Maury County sheriff who tried to calm both sides before calling for state assistance and later taking part in the raid on East Eighth Street
J.J. Underwood was serving as sheriff of Maury County when the events of February 1946 unfolded. Contemporary accounts describe him as someone Black community leaders, including James Morton and the Blairs, knew and trusted more than many other local officials. As armed Black residents gathered in East Eighth Street, Underwood entered the district, urged them to disperse and assured them that he would work to prevent trouble from the white crowd gathering near the courthouse. He also attempted to break up that crowd.
After four Columbia police officers were wounded, Underwood contacted Governor Jim McCord and requested assistance from the Tennessee Highway Patrol and State Guard. He supported a plan to surround the district, wait until daylight and then search for weapons and arrest anyone who refused to surrender. Although the Highway Patrol entered before the agreed time, Underwood later led or participated in the daylight searches that followed, including the search of Sol Blair’s barbershop, where Lloyd Kennedy and William “Rooster” Pillow were arrested.
Underwood’s role reflects the complexity of the local response. He appears to have made early efforts to prevent violence and was regarded with some trust by Black leaders, but he also called in the state forces and participated in the operation that led to mass arrests and widespread damage throughout Columbia’s Black business district.
Sheriff J.J. Underwood
