Death of an Overseer : Reopening a Murder Investigation from the Plantation South

In May of 1857, the body of Duncan Skinner was found in a strip of woods along the edge of the plantation near Natchez, Mississippi, where he worked as an overseer. Although a coroner's jury initially ruled his death to be accidental, an investigation organized by planters from the community concluded that he had been murdered by three slaves acting under instructions from John McCallin, an Irish carpenter. Now, almost a century and a half later, Michael Wayne has reopened the case to ask whether the men involved in the investigation arrived at the right verdict. Part essay on the art of historical detection, part seminar on the history of slavery and the Old South, Death of an Overseer is, above all, a murder mystery--a murder mystery that allows readers to sift through the surviving evidence themselves and come to their own conclusions about who killed Duncan Skinner and why. Contents......Page 8 On History as Common Sense......Page 12 1 Investigation and Verdict......Page 18 2 The Evidence......Page 48 3 The Evidence Reconsidered......Page 70 4 Slavery......Page 88 5 The Question of a Frame-Up......Page 122 6 Black Images, White Minds......Page 144 7 Democracy and Justice......Page 166 8 In Search of John McCallin......Page 188 An Epitaph for Duncan Skinner......Page 202 APPENDIX I: First Draft and Fragment of a Second Draft of the Letter from Alexander Farrar to Henry Drake......Page 206 APPENDIX II: Court Records from the Trial of Henderson, Reuben, and Anderson......Page 216 APPENDIX III: Additional Materials in the Newspapers Relating to the Trial and Execution of Henderson, Reuben, and Anderson......Page 220 APPENDIX IV: Additional Archival Material......Page 226 Essay on Sources and Suggestions for Further Reading......Page 230 Acknowledgments......Page 252 Note to Readers......Page 256 B......Page 258 F......Page 259 H......Page 260 K......Page 261 M......Page 262 O......Page 263 R......Page 264 S......Page 265 Y......Page 266 Reopening an investigation into the death of a plantation overseer - Duncan Skinner - almost a century and a half ago, this work is is part murder mystery, part essay on the art of historical detection, and part seminar on the history of the slavery and the "Old South". It was just after breakfast when the slaves first reported that Duncan Skinner was missing. Michael Wayne. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.