This Saturday, Feb. 26, will mark the 152nd anniversary of the death of Wyatt Outlaw. On that night in 1870, members of the White Brotherhood group of the Ku Klux Klan dragged Outlaw from his home, stomped his mother, cut his face and mouth and hanged him on the south side of Court Square in Graham. The Brotherhood placed a sign around Outlaw’s neck: “Beware ye traitors both white and black.”
This event led Gov. William Holden to declare martial law in Alamance and Caswell counties. The ensuing political showdown between the Democratic Party led by former confederates and the Republican Party supported by newly freed African Americans resulted in the impeachment of Gov. Holden and over a century of Democratic Party control in North Carolina.
This event is one of the most important in the history of Alamance County. Yet the only public acknowledgment of it is a state highway marker which refers to the “Kirk-Holden War.” This is the name those who impeached him gave to Gov. Holden’s effort to restore order and to end the racial terror. The victors wrote the history. They characterized the terror as a continuation of the war between the states that successfully reestablished antebellum white supremacy.
What is lost in this narrative is that Wyatt Outlaw was the illegitimate son of Chesley Faucett, who in 1860 was the sixth wealthiest man in the county. Outlaw was literate. He was a successful tobacco farmer, craftsman, entrepreneur, and civic leader. He was elected to the town council of Graham in 1868. He advocated for people of color to work peacefully into their lawful role as citizens of the community. He was an exemplary human being who proved that persons of color could do great things.
This Saturday, 6-7 p.m., the Alamance County Community Remembrance Coalition will host a peaceful candlelight vigil on the south side of the Historic Courthouse to prayerfully remember Wyatt Outlaw. Come celebrate his living example of what peaceful reconciliation among the races can accomplish.
