Affidavit of William Jones: Dougherty County, Georgia, 1868 Sept. 28
date: September 28, 1868
extent: 2p
summary: William Jones, a forty-two-year-old freedman employed on Tinsley's plantation in Mitchell County, Georgia gives testimony regarding his experience in the Camilla Riot in this affidavit given in Dougherty County, Georgia on September 28, 1868. The Camilla Riot occurred when Republicans and freedmen came to Camilla, Georgia on Saturday, September 19, 1868, and were met with violent opposition from the townspeople. Jones recalls how he and another freedman, John Wesley, overheard the miller at Tinsley's mill, Mr. Hines, say that he did not think the townspeople would allow John Murphy, the Republican Party elector, to speak in Camilla. Although Jones set out for Camilla to attend the rally, carrying his gun loaded with turkey shot, he states that "never fired it" though he was there to witness James Johns, the inebriated Camilla resident who fired the shots that began the riot, "pointing his gun plainly in the direction of the bandwagon." Jones then fled, and was pursued until he escaped into the nearby woods.
subjects:
- United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
- African Americans--Georgia--History--1863-1867
- African Americans--Georgia--Social conditions--To 1964
- Freedmen--Georgia--Political activity
- Freedmen--Georgia--Violence against
- Freedmen--Georgia--Personal narratives
- Reconstruction--Georgia
- Political violence--Georgia--Camilla
- Mitchell County (Ga.)--Race relations
- Mitchell County (Ga.)--Politics and government
- Jones, William, fl. 1868
- Camilla (Ga.)
- Mitchell County (Ga.)
- Affidavits
repository: DeSoto Trail Regional Library (Camilla, Ga.)
collection: Civil Unrest in Camilla, Georgia, 1868
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Georgia
Dougherty County [added text: } ss]
Personally came before me William Jones a colored man who being duly sworn, deposes and says that he is 42 years old, that he was employed by Mrs Tinsley in Mitchell County, that he heard Mr Hines the Miller at Tinsleys Mill say on
Saturday morning that he would bet a good deal that Murphy would not speak in Camilla that day, that the people would not let him do it and that he heard them say so, he thinks that John Wesley Col'd [Colored], from Dr. Tinsleys place was with him and heard the same. Deponent further states that he carried a gun to Camilla loaded but did never fire it, when in Camilla, the gun was loaded with turkey shot at the band wagon pointing his gun plainly in the direction of the wagon, After that general firing ensued and deponent run off and was followed
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(Signed) William [added text: his] X [added text: mark] Jones
Sworn to & subscribed before me
this
28th day of September 1868,
A true copy
[Signed] M. Frank Gallagher
Bvt Capt [Brevet Captain] USA. [United States Army] AAAG
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