Racial Violence In Kentucky

Lynchings, Mob Rule, and "Legal Lynchings"

George C. Wright

• Publisher: LSU Press
• Year: 1996
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9780807153819
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

"Wright vividly portrays the clash between racist militants and blacks who would not submit to terror. The book makes clear the brutality concealed beneath the surface veneer of moderation." -- Journal of Southern History
In this investigative look into Kentucky's race relations from the end of the Civil War to 1940, George C. Wright brings to light a consistent pattern of legally sanctioned and extralegal violence employed to ensure that blacks knew their "place" after the war.
In the first study of its kind to target the racial patterns of a specific state, Wright demonstrates that despite Kentucky's proximity to the North, its black population was subjected to racial oppression every bit as severe and prolonged as that found farther south. His examination of the causes and extent of racial violence, and of the steps taken by blacks and concerned whites to end the brutality, has implications for race relations throughout the United States.

Index

ACLU. See American Civil Liberties Union

Allen County, 34

Allen, Dick, 132

Allensworth, James L., 108–109

American Civil Liberties Union, 267–69

Anderson County, 54

Anderson, Katie: accused Bob Harper of rape, 83–87

Antilynching laws: of 1897, pp. 180–81, 183

of 1902, pp. 182, 201

of 1920, pp. 202–205

Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching (ASWPL): 208

opposition to lynchings, 209;

urged sheriffs to sign pledge cards, 210, 211, 212–13

urged end to public hangings, 213

Auburn, Logan County: lynchings, 73, 88–89, 163, 169

mentioned, 109

Ayers, Edward, 7–8, 9–10, 70–71, 225

Bailey, Sambo, 6

Bailey, Tennie, 215, 217, 221

Baker, Lee, 141–42

Ballard, Bland: heard cases involving black testimony, 23–24, 51

Barbourville, Knox County, 271–73

Bard, Nathan, 263–66

Bardwell: lynching, 90–93

Barkley, Alben W., 199–200

Bascom, Sam, 47–48

Bath County, 67

Benjamin, Robert C. O.: questioned rape as cause of lynchings, 67, 79

killed in Lexington, 296–97

Berea College, 36–37, 190

Bethea, Rainey, 257–58

Birmingham, Marshall County, 137–39

Blackburn, Luke P., 55, 157, 223, 245

Blacks: population of, 3, 72

defended themselves against whites, 11, 56–59, 139–40, 162, 172, 245, 248

as soldiers, 19

prohibited from testifying in court, 22–24, 27, 51

lynched for political activities, 48–52

Blair, Thomas, 158–59

Blanks, Robert: executed for rape, 215–18, 220, 221, 222, 231

Blanks v. Commonwealth, 217

Boiling, George, 42–43

Bond, J. Max, 267–68

Bond, James A., 150, 205

Boone County, 6n, 20

Bowling Green: 15, 21, 35, 64

lynching of Bob Harper in, 83–87, 280, 285–88

Bowman, Jennie, 237–41, 250

Boulder, Gertrude, 294–95

Bradley, William O.: 11, 15

pardoned George Dinning, 16–17

denounced lynchings, 89, 95, 102, 177–79

supported antilynching law of 1897, pp. 180–81, 185

prevented lynching of Robert Blanks, 215–17

allowed execution of Blanks, 218, 220

mentioned, 260

Brame, Bennie, 74, 108–109

Breathitt County: 26

white gangs in, 69

lynchings, 120, 205, 206

Breithaupt, Neil Catherine, 262–64, 266

Brite, Mary D., 267, 269, 271

Broadus, John Albert, 159–60

Browder, Rufus: 66, 124

trial and conviction, 280–84

Brown, John Y.: denounced M. L. Buchwalter, 173–74

lynchings during administration of, 174, 177, 179, 229

Brown, Richard Maxwell, 41, 125

Brown, Tom, 6

Buckner, James, 274–75

Buchwalter, M. L., 172–77

Bullitt County, 36

Burlington, Boone County, 173

Bush, Charles H., 193, 219

Bush, John: convicted and executed for murder, 234–37, 246

Bushrod, Raymond, 89

Butner, Lillian, 146–47

Cadiz, Trigg County, 73–74, 107–108, 109–10

Camp Nelson, Jessamine County, 58

Carroll County, 20

Carter County, 101

Cary, Bell County, 148–49

Cash, Sam G., 136

Cattlesburg, 156–57

Chadbourn, James H., 223

Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, 106

Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Bridge: as site of Shelbyville lynchings, 110–11, 116

