The Murder of John W.Stevens

Nickname was “chicken”.Served in Confederate Army in Civil War.Agent of Freedmen’s Bureau, Republican, Union League

Not To Be Confused With…

Why “Chicken”?

Stevens had a dispute in Ruffin,NC over a chicken he killed that belonged to neighbor Thomas Ratliff. He complained to the sheriff.Stevens confronted Ratliff with a seven-shot revolver. In the ensuing fight, the revolver fell from Stevens’ hand wounding two bystanders watching the fight.Stevens spent a night in jail and was shamed by his neighbors. He moved to Yanceyville.

Stevens’ Exploits in Yanceyville

During Reconstruction, Stevens replaced popular Senator Bedford Brown.Stevens was voted in by the huge African-American populace and had a genuine desire to help them.

Stevens was hated by the white minority, being a Confederate veteran.Stevens, fearing for his life, was armed “to the teeth” at all times.He blackened the windows to his home; whites rumored he killed his mother and hid the body.

His Murder by the Ku Klux Klan

The Methodist Church Stevens belonged to expelled him.KKK members held a “trial” in the church, sentencing Stevens to death.Klan leader, John G. Lea led a party of 7 men, including former Caswell County Sheriff, Frank A. Wiley, whom Stevens considered a friend, was enticing Wiley to run again for sheriff as a Republican.

The Heinous Act

Wiley duped Stevens into meeting him late at the courthouse to tell if he’d run for sheriff.The 7 men ambushed Stevens, breaking his ankle, stabbing him numerous times, strangling him in an attempt to hang him.This and the murder of Wyatt Outlaw in Alamance County led Gov. Holden to bring the Klan to justice, fueling the Kirk-Holden War.

Getting Away with Murder

The Kirk-Holden War failed to get any convictions, all were released.The Klan then ran the Union League out of N.C.On July 2nd,1919, John G.Lea signed a sealed confession and gave it to the North Carolina Historical Commission on agreement not to publish it until his death in 1935.The Commission honored this request.

Governor Holden

Washington and Ulysses S. Grant ignored Holden’s fate, tired of the “problem” in the South. Grant actually signed for the release of the Klansmen responsible for Stevens’ murder.Governor Holden was later impeached by the new Democrat majority thanks to the KKK.Nationally, the Compromise of 1877 removed Federal troops from the South officially ending Reconstruction.