John Scurlock.

About John Scurlock

John Scurlock, known as Little John Scurlock or L. J. Scurlock, was a Methodist minister, editor and politician in Mississippi, United States. He was reported to be seven feet tall. According to a history written during the nadir of American race relations era, "The negro leader, John Scurlock, was killed one night in Coffeeville by unknown parties. It was supposed that the deed was committed by the Ku Klux Klan, and little effort was made to find the murderers, as the negro was a very bad character." However although he is often classified as a Reconstruction-era murder victim, records of the Methodist Church in the south seem to have Rev. L. J. Scurlock into the 1880s or possibly 1890s. A history published 1895 states "Many who have been in attendance upon the sessions of the General Conference in recent years will remember the tall, courtly figure of a presiding elder from Mississippi, the Rev. L. J. Scurlock. A prominent worker on committees, thoughtful and dignified, he gained immediate attention whenever he obtained the floor in debate. For many years he occupied a leading position among the people of his own State, and in the Conference he exercised a commanding, yet gentle, influence. He has passed from the ranks of the Church militant to his place in the Church triumphant."