Category Archives: Lifestyles
No justice for Earle
Guilty go free as mob acquitted in state’s last lynching
By Dr. Thomas Cloer, Jr.
Special to The Courier
For the last two weeks we have been reviewing some highlights of “They Stole Him Out of Jail: Willie Earle, South Carolina’s Last Lynching Victim.” This most comprehensive book ever written on the subject is by Pickens County native, William B. “Will” Gravely (Will,) and is available from the University of South Carolina Press at uscpress.com or axland@sc.edu. Gravely, a historian and professor emeritus at the University of Denver, has written a book that should be a required textbook for any college course on
Southern history. There would be no better book for understanding Southern culture and how we have struggled with humanitarian progress in law enforcement, religious understandings regarding integration and civil rights for
all the different peoples of the South.
The State Versus the Mob
Last week we ended at the start of the trial for the mob that brutally beat, stabbed and shot 24-year-old Willie Earle at close range with a shotgun in February 1947. The mob took him from the old Pickens jail and murdered him just over the county line in Greenville County. At no point in the trial of the 31 defendants, with their 26 written confessions, did the Pickens jailer, Ed Gilstrap, suggest he had the responsibility of protecting his prisoner.
The defense team for the lynchers undermined the state’s case against the mob by bringing focus away from Earle to their fellow cab driver, World War I veteran and friend, Thomas Brown. He had been knifed by one or more assailants, and Earle had been accused in the death. Of course, Brown’s death was irrelevant by law to Earle’s death, but not to the clever defense lawyers.
Another wedge into the state’s case was driven by defense lawyer Thomas Wofford when he scowled that “for some unknown reason” the FBI had led the investigation. Wofford insisted
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Would justice be possible?
31 men arrested and put on trial in Earle’s death
By Dr. Thomas Cloer, Jr.
Special to The Courier
Last week, we began a review of William B. Gravely’s book “They Stole Him Out of Jail: Willie Earle, South Carolina’s Last Lynching Victim.” The just-released book from the South Carolina Press (uscpress.com or axland@sc.edu) is the most thoroughly researched book ever on the 1947 lynching of Willie Earle, a black prisoner taken from the old Pickens jail and brutally killed and left on the side of a road across the Greenville County line outside Easley.
The Brutal Murder of Willie Earle
Greenville taxi drivers Roosevelt Hurd, Marvin “Red” Fleming, Griggs, Woodrow Clardy and Hendrix Rector went to Willie Earle’s cell at the old Pickens jail and grabbed him out. Driver Rector grabbed Earle by the collar. Griggs jerked him down steps, and Earle was shoved violently into different drivers. Drivers Hurd, Clardy and Fleming, with help from another driver, threw the prisoner into the lead taxi cab. Hurd was in the front car holding one of the shotguns. He was still partaking of whiskey and was becoming more inebriated as the long night unfolded.
The official drivers’ statements gave different versions of who questioned Earle about knifing cab driver Thomas Brown. Fourteen of the statements from those arrested said that Earle confessed before dying; other statements contradicted. Of course, a confession under such circumstances means little. After passing into Greenville County, the seven remaining taxis stopped to question Earle further. Hurd pointed the shotgun at Willie Earle’s head and Clardy called out not to kill that “negro” in his cab. “That’s where I make my living,” he said, according to statements. Clardy then led the mob to a more secluded spot near the property of the judge who would later conduct the trial.
Gravely writes in a sobering manner, “Arriving at the spot … the central actors gathered around Earle for the last time.” Driver Red Fleming “tried to talk nice to the n—–,” according to driver Charlie Covington’s statement to law officials. Fleming reminded Earle that he didn’t have long to live and coaxed Earle not to “die with a lie in his heart.” Someone shouted that they should take Earle to the hospital and let Thomas Brown identify him. Remember, driver Thomas Brown died after Willie Earle. At this time, Brown was still alive at St. Francis Hospital. The drivers pushed hard to get Earle to identify the other attacker of Brown. Wanting his breath of life for any extended minutes he might get, Earle begged the men to take him where he could identify a person.
Gravely writes, “Suddenly, the talking ceased.” Driver Griggs hit Earle hard in the face. Driver Rector took the shotgun that Clardy
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Pickens native authors book detailing South Carolina’s last lynching
By Dr. Thomas Cloer, Jr.
Special to The Courier
In an age of technology, one need only to look at images of lynching victims to start wondering about the stories behind the images.
Pickens native William B. “Will” Gravely — an erudite scholar, renowned historian, polished author and professor emeritus at the University of Denver — has written the most comprehensive book ever on the barbaric lynching of young Willie Earle, a black Pickens County native killed in South Carolina’s last lynching after being taken from the jail by more than two dozen white men in 1947.
