Peter was the son of Henderson (1830-1909) & Ellie Berryman. Henderson was born in Virginia and Ellie in Mississippi.
On February 20, 1901, Peter “Nigger Pete” Berryman was arrested following an argument with Essie Osborne, a twelve-year-old girl who was nailing a board on the fence opening that he used to get water. A little after midnight, eight masked men stopped officer Al Jones, and, without a word, took his jail keys and gun. The next morning, Berryman’s body, gruesomely beaten, bloody, and shot, was hanging from a tree on the outskirts of town. A committee formed that raised a $380 reward for the killers, but no arrests were ever made.
The killing (considered by many scholars to be a lynching) likely had a great impact upon demographics in Polk County, transforming its towns into “sundown towns.” In the early 1900s, there was a small all-black farming community near Boardcamp, east of Mena, called Little Africa, but eventually these residents began to leave. Mrs. Cicero Cole and her two grandchildren were the last to leave the area. By the 1910 census, the number of African Americans living in the county dropped from 177 to forty-six. Around the 1920s, Mena was advertising itself as a town with “No Negroes.” By 1960, Polk County was one of only six counties in the state with not one African-American resident.
Pete is buried off in the woods adjoining the cemetery, along with at least eight Union soldiers. He has a marker that simply reads "Pete".
On February 20, 1901, Peter “Nigger Pete” Berryman was arrested following an argument with Essie Osborne, a twelve-year-old girl who was nailing a board on the fence opening that he used to get water. A little after midnight, eight masked men stopped officer Al Jones, and, without a word, took his jail keys and gun. The next morning, Berryman’s body, gruesomely beaten, bloody, and shot, was hanging from a tree on the outskirts of town. A committee formed that raised a $380 reward for the killers, but no arrests were ever made.
The killing (considered by many scholars to be a lynching) likely had a great impact upon demographics in Polk County, transforming its towns into “sundown towns.” In the early 1900s, there was a small all-black farming community near Boardcamp, east of Mena, called Little Africa, but eventually these residents began to leave. Mrs. Cicero Cole and her two grandchildren were the last to leave the area. By the 1910 census, the number of African Americans living in the county dropped from 177 to forty-six. Around the 1920s, Mena was advertising itself as a town with “No Negroes.” By 1960, Polk County was one of only six counties in the state with not one African-American resident.
Pete is buried off in the woods adjoining the cemetery, along with at least eight Union soldiers. He has a marker that simply reads "Pete".
Peter was the son of Henderson (1830-1909) & Ellie Berryman. Henderson was born in Virginia and Ellie in Mississippi.
On February 20, 1901, Peter “Nigger Pete” Berryman was arrested following an argument with Essie Osborne, a twelve-year-old girl who was nailing a board on the fence opening that he used to get water. A little after midnight, eight masked men stopped officer Al Jones, and, without a word, took his jail keys and gun. The next morning, Berryman’s body, gruesomely beaten, bloody, and shot, was hanging from a tree on the outskirts of town. A committee formed that raised a $380 reward for the killers, but no arrests were ever made.
The killing (considered by many scholars to be a lynching) likely had a great impact upon demographics in Polk County, transforming its towns into “sundown towns.” In the early 1900s, there was a small all-black farming community near Boardcamp, east of Mena, called Little Africa, but eventually these residents began to leave. Mrs. Cicero Cole and her two grandchildren were the last to leave the area. By the 1910 census, the number of African Americans living in the county dropped from 177 to forty-six. Around the 1920s, Mena was advertising itself as a town with “No Negroes.” By 1960, Polk County was one of only six counties in the state with not one African-American resident.
Pete is buried off in the woods adjoining the cemetery, along with at least eight Union soldiers. He has a marker that simply reads "Pete".
On February 20, 1901, Peter “Nigger Pete” Berryman was arrested following an argument with Essie Osborne, a twelve-year-old girl who was nailing a board on the fence opening that he used to get water. A little after midnight, eight masked men stopped officer Al Jones, and, without a word, took his jail keys and gun. The next morning, Berryman’s body, gruesomely beaten, bloody, and shot, was hanging from a tree on the outskirts of town. A committee formed that raised a $380 reward for the killers, but no arrests were ever made.
The killing (considered by many scholars to be a lynching) likely had a great impact upon demographics in Polk County, transforming its towns into “sundown towns.” In the early 1900s, there was a small all-black farming community near Boardcamp, east of Mena, called Little Africa, but eventually these residents began to leave. Mrs. Cicero Cole and her two grandchildren were the last to leave the area. By the 1910 census, the number of African Americans living in the county dropped from 177 to forty-six. Around the 1920s, Mena was advertising itself as a town with “No Negroes.” By 1960, Polk County was one of only six counties in the state with not one African-American resident.
Pete is buried off in the woods adjoining the cemetery, along with at least eight Union soldiers. He has a marker that simply reads "Pete".
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
