THE ROSEWOOD STORY ....................Posted By Two Spirit

Some may have seen the HBO movie Rosewood. Others may not have. Rosewood was a small black community in Florida, not exactly a wealthy community, but most of it's inhabitants did do good for themselves. In the opeing days of 1923 a series of events would take place that would forever change the residents of Rosewood, and result in the destruction of their town, a town which has never been rebuilt. This is their true story.

THE ROSEWOOD STORY

Over an eight-day period In January of 1923, the community of Rosewood, Florida was totally destroyed. The entire community was burned out, never to be rebuilt. The incident was all but forgotten until recently, when a few of the survivors were encouraged to come forward and recount their experiences.

Rosewood, Florida was a small village of twenty-five to thirty black families located in central Florida, about nine miles east of Cedar Key in Western Levy County. The town was a whistle stop in the Seaboard Airline Railway. It had a population of approximately 355. Rosewood took its name from the abundant red cedars that grew in the area. The town boasted of its three churches, a store, a Masonic lodge, a school, a dozen large two-story homes, and a number of small one-room shanties and its own uniformed baseball team, the Rosewood Stars, that had a home field and competed with other teams in Levy and surrounding counties. Some residents were self employed, but the majority of men in Rosewood were employed at the sawmill located three miles further down the tracks in the white community of Sumner, Florida. Additionally, several of the women of Rosewood worked in domestic capacities for the residents of Sumner.

On New Year's Day 1923, twenty-two year old Fannie Taylor, a Sumner housewife, claimed that she had been attacked by a black man in her home. That morning, Rosewood residents, Mrs. Sarah Carrier and her granddaughter Philomena Goins were both laundering clothes in the Taylor home. John Bradley, Fannie Taylor's lover, visited her that morning, while her husband was away, and left shortly before Mrs. Taylor made her allegations. They believed that Fannie Taylor and Mr. Bradley had quarreled, and that Bradley was actually responsible for Fannie Taylor's injuries.

An escaped convict, Jessie Hunter, was assumed to be the attacker. A local posse with tracking dogs traced a scent from the Taylor house to Rosewood, where John Bradley had gone seeking help. Over the next four days, the search for Jessie Hunter intensified. Residents from the towns of Sumner and Cedar Key began assaulting citizens in the Rosewood area, regardless of their knowledge of the crime.

On January 2, a posse comprised of vigilantes combed the woods and found Sam Carter from Rosewood. They tortured and killed him and his family when they were unable to obtain information as to the whereabouts of Jessie Hunter. Anticipating more trouble, the residents of Rosewood began to gather their children into various safe houses protected by armed men. At the saw mill, the mill's boss tried to keep the Rosewood men working, forbidding them to return home where they might attempt to defend their community. Eventually, the vigilantes became convinced that the fugitive, Jessie Hunter, was hiding in Rosewood.

On January 4, an armed posse went to Sylvester Carrier's home looking for Hunter. The posse shot the Carriers' dog and kicked in the front door. The men inside opened fire, instantly killing two of the vigilantes. The men outside began pouring rifle and shotgun fire into the house, killing several people. Because the Carrier home was the refuge for Rosewood's children, the men inside were desperate to defend the house. The shooting continued for more than an hour, and several men in the posse were wounded. The shooting ended only when the posse had expended all of its ammunition. The men of Rosewood fought valiantly to protect their homes and their families, but they were overwhelmed by the large numbers of vigilantes and decided to evacuate their children.

In Tallahassee, Florida's Governor Hardee contacted Levy County Sheriff Robert Walker and offered to send the National Guard to Levy County to bring control to the situation. The National Guard had been mobilized in preceding years to keep the peace during civil disturbances. The Guard was not called to Rosewood, however, as Sheriff Walker briefly told the Governor that local authorities had the situation under control, and there was no need to activate the National Guard. That afternoon the governor went hunting. Locals estimated that 26 Rosewood residents, including children, were killed and buried in a mass grave. Several Cedar Key residents refused to participate in the riot. The town barber declined to take part or lend his gun because he said that he did not want "to have his hands wet with blood." Two train conductors are credited by several Rosewood families for evacuating them by train to Gainesville.

By Sunday morning, January 7, there were twelve houses left in Rosewood. By that afternoon a crowd of approximately 100-150 gathered and watched as the remaining houses were torched, one by one.

On January 29, 1923 Governor Hardee ordered that a special grand jury investigate "certain high crimes that have been committed by unidentified parties or persons" at Rosewood. More than thirteen eyewitnesses testified. Three weeks later, the grand jury stated that they were unable to find any evidence upon which to base indictments. Today there is a small green highway marker with white lettering on State Road 24 that reads Rosewood. What once was the village is now overgrown with trees and vines, and scattered about are a few bricks and parts of buildings. Little other physical evidence remains.

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