187: The George Dinning Story: Terror & Retribution in Turn of the Century Kentucky w/ Ben Montgomery

My guest, Ben Montgomery, tells the story of George Dinning, a former slave who was visited one night in 1897 by a mob, hellbent on driving him and his family off of their Kentucky farm. In an exchange of gunfire, Dinning killed a wealthy white man. Dinning then had to elude lynchers while fighting for his life in court. Unlikely allies would come forward, including a former Confederate officer who believed that Dinning was in the right due to the castle doctrine, and agreed to represent him in a federal case against members of the mob that had terrorized he and his family.

Ben Montgomery's book is called "A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South", and more information about him can be found at: https://www.benmontgomerywrites.com/

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