Murder in Georgia
January 5, 1895
Summary
A white man is killed for trespassing in a black community, while two black brothers are arrested in the dispute that follows in Georgia.
Transcription
The Murder in Georgia.
[New York Press.]
If law and order are to prevail in Georgia the authorities should take steps at once to bring to punishment all concerned in the murders committed in Brooks County in that State. The dispatches so far received are apparently from sources not unfriendly to the lynchers of accused colored men and torturers of innocent colored women. Therefore the reports are probably not exaggerated. According to the dispatches, a white man named Maulden, described as "an old Confederate soldier and belonging to a prominent family," went into one of the turpentine camps, whereupon "the Jefferth brothers, desperadoes," set upon him and shot him to death. The next move was the assemblage of a posse and a pursuit of the desperadoes. Notwithstanding their desperate character, they seem to have been captured without difficulty, and were put in jail.
The scene now changes. A band of colored men meet, we are told, and after selecting officers, take oath to kill every one concerned to the arrest of these two brothers. One of the white posse was killed, it is averred, as a result of this conspiracy. Another posse then started out, with fatal results for one ofsits members. Then the whites gathered in large numbers and "encountered a party of Negroes" several of whom are now dead. The report says that colored women were tortured to make them reveal the hiding place of a fugitive. Read between the lines, it is easy see that [unable to read] the colored people [illegible] been simply defending [illegible] against unjustifiable attacks even if unprovoked murder [illegible] committed, that is no excuse nor anarchy. The State of Georgia should redeem its reputation by establishing a reign of law.
[New York Press.]
If law and order are to prevail in Georgia the authorities should take steps at once to bring to punishment all concerned in the murders committed in Brooks County in that State. The dispatches so far received are apparently from sources not unfriendly to the lynchers of accused colored men and torturers of innocent colored women. Therefore the reports are probably not exaggerated. According to the dispatches, a white man named Maulden, described as "an old Confederate soldier and belonging to a prominent family," went into one of the turpentine camps, whereupon "the Jefferth brothers, desperadoes," set upon him and shot him to death. The next move was the assemblage of a posse and a pursuit of the desperadoes. Notwithstanding their desperate character, they seem to have been captured without difficulty, and were put in jail.
The scene now changes. A band of colored men meet, we are told, and after selecting officers, take oath to kill every one concerned to the arrest of these two brothers. One of the white posse was killed, it is averred, as a result of this conspiracy. Another posse then started out, with fatal results for one ofsits members. Then the whites gathered in large numbers and "encountered a party of Negroes" several of whom are now dead. The report says that colored women were tortured to make them reveal the hiding place of a fugitive. Read between the lines, it is easy see that [unable to read] the colored people [illegible] been simply defending [illegible] against unjustifiable attacks even if unprovoked murder [illegible] committed, that is no excuse nor anarchy. The State of Georgia should redeem its reputation by establishing a reign of law.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Lower Right Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Cord Fox
Citation
“Murder in Georgia,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed February 19, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/82.