancestors built community here.We had Churches, schools, and businesses. For instance One of our earliest churches was the Smithfield Baptist Church in Rockport. The roots of that church can be traced back to Kentucky. We also built community in places like Ohio Township. By 1875 we already had schools.
Records show We had schools in places like Richland, and Africa, a school near Rockport, and a few more throughout Ohio Township. We had businesses too. Like Barber shops and Fish markets. But the peace was fragile and the sundown infrastructure was bubbling below the surface.
In 1868…a white man murdered a Black man in what newspapers themselves called a cold-blooded. Cold-blooded. Even THEY knew it was wrong. By 1880…the violence continued.
One newspaper reported that Mr. Willie was murdered by a white man for “speaking out of turn.” That same year…Mr. Webb was also murdered in cold blood by a white man. The newspaper connected his murder to Democratic political clubs…the Hancock and English clubs
TENSION GROWS
By the time the great migration started happening, the sun was sitting at the horizon in Spencer county, and By the 1890s…lynching threats became common. In 1895, newspapers documented attempted lynchings of young Black men held in jail. They also focused threats of a young black man being chased and threatened with a necktie party. Then in June of 1900…a mob of several hundred people attempted to lynch Mr Theodore Gunsaid. Several hundred people.
The lawyer that attempted to defending him?The mob threatened to lynch the lawyer too. In Spencer county, once terror becomes normalized even helping us was dangerous.
THE LYNCHINGS OF 1900
December 1900. Two Black men…Jim Henderson and Bud Rowlands…were lynched in the courthouse yard. Think about that ….The courthouse yard. This was Public and attended by at least 1000 people. That’s terror and violence all in one instance. And later that same month…Mr John Rolla was lynched too. Thats Three lynchings.In one northern county. In one month. Sit with that for a moment. by January 1901 the sun had set in Spencer county Indiana…That was a lot. At least a half dozen attempted lynchings– and three successful, newspapers started documenting our ancestors leaving. Not just leaving Rockport…but leaving towns around Rockport too. The newspapers openly discussed rounding up what they called “strange Negroes.” and riding the town of obnoxious negroes. Locking em up and Making em prove to a judge that they had the right to even BE there.
Hmmm vagueness is the point.
Then in 1902…Strange fruit was planted by a cop who claimed he feared for his life. That phrase. Long time in American history, right! Then, by the 1920s the Klan had fully established itself in Spencer County. Because of course it did. Once the violence creates the boundary…The klan came in to maintain it. Well, By 1928…our segregated ancestors from all across the region were bused to Lincoln High School. The only Black high school for miles around. And today…according to the census, the Black population in Spencer County has finally started increasing again. And that makes me curious. How is it there now, cousins?
In Spencer County Indiana, Segregation created the boundary. Violence enforced it. Terror taught people the rules. And over time… whole communities disappeared from places they once helped build. That’s the sundown infrastructure.
Click to access Franklin_reunion_1992.pdf
https://grokipedia.com/page/africa_indiana
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