Peaceful little Mathews County has never been known as a hotbed of racial tension. However … A shooting on Saturday, Aug. 23, 1980 threatened to break the serenity of the community and explode into violence. Had it not been for the actions of one well-respected woman, Beatrice Bobo, then the president of the Mathews Chapter of the NAACP, that might very well have happened. The shooting occurred after Mathews deputy John Thorne stopped Susan resident Michael Saunders Johnson, 23, in the ABC Store parking lot on suspicion of drunk driving. According to then-Sheriff Hugh Jordan, a scuffle ensued, and Thorne was knocked down and was being beaten when he fired the shot that ended Johnson’s life. Word of the death spread, and it didn’t take long for a crowd of more than 100 people, both black and white, to gather at the ABC Store, then move to the Mathews Sheriff’s Office on the Historic Court Green where witnesses to the shooting were being questioned. Jordan called for assistance from othe...