Dr. Darden
Dr. Darden was a physician in Warren County, Georgia, and newspaper accounts describe him as a wealthy and respected citizen. He was held in the jail at Warrenton in March 1869. According to 1869 newspaper dispatches from Atlanta, about one hundred Ku Klux took control of the town and demanded the jail keys, and Sheriff Norris refused them and then fled with the keys. The dispatches say the men returned after midnight, broke into the jail, set a fire at the doorway to smoke him out, and shot him after he asked for time to make a will, in the presence of his wife and children. These accounts are secondhand, and their details, including the date, which reports give as March 12 to 14, have not been independently verified.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A dispatch from Atlanta, Georgia, reported that a band of about one hundred Ku Klux took the jail keys from the sheriff, who refused and fled, then broke into the Warrenton jail, smoked Darden out with a fire at the doorway and shot him.
Reported by: Atlanta, Georgia special dispatch published in the Worcester Daily Spy (reporters); Atlanta special dispatch to the Tribune (reporters); Atlanta special to the New York Tribune, reprinted by the Register (reporters); Atlanta (Ga.) special dispatch as reprinted in The Evening Argus (reporters).
Sources (8)
- Chicago Tribune, March 14, 1869, page 1
- The Evening Argus, March 15, 1869, page 1
- The Portland Daily Press, March 15, 1869, page 3
- Worcester Daily Spy, March 15, 1869, page 2
- Worcester Daily Spy, March 16, 1869, page 2
- The Wheeling Daily Register, March 16, 1869, page 4
- The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, March 16, 1869, page 1
- The Union Democrat, March 20, 1869, page 4