Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1914-12-23
TWO KILLED AT FAIR PLAY.
Green and George Gibson, CoIored,
Shot and Beat to Death.

a deplorable tragedy that took place
near Fair Play during Sunday, as
the result of which two negroes,
Green Gibson and his son George, are
dead and a third, Tom Spright, is
said to be seriously injured by being
beaten up. Spright is in the hands
OF Sheriff Sidney Johnson, of Hart
| county, Georgia, who is keeping hin.
safely until the trouble at Fair Play
blows over.
Detailed information regarding the
horrible affair is hard to get, and
there are many rumors concerning
the trouble. From those sources
that we deem most reliable we give
as nearly as possible the facts in the
case.
1T seems to be the general opinion
that whiskey Is at the bottom of the
whole ghastly affair. While the
killing of Green Gibson took place
in the afternoon of Sunday, the be-
ginning Of the trouble was early in
the morning, when Woodrow Camp
bell, who lives near Townville, (ac-
cording to Spright's testimony at the
Georgia inquest) went to the home
of Tom Spright, awaking him and
telling him to Get up from there
and let's go to Georgia" The ne
gro demurred, but he was taken any
way, and it is said that the white
man compelled three negro men to
go along and do the beating of Tom
Spright. The crowd seemed to in
crease in size as the party moved to-
ward Georgia. While the angry
crowd vas standing in the road near
Knox's Bride George Gibson and his
brother came along in a buggy and
asked the white men to let them
pass. They informed the negroes
that they knew when to let them go
on. About this time one Of the
white men walked up to the buggy
In which the negroes were riding
and said I'VE want this one" Jerking
George Gibson from the buggy and
hitting him over the head with pis-
tolls. He and Tom Spright were
carried across the bridge to the Geor-
gia side and the negroes were whip
ped by the three negroes brought
along by Campbell, being given in
the negihborhood of 800 and 400
lashes each with buggy traces. At
the time of the whipping they would
whip one awhile and make the other
stand aside and "get sore" as they
said and then whipped him again
Finally both negroes fell exhausted.
The negroes were carried by white
friends to the barn of Mack Craw-
ford, about quarter of mile away
Gibson was placed in stable and
covered with laprobes and hay, but
died some time during Sunday night
Spright also spent the night in Mr.
Crawford's barn.
In the meantime the young Glib
son negro, who was accompanying
his brother Georgia, turned his bug
gy around and went back for his ia
ther, Green Gibson, who lived on
Allen Marett's place. The boy and
his father soon returned with shot
guns to the bridge, where the men
were still engaged on the opposite
side Of the river in beating George
Gibson and Tom Spright. Green Glib
son, the father of George Gibson, and
his younger son, opened fire on the
crowd with shotguns, Wills they
were still beating George Gibson.
Some 25 or 80 shots, it is said, were
exchanged between the Gibsons, who
were under cover of the bridge, and
the white men on the Georgia side.
The Gibsons finally retreated from
the bridge. The white men followed
in pursuit and late in the afternoon
Green Gibson was shot to death on
the place of Magistrate Mcclure, and
his body was seen by numbers of
people who passed lying out in a cot
ton field on the Mcclure place, His
shotgun had been taken away from
him and beat to pieces over his head,
and was lying broken by his rigid
form. The body remained where it
fell until Monday night or possibly
longer. Whether any injury came
to the second Gibson boy we are un-
able to say. Nobody that we have
inquired of regarding him seems to
know anything OF him.
The white men who received inin-