Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy

The Republican senator of North Carolina, Jeter Pritchard, requested that President William McKinley send federal marshals to protect Black voters. The president declined; the request was leaked and Daniels published it in the newspaper to whip up outrage. North Carolina Governor Russell declined to request federal marshals himself despite fearing for his life from Democratic attacks.

On October 28th, Democrats held a White Man’s Convention in Goldsboro, North Carolina. There, Simmons gave a rousing speech against “‘Negro domination’” (133) and advocated for the lynching of Alex Manly. The Democrats held many of these rallies across the state leading up to election day, November 8th.

Earlier that month, a white cabal known as the Secret Nine met in Wilmington and planned the overthrow of the city government. The election was only for state and county seats; to completely oust the Fusionist city government, they would have to use force. They planned their attack for November 10th, two days after the election.

Colonel Waddell was not part of the planning, although he supported the cause. In 1871, when serving in Congress, he protected Wilmington Klan leader William Saunders when Saunders was investigated by Congress for Klan activities. In 1876, Waddell had clubbed a Republican newspaper editor, Jesse Cassidey, who wrote negatively about him. He lost his congressional seat in 1878 and was desperate for political relevance in 1898. George Rountree agreed to let Waddell give a “‘red hot speech’” (143) to whip up white fervor in the lead-up to election day.

On October 24th, 1898, Waddell gave a speech to 1,000 men in Wilmington. He spoke for an hour about the white supremacist cause and the need to resist “black domination” (147). Waddell encouraged the crowd to use force if necessary to achieve its cause. The speech was published in many North Carolina newspapers.

On November 3rd, the Red Shirts held a rally in Wilmington. They were led by Mike Dowling, a working-class Irishman. 100 Red Shirts marched through the majority Black Brooklyn neighborhood. On November 4th, Red Shirts attacked Black residents in downtown Wilmington. Leaders of the White Supremacy campaign were upset by the violence because they wanted to hold off on “incit[ing] a race riot” (151) until after the election.

Black people throughout the Black Belt attempted to organize against white intimidation but their resistance was “quickly crushed by white men with guns” (153). Alex Manly, publisher of the Daily Record, despite threats of lynching, was undefended by the Republican party and Black ministers. Manly tried to calm tensions by reassuring readers that white leaders would ensure the city remain safe.

At a Black community meeting the first week of November, prominent Black lawyer William Henderson encouraged Black voters to vote early and then return home. Frustrated Black women published an open letter in the Record encouraging their husbands and brothers to take a stand against white supremacy and to not concede.

On November 5th, the mayor and city alderman attempted to make preparations for potential violence on election day. Black leaders in Washington, D.C. encouraged President McKinley to intervene. McKinley declined to act.

In Wilmington on the eve of the election, the White Government Union members gathered to plan Black voter intimidation and ballot box stuffing measures.

On election day, November 8th, many voters went to the polls when they opened at 7 AM to avoid violence. Red Shirts patrolled the city. White men forced some Black men away from the polling station at gunpoint. Despite the intimidation tactics, many Black men did manage to vote. This enraged Mike Dowling, leader of the Red Shirts, and he gathered a party to lynch Alex Manly. He was talked down by two members of the Secret Nine who told Dowling the white supremacists planned to issue a White Declaration of Independence the next day.

Manly had fled Wilmington the day before the election with the help of a friend, likely the white Reverend Robert Strange.

By the afternoon of November 8th, many people had already voted. Ballot counting began when the polls closed at 5 PM. A white mob attacked some of the ballot counters, chasing away Black and Fusionist poll workers and putting fake Democratic ballots in the ballot box. As a result, in one race, a Democrat received more votes than registered voters in the ward. Red Shirts patrolled the city streets all night while Black families hid in their homes.

On election day, Governor Russell had to vote in his home district of Wilmington. He told a reporter, “‘I realize I am liable to be murdered’” (170). After voting, his train back to Raleigh, the state capital, was attacked multiple times by Red Shirts, but he managed to hide from them in the baggage compartment of the train.

On November 9th, architects of the White Supremacy Strategy awoke to excellent results. The Democrats had swept races in Wilmington and across North Carolina. White men in Wilmington met at the courthouse where Waddell read out the “Wilmington Declaration of Independence” crafted by the Secret Nine, which stated they would “no longer be ruled by Negroes” (177). Their demands included the banishment of Alex Manly from Wilmington. They also called for the resignation of the mayor and police chief.

After the meeting, Waddell and white leaders summoned 32 prominent Black men to a meeting. They demanded the Black leadership accede to the demands in their Declaration. Although the Black men insisted they had no authority, the white men demanded a response in writing by the next day. The Black men wrote a response to Waddell stating that Manly had already left town. However, when lawyer Armond Scott attempted to deliver it, he heard Red Shirts patrolling and instead left it at the post office.

A white mob vowed to lynch Manly and burn the Daily Record building if they did not have a response by 7:30 AM. the next morning.