In the tumultuous political climate of Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Wade Perrin, a Black man and a newly re-elected Republican member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, met a brutal end. On the evening of October 20, 1870, just one day after securing his second term, Perrin was assassinated by a group of white men associated with the Ku Klux Klan in the area of present-day Joanna, South Carolina, then known as Martin's Depot in rural Laurens County.
His death was part of a wave of violence targeting Black and Republican political leaders following recent elections where the Republican party had seen success.
On that fateful night, as he walked along a street, a mob of Klansmen confronted Perrin. They subjected him to a humiliating ordeal, forcing him to dance, sing, and pray for their amusement. After their cruel entertainment, they commanded him to run, at which point they opened fire, shooting him as he fled. His body was later discovered lying on the road with his pockets turned inside out. The assassination was a stark and violent message to Black citizens and their political allies, and it was one of several targeted killings of Republican party members in the state around that time.
In the aftermath of the murder, Governor Robert Kingston Scott offered a substantial reward for the capture of the killers. The investigation eventually led to a series of arrests. In April 1872, A. D. Henricks was the first to be charged in connection with Perrin's death under the Ku Klux Klan Act. Later that year, in October, five more men were apprehended: George H. Davidson, John T. Craig, Elihu Young, Charles Franklin, and Munson Buford. They faced federal charges of conspiracy to injure citizens of African descent on account of their right to vote.
The legal proceedings that followed were fraught with the political and racial tensions of the era. The initial trial of the six men resulted in a mistrial, and they were subsequently released. However, the pursuit of justice for Wade Perrin did not end there. In May of 1875, two of the previously accused men, Elihu Young and Charles Franklin, were arrested again, this time with the charges directly naming them in Perrin's murder. This second wave of arrests was reportedly based on new evidence, including an affidavit from an apparent eyewitness. Despite these efforts, the historical record available does not provide a clear outcome of a conviction for the murder of Representative Wade Perrin, who was honored by his legislative colleagues as having 'fell a martyr to the assertion of principles of free government and free speech.'
