Trying temperance Neely : a story of murder, race and reconstruction justice in North Carolina / Tobin T. Buhk.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Buhk, Tobin T., Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Trials (Murder)--North Carolina--History--19th century.

Trials (Murder).

Murder--North Carolina--History--19th century.

Murder.

Race relations--North Carolina--History--19th century.

Race relations.

Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)--North Carolina.

Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877).

African Americans--Legal status, laws, etc--North Carolina--History--19th century.

African Americans.

Military courts--United States--History--19th century.

Military courts.

Neely, Temperance, -1860--Murder.

Neely, Temperance.

Ku Klux Klan (19th century)--Trials, litigation, etc.

Ku Klux Klan (19th century).

Physical Description:

vi, 219 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Jefferson : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, [2026]

Summary:

"Centered on the murder of a young white woman, Temperance Neely, this book examines the ensuing investigation, revealing a local struggle over race, power, and authority during the early years of emancipation following the Civil War. Through close attention to legal proceedings, community responses, and political tensions, it situates the crime within the broader effort to redefine citizenship and justice in the postwar South. This book utilizes information from court records, government documents, newspapers, and firsthand accounts, tracing the actions of freed people, former Confederates, federal officials and vigilante groups, including the Ku Klux Klan. It demonstrates how violence was used as an intimidation tactic, shaping Reconstruction at the local level and undermining federal attempts to enforce civil rights. Through the deconstruction of a single case and its participants, it offers an in-depth analysis of how national policies played out in everyday life, highlighting the continued divide between communities after the war's end."-Provided by publisher"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I A new world

1 The Henderson Cooper case and Southern courts

2 Into numbness

3 The Alfred Locke case and trial by military commission

4 The William Farr trial

5 The shot heard around North Carolina

6 Arrest

7 News

8 Salt in the wound

9 The execution of Mary Surratt

10 Murder or self-defense? A precursor

Part II The trial of Temperance Neely

11 The Kise Commission

12 The trial begins

13 Anatomy of a military commission file

14 Legal challenges

15 Unearthing the identities of the Neely enslaved

16 Sallie Neal (case for the prosecution I)

17 Henderson (case for the prosecution II)

18 Cassandra (case for the prosecution III)

19 Providence (case for the defense I)

20 Arthur (case for the defense II)

21 The surveyor (case for the defense III)

22 Friends and relatives (case for the defense IV)

23 Arguments

24 Words

25 Thomas Ruger

Part III Violent fall

26 It is a dangerous precedent to establish

27 No leeway

28 The ultimate penalty

29 Revisiting the Henderson case and military justice

Part IV Epilogue and analysis

30 The fates of the key figures

31 A reexamination of the Temperance Neely case

Appendix A Closing argument for the defense I

Appendix B Closing argument for the defense II

Appendix C Closing argument for the prosecution

Appendix D Ruger's letter to the military commission.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781476697246

1476697248

OCLC:

1525986523

Publisher Number:

90104509191