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Line 1: {{Short description\|Assassinated American politician}} {{Infobox ~~person~~politician \|name=George W. Ashburn \|image=File:George W. Ashburn.jpg Line 7 ⟶ 8: \|birth_date={{Birth date\|1814\|04\|13\|df=y}} \|birth_place=[[North Carolina]], U.S. \|death_date={{Death date and age\|1868\|03\|3031\|1814\|04\|13\|df=y}} \|death_place=[[Columbus, Georgia]], U.S. \|occupation=Union Army colonel, [[judge]] \|party=[[Radical Republican]] \|battles=[[American Civil War]] \|rank=Colonel \|branch=[[Union Army]] \|allegiance={{flag\|United States\|1861}} \|serviceyears=1861-1865 }} '''George W. Ashburn''' (April 13, 1814 – March 3031, 1868) was a [[Radical Republican]] US Senate candidate and judge assassinated by the [[Ku Klux Klan]] in [[Columbus, Georgia]], for his pro-African-American actions. He was the first murder victim of the Klan in the state.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=gijG7fSwvjAC&pg=PA16 Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes]</ref> ==Early life== Ashburn was born in [[North Carolina]] on 13 April 1814. He moved to [[Georgia (U.S. state)\|Georgia]] around 1830. He opposed the [[Secession in the United States\|Secession]] of [[Georgia (U.S. state)\|Georgia]]. During the [[American Civil War]], he was commissioned a Colonel in the [[Union ~~army~~Army]]. After President [[Abraham Lincoln]] was assassinated in April 1865, Ashburn wrote a letter to [[Andrew Johnson]] stating "the hand of God is in the assassination" on the grounds that Lincoln was not properly prepared to punish ex-Confederates for their deeds.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=aI8K-5b0MUAC&pg=PA94 Atlanta, Cradle of the New South]</ref> He married Georgia Ryley in 1843. They had one daughter. ==Postwar== At the end of the war, Ashburn returned to [[Columbus, Georgia]], and was appointed a judge by the military Governor, [[George G. Meade]]. In this capacity he worked to remove the political disabilities of all disenfranchised Georgians.<ref>Rose, David. The Big Eddy Club THE STOCKING STRANGLINGS AND SOUTHERN JUSTICE. New York: The New Press, 2007 (65-72).</ref> Ashburn called to order the [[Georgia Constitutional Convention of 1867–1868]], held in Atlanta, which also aimed at removing the obstructions placed on [[African Americans]] rights after the end of slavery.<ref>[{{Cite web \|url=http://neptune3.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/tei-books-idx.pl?sessionid=7f000001&type=HTML&byte=6108990&rgn=DIV1 \|title=Georgia Constitutional Convention of 1867] \|access-date=2011-09-06 \|archive-date=2018-11-21 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121184625/http://neptune3.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/tei-books-idx.pl?sessionid=7f000001&type=HTML&byte=6108990&rgn=DIV1 \|url-status=dead }}</ref> Ashburn was the author of the provisions in the new Constitution that assured civil rights to blacks.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=aI8K-5b0MUAC&pg=PA94 Atlanta, Cradle of the New South]</ref> At the Convention, Ashburn suggested that the new Constitution should be implemented even if the people of Georgia ~~don't~~did not concur.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50714F83D541B7493C7AB178AD85F4C8684F9 New York Times, January 24, 1868]</ref> Considered a [[scalawag]] by his white Columbus neighbors, he worked with the [[Freedmens Bureau]] and alongside African American leaders such as [[Henry McNeal Turner]]. His actions quickly created several enemies across the South. Ashburn lived amongst the African American population and garnered attention from the [[Ku Klux Klan]], which established their Columbus chapter on March 21, 1868, after a visit from [[Nathan Bedford Forrest]].<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/radicalrulemili00unkngoog#page/n0/mode/2up Radical Rule: Military Outrage in Georgia (1868)]</ref> ==Assassination== "In 1868, Ashburn assembled an organization to support his election to the U.S. Senate after Georgia has been readmitted to the Union."<ref>{{Cite book\|last=Link\|first=William A.\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aI8K-5b0MUAC&pg=PA94\|title=Atlanta, Cradle of the New South: Race and Remembering in the Civil War's Aftermath\|date=2013-05-06\|publisher=UNC Press Books\|isbn=978-1-4696-0777-1\|language=en}}</ref> On the night of March 30, 1868, Ashburn participated at a huge gathering of blacks and Republicans at Temperance Hall in [[Columbus, Georgia]]. One of the featured speakers was [[Henry McNeal Turner]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=aI8K-5b0MUAC&pg=PA94 Atlanta, Cradle of the New South]</ref> Just after midnight, Ashburn was murdered at a house on the corner of 13th Avenue and 2st Street by a group of five well-dressed men wearing masks.