Richard Burke (Alabama politician)

Richard Burke (c. 1807 - 1870) was a Baptist preacher and state representative in Alabama.[1] He was involved in the Union League. A few nights after a political meeting of African Americans, he was murdered. In Sumter County numerous African American Union League members were shot.[2]

Burke was born in Virginia. Burke established a school for African Americans in Sumter County, Alabama and represented the county in the Alabama House of Representatives in 1869 and 1870.[3]

Turner Reavis owned Burke when he was enslaved and testified about his activity at the political meeting and his murder during hearing in the U.S. Congress investigating activities of the Ku Klux Klan.[3]

See also

References
  1. Harvey, Paul (November 9, 2000). Redeeming the South: Religious Cultures and Racial Identities Among Southern Baptists, 1865-1925. Univ of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807861950 – via Google Books.
  2. "Union League of Alabama".
  3. Freedom's Lawmakers by Eric Foner Louisiana Staye University Press (1996) page 32


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