On February 22,1898, Frazier Baker (the postmaster of Lake City, South Carolina) and his family awoke to discover that a fire had been deliberately set to the back of their home, where the local post office was located. Baker and his daughter Julia were shot to death, and their bodies were left to cremate. Baker’s wife, Lavinia, and daughters Rosa and Cora were each shot through the arm, and his son, Lincoln, was shot in the arm and in the stomach.
When news of the atrocity spread, outraged citizens wrote to the President, members of Congress, and the Department of Justice demanding federal help to fight racial violence. In this resolution of the residents of Button Hill, South Carolina, the group outlines atrocities committed in the proceeding years and asks for the Federal government to be involved in the prosecution of these crimes.
