The hanging of Charles Blackman occurred in Ellaville, Georgia, on January 25, 1889. Stonewall Tondee, a white man, had been murdered on September 5, 1885. Charles Blackman, an African-American man, was tried and convicted for the murder in three trials by all-white, "gentleman" juries. The Georgia Supreme Court twice granted Blackman a new trial, but he was convicted and sentenced to hang a third time in September 1888. Blackman was twice granted respite by Georgia Governor John Brown Gordon after the third trial, which delayed Blackman’s execution by three months. Blackman maintained his innocence until his public execution and insisted that he was never given an impartial trial. 5,000 people from across South Georgia travelled to Ellaville, a town of a few hundreds, to witness the hanging. Telegraph wires were cut to ensure that messages from Governor Gordon and other state officials would not be transmitted and interfere with the hanging.