61:. On January 27, 1897, a mob of 25 armed white men came to Dinning's farm, accused him of stealing hogs and chickens, and demanded he leave the county within 10 days. Dinning denied being a thief and insisted several people in the county would vouch for his good character. The mob, enraged by Dinning's resistance, began firing on his house and wounded him twice. Dinning retrieved a gun from his house and fired into the mob, killing one man, the son of a local wealthy landowner. The mob fled, and the next day, Dinning turned himself in to local officials. While he was in their custody, the mob returned to his farm, drove his family from their house, looted it, and razed it to the ground.
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to file a federal lawsuit against some members of the mob that had identified themselves during his trial. The trial was held in
Louisville, and Dinning was awarded $ 50,000 in damages, although the defendants were poor farmers and Dinning would ultimately collect only a fraction of that amount. That
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and eventually to
Louisville to prevent him from being lynched. Governor Bradley dispatched a squad of the state militia to protect him while his trial proceeded. Despite the fact that the case involved a black man killing a white man, most observers believed Dinning would be acquitted on grounds of
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over the incident. His plight and case was followed in the national press; the public was divided over his guilt or innocence and the novelty of a black man suing whites in court. That a black man successfully sued the Klan was entirely new, a newspaper at the time opined that the "outcome is
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a black man successfully prevailed against the Klan in court was novel, a newspaper at the time opined that the "outcome is regarded as sensational, indicating an entirely new method of dealing with and punishing lawless mobs that have been so numerous in the south."
93:, and Bradley issued it 10 days after the conviction. Bradley opined that Dinning had acted reasonably under the circumstances and that it was a shame that no members of the mob were charged.
40:. In 1897, during self-defense of his home from an armed mob, he shot and killed the son of a wealthy white landowner. He was convicted of manslaughter, but was soon pardoned by Kentucky Governor
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85:'s office was flooded with requests for him to intervene on Dinning's behalf. The requests came from blacks and whites, some of them ex-Confederates. Dinning's attorney,
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regarded as sensational, indicating an entirely new method of dealing with and punishing lawless mobs that have been so numerous in the south."
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A Shot in the
Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South
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A Shot in the
Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South
162:"Kentucky by Heart: Amid horrors of racial intolerance in post-Civil War Ky., some stood and said 'no more'"
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Racial
Violence in Kentucky, 1865–1940 : Lynchings, Mob Rule, and "Legal Lynchings"
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Racial
Violence in Kentucky, 1865–1940 : Lynchings, Mob Rule, and "Legal Lynchings"
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187:"Dinning Escapes the Mob; Kentucky's Governor Protects a Negro Who Shot a Regulator"
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243:. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 15–16.
218:. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 14–15.
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After being emancipated, Dinning saved enough money to purchase a farm in
291:"Ben Montgomery's 'A Shot in the Moonlight' an urgent piece of history"
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In 2021, author Ben
Montgomery wrote a book about the case titled
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136:"'There was great rejoicing in hell this morning'"
44:. Dinning then successfully sued members of the
36:1857–1930) was an American former slave from
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64:The Simpson County sheriff moved Dinning to
73:. The jury, however, convicted Dinning of
96:After being freed, Dinning relocated to
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289:Colette Bancroft (January 21, 2021).
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342:20th-century African-American people
332:People from Simpson County, Kentucky
77:and sentenced him to seven years of
16:American former slave (c. 1857–1930)
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81:. Immediately, Kentucky Governor
160:Steve Flairty (June 30, 2020).
100:and hired Confederate war hero
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134:Roland Klose (May 5, 2018).
347:People enslaved in Kentucky
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239:Wright, George C. (1992).
214:Wright, George C. (1992).
166:Northern Kentucky Tribune
83:William O'Connell Bradley
42:William O'Connell Bradley
38:Simpson County, Kentucky
268:. Little, Brown Spark.
264:Ben Montgomery (2021).
89:, formally requested a
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25:George Dinning, 1899
87:Augustus E. Willson
195:. January 28, 1897
192:The New York Times
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337:American freedmen
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46:Ku Klux Klan
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327:1930 deaths
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140:rwklose.com
316:Categories
116:References
79:hard labor
98:Indiana
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91:pardon
302:2021
270:ISBN
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201:2021
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