Chicago Tribune: failed to report several lynchings, 5

documentation of lynchings, 7

figures on lynchings, 700

reported on black conspiracy, 170, 257

“Chicken-thief law,” 290–91

Childress, Smith, 186–87

Christian County: black population of, 72

lynchings, 108–109

Night Rider attacks in, 135–36, 143

Jim Hill forced to leave, 152–53, 219

mentioned, 74

CIC. See Commission on Interracial Cooperation

Cincinnati, 35, 172, 173, 176, 177, 267

Cincinnati Commercial: 41

on lynchings during Reconstruction, 42

Cincinnati Enquirer, 94

Clark, Walter, 225–26

Cole, I. Willis, 212

Coleman, Richard: burned alive, 93–95, 103, 178–79, 183

mentioned, 114, 117–18

Commission on Interracial Cooperation (CIC): investigated Dix River riot, 150

worked to end violence, 206–208, 211, 213

involved in Covington rape cases, 267–68

Conn, Jodie, 15, 16, 17

Corbin riot, 144–47, 148, 149, 150, 207

Corbin Times, 146

Corydon, 36

Covington: 24, 39

blacks taken for safekeeping, 93, 114

rape cases in, 266–71

Crab Orchard, 36

Crittenden County, 143

Crumbaugh, W. L., 140

Cummings, Irene, 268–71

Cunningham, James, 124, 280–82, 283, 284

Cunningham, Irene, 280–81

Cutler, James E., 3–4

Danville: lynchings during Reconstruction, 9, 36, 42, 46–47

Daviess County: blacks forced to flee from, 38

black population of, 72

Democrats: condemned for Klan violence, 26

refused to pass law against mob violence, 27

provided guns to whites, 48

reaction to ousting of black political leaders, 132

Dewberry, Walter, 276–77

Dinning, George, 14–17

Diuguid, Guthrie, 193, 218–19

Dix River riot, 150–52, 207

Dixon, Webster County, 186–88, 284

Douglass, Frederick: 13, 76

questioned reasons for lynchings, 81–82, 160, 224

Dudley, James, 98, 163, 169

Dulaney, William L., 84–85

Duncan, George, 59

Durrett, Luther, 113

Dyer Bill, 198–99

Eddyville, 136, 276

Elliott County, 128

Emancipation Proclamation, 20

Estill County, 38–39

“Expiation,” 232

Fields, Jimbo, 74, 110, 115–16

Fields, William J.: and efforts to prevent lynching of Ed Harris, 196–97, 208, 244, 265, 292

Finley, Henry, 170

Fitzgerald, Jesse, 271–73

Fleming, Bunyan, 263–66

Frankfort: 38

lynchings of blacks during Reconstruction, 43, 44–45, 49–51, 170, 194

Ed Harris taken for safekeeping, 196, 197, 238

mentioned, 34, 106, 192

Franklin, Simpson County, 15, 282

Franklin County: blacks forced to flee from, 38

black population of, 72

mentioned, 59

Freedman’s Bureau: extended to Kentucky, 2, 9, 20, 20–21

assisted blacks in legal matters, 22–23, 37, 53

worked to end the whipping of blacks, 24–25

attempted to end lynchings and other forms of violence, 25, 43, 46, 47

involved in education, 34, 36

French, Ben and Mollie, 98–99, 103

Frizzell, Nat: owned land in Marshall County, 139

sued Night Riders, 141–42

Fugate, Chester, 205

Fulton County: lynchings, 72, 100;

mentioned, 124

Garland, Jim, 148–49

Garnett, Clarence, 74, 110, 115–16

Garrard County, 54–55

Gaskins, Charles, 185–86

Georgetown: lynching, 11, 98

whites disrupted church service, 34

as setting of novel, 61–63

blacks protested lynching, 155, 163, 169, 204

Germantown, 36

Glasgow, 183

Golden Pond, Trigg County: invaded by Night Riders, 123, 137, 139–40

Graves County: lynchings, 72

attacks by Night Riders in, 143, 180

sheriff prevented lynching, 208

Green County, 172–74, 177

Grimké, Francis J., 79–80, 224

Hale, Joe, 287–89

Hale v. Kentucky, 289

Hall, Jacquelyn, 223

Hampton, A. H., 172–77

Hancock County, 68

Harding, Elliott: character in novel, 61–63

Hardman, Geneva, 194, 256

Harper, Bob: 64

trial and lynching of, 83–87

mentioned, 280

Harper, Nathaniel R.: 241

protested blacks’ exclusion from juries, 248–49

Harris, Ed: tried for rape and murder, 196–97, 198, 295–96, 301, 302–303

Harrison County, 53

Harrodsburg: lynchings during Reconstruction, 42, 228

Hawkins, Samuel, 51–52

Hazard, 120–22, 190, 211

Henderson: whipping of blacks in, 25

attempt to disband the Klan in, 26

black population of, 72

lynching, 96–97

alleged black crime wave, 292–94

Henderson, John, 98, 163

Henley, Brock, 112–14, 193

Henry County: Klan activities in, 28–32, 58

forced removal of blacks from, 128–31, 139

mentioned, 59, 227

Henson, Annie, 271–73

Hickman, Fulton County: 36

lynchings, 119–20, 123, 185

forced removal of blacks from, 131–32, 191

Hill, Jim, 152–54

Hobson, Will, 86–87

Hofstadter, Richard, 14

Hollis, Columbus, 263–64

Holt, Alfred, 67, 74–75

Hopkins County, 13...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Tables
• Acknowledgments
• INTRODUCTION: Kentucky Violence, Severe and Long Lasting
• ONE: Reconstruction: Using Violence to Preserve the Status Quo, 1865–1874
• TWO: “Lynchings Are Necessary,” 1875–1899
• THREE: “To Hang in an Orderly Fashion,” 1900–1940
• FOUR: Ousting “Troublemakers”
• FIVE: Holding Back A Rising Tide, 1875–1899
• SIX: Meeting Mob Violence with Renewed Determination, 1900–1940
• SEVEN: “A Sacrifice Upon the Altar of the Law,” 1875–1899
• EIGHT: Color-Coded Justice: Racial Violence Under the Law, 1900–1940
• APPENDIX A: Victims of Lynchings
• APPENDIX B: Names of People Legally Executed
• Selected Bibliography
• Index