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1hcMnx8qA38C&pg=PA180 J. Riley Case, ''Unpredictable Gospel'']</ref><ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00C17FC3C541B7493C4A9178FD85F4C8684F9 The Murder of George W. Ashburn of [[Georgia ~~(U.S. state)\|Georgia]]~~. Published: April 6, 1868.] Copyright © The New York Times</ref> ==Political exoneration== During the time of ~~Ashburn’s~~Ashburn's murder, Georgia was still under the military governorship of General [[George Meade]] (the victor of Gettysburg), of the [[Third Military District]]. As soon as he heard of the murder, Meade implemented [[martial law]] in Columbus, removing the mayor from office, and ordering the immediate arrest of all suspects.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=96j0SSb1c8wC&pg=PA230 Papers of Ulysses Grant]</ref> The trial, beginning on June 29, gained national attention as over twenty persons were arrested and held at [[Fort McPherson]]. The prisoners consisted mostly of prominent white residents of [[Columbus, Georgia\|Columbus]]. General [[Henry L. Benning]] and former Confederate Vice President [[Alexander Stephens]] agreed to represent the accused. The Federal government was pushing for [[Georgia (U.S. state)\|Georgia]] to ratify the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution\|Fourteenth Amendment]], while the Georgia legislature was resisting it.<ref>[http://www.fold3.com/spotlight/10468/georgia_legislature_declines_to_ratify/ Georgia declines the 14th Amendment]</ref> The defenders of the Klan saw an opportunity for a bargain. On July 21, as the trial progressed, Georgia agreed to ratify the 14th Amendment in exchange for General Meade's termination of the prosecution of the murderers. All prisoners made bail and returned to Columbus. No one was ever prosecuted.<ref>{{Cite web \|url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2533 \|title=Carpetbaggers and Scalawags: Georgia Encyclopedia \|access-date=2011-09-06 \|archive-date=2007-02-11 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211072752/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2533 \|url-status=dead }}</ref> Line 45 ⟶ 51: == External links == [https://archive.org/stream/radicalrulemili00unkngoog#page/n0/mode/2up ''Radical Rule: Military Outrage In Georgia. Arrest Of Columbus Prisoners: With Facts Connected With Their Imprisonment And Release''], Printed By John P. Morton and Company, 150 Main Street, Louisville, KY: 1868.] [http://www.columbusmuseum.com/exhibitions/permanent/collection.html George W. Ashburn murder] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904045634/http://www.columbusmuseum.com/exhibitions/permanent/collection.html \|date=2011-09-04 }} [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/40580188?uid=3739616&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102741251463 "The Ashburn Murder Case," ''Georgia Historical Quarterly''.] [http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ga/county/fulton/columbushistory/pg%20101-200.pdf Telfair, Nancy. ''A History of Columbus, Georgia, 1828-1928'' (Columbus, Georgia, centenary). Higginson Book Company (1998), 155.] [http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/georgiabooks/pdfs/gb0009.pdf Radical Rule: Ashburn murder trial] [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2533 Carpetbaggers and Scalawags: Georgia Encyclopedia ] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211072752/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2533 \|date=2007-02-11 }} [http://neptune3.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/tei-books-idx.pl?sessionid=7f000001&type=HTML&byte=6108990&rgn=DIV1 Georgia Constitutional Convention of 1867] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121184625/http://neptune3.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/tei-books-idx.pl?sessionid=7f000001&type=HTML&byte=6108990&rgn=DIV1 \|date=2018-11-21 }} [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlIzPShLSqw Video 'The Murder of George Ashburn'] Line 66 ⟶ 72: [[Category:Victims of the Ku Klux Klan]] [[Category:Assassinated American judges]] [[Category:~~1860s~~Politicians assassinated ~~politicians~~in the 1860s]]