Recent from talks
Pickens County Courthouse (Alabama)
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Pickens County Courthouse (Alabama)
The Pickens County Courthouse in the county seat of Carrollton, Alabama is the courthouse for Pickens County, Alabama. Built-in 1877-1878 as the third courthouse in the city, it is noted for a ghostly image that can be seen in one of its garret windows. This is claimed to be the face of freedman Henry Wells from 1878.
According to a common version of the myth, Wells was arrested in January 1878 on suspicion of burglary and arson, and lynched by a white mob soon after his arrest. He was alleged to have burned down the second courthouse in 1876 (built to replace one destroyed in 1865 by Union forces during the Civil War). Accounts in the story do not conform to historic facts; for instance, the windows were not installed until February through March 1878, so they could not contain his image.
This period was one of the continuing social and racial tensions. In 1877, the federal government ended Reconstruction and withdrew its troops from the South. White Democrats had regained control of state legislatures and passed measures to impose white supremacy. Wells was arrested in January 1878 and charged with the courthouse burning two years before. A local newspaper reported that Wells died of wounds after being shot while fleeing arrest for robbery in January 1878; he reportedly confessed to burning the courthouse before dying.[citation needed]
A total of 15 African Americans were lynched in Pickens County, many in the courthouse square, from 1877 to 1917. This was the fifth-highest total of any county in the state. A mass lynching was committed by a white crowd who fatally shot four black men and a black woman in their cells in September 1893. They were suspects in the burning of a cotton gin owned by a white man.
The story of Wells' face in the courthouse window seems to have been a conflation through the myth of two historic events, that of the lynching of a white man named Nathaniel Pierce, and that of the arrest and shooting of an African American man named Henry Wells. He later confessed to burning down the courthouse, likely under coercion, and died of his wounds. White guilt may have contributed to the account of Wells cursing the town and threatening they would be haunted by him.
This period was one of turmoil, as the federal government was withdrawing the last of its troops from the South, formally ending Reconstruction. White Democrats had already regained control of the state legislature and on the local level, white minorities used racial violence to impose and maintain white supremacy. As the 19th century progressed, the rate of lynchings rose, mostly directed at black men.
According to the West Alabamian, which was Carrollton's only newspaper at the time of the events, Nathaniel Pierce was being held on charges of murder when, on September 26, 1877, an armed mob forced their way into the jail where he was being held, took him outside the city, and lynched him. Pierce's lynching was not reported as having anything to do with the burning of the courthouse.[citation needed]
The whites in town already suspected Henry Wells and an accomplice, Bill Buckhalter, of the arson. A story in the West Alabamian on December 13, 1876, said that Wells and Buckhalter were also suspected of robbing a store on the night in 1876 when the courtroom was burned. The newspaper reported that stolen merchandise from the store was found in their homes. But that supports their part in the robbery, not arson.
Hub AI
Pickens County Courthouse (Alabama) AI simulator
(@Pickens County Courthouse (Alabama)_simulator)
Pickens County Courthouse (Alabama)
The Pickens County Courthouse in the county seat of Carrollton, Alabama is the courthouse for Pickens County, Alabama. Built-in 1877-1878 as the third courthouse in the city, it is noted for a ghostly image that can be seen in one of its garret windows. This is claimed to be the face of freedman Henry Wells from 1878.
According to a common version of the myth, Wells was arrested in January 1878 on suspicion of burglary and arson, and lynched by a white mob soon after his arrest. He was alleged to have burned down the second courthouse in 1876 (built to replace one destroyed in 1865 by Union forces during the Civil War). Accounts in the story do not conform to historic facts; for instance, the windows were not installed until February through March 1878, so they could not contain his image.
This period was one of the continuing social and racial tensions. In 1877, the federal government ended Reconstruction and withdrew its troops from the South. White Democrats had regained control of state legislatures and passed measures to impose white supremacy. Wells was arrested in January 1878 and charged with the courthouse burning two years before. A local newspaper reported that Wells died of wounds after being shot while fleeing arrest for robbery in January 1878; he reportedly confessed to burning the courthouse before dying.[citation needed]
A total of 15 African Americans were lynched in Pickens County, many in the courthouse square, from 1877 to 1917. This was the fifth-highest total of any county in the state. A mass lynching was committed by a white crowd who fatally shot four black men and a black woman in their cells in September 1893. They were suspects in the burning of a cotton gin owned by a white man.
The story of Wells' face in the courthouse window seems to have been a conflation through the myth of two historic events, that of the lynching of a white man named Nathaniel Pierce, and that of the arrest and shooting of an African American man named Henry Wells. He later confessed to burning down the courthouse, likely under coercion, and died of his wounds. White guilt may have contributed to the account of Wells cursing the town and threatening they would be haunted by him.
This period was one of turmoil, as the federal government was withdrawing the last of its troops from the South, formally ending Reconstruction. White Democrats had already regained control of the state legislature and on the local level, white minorities used racial violence to impose and maintain white supremacy. As the 19th century progressed, the rate of lynchings rose, mostly directed at black men.
According to the West Alabamian, which was Carrollton's only newspaper at the time of the events, Nathaniel Pierce was being held on charges of murder when, on September 26, 1877, an armed mob forced their way into the jail where he was being held, took him outside the city, and lynched him. Pierce's lynching was not reported as having anything to do with the burning of the courthouse.[citation needed]
The whites in town already suspected Henry Wells and an accomplice, Bill Buckhalter, of the arson. A story in the West Alabamian on December 13, 1876, said that Wells and Buckhalter were also suspected of robbing a store on the night in 1876 when the courtroom was burned. The newspaper reported that stolen merchandise from the store was found in their homes. But that supports their part in the robbery, not arson.
Recent media