ROSEWOOD HISTORY
The Rosewood Massacre
A Documented History Of the Massacre which occured at Rosewood, Florida, in January
1923, was submitted to the Florida Board of Regents on December 22, 1993 from The Rosewood Report.
FOR EXTENSIVE DETAILS OF THE TRAGEDY VISIT
THE ROSEWOOD REPORT
The Rosewood Massacre At A Glance by The Rosewood Forum
This research book by the Rosewood Forum synthesizes more than five years of ongoing documentation. This educational book relates the Rosewood Massacre to the Florida Legal System of Justice in 1923. In addition to the Florida 1994 landmark decision to pay restitution to the ten Rosewood survivors, this research has yielded some truly special results, including a Newberry, Florida, lynching and other unpublished massacres. This factual book was update in 2018. change seven to ten Rosewood survivors. The Rosewood Massacre At A Glance
Died in Levy County in 1923
Unknown burial locations of African American citizens murdered in the 1923 massacre are memorialized on the website of the Rosewood Cemetery, Levy County, Florida. The names are listed on Find A Grave database:
Find a GraveSam Carter, Rosewood, FL
Find a Grave"Aunt" Sarah {Lewis} Carrier, Rosewood, FL
Find a GraveSylvester Carrier, Rosewood, FL
Find a GraveJames Carrier, Rosewood, FL
Find a GraveLexie Gordon, Rosewood, FL
Find a GraveMingo "Lord God" Williams of Braxton Florida
Two white men were killed by Sylvester Carrier. They were C. Poly Wilkerson, from Sumner and Henry Andrews, from Otter Creek. The Rosewood Report stated in interviews that they were buried in unmarked graves in Sumner, Florida, three miles from Rosewood.
A Memorial to the many unidentified citizens who were killed and those who suffered with physical and psychical scars from the aftermath of the Rosewood Massacre.
Rosewood Oral Histories
Annette Shakir- a direct descendant of Rosewood families.
Arnett Doctor- a direct descendant of Rosewood families.
Arnett T. Goins- a survivor born in Rosewood in 1915.
Earnest Parham- a white Sumner resident who witnessed the violence.
Elmer Johnson- white Sumner resident.
Eva Jenkins- a survivor born in Rosewood in 1910.
Gretchen Douglas- a direct descendant of Rosewood families.
Lillie Washington- a survivor born in Rosewood.
Mae McDonald- a direct descendant of Rosewood families.
Margie Hall Johnson- a survivor born in Rosewood in 1908.
Mary Hall- a survivor born in Rosewood in 1919.
Minnie Lee Langley- a survivor born in Rosewood in 1913.
Rosetta Bradley Jackson- a direct descendant of Rosewood families.
Wilson Hall- a survivor born in Rosewood in 1915.
Rosewood Photos (Mouse Over to Enlarge)
Rosewood house and community destroyed by fire.
A burning cabin
near Rosewood
January 04, 1923
A lynched man
KKK Rally
Sylvester Carrier
Sarah Carrier
The white cemetery at Sumner, Florida,
burying their dead in early January of 1923.
Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis
1923 Rosewood map
where Cummer & Sons Sawmill is located.
Cummer & Sons Sawmill
in Sumner as it was in the early 1920s.
Nathaniel Scippio
Evangelist at Church of God by Faith
A Chronology of Events
08/05/1920
Four black men in McClenny are removed from the local jail and lynched for the alleged rape of a white woman.
11/02/1920
Two whites and at least five blacks are killed in Ocoee in a dispute over voting rights. The black community of Ocoee is destroyed, 25 homes, 2 churches, and a Masonic Lodge.
02/12/1921
A black man in Wauchula is lynched for an alleged attack on a white woman.
12/09/1922
A black man in Perry is burned at the stake, accused of the murder of a white school teacher. A black church, school, Masonic Lodge, and meeting hall are burned.
12/31/1922
On New Year's Eve a large Ku Klux Klan Parade is held in Gainesville.
01/01/1923
Early morning: Fannie Taylor reports an attack by an unidentified black man.
Monday afternoon: Aaron Carrier is apprehended by a posse and is spirited out of the area by Sheriff Walker.
Late afternoon: A posse of white vigilantes apprehend and kill a black man named Sam Carter.
01/02/1923
Armed whites begin gathering in Sumner.
01/04/1923
Late evening: White vigilantes attack the Carrier house. Two white men are killed, and several others wounded. A black woman, Sarah Carrier is killed and others inside the Carrier house are either killed or wounded. Rosewood's black residents flee into the swamps. One black church is burned, and several unprotected homes.
Lexie Gordon, a black citizen of Rosewood, is murdered.
01/05/1923
Approximately 200-300 white men from surrounding areas begin to converge on Rosewood. The negro section is destroyed by fire.
Mingo Williams is murdered.
Governor Cary Hardee is notified, and Sheriff Robert
"Bob" Elisha Walkerreports that he fears "no further disorder." Sheriff Ramsey of Alachua County arrives in Rosewood to assist Sheriff Walker.
James Carrier is murdered.
01/06/1923
A train evacuates refugees, the Rosewood families, to Archer and Gainesville.
01/07/1923
A mob of 100-150 whites return to Rosewood and burn the remaining structures.
01/17/1923
A black man in Newberry is convicted of stealing cattle. He is removed from his cell and lynched by local whites.
02/11/1923
A Grand Jury convenes in Bronson to investigate the Rosewood riot.
02/15/1923
The Grand Jury finds "insufficient evidence" to prosecute.
02/15/1937
The first mention of the Rosewood riot in a religious publications, by Nathaniel Scippio and his wife Delia, in the Church of God by Faith Handbook, 2nd Edition.
1977
The Reynolds, were the first and only black family, to own a home and land in Rosewood since January of 1923. Now, the family resides in Ocala, Florida.
ROSEWOOD; 70 Years Ago, a Town Disappeared In a Blaze Fueled by Racial Hatred. Not Everyone Has Forgotten,
Washington Post
Sweet Home Rosewood: Lost In The Fire by Charles Flowers,
Seminole Tribune
07/25/1982
Gary Moore and Joe Tonelli, published the first
detailed account
of the massacre to reach the general public,
Floridan, St. Petersburg Times Newspaper. Tampa Bay Times
writesabout this.
07/1/1985
The Rosewood Family Reunion was established in Lacoochee, Florida.
1992
Florida Seminole Indians supported telling the story of the Rosewood Massacre of 1923. Chief Jim Billie hire two investigative reporters and allowed the Seminole Tribute Newspaper to print the articles gathered from oral histories and research coverage of Rosewood families and acquaintances.
Gulf Shore Life
