On May 25, 1911, a mob lynched an African-American woman and her teenage son near Okemah, Oklahoma. Through a direct family connection to the lynching, the acts that day would later inspire one of Woody Guthrie’s great songs.
Oklahoma Lynching
The lynching of the woman and her son occurred in response to the death of a well-respected white deputy sheriff, Goerge Loney. Earlier, Loney was investigating the theft of livestock when teenager Lawrence Nelson reportedly thought the officer was going for a gun and shot Loney. Loney bled to death.
A posse then went to arrest the teen and his family, which included his mother Laura Nelson and her infant son. Lawrence’s father ended up in jail too. But a mob eventually took the teenager and his mother Laura, who at one point tried to protect her son by saying she fired the fatal shot.
It is unclear what happened to the infant, but the mob ended up hanging the teen and his mother from a bridge. According to some reports, Laura Nelson was raped before she was lynched.
“Don’t Kill My Baby and My Son”
One of the members of the lynching crowd was a man named Charley. A year later, Charley would name his new son Woodrow after Pres. Wilson. Woodrow grew up to have quite a different view of the lynching than the participants. And Woody, as we would come to know him, developed political views that diverged from his father, Charley Guthrie.
Woody Guthrie wrote the song, “Don’t Kill My Baby and My Son” about that lynching in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma. In the chorus, Woody chose to view the song from the standpoint of the woman who was lynched rather than choosing the voice of his father in the crowd:
O, don’t kill my baby and my son,
O , don’t kill my baby and my son.
You can stretch my neck on that old river bridge,
But don’t kill my baby and my son.
Now, I’ve heard the cries of a panther,
Now, I’ve heard the coyotes yell,
But that long, lonesome cry shook the whole wide world
And it come from the cell of the jail.
Singer-songwriter Brooke Harvey, who is from Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, recorded a beautiful rendition of Guthrie’s song:
Harvey’s version does not appear to be available outside of YouTube, and there are few people who have performed “Don’t Kill My Baby and Son.” Apparently, Guthrie himself never recorded the song.
But if you are looking for an album with the song, then Joel Rafael has a wonderful version of “Don’t Kill My Baby and Son” on his album, The Songs of Woody Guthrie Vol 1 & 2. Check it out.
Although “Don’t Kill My Baby and Son” is not one of Guthrie’s most well-known songs, it is among his most heartbreaking. Besides being a great song, it documents a horrible injustice that we should not forget.
More information about the lynching is in the biography Woody Guthrie: A Life
(Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts)
In lieu of the ability to post genealogical research to Wikipedia.com, postings for genealogical research are located here. The genealogical research is in regard to the federal population record of Laura Nelson and her family. According to Wikipedia administrator SlimVirgin the records are not primary, only ‘speculative’. However, it is easy to see the relationship between the records and how they substantiate Laura and her family’s life leading up to her and her son’s death and her husband’s incarceration at McAlester.
Visit below to learn more about the two act play concerning the 1911 lynching.
http://lauranelsonlynching.weebly.com/ also lauranelsonlynching.com
Thanks for the information and link, Andy. Nice website too. It looks like an interesting play.
You are very welcome… keep the story alive!