By Adrian Sainz
Eliza Woods proclaimed her innocence, but she was jailed. After Woods was lynched on Aug. 18, 1886, prominent anti-lynching writer Ida B. Wells protested the killing in her writings.
Woods was later exonerated when the husband of the dead white woman confessed to killing her, according to Boyles, who has researched the lynchings.
John Brown’s lynching took place at midnight on July 26, 1891. The switchman he was initially accused of killing actually survived, Boyles said.
Another black man, Frank Ballard, was lynched in Jackson in 1894. According to The Jackson Sun, he had been accused of raping a white woman, but the location of his lynching is unknown.
A marker bearing the names of the three Madison County lynching victims hangs at The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery.
Boyles and others felt the lynchings also should be remembered in the county where they occurred. So, she contacted the EJI, which not only pays for and delivers lynching markers but also gathers soil from the lynching sites.
Boyles’ proposal was the subject of several meetings, and it was voted down early last year. After further discussions with county commissioners, the markers were approved. The dedication ceremony is scheduled for April 18.
Boyles said the markers are important because they shed light on racial injustices that must be discussed in the context of current day instances of criminal justice failure.