Early in America, before the Civil War, lynching referred to hanging. The term “lynching” gained broader meaning when hanging was 
replaced by easier and other acts of violence and torture, such as burnings, shootings, 
knifings, etc., of someone suspected of a crime. Lynching no longer means hanging only.
The 24-year-old Earle, who suffered from epilepsy, was taken from the old Pickens County jail, now the Pickens County Museum of Art and History. He was taken by a mob of taxi drivers from Greenville County in February 1947. Earle was beaten, stabbed repeatedly and shot at very close range in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun; his was a horrific murder. Gravely’s book, “They Stole
Him out of Jail,” is very recently published by the University of South Carolina Press (uscpress.com). The book is not only about the lynching, but is also about our Southern history, and how this lynching reverberated throughout America.
There were 26 men who gave confessions. However, there were differences in their testimonies that were troubling. A same incident can be interpreted many ways. When there is no tangible evidence to verify or disqualify an interpretation, how can one know what is
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Bringing the hits
Legendary Oak Ridge Boys set to headline annual Blue Ridge Fest
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — When Richard Sterban joined the Oak Ridge Boys in 1972, he had no idea the band would still be going strong 47 
years later.
In fact, some people questioned the wisdom of his decision at first.
“I was in kind of a unique position in my life,” Sterban said. “I was with a group called J.D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet.”
That group was performing with the King himself.
“I was standing pretty much in the dark onstage but I was
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Railroad Festival rolls into Central April 27
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — The Central Railroad Festival is set for 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, April 26, in downtown Central.
The festival highlights the railroad heritage of Central, which got its name due to being located at the central point of the railroad line linking Atlanta and Charlotte.
Admission to the festival is free, festival director Noreene Billado said.
“There’s also free parking at remote sites with free CAT Bus shuttles to the festival,” she said.
This year’s festival features “lots of kids activities,” Billado said.
“There will be inflatables, crafts they can make and take (and) a children’s stage,” she said.
The children’s stage will host a children’s entertainer and magician, a martial arts group, Elevation Dance from Pendleton
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Holly Springs Center expanding offerings with special events
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — Holly Springs Center director Abby Baker wishes more people knew about the center and all it offers.
“Marketing this is something we absolutely have to do, have to
figure out,” Baker said. “We have to get ourselves out there.”
Not long after School District of Pickens County officials announced Holly Springs Elementary School would close, community members rallied in 2017 to discuss how the school facility could continue to serve the community.
The nonprofit center offered its first slate of summer programming later that year. It now offers School of Mountain
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Honoring Their Service
Pickens High baseball hosts Military Appreciation Day event
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — For the first time, the Pickens High School baseball 
team held a rousing Military Appreciation Day celebration Friday to honor military personnel during a game against Walhalla.
More than 50 current and former members of the United States Armed Forces were in attendance for the game, which saw the Blue Flame come up on the wrong end of a 10-2 final score against the Razorbacks.
The night began with Cadet Maj. Jordan Rucker delivering a student-led message to those on hand before the game, and members of each branch of the military were honored as their service anthems were played.
The largest of the pre-game festivities started soon after, as Command Sgt. Russell Vickery, the state commander of the 
Army National Guard, flew onto the field in a Blackhawk helicopter. Vickery threw out the ceremonial first pitch to former Pickens baseball player, and current Army National
Six Mile marks anniversary of devastating 1929 tornado
By Ron Barnett
Staff Reporter
rbarnett@thepccourier.com
SIX MILE —
In the evening of March 13, 1929, a tornado swept through the tiny town of Six Mile, killing nine people — all of them relatives 
— and leaving tragic second-hand memories that remain even today, 90 years later.
Descendants of the storm’s victims, the families of Benjamin Tillman Garrett, the town’s postmaster, and his brother, George Nelson Garrett, a deputy sheriff, gathered on the anniversary of the tragedy last Wednesday to call to mind
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Mariner’s Compass pattern now adorns Pickens Visitor Center
PICKENS — A Mariner’s Compass quilt block now adorns the Pickens Visitor Center.
Ellie Elzerman, a veteran quilter and Pickens County resident, lives in the rural Central area and has a long fiber arts history beginning with learning her sewing skills from her mother and aunt. Elzerman has also been a weaver and spinner who experiments with natural dyes. As a teacher working with children, she has shared her passion for fabric and design with her community.
The history of the Mariner’s Compass pattern dates back to 1726, when it was adapted from the ancient compass rose that Portuguese
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JOURNEY OF HOPE
By Nicole Chisari
Winthrop University
ROCK HILL — B
randon Dill is trying to get comfortable with biking next to trucks on the open road.
“I’ve been riding on the road when I can,” said the Winthrop University senior, a 2015 Pickens High School graduate. “It’s still hard to get used to a semi-truck passing within five feet of me, but I’m a lot calmer now. … I’m about 70 percent prepared. The rest, I’m winging it.”
He’ll need that calm this June, when he’ll bike approximately 3,500
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