Location of Lynching:

Salem, Alabama

 

Dates:

November 3, 1902

 

Age:

24 years old (born in 1878)

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Married Beatrice Dawkins in 1898 and had three children together. Annie P. Harris was born in 1899, and Mark Harris was born in 1900 (3 and 2 years old, respectively). Beatrice was four months pregnant when Samuel Harris was lynched. In February 1903, she named her baby boy, Samuel Harris Jr. 

 

Brief:

While at work, Samuel Harris was accused of attempted robbery and attempted murder of Virginia and Catherine Meadows near Salem, AL on November 3rd, 1902. He was presumed guilty because of the smut that was on his hands and face. Mere hours later, he was surrounded and shot by over 125 armed white men. Without any evidence, Samuel Harris’ wife, Beatrice Harris, and father-in-law, Monroe Dawkins, were accused of being an accomplice. Mr. Dawkins was captured by the lynch mob and escaped near Chewacla Lime Works (now Chewacla State Park), unable to return home. Although attempts were made to arrest members of the lynch mob, no one was held accountable for the murder of Samuel Harris or the attempted murder of Monroe Dawkins.

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