{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://clyburn.house.gov/clyburn-praises-house-passage-of-his-legislation-to-honor-late-south-carolinian/", "Clyburn Praises House Passage of his Legislation to Honor Late South Carolinian", "2018-12-11", "2018", "2018-12", "Democrat", "House", "SC", "James E. Clyburn", "C000537", "clyburn.house.gov", "clyburn", "https://clyburn.house.gov/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. House Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn released the following statement about his legislation the House passed today:\n\n\u201cI am very pleased the U.S. House of Representatives today passed H.R. 7230, a bill I sponsored to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 226 West Main Street in Lake City, South Carolina, as the \u201cPostmaster Frazier B. Baker Post Office\u201d. This bill pays a tribute to a true American hero.\n\n\u201cFrazier B. Baker was appointed Postmaster of Effingham, South Carolina in 1892 by President Benjamin Harrison, and in 1897, he was appointed Postmaster of Lake City, South Carolina by President William McKinley.\n\n\u201cAfter Baker was appointed Postmaster of Lake City, local citizens in the predominantly white community subjected his family to months of hostility. The post office mysteriously burned down, and multiple gunshots were fired at him. Residents filed numerous complaints regarding his performance as postmaster, but federal postal administrators determined the allegations were unsubstantiated.\n\n\u201cAfter relocating the post office to his family\u2019s home following the previous arson, a lynch mob set fire to it the morning of February 22, 1898. The mob aimed their guns at the home, killing Baker and his two-year-old daughter Julia and injuring his wife and three of his five surviving children. The attack sparked media attention, public uproar, and fundraising efforts on behalf of the Baker family.\n\n\u201cAlthough the state of South Carolina failed to prosecute the mob, federal prosecutors and postal administrators took on the murder investigation. Thirteen men were arrested and charged with twenty-four criminal counts including \u201ca conspiracy to injure and oppress Frazier B. Baker in the free exercise\u201d of his civil rights. The trial began on April 10, 1899 in Charleston, South Carolina with an all-white jury which acquitted three and deadlocked on the remaining accused. The judge declared a mistrial and federal prosecutors did not reopen the case.\n\n\u201cJustice was never served for Frazier B. Baker and his family. Designating the U.S. Post Office located at 226 West Main Street in Lake City, South Carolina in his honor is a fitting tribute to his memory.\n\n\u201cI thank my colleagues in the South Carolina delegation and the entire House for their unanimous support of this bill to honor this outstanding South Carolinian and great American.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:11:43Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://clyburn.house.gov/clyburn-praises-house-passage-of-his-legislation-to-honor-late-south-carolinian/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2547560036182404, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}