The Lynching of Frank "Prophet" Smith and F. D. McLand/McLeod.
Contributed by Clifton D. Cardin, Official Bossier Parish Historian

In the late 1800's there was a group of African-American ministers including "Prince" Charles Allen, of San Antonio and "Prince" Lemuel Hill of Austin, Texas, who were establishing congregations of the Church of the Living God, The Pillar and Ground of the Truth, throughout the south, including Chattanooga, Tenn. and Houston, Texas. Another minister was Frank Smith, who called himself "Prophet". Prophet Smith and his partners were very good oratators and it is told that Prince Charles Allen even preached before the Queen of England. Prophet Smith, himself, had gained quite a following throughout the negroes of the south, because he lived in Louisiana and Texas and had accurately predicted the destruction of Galvestion in 1900. He was considered a prophet by many, both because of his stature in the church and because of his earlier prophecies.

Prophet Smith preached in Bossier Parish as early as 1895 and quickly gained the title "Moses of the South.". He settled on the Foster Plantation, in Bossier Parish, near Louisiana Downs, which was owned by the late James M. Foster of Caddo Parish, but was ran by his son, John Gray Foster. Prophet Smith brought with him many badly needed african-american farm workers, who were followers of his church. They were sorely needed by the Foster Plantation.

On June 12th 1909, a tragedy occured near the Foster Plantation at the Kinnebrew Store. John Gray Foster, son of the powerful James M. Foster, was killed by a african-american man named "Prince" Edwards. Edwards was a member of the above mentioned church and called himself "Prince". Edwards eluded capture, but Prophet Smith and F. D. McLand, were arrested for being accessories to the murder. They further angered their captures by not revealing where Prince Edwards was hiding.

The Foster family, which included W. L. Foster, Louisiana Railroad Commisioner was dearly loved and respected by many members of the Louisiana community. Three different posse's were mounted. They searched the entire countryside for the elusive murderer. One group went as far as Longview, Texas thinking they were on his trail, but after six days searching they quit and returned to Bossier Parish, where the two men were being held in jail.

Governor Heard of Louisiana wired a telegram to the Caddo Parish Sheriff instructing that the negroes not be harmed. The sheriff responded to the Governor, telling him they were being held in Bossier, not Caddo. Newspapers quickly spread the title "Bloody Bossier." and recounted many instances in the past where negroes were lynched in Bossier for far less crimes. The Foster family announced they were against any retaliation toward the negroes.

But on June 19th, 1901, around 9 p.m., a group of men from Caddo Parish, estimated at between 100 and 150 crossed the V. S. & P. Railroad Bridge over the Red River and made their way to the Bossier Parish jail at Benton. At 11 p.m, the group overpowered Sheriff Thompson, and Deputy J. Edwards, who were on guard and removed the prisoners, Smith and McLand. They were forcibly taken from the jail and marched two miles west of Benton, and there given the chance to make statements. The two men still claimed their innocence and to not know the whereabouts of Prince Edwards. The Prophet became quite terrified and offered as his proof of innocence that any member of the mob could point to a star in the heavens, and if the star "went out", it would prove his guilt. The mob didn't even consider the "trial."

A convenient tree was located but when it was found unsuitable, the two prisoners were walked another half mile and lynched from a suitable tree found by the roadside. The real murderer, "Prince" Edwards was never captured. Arrests were being made as late as 1931, of men believed to be "Prince" Edwards. In 1931, Henry Smith of Oiltown, Oklahoma was brought back to Bossier Parish as possibly being the elusive Edwards. B. B. Monzingo, of Houston, Texas, who was an overseer on the Foster Plantation at the time of the murder, declared that Smith was positively not Edwards. The lynching of Prophet Smith and F. G. McLand, while quite ruthless, was concerted by people from outside Bossier Parish. They were lynched out of anger and for not revealing the location of the actual murderer. Their assasinations were not because they were african-american, nor because it was June 19th.

The church that Prophet Smith tried to establish never took hold here, but it is still in existence in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is
considered a martyr by that congregation.