Doria Dee Johnson remembers her first visit to Abbeville, S.C. She recalls the insufferable heat and the long country road that led to the town. But most of all, she remembers the fear that suddenly overtook her.

“All of a sudden I felt terror,” Johnson, 43, said. “I started looking out the back window — it felt silly, but it also felt real.”

That visit to her family’s ancestral home, the place where her great-great-grandfather was lynched, would be one of many that Johnson would take as the investigation into her past became a lifelong journey.

One of Johnson’s main goals is to restore her great-great-grandfather’s land back for her family. She also hopes his story can be shared with audiences around the country through a documentary.

On Oct. 21, 1916, Johnson’s great-great-grandfather Anthony Crawford went to a store in town to sell cottonseeds. When a white man offered Crawford a lower price, Crawford became angry and cursed at the man. Crawford was taken to jail, but was released after making bail.

A crowd then followed Crawford and as one of the leaders of the mob approached, Crawford took a hammer he found and crushed the man’s skull. Crawford was taken back to jail, but the mob of 200 to 400 people soon took over the prison and caught Crawford.

The mob beat Crawford and tied him to the back of a car. His body was dragged through black communities as a form of intimidation. Finally, his body was hung on a tree and pierced with 200 bullets.

Growing up, Johnson never knew much about her great-great grandfather. She heard a lot about his wealth — Crawford owned more than 400 acres of land and was one of the richest men in South Carolina.

“I understood he was an important man, but I didn’t know [his story] would affect me personally,” Johnson said.

Johnson was raised in Evanston and moved back to the city three years ago. In school, she was a part of the first integrated class at Martin Luther King Lab School, 2424 Lake St.

Still, these changes in race relations did not dilute the impact that Crawford’s story had on Johnson. Watching the television series “Roots” in high school sparked her interest, but it wouldn’t be until later that Johnson was inspired to investigate his death.

Johnson began her search with an interest in finding family members, but it snowballed into a much larger project.

She traveled to Abbeville to obtain court documents. Johnson found Crawford’s business transactions and ads he took out in the local newspaper.

Although most people and officials in Abbeville help Johnson, she still informs the sheriff before she arrives because of safety concerns.

On one visit to Abbeville, a woman approached Johnson.

“She said ‘You are being watched by people who don’t want you down here,'” Johnson said.

But Johnson was not deterred by the incident and is determined to continue her mission. After threats from residents, Crawford’s children left Abbeville and land they would inherit. A law school in Louisiana is suing International Paper, which now owns Crawford’s land.

A documentary is being produced on Crawford’s life and death, which Johnson hopes to one day see at the Sundance Film Festival and on the Public Broadcasting Service.

“I am hoping audiences realize that African Americans achieved quite a bit of success following slavery and reconstruction,” said Carol Devoe, the documentary’s producer, director and writer.

Johnson also would like to receive an apology from Abbeville and South Carolina.

Abbeville mayor Harold McNeill was unable to comment about the possibility of an apology.

Johnson said she wants others to understand the historical importance of men like her great-grandfather.

“We have rights and freedoms because people laid down their lives,” she said.

Reach Lensay Abadula at [email protected].