Anthony P. Crawford Andy Crawford was the wealthiest Negro farmer in and around Abbeville. His holdings were at least 10% of all land owned by Negroes in the county. He would loan whites money between harvests and had changed his crop from cotton to corn before the white farmers did because of the boll weevil. His estimated worth was $20,000 dollars, which calculates to $300,000 in 1998. He was a law-abiding citizen and proud. On the morning of October 21, 1916 Andy rode his horse and buggy into town to W.D. Barksdale's store. Cotton seed was selling at 90 cents a bushel, but Barksdale offered Andy only 85 cents. Andy told Mr. Barksdale that he was already given a better offer and before he could gather his seed and leave, Barksdale called him a liar. Andy cursed him and told him he was trying to cheat him and would take his seed elsewhere. The two men argued out into the town square. A store clerk heard the commotion and came out with an ax handle. Andy backed off towards the square and was arrested by Sheriff Burts for cursing Mr. Barksdale. By the time Sheriff Burts and Andy reached the jail, word had gotten out that a Negro had cursed a white man and crowds started gathering in the square. Once the crowd dispersed, he paid his bail and the sheriff let him out of a side door to avoid any more commotion. He was headed for a gin a short distance away when he was spotted by the crowd. When Andy heard the mob behind him, he hid in a boiler room of the gin. As McKinnley Cann led the crowd towards him, Andy picked up a four pound hammer and crushed the skull of Cann and would've killed him had someone not grabbed his arm. Sheriff Burts begged the crowd not to kill Andy, and agreed to keep him in jail until they were assured that Cann would survive his injuries. While in jail, Andy ordered a doctor and told a friend to get his coat from the gin and give his bankbook to his family. He remarked "I thought I was a good citizen." The crowd soon took over the jail, beat Andy until he was unconscious then dragged him out onto the square where he regained consciousness, got on his feet and fought for 50 feet up the road before being hit with a rock in the back of his head. 200 white men kicked him, beat him, tied him to the back of a buggy, dragged him through the black neighborhoods then finally strung him to a tree and unloaded 200 rounds into what was left of his body. At the time of his death, Anthony Crawford owned 427 acres of the "prettiest cotton land in the county."
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