Jim Williams ( – March 6, 1871) was an African-American soldier and militia leader in the 1860s and 1870s in

York County, South Carolina York County is a county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,090, making it the seventh most populous county in the state. Its county seat is the city of York, and its largest city is Rock Hill. The ...

. He escaped slavery during the

US Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

and joined the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

. After the war, Williams led a black militia organization which sought to protect black rights in the area. In 1871, he was

lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

and hung by members of the local Ku Klux Klan. As a result, a large group of local blacks immigrated to Liberia, West Africa.

Early life

Williams was born James Rainey in York County, South Carolina, on the plantation of Samuel Rainey about from Yorkville. He escaped from the Rainey plantation during the Civil War and joined the Union Army, where he eventually fought under General

William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

the Carolinas The Carolinas are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina, considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east. Combining Nor ...

. After the war, Rainey changed his surname to Williams and returned to York County and married a woman named Rose whom he fathered two kids with , and a previous son from his first Wife Olli Dunovant or Dunnavant who was possibly of Barbadian descent . There he fought for the protection of the civil and political rights of former slaves. He also organized a black militia unit - such units were called "

Union League The Union Leagues were quasi-secretive men’s clubs established separately, starting in 1862, and continuing throughout the Civil War (1861–1865). The oldest Union League of America council member, an organization originally called "The Leag ...

s".Martinez, James Michael. ''Carpetbaggers, Cavalry, and the Ku Klux Klan: Exposing the Invisible Empire During Reconstruction''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2007, pp. 1–5.

York County Klan

In February 1871, Williams and local preacher

Elias Hill Elias Hill (c. 1819 - March 28, 1872) was a Baptist minister and leader of a York County, South Carolina congregation that emigrated to Arthington, Liberia. In May 1871, during the Reconstruction era, he was among the victims in a series of atta ...

met with local Ku Klux Klan leaders including James Rufus Bratton to negotiate the safety of blacks in the community. These negotiations were not successful, and around February 12, eight black men were killed by 500 to 700 whites in black gowns with masks, and was followed by nightly Klan raids for months.Witt, John Fabian. ''Patriots and Cosmopolitans: Hidden Histories of American Law''. Harvard University Press (2009), pp. 85-86, 128–149. Bratton was the nephew of Williams' former owner, Samuel Rainey, and was a former surgeon in the Confederate Army.Gillin, Kate Côté. ''Shrill Hurrahs: Women, Gender, and Racial Violence in South Carolina, 1865–1900''. University of South Carolina Press (2013). During this time, some local whites claimed Williams had threatened to kill local whites and that Williams' militia was stockpiling weapons. It was also claimed that Williams claimed to desire to rape white women if he could. Bratton also claimed that Williams and his militia were responsible for a rash of fires at white-owned properties.

Lynching and death

On March 6, 1871, James Rufus Bratton led a group of about seventy white men from their muster at the Briar Patch muster ground west of Yorkville to the Williams cabin. The mob first went to the home of Union League member Andy Timons, beating Timons to learn the whereabouts of Williams' home. At his cabin, they found Williams hiding under the floorboards. They grabbed him and pulled him kicking and screaming from the house. Someone, probably Bratton, placed a noose around Williams' neck. Outside, they tied the rope to a tree off the ground and forced Williams to climb to the limb. Bob Caldwell, another Klansman, climbed to the limb and pushed Williams, who then dangled from the limb by his hands. Caldwell used a knife to hack at William's fingers until he released, whence he "died cursing, pleading and praying all in one breath." Williams was subsequently brought to Bratton's office where Bratton, in his medical capacity, served the inquest.

Legacy

The mob visited several other homes of men involved in the Union League militia, succeeding in gathering 23 guns but no other members. Members of the league swore vengeance, but did not act. Companies B, E, and K of

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

's Seventh U.S. Cavalry led by Major Lewis Merrill arrived in the area to try to quell the violence. Elias Hill stepped in to lead the league, now in disarray. In another raid, Hill's nephews, Solomon Hill and June Moore, were attacked and forced to renounce their Republican Party affiliation in the local paper, the ''Yorkville Enquirer''. Hill himself was attacked in March. This was the first episode of Ku Klux Klan violence Merrill saw in York County, and he was unable to step in to protect the black citizens of York County. Eight days after the attack, Merrill met with community leaders demanding change, although violence continued over the summer. Merrill's efforts eventually led to the dismantling of much of the Klan in the county, although Bratton was never successfully prosecuted. In October 1871, Hill and his nephews led a large group of local blacks immigrating to Liberia to escape the violence.

Early life

York County Klan

Lynching and death

Legacy

References

Further reading