Christopher Columbus Nash (July 1, 1838 – June 29, 1922) was a Louisiana merchant and Democratic sheriff.[1] In 1873, Nash led a company of white militiamen in the Colfax Massacre to take the courthouse in Colfax, from armed African-Americans.[2] Three white men were killed; the number of African-Americans killed is estimated to have been between 60 and 150.[2][3]
Christopher Columbus Nash | |
|---|---|
| Sheriff of Grant Parish, Louisiana | |
| In office 1873–Unknown | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 1, 1838 Sabine Parish, Louisiana US |
| Died | after 1922 |
| Political party | Fusionist/Democratic Party |
| Spouse | Malinda Williams Nash |
| Parent(s) | Valentine and Mary Anderson Nash |
| Occupation | Merchant; law-enforcement officer founder of the white league |
Nash participated in the formation of the White League,[4] a white supremacist organization that claimed to defend a "hereditary civilization and Christianity menaced by a stupid Africanization".[5] He was later buried in Natchitoches, Louisiana.[6]
References
edit- ^ "Nash, Christopher Columbus". A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (lahistory.org). Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
- ^ a b Lewis, Danny (April 13, 2016). "The 1873 Colfax Massacre Crippled the Reconstruction Era". Smithsonian.com. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
- ^ A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, in its article on Nash, uses these sources: Milton Dunn, Christopher Columbus Nash (1925), Mabel Fletcher Harrison and Lavinia McGuire McNeely, Grant Parish, Louisiana: A History (1969), and Manie White Johnson, "The Colfax Riot of April, 1873," Louisiana Historical Quarterly, XIII (1930).
- ^ James K. Hogue The Battle of Colfax: Paramilitarism and Counterrevolution in Louisiana (June 2006), p. 21
- ^ Adolph Reed Jr., "The battle of Liberty Monument – New Orleans, Louisiana white supremacist statue", The Progressive, June 1993, accessed 18 May 2010
- ^ "American Cemetery". ruscahouse.com. Retrieved December 15, 2010.