GREENFIELD — Under a hot summer sun, officials from the Indiana Historical Bureau Division of the Indiana State Library and about 40 community members attended a public dedication ceremony Saturday afternoon for the placement of a historical marker. The event was to commemorate the 1875 lynching of William Keemer.
The dedication program was held at 1821 E. Main St., Greenfield, near the county’s BMV branch, where the marker is now prominently displayed marking what one historical official called “Greenfield’s difficult history.”
Keemer, born in 1852, was from Carthage and was a Black carpenter with ties to the nearby free Black community of Beech Settlement (1828). History notes he was lynched in 1875 by a mob of white men before he had his day in court.
According to the Indiana State Library history notes, in 1875, white Hancock County farmer William Vaughn accused Keemer of raping his wife. Keemer was arrested and jailed in Greenfield. While Keemer maintained his innocence, a claim supported by Beech and Greenfield residents, a mob of 160 white men broke into the jail, beat Keemer, and lynched him at the Hancock County fairgrounds.
While many spectators witnessed the murder, no perpetrators were identified or prosecuted. The lynching and denial of due process, along with others in Indiana from the mid-1800s to 1930, intentionally terrorized Black communities and enforced white supremacy, history officials said.
The effort to have a historical marker dedicated to tell Keemer’s story started several years ago and was spearheaded by two local historians, Joe Skvarenina and Linda Dunn.
Dunn authored “The Lynching of William ‘Billy’ Keemer: In Hancock County, Indiana.” She believes openly demonstrating the willingness to acknowledge the injustice will do much to erase a long-standing perception among non-residents that Hancock County is not a safe place for those who are not white.
“It’s important to recognize mistakes of the past, address them, and have meaningful discussions about them so that we will make the best possible decisions in the future,” said Dunn, who attended the dedication. “Both the failures and successes of the past are fundamental of our current societies.”
History notes, Keemer, who died at age 23, didn’t have any direct descendants. However, his brother’s family initially remained in the area. Cheryl Keemer Armstrong was the only family descendant able to attend the dedication. Armstrong, who lives out of state, is the great-granddaughter of James Keemer Jr., William Keemer’s brother.
Armstrong and her daughter, Jasmine Armstrong, wrote on their family’s history. According to their writing, despite the experience in his early life, William Keemer’s nephew, Edgar Keemer, became a prominent citizen in Rush County. When he graduated as the valedictorian of Knightstown in the 1890s, one the few Black students, he gave his address on the topic of lynching.
Edgar Keemer went on to become one of the few Black students at Indiana University’s medical school and got a degree as a pharmacist. He returned to Knightstown to open a pharmacy in his hometown.
Armstrong wrote that the Great Depression, Jim Crow laws and the growth of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan would eventually motivate the Keemer family to move out of Indiana. She said the Keemer side of her family always highly prioritized education and obtaining degrees, and the family tree is heavy with doctors and lawyers.
While Dunn said she anticipates some initial negative responses to the marker, she believes it’s better to acknowledge what she calls a “negative history” than to keep trying to downplay or hide the past and hope no one notices.
Casey Pfeiffer, historical marker program director at the Indiana Historical Bureau, noted the historical importance of planting the marker locally.
“We are acknowledging that this happened and that’s important,” Pfeiffer said. “This is not something that completely defines the community nor is it the only history that is there, and people need to remember these markers are not celebratory or meant to memorialize a topic, but they are meant to inform and educate the community on the people and places in the state that are part of our history.”
Pfeiffer outlined what the Historical Bureau looks for when determining if state officials should place a historical marker capturing a piece of time throughout the state of Indiana. She noted what happened with Keemer, what she identified as “a racial terror lynching,” must be remembered.
“This can be such a powerful first step in acknowledging the lives lost due to racial violence,” Pfeiffer said. “This can also serve as a step in healing for the Greenfield community and members of the Keemer family who have had to grapple with this difficult history for decades.”
For Keemer family members, and the community, the marker is a tangible reminder of the past, returning a story to the landscape where it happened and acknowledging the injustice of the time.
Executive Director at Hancock County Tourism and Visitor Center Brigette Cook Jones remembers several years ago when Skvarenina and Dunn approached local officials about trying to get the marker on Keemer in the county.
Jones recalled having mixed feelings about the topic even though she noted there was an injustice done to Keemer, one that should be acknowledged.
“The man did not get to have his day in court, and that was wrong. But, in reality, we don’t really know what happened because there was never a trial, and that was the injustice part because he was lynched before anyone heard any kind of evidence,” Jones said. “But, we want to be careful and not spin this in a total racial way because there were a lot of lynchings going on at that time, and it was not the Ku Klux Klan because the Klan was not in Hancock County in 1875 — there was vigilantism that was on the rise at that time in Indiana.”
Skvarenina said that, regardless of the ugliness of the past, the lynching must be remembered as a part of something significant that happened in Hancock County.
“People have a tendency to say all history is good, but that’s not the case because a lot of bad things have happened in society,” Skvarenina said. “We have to tell people what happened here regardless and it took a few years to get it done, but it was a fitting tribute to racial understanding in Hancock County and now that this is done, it’s time to move on.”
Hancock County’s Sam Goodloe spoke conciliatory words based upon his favorable experience growing up Black in Hancock County. Goodloe excelled in school and became a doctor. His recently deceased brother, Charles Goodloe Jr., was inducted into Greenfield Central’s Hall of Fame after a distinguished legal career as the first Black U.S. attorney hired in the Southern District of Indiana, where he worked 37 years.
The marker dedication coincided with the annual Beech Settlement reunion and included descendants of the Keemer family and the Beech Settlement. This marker is the fourth state historical marker to be dedicated in Hancock County. The others are, Birthplace of Democratic Party Rooster, E. Main Street and U.S. 40, Riley Park, Greenfield; Birthplace James Whitcomb Riley The Hoosier Poet October 7 1849 – July 22 1916, 250 W. Main Street and US 40, Greenfield; and John William (Will) Vawter, Greenfield.
Officials noted, the newest county marker was completed through the efforts of a community coalition including the Hancock County Historian, local business leaders, the Indiana Historical Bureau, descendants of William Keemer, the Beech Settlement, and Roberts Settlement, and other community partners.
Officials noted the marker was placed along U.S. 40 near the BMV Branch to give the marker a prominent place. The location is not far from where Keemer was buried in a pauper cemetery located near the site of the county’s new jail.
