The Lynching of Jim Williams

In the Reconstruction Era South the majority of white males were former soldiers, having seen combat during the Civil War. These same men also grew up at a time which African Americans were slaves, and the thought of these slaves now having the majority of the same rights as them was rather unsettling for the white population. The desire by the whites to maintain control over their former slaves combined with the militancy remaining in a post war region of the country led to radical acts of violence throughout the countryside. This militancy can be seen first hand in the kidnapping and lynching of Jim Williams.

The Klan was created in 1866 directly after the civil war. Their actions would be so severe during 1866-70 that president Ulysses S. Grant instituted a "Ku Klux Klan Act" which allowed for an extension of the presidents powers to quell the uprisings brought about by the Klan actions. The result would be that in the mid 1870's the Ku Klux Klan had almost entirely died out, it would be resurrected in the early 1910's. For the most part Grant succeeded in his goal of restoring order to the South. This order did not come without a price. The Klan murdered hundreds, possibly even thousands of African Americans by 1875, and many whites had also been killed for their seemingly sympathetic views towards the blacks. Scallywags and carpetbaggers as they were called, whites came from the north and attempted to make progressive economic change in the South by employing the blacks or aiding them in establishing their own farms and businesses.

The radical violence of the Klan was the direct result of extreme fear on the part of white southerners. This fear can be seen in the bylaws of the Klan as I quote "Any member divulging, or causing to be divulged, any of the forgoing obligation, shall meet a fearful penalty and a traitors doom, which is Death! Death! Death!"[1]. This fear, which is reverberated in the instance of threatening death upon giving forth evidence against the Klan, is often what can be echoed within the southern white supremacist movement. The fear leads to a great amount of distrust and violence occurs as a result of such, tending toward an overall sense of civil unrest. In the view of the Klansmen there were now former slaves walking around with complete freedom to go and buy firearms and take vengeance against their former owners. Jim Williams was the epitome of such a view, seeing as he himself openly opposed the Klan and promoted armed resistance to the Klan's actions. This is not to place the blame on Williams, for as seen in the testimony of his wife, Mrs. Rosy Williams, Williams was the victim of a racially charged murder.

Williams was taken and lynched by a raiding group of some forty to sixty Klan members. The reason given by the Klan was his muster group. Williams led armed resistance against the Klan and as a result the Klan came on the 6^th of March 1871 to disarm Williams and any other Blacks. After lynching it was not uncommon for the victim to have a card or piece of wood tied around their neck with a warning to others. Williams was lynched and then a card was hung around his neck saying "Jim Williams on his big muster."[2]. The result of Jim Williams' lynching was a crack down against the Klan by the federal government. The Klan had been raiding sympathetic white and "rebellious" black homes all over the South and the government decided to begin prosecuting as many of the Klansmen as possible.

During the trial two witnesses came forward and described the events directly prior to the death of Jim Williams. "Told them I didn't have any guns, there was one there but not mine. They asked for a pistol."[3] According to Andy Tims the Klan just prior to raiding the Williams home visited him and demanded his firearms. Directly following his testimony came that of Mrs. Rosy Williams, Jim Williams' wife. "He went under the house before they came, and after they came in he came up in the house and gave them the guns."[4] The testimony of Andy Tims combined with that of Mrs. Rosy Williams clearly shows that the lynching of Jim Williams was an act perpetrated on one main basis, the fact that blacks had guns. The Klan was intending to terrorize the black community and desired to send a message to all those in the area. There had also recently been an increase in black voting. Based off Congress' decision to override President Johnson's vetoes, which in turn forced southern states to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment in 1867.[5]

