Governor William Holden
My great great grandfather, BF Moore The Father Of The NC Bar, words below.
"Holden's impeachment is demanded by a sense of public virtue and due regard to the honor of the state. He is an exceedingly corrupt man and ought to be placed before the people as a public example of a tyrant condemned and punished."
| Union League |
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A very stringent anti-Klan law was passed by the
North Carolina legislature under the direction of Governor William
Holden in January of 1870. This was in response to Radical Republican
leadership in Washington. True to Washington Radical Republican
despotism, it gave the Governor power to declare counties in a state of
insurrection and supersede practically all laws and Constitutional
rights in its prosecution. Despite a vigorous attempt to enforce the
law, Klan activity increased and a top black activist and leader of the
League in Alamance County was found hanging in a tree.
Shortly
thereafter, Senator John Stephens, a ranking white operative for
Governor Holden, seeking evidence for Klan prosecutions, visited a
Caswell County Union League meeting. There he handed to each of about
twenty members a box of matches with the suggestion that they should be
put to good use burning barns. Barns were especially important to
Southern farmers. Without a barn a family’s livelihood was severely
threatened. The next night seven barns, a row of houses, and the tobacco
crops of several prominent citizens were burned.
More @ The Tribune
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