“Pluck Enough” to Prevent a Lynching, August 1895

The Union Republican (Thu, 15 Aug 1895, 3). The article does not acknowledge that the rumors of a lynching swept both the white and African American communities. John Beard, husband of Ida Beard, worked in the office of the Justice of the Peace. He warned Ida to stay inside on Sunday evening. John Mitchell, Jr., editor of the Richmond Planet, praised the Black citizens of Winston-Salem for “maintain[ing] the majesty of the law” (The Richmond (VA) Planet. Sat, 17 Aug 1895, 2).

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As some readers of the blog may remember, I have slowly been creating a group biography of fifty men who, in August 1895, surrounded the county jail in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to prevent the lynching of a young black man, Arthur Tuttle.

In May, Tuttle had killed a white policeman among a crowd of witnesses. He was immediately arrested and sent away, first to Greensboro and then to Charlotte, to prevent his lynching.

In August, he was brought back for the trial. After the trial had recessed on Saturday, rumors of a lynching spread in both the white and African American communities, peaking on Sunday after evening church services. As many as 300 people gathered near the jail to prevent the lynching. We know the names of almost fifty of them—all men, all African American—because they were arrested, for riot and other charges, and some of their trials were reported in the newspapers. (An interview more than 70 years later stated that Arthur Tuttle’s sister, Ida, was also present, but she appears not to have been arrested.)

There was no lynching, but there was a “riot”: deputy’s sheriff’s and the local militia, the Forsyth Rifles, were called out to prevent a jail break by the men gathered to protect Tuttle. Efforts to defuse the situation failed, someone fired a shot, and general shooting broke out. A few deputies and riflemen were wounded, none seriously; the number of protectors who were wounded and killed is unknown. The African American community effectively hid it from the authorities.  

Arthur Tuttle was convicted by a white jury of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison at hard labor, with the possibility of release in 17 or 18 years for good behavior. After his release, he moved to Philadelphia where two of his brothers had also moved. The date of his release is uncertain, but he was in Philadelphia during the 1910 census; some evidence suggests he was released as early as 1903. If that’s true, it’s possible that he was pardoned by Republican Governor Daniel Russell, whose term ended in 1901. (The next Republican governor was not elected until 1972.)
 
The study has proceeded haltingly—I set it aside for almost a year to write a memoir of my father and to pursue several poetry projects—and by serendipity rather than by plan. My interest was sparked by Ida Beard’s memoir, My Own Life or, A Deserted Wife, self-published in 1898. She describes her husband’s role in the riot, reports the rumors that swept the white community at the time, and unfortunately reflects white racial attitudes. (My extensively annotated edition of her memoirs is available from me or Amazon in paperback or from Amazon in Kindle format.)

Beard’s book led me to research contemporary newspapers and later accounts for information on the Tuttles, the riot, and the trial, and that led me to wonder about the lives and characters of the men who acted to protect Tuttle. I came to consider the political and racial context of the times. In my research I stumbled across two lengthy letters to the editor by an anonymous writer in Ruffin, NC, who provides a prescient and perceptive perspective on the practices and ideology of the Democratic party. Writing in August and September 1898, he predicted that the party would use violence to further its electoral purposes. He did not specifically predict the Wilmington coup, but it verifies his analysis. (He had his limits; for example, he was blind or at least silent regarding the problems with the Republican-Populist fusion.)

The blogposts I've published so far are listed (with URLs) and brief descriptions here: https://www.jsabsherpoetry.com/pluck-enough.html#/ 
 

 
Posted 16 November 2024. updated 20 November 2024