Robert Hays Mitchell was charged with conspiracy on two counts. The initial charge was "Conspiracy to prevent colored voters of the county from exercising the right to vote" and the second charge was "conspiracy to oppress, threaten and intimidate one Jim Williams, a Negro, because he had exercised the right to vote at an election in October, 1870."[6]. These charges were based upon the limited ability of the state to charge particular individuals with crimes, which a large group had committed. The Klan was not a small entity and on the night of Jim Williams' death there possibly could have been forty or fifty Klansmen witnessing the lynching and taking part. This allows the Klan to take extreme action against individuals without each member of the Klan feeling any burden of guilt for their actions. The burden of proof falls on the state however, and as such the majority or lynchings go entirely unsolved. The trial of Robert Mitchell was one instance in which the state had sufficient evidence to prove Mitchell guilty of a lesser crime, and thus sought out a minor justice rather than the less likely full justice of a murder charge. These charges were also brought forth on the basis that all U.S. citizens now had the right to vote and that the infringement of that right by individuals was in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The brutality of the Klan was by no means isolated to lynching armed persons. The Klan sought out their own form of law and order in a radical and haphazard way. "The object in whipping Presley Holmes was for some threats he had made about going to be buried in Salem graveyard (an all white graveyard)"[7] The whipping of Presley Holmes as stated by Klansman Charles Foster was due to the meager desire of Presley Holmes to be buried in what was traditionally an all white cemetery. The fact that a man would be brutally whipped for such a minor offense is a clear indication as to the unlawful nature of the Klan. Every facet of control was exerted over the blacks, and indeed a majority of whites belonged to the Klan as well. For the majority of southern whites had been slave owners or worked with slave owners and in a post emancipation southern community there was little resistance to a movement which saw blacks as inferior, tribal, and rebellious. This is also shown in the testimony of Kirkland L. Gunn "Cannot give any correct idea about the number of Klans, but I think the majority of the white people of York county belonged to the order".

The result of so much rampant disorder was a federal mandate for the restoration of order. The Klan was banned in all parts of the nation and a large-scale crackdown on Klan activities was instituted. The trial of Robert Mitchell was indeed part of this nationwide crackdown. The result of Mitchell's trial was that he would be "imprisoned eighteen months and fined one hundred dollars"[8]. While this may seem like a light sentence for such a crime, the actual sentence was handed down based upon the crime Mitchell was in fact convicted of, which was conspiracy. Truly the judge could have ordered a more severe sentence but the fact remains that there were potentially a couple of dozen other participants and for Mitchell to bare the entire burden of guilt would conversely be unjust.

The raids of the Ku Klux Klan were violent and radical and were the direct result of a militant population, which in the course of fifteen years had been entirely turned upside down. The emancipation proclamation was a massive step forward for the rights of black Americans, an unintended consequence was the violence acted against blacks by whites that disagreed with the new proclamation. In particular the right of voting was a direct cause of turmoil in the Reconstruction Era South. Through pain comes progress however, and by 1975 new regulations had been established to aid black voters. The true end to racism has yet to be seen but since the emancipation proclamation blacks have been steadily progressing. The example of Robert Mitchell is just one instance of justice, however there were many other acts of violence against men like Jim Williams which will forever remained unsolved and shrouded in a cloud of racist tension.

[1] Charles W. Foster, "The Witnesses for the Government" in On Trial: American History Through Court Proceedings and Hearings, ed. R. Marcus and Anthony Marcus, 202 (St. James: Brandywine Press, 1998).

[2] Mr. Corbin, "The Trial of Robert Hayes Mitchell for Conspiracy" in On Trial: American History Through Court Proceedings and Hearings, ed. R. Marcus and Anthony Marcus, 201 (St. James: Brandywine Press, 1998).

[3] Andy Tims, "The Witnesses for the Government" in On Trial: American History Through Court Proceedings and Hearings, ed. R. Marcus and Anthony Marcus, 204 (St. James: Brandywine Press, 1998).

[4] Mrs. Rosy Williams, "The Trial of Robert Hayes Mitchell for Conspiracy" in On Trial: American History Through Court Proceedings and Hearings, ed. R. Marcus and Anthony Marcus, 204 (St. James: Brandywine Press, 1998).

[5] Philip S. Foner, ed, The Voice of Black America: Major Speeches by Negroes in the United States, 1797-1971 (NY: Simon and Schuster, 1972), pp. 342-4.

[6] Hon Hugh L. Bond and Hon George L. Bryan, "The Trial of Robert Hayes Mitchell for Conspiracy" in On Trial: American History Through Court Proceedings and Hearings, ed. R. Marcus and Anthony Marcus, 200 (St. James: Brandywine Press, 1998).

[7] Charles W. Foster, "The Witnesses for the Government" in On Trial: American History Through Court Proceedings and Hearings, ed. R. Marcus and Anthony Marcus, 203 (St. James: Brandywine Press, 1998).

[8] Hon George L. Bryan, "The Sentence" in On Trial: American History Through Court Proceedings and Hearings, ed. R. Marcus and Anthony Marcus, 212 (St. James: Brandywine Press, 1998).