Please join us Monday, April 26, 2021, at 5:00 pm CST via Zoom Webinar for a special ceremony for the consecration of the soil from the lynching site of Jesse Lee Bond.
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Jesse Lee Bond, a 20-year-old African American cotton farmer, came to the S.Y. Wilson Store to buy planting supplies on April 28, 1939. The store kept a ledger of purchases, loans, and interest owed. After his purchase Bond asked for a receipt. An argument followed, but finally, Sam T. Wilson, the store cashier, reluctantly gave him the receipt. When Sam Wilson’s father, Charles Robert Wilson, the store owner, was told about the incident he became enraged and immediately sent Sam Wilson to bring Jesse Lee Bond and the merchandise back to the store.
Bond returned with his Aunt Luanna Bond. As soon as the two of them entered the store, Charles Robert Wilson and his friend and co-worker, William “Bud” Johnson started shooting at Jesse. They chased him out of the store, and with the help of others, caught him. They brought him back to the town square and in front of the store, they shot him to death. He was castrated and they dragged his body behind a truck to the Hatchie River. His body was then dropped off and staked to the bottom of the river. The body was “found” by authorities five days later. On the death certificate, the coroner said the victim “fell into the Hatchie River and was accidently [sic] drowned.”
The funeral and burial at Grays Creek Church attracted a large crowd. Many from neighboring counties came to protest the actions of the white authorities. No stone was placed on the grave and it remains unmarked today.
Legal records from the Shelby County archive show that Charles R. Wilson and William Johnson were charged with the first-degree murder of Jesse Lee Bond and tried before a jury. A brief article in the January 23, 1940 issue of the Commercial Appeal indicated that the two men were quickly acquitted.
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