25 Facts About Vernon Dahmer

Vernon Dahmer was murdered by the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for his work on recruiting Black Americans to vote.

Vernon Dahmer was born on March 10,1908, in the Kelly Settlement, Forrest County, Mississippi to Ellen Louvenia and George Washington Dahmer.

Vernon Dahmer attended Bay Spring High School until the tenth grade; he failed to graduate.

Vernon Dahmer was light-skinned enough to pass as a white man, but he chose to forgo the privileges of living as a white man and as a result, he faced the daily challenges of being a black man in Mississippi during that time.

In 1938, Vernon Dahmer remarried; this time to a woman named Ora Lee Smith.

The couple had two children together, Dennis and Bettie, to add to the six children Vernon Dahmer had with his first two wives, making a total of seven boys and one girl.

Ellie Vernon Dahmer taught for many years in Richton, Mississippi and retired in 1987 from the Forrest County school system.

Vernon Dahmer was a member of Shady Grove Baptist Church where he served as a music director and Sunday School teacher.

Vernon Dahmer was the owner of a grocery store, sawmill, planing mill, and cotton farm.

Vernon Dahmer would hire local individuals from the community to work for him and did not discriminate between black or white.

In 1949, Vernon Dahmer was in the process of making out his new registration card when Luther Cox denied his attempts to re-register.

Vernon Dahmer had testified in court against Luther Cox and his testimony helped demonstrate the pattern of discrimination in the county.

Vernon Dahmer continued to be supportive of the SNCC throughout the Civil Rights Movement.

Vernon Dahmer was working closely with the Coalition for Free and Open Elections and the Delta Ministry.

Vernon Dahmer kept a voter registration book in his grocery store in late 1965 to make it easier for blacks to register.

Vernon Dahmer made a public service announcement over the radio stating that he would help the local African American population pay a poll tax for the right to vote if they could not afford to do so themselves.

Vernon Dahmer's mantra was, "If you don't vote, you don't count", and those words, which he repeated on his deathbed, were used as his epitaph.

On January 10,1966, the Vernon Dahmer home was attacked by the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

Vernon Dahmer returned fire from inside the house in order to try and distract the Klansmen while he helped hand Bettie down to Ellie.

Vernon Dahmer was able to leave his burning home, but he was seriously burned from the waist up; Bettie's arms were severely burned.

Vernon Dahmer was taken to the hospital, but he died of smoke inhalation and his lungs were severely burned.

Four of Vernon Dahmer's sons were serving in the United States military but they left their posts in order to help bury their father and reconstruct their family's home.

Vernon Dahmer was not required to start serving his life sentence until February 1998, after a newspaper reported that he never had to serve time for his murder conviction.

On July 26,1986, a memorial to Vernon Dahmer was dedicated at the park.

In January 2020, a bronze statue of Vernon Dahmer was erected in front of the Forrest County Courthouse.