•April 4, 2018•

By Eden Martin
NP Guest Columnist

Editors Note: This is the final installment in the News Progress series on the 1896 Lynching of Grant Atteberry in Moultrie County. The series was researched and written by Sullivan native historian and retired attorney Robert Eden Martin. 

The Aftermath

The day after the night of the hanging, February 13, a short private service was conducted in the dead man’s home by a Methodist preacher. During the service, the widow reportedly “grew hysterical and between sobs exclaimed, ‘How could they be so cruel.” Her friends had difficulty in getting her to leave his coffin, but taking one last look she supposedly exclaimed, “Oh, God, Grant, does this part us forever? Oh God, Have mercy upon us.” As the widow bent over the coffin crying, the children were in an adjoining room sobbing loudly.

(These lurid adjectives and quotes may strike the reader today as “fake news” — particularly in light of the fact that the service was supposedly “private.”)

After the short service, the body was taken to the cemetery in a hearse, with one vehicle following — containing Grant’s widow, her sister, a brother, and a neighbor. The newspaper said a number of people, possibly as many as 75, followed the remains to the cemetery either out of respect or curiosity. The county paid $9 in costs for the burial — $7 for the coffin, and $2 for a shroud.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.