Emigration: Joseph Posey and Robert and Richard DePriest of Florence leave on a scouting expedition for Kansas, looking for a suitable place to emigrate with their families.

Subject

Community

Description

This is a newspaper account about Joseph Posey and Richard Depriest, who went on a scouting party to Kansas to search for suitable land on which to relocate. According to Florence historian Lee Freeman: "The De Priest family produced US Congressman Oscar S. De Priest (1871-1951), elected to the US House of Representatives on the Republican ticket in 1928 from Chicago. According to statements made by Oscar De Priest at an NAACP meeting in Washington, DC shortly after his arrival there, De Priest had witnessed the lynching of three black men in Florence and his family was forced to leave Florence due to racism and persecution. However research has indicated that the three men De Priest claims to have witnessed being lynched were actually three white men-- notorious Lauderdale County outlaw Thomas Marion Clark (1828-1872) and two anonymous robbers, who were lynched by an angry Florence mob around midnight on Sept. 5, 1872 when De Priest was only two years old. The first recorded lynching of a black man in Florence wasn't until 1907, long after the De Priests had left Florence. When De Priest made these statements, as politicians of all stripes are occasionally wont to do, he was probably simply telling his audience what they wanted, or expected, to hear. As the Gazette article states, the Poseys and D Priests were respected families among whites and blacks. As the late Dr. Ken Johnson says, the De Priests and Poseys leaving Florence was a part of what was called the "Kansas Exodus," in which thousands of blacks across the South, left for Kansas in pursuit of land, jobs and educational opportunities."

Source

Florence Gazette

Publisher

Florence Gazette

Date

1878-03-27

Contributor

Lee Freeman

Rights

Images are available for educational and research purposes. This image may not be reproduced for commercial purposes without the express written consent of the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of the interested party to identify the copyright holder and receive permission.

Format

JPG

Language

English

Type

Still Image

Identifier

poseydepriest.jpg

Original Format

Newspaper

Files

poseydepriest.jpg

Collection

Community

Citation

“Emigration: Joseph Posey and Robert and Richard DePriest of Florence leave on a scouting expedition for Kansas, looking for a suitable place to emigrate with their families.,” Shoals Black History, accessed May 3, 2024, https://shoalsblackhistory.omeka.net/items/show/640.