Wyatt Outlaw

Wyatt Outlaw (c. 1820 – February 26, 1870) was an American politician and the first African-American to serve as Town Commissioner and Constable of the town of Graham, North Carolina. He was lynched by the White Brotherhood, a branch of the Ku Klux Klan on February 26, 1870.^[1] His death, along with the assassination of white Republican State Senator John W. Stephens at the Caswell County Courthouse, provoked Governor William Woods Holden to declare martial law in Alamance and Caswell Counties, resulting in the Kirk-Holden War of 1870.^[2]^[3]

Biography

Outlaw was apparently of mixed racial heritage. He was mentioned in a letter as being the son of a white Alamance County slave-owner Chesley F. Faucett.^[1] One source suggests he lived on the tobacco farm of Nancy Outlaw on Jordan Creek, northeast of Graham, North Carolina. Sources conflict on the question of whether Outlaw was born a slave or a free person of color.^[2]

Outlaw is probably the same person enlisted as "Wright Outlaw" in the 2nd Regiment U. S. Colored Cavalry in 1863 who fought in various engagements in Virginia and was later stationed on the Rio Grande in Texas until mustered out in February 1866.^[1]

Outlaw, whose trade was woodworking and cabinet-making, was an African-American community leader in Alamance County. In 1866 he founded or cofounded the Loyal Republican League in Alamance.^[1] In 1868, Outlaw was among a number of trustees who were deeded land for the establishment of the first African Methodist Episcopal Church in Alamance County.^[2] Outlaw's Loyal Republican League was later incorporated into the Union League, a fraternal order connected to the Republican Party.^[1]

Outlaw's prominent activities on behalf of African Americans in Alamance County made him a target of the White Brotherhood and the Constitutional Union Guard, both local branches of the Ku Klux Klan.^[1] As a prominent Republican in Alamance County, Outlaw was appointed to the Graham Town Council by Governor Holden and soon became one of three constables of the town – all three of whom were African Americans.^[4] On one occasion in 1869, white residents of the area who were incensed by the prospect of being policed by an all African-American constabulary organized a nighttime ride in Klan garb through the streets of Graham in an effort to frighten the African-American constables. Outlaw and another constable opened fire on the night riders, but no injuries were sustained.^[4]

Outlaw's aggressive response to the night riders may have inflamed the anger of Klan sympathizers. The night of February 26, 1870, a party of unidentified men rode into Graham, dragged Outlaw from his home and hung him from an elm tree in the courthouse square in Graham, in what is now known as Sesquicentennial Park, located at 36°04′11.3″N 79°24′02.3″W / 36.069806°N 79.400639°W / 36.069806; -79.400639.^[5]^[6] Outlaw's body bore on the chest a message from the perpetrators: "Beware, ye guilty, both black and white."^[4]^[6]^[7]^[8]

A local African-American man named Puryear claimed to know who was responsible for the lynching, but Puryear was soon found dead in a nearby pond.^[2]

In 1873, Guilford County Superior Court Judge Albion Tourgee advocated for re-visiting the murder of Wyatt Outlaw. That year the Grand Jury of Alamance County brought felony indictments against 63 Klansmen, including 18 murder counts, in connection with the lynching of Wyatt Outlaw. Among those were James Bradshaw, Jesse Thompson, Michael Michael Thompson Teer, Geo. Mebane, Henry Robison, George Rogers, John S. Dixon, Walter Thornton, David Johnson, Curry Johnson, James Johnson, Thomas Tate, and Van Buren Holt. However, the Democratic-controlled state legislature repealed the laws under which most of these indictments had been brought, so the charges were dropped. No one was ever tried in connection with Outlaw's murder.^[2]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Nelson, Scott Reynolds, "Red Strings and Half-Brothers: Civil Wars in Alamance County, North Carolina" in John Inscoe and Robert Kenzer, ed., Enemies of the Country: Unionism in the South During the Civil War (University of Georgia Press, 2001), 37-53.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Troxler, Carole Watterson and William Murray Vincent (1999). Shuttle & Plow: A History of Alamance County, North Carolina. Alamance County Historical Association.
^ The Hillsboro Recorder, April 6, 1870.
^ ^a ^b ^c Whitaker, Walter (1949). Centennial History of Alamance County 1849-1949. Burlington Chamber of Commerce.
^ "The life and tragic death of Wyatt Outlaw". The Times-News. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Grand jury testimony of James Fonville, recorded in The Southern Home, March 7, 1871. http://lynching.web.unc.edu/files/2015/05/The_Southern_Home_Tue__Mar_7__1871_.jpg
^ The Greensboro Patriot, March 3, 1870.
^ Wyatt Outlaw memorial ODMP website