Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 5-6-22

Lake Lanier, Georgia (Oscarville)
any Blacks can tell
you about hundreds of Black towns established after slavery that no longer exist. Most of them died out during the 1920s and 30s when Blacks migrated to northern cities. A few of them were destroyed by vio- lence, fire, urban renewal (removal), and others by an- nexation. One such town was Oscarville, Georgia, now lying beneath the North Georgia reservoir called Lake Sydney Lanier. Stories of its history, haunting and demise
abound.
Before 1912, nearly 1,100
Black residents lived in Forsyth County, Georgia,
with 58 of the residents own- ing property. Records reflect 109 Black residents paid farm tax which indicated they owned or rented farms in the area. Other Blacks in the area worked as craftsmen and laborers and fostered a sense of community there.
Religious leaders (Grant Smith and Levi Greenlee, Jr.) and outspoken advo- cates for Black residents worked in the community to bring Black residents to- gether. Records show the leaders organized picnics for churchgoers and collected tithes from both Black and White residents. The records also documented the fact
that 316 Black children were enrolled in Forsyth County schools.
During this time period, some white residents felt threatened by Blacks organ- ized in the community. A let- ter written to the local paper expressed concern that the white children of farmers who were not attending school would be ineligible to vote while Black children at- tending school would be eli- gible.
Two incidents and violent response by whites against the Black population there, led practically “every Black person to flee Forsyth, even those who owned land.”
Reported assaults against white women who accused two Black men of the assaults resulted in the arrest of two Black men. Days later, the body of another white female was found in the woods near Oscarville. Two Black men (Ernest Knox and Robert Edwards) were arrested as
suspects. One of the men, (Knox) was transferred to Atlanta, while the second man (Edwards) was held in the county jail. A white mob stormed the jail and beat Ed- wards to death and hung him from a telephone pole.
Mobs threatened resi- dents, shot into the homes of residents, conducted “night rides,” burned homes and threw explosives into build- ings following the lynching. Most of the Blacks who fled Forsyth County relocated to Hall County.
Forty years later, the US government acquired the rights to more than 56,000 acres of land in Forsyth, Hall, and Dawson Counties to de- velop a 38,000-acre lake. The land acquisition in- cluded several communities consisting of farmland. Some residents refused to sell their land, others refused to leave their land and “at least one resident had to be physically removed by force.
Records show “only 24 of the nearly 40 Black landowners in Forsyth County at the time were able to sell their land.
Oscarville was absorbed by the lake and now lies at its bottom. Named after Sid- ney Lanier, a poet and Confederate army veteran, the lake is a vacation spot of choice and is the site of many drownings. Located between Gainesville and Buford, Georgia, Lake Lanier is the subject of ghosts, curses, and numerous drownings. Since 1994, nearly 200 people have died at Lake Lanier.
Since the lake is 152 feet deep at its lowest point, un- derwater forests with 60 ft. tall trees, chicken coops, building foundations and cemeteries make it difficult to dredge the lake for bodies. Thus, the lake has become a grave for unrecovered bod- ies. There are indeed in- stances when nature redeems the unrighteous- ness of human beings.
Harambe!
M
FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY PAGE 5-A