Radio host seeks posthumous pardon for great-uncles executed in SC for 1913 murder

Radio host seeks pardon for executed SC relatives

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Syndicated radio host Tom Joyner is asking South Carolina for a posthumous pardon for two great-uncles executed in 1915 after being convicted of murdering a Confederate Army veteran.

The host of “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” said a pardon could bring about long-overdue justice.

Joyner learned of the fate of landowning farmers Thomas and Meeks Griffin during filming of the PBS documentary “African American Lives 2.” He says he was stunned by what happened.

The Griffins and two other black men were executed for the April 1913 shooting death of 73-year-old John Lewis of Blackstock. The four were implicated by a small-time criminal, who testified against them in a deal to spare his life. Records show he later said the four knew nothing about the murder.

On the Net:

www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/profiles/joyner.html