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Moses Wright

About Moses Wright

Moses “Preacher” Wright (April 8th, 1892 - August 1977). Married to Elizabeth Wright, and the Great Uncle of the young boy Emmett Till, who was lynched in Mississippi, August 28th, 1955. Moses or “Mose” as family and friends called him grew up in the Mississippi Delta, and was a field hand for as long as he could remember. He eventually became a sharecropper to G.C. Fredrick. Mose was considered wealthy for his time. He earned the nickname “preacher” which was given to him as an honorary title. Mose never had any intentions of leaving Mississippi but, occasionally would travel to Chicago, Illinois to visit some family. One summer while visiting Mose’s wife Elizabeth invited their 14 year old nephew Emmett Till to spend a vacation in Mississippi. Emmett’s mother Mrs. Bradley was ecstatic about this invitation, and even went home early to help him pack his belongings.

Where It All Started There were 6 boys in their house in Mississippi, and on a wednesday night Mose took all the boys to church. While in church the boys snuck out and stole Mose’s car to go to Money Mississippi. Two in the morning the next saturday, Mose got a knock at the door from 2 white men saying he just wanted to talk to the boy from chicago. No matter how much they pleaded the men proceeded to take the boy to their car. After they took Emmett, Mose went back into the house and the boys told him that Emmett had whistled at a white woman when they snuck out to Money. That sunday afternoon Mose drove down to the sheriff's office to inform him about the abduction, The sheriff knowing one of the men, Mr. Bryant drove to his house to confront him about the incident. When the sheriff asked Mr. Bryant about the incident he answered saying that they did take a boy but they turned him loose saying he was the wrong boy. The Sheriff arrested J.W Millam and Roy Bryant for the kidnapped where they served 3 days. Later, Mose was informed of a body that was found floating in the river. With further investigation, Mose discovered that it was his nephew.Before going to court to testify he sent his wife Elizabeth to Chicago where he felt she would be most safe. Inside The Court

When court was in session Mose did something unremarkable during the trial, something that is still mentioned about him today. Mose stood up during trial and pointed at both J.W Millam and Roy Bryant and gave his famous “Thar he” statement. This wasn’t the first time a person of color has directly accused a white person of a crime but it was indeed the first time said person of color survived during the time period. The jury was out for exactly an hour and 8 minutes and the verdict claimed non-guilty.

After The Trial.

Soon after the trial Mose had numerous cars drive to his cabin, yelling threats and racial slurs. Eventually Mose felt it was unsafe for him to live in his home town and later joined his wife and other family members in Chicago.

Supportive Links

“Brave Testimony.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/emmett-biography-moses-and-elizabeth-wright/ Kempton, Murray.

“Intruder in the Dust.” Progressive.org, 1 Nov. 1955, https://progressive.org/dispatches/intruder-in-the-dust/

“Moses Wright.” geni_family_tree, 24 May 2018, https://www.geni.com/people/Moses-Wright/6000000054178749002