Wyatt Outlaw (1820 - 1870)

Died 26 Feb 1870 at about age 50 in Graham, Alamance, North Carolina, United States

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Biography

Wyatt Outlaw is Notable.

Wyatt Outlaw (1820 – February 26, 1870) was the first African-American elected to be Town Commissioner and Constable of the Town of Graham, North Carolina. He was lynched by the Ku Klux Klan on February 26, 1870. His death, along with the assassination of white Republican State Senator John W. Stephens at the Caswell County Courthouse, provoked Governor William Woods Holden to declare martial law in Alamance and Caswell Counties, resulting in the Kirk-Holden War of 1870" (Wikipedia).^[1]

Wyatt Outlaw "was born near Union Ridge about 1820, the son of Chesley Farrar Faucett, one of the richest and most powerful men in the county, and Jemima “Mima” Phillips, one of his slaves....at some point prior to his 40th birthday he was sold to George Outlaw, a tobacco farmer living near Company Shops (now Burlington), and assumed his surname. He was married and had at least two sons, but neither his wife’s name nor the year he was married is known" (The Times News).

Notes

Boyd states that Wyatt Outlaw “was born near Union Ridge about 1820, the son of Chesley Farrar Faucett, one of the richest and most powerful men in the county, and Jemima “Mima” Phillips, one of his slaves.”, although Troxler says (p. 406) that “[n]othing is known to prove of disprove” this paternity.

Troxler states (pp. 432-433) that Wyatt left offspring, Julius, Wyatt, and Oscar, and cites the 1870 census. Boyd mentions “[h]is 6-year old son Oscar”. The cited 1870 census records show the household as
Household Role Sex Age Birthplace
Henry Isely M 32 North Carolina
Julius Outlaw M 10 North Carolina
Wyatt Outlaw M 8 North Carolina
Oscar Outlaw M 6 North Carolina
Minna Corbett F 80 North Carolina
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWZP-BSS : 3 January 2021)
The census record shows his mother as “Mima Corbett” (first name transcribed as “Minna”); records related to an 1871-1873 investigation into his murder refer to her as “Jemima Phillips” and “Mima Phillips”

Sources

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyatt_Outlaw

• Boyd, Walter, “ The life and tragic death of Wyatt Outlaw ”, published in the Times-News, Burlington North Carolina, Posted Aug 16, 2015. http://www.thetimesnews.com/article/20150816/news/150819177

• Troxler, Carole, "To look more closely at the man": Wyatt Outlaw, a Nexus of National, Local, and Personal History“. Published in 2000 in North Carolina Historical Review. https://www.academia.edu/34511629/_To_look_more_closely_at_the_man_Wyatt_Outlaw_a_Nexus_of_National_Local_and_Personal_History_Troxler_NCHR_wyatt_outlaw_FULL_TEXT_pdf