Editing Columbus County, North Carolina (section)

==History==
===Early history===
The area comprising Columbus County was originally inhabited by the [[Waccamaw]] people. Historically, the "eastern Siouans" had territories extending through the area of Columbus County prior to any European exploration or settlement in the 16th century.

English colonial settlement in what was known as Carolina did not increase until the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Following epidemics of new [[infectious disease]]s, to which indigenous peoples were exposed in trading and other contact, the Waccamaw and other Native Americans often suffered disruption and fatalities when caught between larger tribes and colonists in the  [[Tuscarora War|Tuscarora]] and [[Yamasee War|Yamasee]] wars. Afterward most of the [[Tuscarora people]] migrated north, joining other [[Iroquoian languages|Iroquoian-speaking]] peoples of the Five Nations of the [[Iroquois Confederacy]] in New York State by 1722. At that point the leaders declared their migration ended and the tribe officially relocated to that area.

The Waccamaw Siouan ancestors retreated for safety to an area of Green Swamp near [[Lake Waccamaw]].<ref>William S. Powell, ''Encyclopedia of North Carolina'' (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006), 1170.</ref> Throughout the 19th century, the Waccamaw Siouan were seldom mentioned in the historical record. If descendants intermarried with whites and/or African Americans, their children were assumed to lose their Indian status, although they were often reared in Indian culture. Since North Carolina was a slave society, whites classified anyone with visible African features as slaves and blacks first.

===Colonial settlement===
As America was colonized by the British, the area encompassing Columbus County was first organized part of the Bath Precinct of North Carolina, established by the British Crown in 1696. In 1729 a southern portion was split off by the General Assembly to create New Hanover County, and five years later Bladen was formed out of part of New Hanover. In 1764 Brunswick County was formed out of Bladen and New Hanover. Throughout this time the area was largely forested and had few white settlers, though the General Assembly established two roads through the area in 1764. [[William Bartram]], a botanist from Pennsylvania, journeyed to Lake Waccamaw to study the flora and fauna of the region in the 1730s, creating the first detailed written account of the area.{{sfn|Rogers|1946|p=12}} At least two skirmishes of the [[American Revolutionary War]] were fought on Columbus soil: one near [[Pireway]] and another at Brown Marsh.{{sfn|Rogers|1946|p=13}}

===Creation===
Columbus County was created by the General Assembly on December 15, 1808, to make it easier for local residents to conduct official business without having to travel to the seat of Brunswick County.{{sfn|Rogers|1946|p=13}} Columbus was formed from parts of [[Bladen County, North Carolina|Bladen]] and [[Brunswick County, North Carolina|Brunswick]] counties and named in honor of [[Christopher Columbus]].{{sfn|Corbitt|2000|p=71}} The county's borders were modified several times by legislative act between 1809 and 1821.{{sfn|Corbitt|2000|p=72}} In 1810, a community was platted on land owned by James B. White for the purpose of creating a county seat.{{sfn|Corbitt|2000|p=71}} It was originally known as White's Crossing before being incorporated as [[Whiteville, North Carolina|Whiteville]] in 1832.{{sfn|Powell|1976|p=532}} The first courthouse and jail, made of wood, were built there in 1809.{{sfn|Rogers|1946|p=13}}

=== Development===
[[File:Loading strawberries in Chadbourn, 1907.jpg|thumb|Farmers loading strawberries onto rail cars in Chadbourn {{circa|1907}}]]
At the time of its creation, Columbus County was sparsely populated.{{sfn|Justesen|2012|pp=4–5}} A new brick courthouse and jail were erected in 1852.{{sfn|Rogers|1946|p=13}} The construction of a railroad along the Bladen-Columbus border in the 1860s spurred growth. The laying of the [[Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta Railroad]] later in the decade connected Whiteville with Wilmington and supported the development of strong lumber and [[naval stores]] industries.{{sfn|Justesen|2012|pp=4–5}} The county also produced corn, wheat, cotton, and wool.{{sfn|Spruill|1990|p=1}}

