The Eufaula Massacre

Some year I will stop being shocked when I learn of another massacre of Black people in this country whose history has been forgotten, or suppressed. But this is not the year.

Here's another one that I just learned about: Eufaula, Alabama, 1874.

If that sounds like it's very close to the end of Reconstruction, that's because it was. Unlike the 1898 Wilmington Massacre, which has finally been officially acknowledged in that city and was never forgotten by its Black residents, Eufaula was part of slamming the door shut on Reconstruction as soon as possible, even before Northern troops had withdrawn from the South as part of the compromise that put Rutherford B. Hayes into the presidency in 1877.

The linked article above, from the Alabama Media Group, contains many details about the ways people changed sides over the years leading up to the massacre. A white former secessionist had become a Republican who worked to make it possible for Black men to vote. A white marshal tried to maintain order and when that failed and white men were shooting down Black men in the streets, went to bring in the federal troops. 

But the U.S. Army Captain in charge refused to bring his troops to protect the Black men. Between seven and 10 men were killed on the street, with others found dead in the woods nearby later. About 80, mostly Black, were wounded. 

Then later that evening, the White League that had carried out the attack struck again in another nearby polling place, burning the ballots and shooting up the office. The (white) election judge's teen-aged son was killed.

1874 Harper's Weekly illustration showing the connection between the White League and the Klan. (From the Wikimedia Commons)

The white Democrats declared themselves the victors and forced — in some instances literally forced — Republicans from their offices. The 1874 election gave Democrats control of the Alabama Legislature and state executive offices. Though the character of the party would change, it wouldn’t lose its majorities in the Alabama Statehouse for the next 136 years.

The federal grand jury that was impaneled to look into the massacre led to the first Black witness being charged with perjury. After that, there were no more Black witnesses who came forward.

The number of Black voters in Eustafa decreased from 1,200 in early 1874 to just 10 in 1876.

The only local recognition related to any of this is in the nearby town where the later shooting took place, where a roadside historical marker notes the death of the white teenaged boy. The marker refers to his father, the white election judge, as a "scalawag." And it says, "This bloody episode marked the end of Republican domination in Barbour County."

It makes no note of Democratic domination, let alone white supremacy, because those are just normal, of course.