Good Morning POU. This week’s post will not be easy to read, but it is our obligation to never forget what they endured. Terrorism ain’t a foreign concept to us.
Some stories are hard to tell, but they must be told. The Cabiness family deserves to be remembered—not just for the tragedy they endured, but for everything they built before it was stolen from them. This is the story of a Black family in Texas that rose from the ashes of slavery, only to be destroyed by the violence of Jim Crow. It is a story of success, injustice, and ultimately, erasure.
From Enslavement to Landowners
The Cabiness family’s story begins in 1845, when a South Carolina slave owner named Samuel Calhoun relocated to Texas. Among the enslaved people he brought with him was thirteen-year-old Elijah Cabiness. Like so many others, Elijah was forced to work on plantations, enduring brutal labor from sunrise to sunset. But in 1865, slavery ended. And while emancipation did not bring true freedom—Black people were left with nothing but hunger and struggle—Elijah pushed forward.
He did what few formerly enslaved people could: he built land, wealth, and stability. By the 1870s, he had secured land in East Texas and became a successful farmer. His success allowed him to send his sons to school, purchase land for them, and establish a family legacy. By 1880, Elijah owned 160 acres of land, and his son Allen Cabiness followed in his footsteps, growing the family’s wealth. They did everything they could to create a future that slavery had once stolen from them. But in America, Black success was never safe.
The Draft, False Accusations, and a Family Marked for Death
Allen Cabiness married Sarah Carter, and together they built a family, welcoming several children and working to continue the legacy that Allen’s father, Elijah, had built. However, after two decades of marriage, Allen and Sarah divorced in 1907. Despite this, Sarah remained the heart of the Cabiness household, raising her children and ensuring their survival in a world that was stacked against them. By 1918, Sarah Cabiness, the ex-wife of Allen and the mother of their children, was living in East Texas with several of her sons, including George Cabiness. The United States had entered World War I, and the government had begun drafting men into the military. Two of Sarah’s sons, Clifton and Tenolar, followed the law and registered for the draft. But Sheriff Thomas E. King falsely accused her youngest son, George, of evading registration—even though George was too young to be eligible.
Despite Sarah’s insistence that George was only twenty, Sheriff King claimed that his school records listed him as twenty-three, making him eligible for the draft. Without checking the facts, federal agents launched a full-scale investigation. George was arrested, jailed for months, and charged with draft evasion—all over a clerical discrepancy. His mother, Sarah, was also arrested for conspiring to hide his true age. But in October 1917, an all-white federal grand jury cleared both of them, ruling that neither had done anything wrong. That should have been the end of it. But it wasn’t. For many in Walker County, a Black family winning against the legal system was unacceptable.
The Lynching of the Cabiness Family
George returned home and tried to move on with his life. But the white community had not forgotten. One day in May 1918, George encountered Alvin P. Allen, the father-in-law of Sheriff King. Allen confronted him about the draft case, threatening to have him arrested again. George, frustrated and exhausted, stood up for himself. That sealed his fate. Soon after, a warrant was issued for George’s arrest. On May 31, 1918, Sheriff King and a group of officers arrived at the Cabiness home. Instead of taking George into custody, they opened fire, killing him in front of his mother and siblings. But the violence wasn’t over.
The next day, rumors spread that the Cabiness family was plotting to take revenge. White residents claimed that George’s brother, Pete, had been seen outside the Allen home with a weapon—a story that made no sense. That night, the Allens claimed they saw Pete outside their home and opened fire, killing him on the spot. Instead of reporting his death to the authorities, they dragged his body back to the Cabiness home, using it as a justification for what was to come. It was a lie, but it was enough to justify what happened next. On June 1, 1918, a white mob arrived at the Cabiness home. According to their version of events, the family opened fire on them, forcing them to retaliate. Somehow, in the chaos, the house caught fire. But the truth? The mob murdered the Cabiness family and burned their home to the ground.
And just like that, a family that had built wealth, land, and stability was wiped out in an instant.
The Lies That Justified Murder
After the massacre, the white press blamed the Cabiness family. Newspapers repeated the sheriff’s claim that the family had ambushed law enforcement, making the lynching seem like self-defense. But the truth came out one year later.
In 1919, the NAACP received a letter from its Galveston branch: Bessie Cabiness had survived. She had escaped the massacre but was shot multiple times and left crippled. She fled to Galveston, where she was treated at a hospital. When she recovered enough to speak, she told the real story. The Cabiness family was unarmed. The mob came to execute them—not to make an arrest. They opened fire, then burned the house with the family inside.
The NAACP tried to seek justice, sending telegrams to Texas Governor William P. Hobby. But Hobby ignored them, refusing to investigate the lynching. Bessie left Texas for Baltimore in 1920 but died a month later from tuberculosis. With her died the last witness to the massacre. No one was ever held accountable.
A Stolen Future
The men who carried out this horror went on with their lives. Sheriff Tom King lived until 1948, raising his family with dignity. Alvin P. Allen died in 1928, never facing justice. Mose Allen, who helped lead the mob, worked as a prison guard and died in 1963, having lived a long, full life. Meanwhile, the Cabiness family was erased from existence. Elijah Cabiness had survived slavery. He had built land, wealth, and a future. But his family could not survive Jim Crow. Their success was treated as a crime. Their victory in the draft case was met with death. Their entire existence was burned to the ground—just for daring to resist injustice.
Why Their Story Must Be Remembered
The Cabiness family was not just lynched—they were erased. Their home was destroyed. Their story was buried under lies and false accusations. No monuments stand in their name. No justice was ever served. But we must say their names. We must tell the truth about what happened—not just for the Cabiness family, but for all the Black families who built something only to have it stolen by racial terror. This is why history must be remembered. Because when we forget, injustice wins.