Record #:

9942

Author(s):

Hardesty, Fred

Abstract:

In 1868, former Raleigh newspaper editor William W. Holden was elected Governor of North Carolina. Following accounts of civil unrest in Alamance and Caswell counties, Holden declared martial law and delegated enforcement to Col. George W. Kirk, who raised a force of 670 men, took over the courthouses in Graham and Yanceyville, made himself military dictator of the two counties, and arrested more than 100 persons. Subsequent to the Kirk-Holden War, as it came to be known, Holden was impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of illegally arresting 105 citizens, recruiting soldiers illegally, and refusing to obey a writ of habeas corpus. Holden was convicted on six of eight charges and became the only North Carolina Governor to be removed from office by impeachment.

Source:

The State (NoCar F 251 S77), Vol. 40 Issue 16, Feb 1973, p11-12, il, por

Subject(s):

Holden, William Woods, 1818-1892; Kirk, George W. (George Washington), 1837-1905; Reconstruction (1865-1877)--North Carolina