NATCHEZ — Fifty years ago Friday, white supremacists shot to death a humble man who had nothing to do with the civil rights movement.

The 67-year-old laborer worked at Cooper Hill Plantation off Liberty Road on that day in June. Ben Chester White had worked at the plantation his entire life. It was the same plantation where his grandparents had worked as slaves.

When a car pulled up and the men inside asked him to help them find their missing dog, White was quick to help.

He was never seen alive again.

His battered body, shot some 17 times, was found dumped near Pretty Creek in the Homochitto National Forest.

After the discovery of White’s body, fingers pointed everywhere and rumors were that local members of the Ku Klux Klan were to blame.

The Ku Klux Klan hoped that by killing White, the Klansmen could lure Martin Luther King Jr. to the area to assassinate King.

Their plan failed.

But the three Klansmen eluded convictions during the 1960s. One of them, Ernest Avants, was convicted in 2003 by a federal jury and sentenced to life in prison, where he died.

The Natchez Tricentennial will commemorate the life of White with a service at Friday at White’s church, Windy Hill Baptist Church No. 1.

Commemoration organizer and tricentennial ethnic and social history committee member Betty Cade said the remembrance in 2016 of White’s life as well as the lives of other civil rights figures is an effort to inspire healing in the community.

“I think the only way that people will come together is because they see a reason to come together,” Cade said. “In Natchez, there has been a lot of bad race relations and a lot of people still hurt and still angry.

“If we’re going to have peace and love in this community, we are going to have to remember those who went before us and paid for it with their lives.”

Natchez Tricentennial Director and Interim Tourism Director Jennifer Ogden Combs said the tricentennial is as much about commemorating the somber past of Natchez as it is celebrating the city’s birthday.

“It’s very important we commemorate the parts of our history that we may not want to celebrate, but that it’s important to educate people about in the community, and it’s important that we commemorate the lives and sacrifices that people made.”

The commemoration service for White is set for 2 p.m. Friday at Windy Hill Baptist Church No. 1 at 149 Windy Hill Road.

Complimentary bus transportation is available from the Natchez Visitor Reception Center at 640 S. Canal St. The bus will leave from the visitor center at 1:15 p.m. and will return after the event.