Chisolm Massacre
The Chisolm Massacre occured April 29, 1877 after the end of the Reconstruction era in Kemper County, Mississippi.[1] A judge and former sheriff named William Chisolm was accused of killing a Democratic Party sheriff John Gully. A mob stormed the jail where he was held along with two of his friends, and his son and daughter who were being kept in protective custody. No one was convicted for the attack.[2]
Southern papers applauded the lynching. Governor John Marshall Stone refused to launch an investigation and U.S. President Rutherford Hayes did not comment on the killings.[1] It was one of several reprisal actions in Mississippi during the period after Reconstruction. A freedman later confessed to the killing and was hanged.[1]
The New York Times wrote about it.[3] James Monroe Wells, a deputy revenue collector and U.S. Army veteran, wrote the book The Chisolm massacre;: A picture of "home rule" in Mississippi about it.[4][5] His criticisms of locals were responded to by James Daniel Lynch's account blaming Radical Republicans, Kemper County vindicated, and a peep at radical rule in Mississippi.
References
- ^ a b c Newton, Michael (December 21, 2009). "The Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi: A History". McFarland – via Google Books.
- ^ "The Chisolm Massacre: A Picture of "Home Rule" in Mississippi | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History". www.gilderlehrman.org.
- ^ "The Chisolm Massacre". June 27, 1878 – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ "Lives of Mississippi Authors, 1817-1967". Univ. Press of Mississippi. June 22, 1981 – via Google Books.
- ^ "The Chisolm Massacre". Ardent Media – via Google Books.