The Forest City Lynching of 1900: Populism, Racism, and White Supremacy in Rutherford County, North Carolina

by J. Timothy Cole

Overview

Politics in Rutherford County were heated a century ago: the developing textile industry, the growing population, an agricultural crisis and race relations inflamed everyone. Mills Higgins Flack, a leader of the Farmers' Alliance and the county's first Populist in the state House, was allegedly murdered on August 28, 1900, by Avery Mills, an African American. This book documents the murder and the lynching of Avery Mills. The author (Flack's great-great-grandson) considers the phenomena of racial lynching, the Populist movement in the county, the white supremacy movement of the state's Democratic party and the county's KKK activities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786416233
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	08/20/2003
Series:	Contributions to Southern Appalachian Studies , #10
Pages:	203
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.41(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

J. Timothy Cole is a librarian at Greensboro Public Library and an archivist at Guilford College. He lives in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     
Preface     
Introduction     

1 Mills Higgins Flack and the Agrarian Revolt in Rutherford     
2 The Fusion Era and White Supremacy in Rutherford     
3 The Forest City Lynching and Its Aftermath     
4 Epilog: The Silence of Dishonor     

Appendix I. A Partial List of Members (Chiefly Officers) of the Farmers’ Alliance in Rutherford     
Appendix II. Populist Candidates in Rutherford (1892–1898)     
Appendix III. The Charlotte Daily Observer Article of 29 August 1900     
Appendix IV. The Charlotte Daily Observer Article of 31 August 1900     
Appendix V. Affidavit Submitted by Raney Mills to Rutherford County Superior Court, Fall 1900, and the Order of Judge Shaw, Etc.     
Appendix VI. Research on the Origins and Revolutionary Services of the Flacks of Guilford and Rutherford Counties     
Appendix VII. Plato Durham, John Baxter Eaves and the Ku Klux Conspiracy in Rutherford     

Notes     
Bibliography     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

stud[ies] the events against the political backdrop of the day...considers the legacy of what [the author] calls the sins of his ancestors”—North Carolina Libraries; “well written, well researched”—Journal of Appalachian Studies; “readers interested in Populism, race relations, and lynching will profit from Cole’s work”—North Carolina Historical Review; “there are lessons to be learned...[the author] cuts his flesh-and-blood no slack”—News & Record, (Greensboro, NC).

From the Publisher

readers interested in Populism, race relations, and lynching will profit from Cole's work

North Carolina Historical Review

well written, well researched

Journal of Appalachian Studies

stud[ies] the events against the political backdrop of the day...considers the legacy of what [the author] calls the sins of his ancestors

North Carolina Libraries