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Black Man In The U.S Who Was Lynched For Refusing To Stop Working
Jul 1, 2020
Postmaster Frazier B. Baker was murdered simply for doing his job. He was the first African-American appointed to serve as postmaster at the Lake City Post Office in 1897 and for this he was lynched for refusing to give up his post.
Baker and his infant daughter, Julia Baker, died at the family’s home on Feb. 22, 1898, after being shot during an attack by a white mob.
Baker was appointed as postmaster of Lake City, South Carolina in 1897 under the William McKinley administration. After the 1896 Presidential election, the Republican administration appointed hundreds of blacks to postmasterships across the Southern United States.
The local whites resented any black Republican officeholders, especially appointments made by an outgoing administration, fearing the blacks will be emboldened to retaliate past lynchings.
The local whites, however, objected to Baker’s appointment and undertook a campaign to force his removal. When these efforts failed to dislodge Baker, a mob attacked him and his family at night at their house, which also served as the post office.
The mob set the house on fire to force the family out. His wife and two of his other five children were wounded, but they escaped. Baker, a married 40-year-old schoolteacher and father of six children reported threats to his superiors in Washington yet little action was taken.
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