WACO, Texas — Every city has a history and here at Waco City Hall is where one of the darkest moments in their story unfolded.
“Who would want that to happen to a family member?" said Yolanda Jone, a cousin of Jesse Washington.
"Knowing that they were not mentally capable of doing such a crime.”
In 1916, Jesse Washington, a 17-year-old Black farm worker, was convicted of raping and murdering Lucy Fryer, the wife of his white employer, in a trial that lasted only 4 minutes
“Hearing that from my mom and how she felt about it. That was hurtful to her, it was sadder for me because it is just like why?” said Jones.
Jones said after he was found guilty, a mob of white citizens wrapped a chain around his neck and dragged Washington to City Hall grounds, while also brutally torturing him.
The mob then hung him from a tree and set his body on fire.
“That is the sad part and that is the hurtful part. A lynch mob can do that to a human being and not feel any remorse,” said Jones.
“Example of an extremely heinous and horrible murder. Over half the population of Waco men, women and children with picnic lunches viewed this as a spectacle and enjoyed it as entertainment,” said Community Race Relations Coalition Director Jo Welter.
Welter says Washington was just one of many African Americans who were lynched in Waco around that time.
That includes Sank Majors, who was arrested and convicted of raping and killing a white woman in 1905 and then hung from the Washington Street Bridge.
“We as a community now have everything to do with all this terroristic lynching,” said Welter.
More than 100 years later the Community Race Relations Coalition, City of Waco and others have come together to place this historical marker in front of City Hall.
The marker acknowledges what happened to Jesse Washington, Sank Majors and others who fell victim to violent lynchings.
“He may have been lynched but that is all right. That is all right because he has gone from being lynched to a legend,” said Shirley Bush, a descendant of Jesse Washington.
Showing everyone that even though their city’s story has a dark chapter, it does not mean it is the last chapter.
“It is all right to reminisce and remember what happened, but what God wants us to do today is to hug each other," said Bush.
"Forget about what I said to you and what I have done to you. Ask for forgiveness and let us move on."