 He told the captain about what had happened back home in Columbus, Georgia, about how his daddy had gotten into a fight with a white overseer at the warehouse where he worked. The other fellow had hit Eugene's father over the head with a bailing hook. Daddy had responded by hurling the attacker down a flight of stairs. The owner of the warehouse gave Eugene's father $10, which was a small fortune in those days, and advised that he gather up his family and get out of town, because even as they spoke, a lynch mob might be forming.