| This small family cemetery contains the graves of John Prentiss "Print" Matthews, Sr. and J.P. Matthews, Jr., a white father and son, both of whom were murdered during the contentious years of the "Redeemer" period, when white Democrats reasserted control over the state from the Republicans, both black and white, who had gained power after the Civil War. Matthews Sr. was murdered by a white man on the day of the 1883 election, when his Independent Party, composed of black and white farmers, attempted to maintain the majority on the county board of supervisors. Matthews Jr., who was 15 when his father was murdered, later became a locally prominent Republican and was appointed postmaster of Carrollton, MS, where he was shot dead on the street on Christmas Day, 1890. See also James W. Loewen, _Lies Across America_, pp. 230-234. Also http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8070399 |
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