Leroy Magnum McAfee (1837 – 1873) was an American Confederate veteran and politician. He was a member of the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...

. He later served as the inspiration for the protagonist of his nephew Thomas Dixon Jr.'s infamous 1905 play '' The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan'' and its 1915 film adaptation ''

The Birth of a Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'' is a 1915 American Silent film, silent Epic film, epic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and ...

''.

Early life

Leroy Magnum McAfee was born on December 17, 1837, in North Carolina. He graduated with first honors from the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

in 1859; President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

was the featured speaker at the graduation.

Career

McAfee worked as an attorney in

Shelby, North Carolina Shelby is a city in and the county seat of Cleveland County, North Carolina. It lies near the western edge of the Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte-Concord, North Carolina, Concord, North Carolina, NC-South Carolina, SC Charlotte metropolitan a ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

of 1861-1865, McAfee served as an officer in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

. He was commissioned as a Major on April 12, 1862, in the

49th North Carolina Infantry The 49th North Carolina Infantry Regiment was a Confederate States Army regiment during the American Civil War attached to the Army of Northern Virginia. Organization and Training The companies of the 49th North Carolina Infantry Regiment were ...

. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel on November 1, 1862. McAfee served as a member of the

from 1870 to 1873, representing

Cleveland County, North Carolina Cleveland County is a County (United States), county located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the western Piedmont, on the southern border of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, t ...

. He was a member of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

. According to his nephew Dixon, McAfee helped impeach Governor

William Woods Holden William Woods Holden (November 24, 1818 – March 1, 1892) was an American politician who served as the 38th and 40th governor of North Carolina. He was appointed by President Andrew Johnson in 1865 for a brief term and then elected in 1868. He ...

Personal life, death and legacy

McAfee was married twice. His first wife was Hattie Cameron and his second wife, Agnes Adelaide Williams. McAfee's nephew,

Thomas Dixon, Jr. Thomas Frederick Dixon Jr. (January 11, 1864 – April 3, 1946) was an American polymath: a Baptist minister, politician, lawyer, lecturer, writer, and filmmaker. Dixon wrote two best-selling novels, '' The Leopard's Spots: A Romance of the Whi ...

, dedicated his historical novel, ''The Clansman'', "to the memory of a Scotch-Irish leader of the South, my uncle, Colonel Leroy McAfee, Grand Titan of the invisible Empire of the Ku Klux Klan." McAfee died in 1873 of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

("consumption"), and he was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in

York, South Carolina York is a city in and the county seat of York County, South Carolina, United States. The population was approximately 6,985 at the 2000 census and up to 7,736 at the 2010 census. York is located approximately southwest of Charlotte, North Ca ...

. In 1916, his nephew Dixon planned to erect a statue of McAfee on the

courthouse square Courthouse Square is a backlot located at the Universal Studios Lot in Universal City, California. The set is composed of several facades that form an archetypal American town square with a courthouse as its centerpiece. The set was built for ...

. The project was initially met with enthusiasm, until it was announced that Dixon wanted McAfee to wear a Ku Klux Klan mask in the statue. Despite the controversy several Southern newspapers as well as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' issued

editorial An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK), is an article or any other written document, often unsigned, written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper or magazine, that expresses the publication's opinion about ...

s in favor of the statue.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcafee, Leroy 1837 births 1873 deaths People from Shelby, North Carolina University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Confederate States Army officers Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives American Ku Klux Klan members 19th-century American lawyers Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in South Carolina 19th-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly