Clinton Riot

By Dr. Walter G. Howell Newspapers across the country took up the story of the Clinton Riot. The Philadelphia Bulletin and the New York Herald printed the basic facts of the riot and explained it as a white reaction to Republican government in Mississippi. George Harper, in the Hinds County Gazette, wrote that the riot…

By Dr. Walter G. Howell Senator Charles Caldwell planned the political rally in Clinton as a Republican response to the Democratic meeting in Raymond the previous month. He invited Democrats to send a representative to the Clinton barbeque as a gesture of practical bi-partisanship, hoping the Democrats would behave and not disrupt the Republican rally.…

By Dr. Walter G. Howell Five names dominate the history of Clinton during Reconstruction: Charles Caldwell, Edwin Cabaniss, Walter Hillman, Sarah Dickey and George Harper. Charles Caldwell, a former slave, emerged as a leader of African-Amer-icans in Hinds County after the Civil War. Appointed to the Board of Police (supervisors) in 1866, he was one…

Special to The Clinton Courier  Clinton is a city with a rich history of influence on Mississippi politics. Many events and people that helped shape the state have significant ties to Clinton. One such event was the Clinton Riot of 1875, which became a catalyst for ending Reconstruction in Mississippi. For years, varying accounts of…

By Dr. Walter G. Howell When General Ulysses Grant invaded central Mississippi in May 1863, slaves in Hinds County were emancipated. The Union army classified them first as “contraband.” After the Congress authorized the Freedmen’s Bureau in 1865 to protect former slaves from exploitation by whites, blacks became freedmen. The story of Reconstruction in Mississippi…