{"id":106,"date":"2010-08-30T17:39:30","date_gmt":"2010-08-30T17:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pmdc.wcu.edu\/?p=106"},"modified":"2023-06-20T13:20:56","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T13:20:56","slug":"the-shelton-laurel-massacre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.wcu.edu\/index.php\/2010\/08\/30\/the-shelton-laurel-massacre\/","title":{"rendered":"Shelton Laurel Massacre"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Essay by Timothy N. Osment, History M.A., WCU 2008<\/p>\n

The Civil War took a tremendous toll on the South.\u00a0 Though somewhat isolated, the Appalachian region was no exception.\u00a0 More so than other areas of North Carolina, mountain citizens visibly split their allegiance between the Union and the Confederacy.\u00a0 One area where the divide was especially problematic was the border counties of Yancey and Madison.<\/p>\n

Tensions\u00a0were so high in Yancey that the county actually split in two, with the pro-South, eastern-part breaking away and forming the separate county of Mitchell.\u00a0 There was little cooperation within communities, and local governments were frequently ineffective at carrying out their responsibilities.\u00a0Most able-bodied men were miles away fighting the war, so their services and support were unavailable.\u00a0 The weak and helpless were vulnerable to the elements \u2013 both of nature and of man.\u00a0 One event, the Shelton Laurel Massacre in Madison County, personified the hatred, division, and desperation present in the mountains during the Civil War. As the War continued, rations were in short supply and the promises of government agencies to provide staples like salt were not being kept.\u00a0 Salt was especially essential.\u00a0 It was used to preserve meats and butter, and for tanning hides.\u00a0 Its availability could mean the difference between survival and starvation.\u00a0 Large quantities were necessary.\u00a0 It took 50 pounds of salt to preserve one 500-pound hog.\u00a0 The South had little access to salt.\u00a0 That held doubly true for the isolated mountains.\u00a0\u00a0 The winter of 1862-63 was especially harsh. As circumstances worsened, concern changed to frustration.\u00a0\u00a0Eventually\u00a0desperation turned the winter violent. Late in 1862, an assortment of men, most of\u00a0them\u00a0residents of the Shelton Laurel Valley in Madison County, came together.\u00a0 They were comprised of Union sympathizers and Confederate deserters. When it became apparent that promised government rations were not going to be delivered, the men decided to take matters into their own hands.\u00a0 Journeying through Madison County, the group made their way into Marshall.\u00a0 They made various raids onto private property, stealing what they desired and destroying what they did not. Eventually, they entered the home of Colonel Lawrence Allen, commander of the 64th North Carolina Infantry, who was in Virginia.\u00a0 However, his wife and two children were home. The raiding band of marauders terrorized the small family, stealing food and supplies. Marshall\u2019s citizens were outraged.\u00a0 The 64th set out to apprehend the men in the Shelton Laurel Valley. Most of the raiders fled.\u00a0 On January 19, 1863, fifteen men, aged 15 to 60, were rounded up.\u00a0 It was later determined only five of the fifteen were involved in the Marshall raid.\u00a0 The men were arrested and marched off.\u00a0 Somewhere along the way two of the men escaped.\u00a0 The remainder were then executed by firing squad.\u00a0 The bodies were then placed in shallow graves.<\/p>\n

“I think the single most disturbing aspect of the Shelton Laurel Massacre was the youngest victim was also the last one to die” ~Ron Rash<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Discovering the horrific results of the massacre, Shelton Laurel residents removed their executed friends and relatives from the hastily constructed grave. They were eventually buried together in a single grave near the very location of their execution.\u00a0 Today, a granite marker memorializes the site. The events that occurred in Shelton Laurel were characteristic of the divide and struggle for control that took place in North Carolina during and after the Civil War.\u00a0 Most citizens either remained supporters of the Confederacy or supporters of the Union. There are still deep divisions of loyalty present in Madison County.\u00a0 One local resident commented, \u201cI know families in this county that are just as proud of (being descended from) the ones who killed those men as the people out here are of those who survived.\u201d So the next time you hear the nickname \u201cBloody Madison\u201d remember it recalls the events of a war that divided and destroyed families, friends, and communities.\u00a0 It is a difficult, often painful, recollection \u2013 but one that is nonetheless part of our history.
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