Most white men in the county fought during the [[American Civil War]], while most free blacks and mulattoes were exempted from service. The county was spared direct fighting, but the war demands stressed the local labor and food markets, and severe rains in 1863 diminished grain yields. Most residents resorted to trade via the barter system. After [[Battle of Wilmington|Wilmington fell]] to Union troops in February 1865, Union marauders sacked Whiteville.{{sfn|Justesen|2012|p=12}} After the war Columbus' economy grew more heavily reliant on corn and cotton production.{{sfn|Spruill|1990|p=1}} In 1877, part of Brunswick County was annexed to Columbus.{{sfn|Corbitt|2000|p=73}}

In the post-Reconstruction period, after white Democrats regained dominance in politics, they emphasized white supremacy and classified all non-whites as black. For instance, Native Americans could not attend schools for white children. Toward the end of the century, the U.S. Census recorded common Waccamaw surnames among individuals in the small isolated communities of this area.<ref name="Powell, 1170">Powell, ''Encyclopedia of North Carolina'', 1170.</ref>

Tobacco was introduced as a crop in Columbus in 1896, and that year a tobacco warehouse was established in Fair Bluff. It remained a marginal crop until 1914, and at the conclusion of [[World War I]] overtook cotton as the county's major cash crop.{{sfn|Rogers|1946|pp=14–15}} The county's first bank was opened in 1903.{{sfn|Rogers|1946|p=14}} Strawberries were introduced at Chadbourn in 1895, and by 1907 Chadbourn had become one of the leading strawberry producers in the world.{{sfn|Rogers|1946|p=16}} Another courthouse and jail were built in 1914.{{sfn|Rogers|1946|p=13}}

===Ku Klux Klan===
In 1950 Thomas Hamilton, a South Carolina leader of a white supremacist [[Ku Klux Klan]] chapter, began a recruiting campaign to expand his organization's reach into Columbus County, focusing on the towns of Chadbourn, Fair Bluff, Tabor City, and Whiteville.<ref name=carterklan>{{cite web| url = http://www.carter-klan.org/Hamilton.html| title = Thomas Lemuel Hamilton and the Ku Klux Klan| website = The Carter-Klan Documentary Project| publisher = [[Center for the Study of the American South]]| access-date = January 25, 2023}}</ref> In late July they paraded through Tabor City, passing out handbills which exhorted white men to join them in resisting "Jews, nigger, and integrationist quacks".{{sfn|Cunningham|2013|p=28}} [[W. Horace Carter]], the publisher of the ''[[Tabor City Tribune]]'', issued an editorial the following day denouncing the Klan as a violent group and urging local residents to ignore them, leading to a threatening note being placed on his car the following day.{{sfn|Cunningham|2013|p=29}} The county hosted many Klan sympathizers and a Klavern was organized later that year in Whiteville.<ref name=carterklan/> ''[[The News Reporter]]'' of Whiteville, led by editor Willard Cole, joined the ''Tabor City Tribune'' in reporting on Klan activities and denouncing the organization, leading to threats against Cole.{{sfn|Harris|2015|pp=220–221}}

The following January the Klansmen began night raids on homes, abducting and flogging residents who they felt had violated traditional [[mores]].<ref name=carterklan/>{{sfn|Cunningham|2013|p=29}} Over the following months the Klan continued to conduct raids, heightening local tensions.{{sfn|Cunningham|2013|pp=29–30}} In early October 1951 Klansmen from Fair Bluff abducted a couple and transported them into South Carolina.<ref name=carterklan/> Abduction crossing state lines was [[Federal Kidnapping Act|a federal crime]], and as a result the U.S. [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) became involved.{{sfn|Cunningham|2013|p=30}} In February 1952 the FBI, state agents, and county sheriff's deputies initiated a crackdown and arrested 11 Klansmen responsible for the October abduction.<ref name=carterklan/> Law enforcement made additional arrests over subsequent months. Of the near 100 Klansmen arrested, 63 including Hamilton were convicted of various crimes.{{sfn|Cunningham|2013|p=30}} For their efforts against the Klan, in 1953 the ''Tabor City Tribune'' and ''The News Reporter'' won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Public Service]].{{sfn|Harris|2015|p=220}}

===Colcor===
{{Main|Colcor}}
By the early 1980s, Columbus County had a reputation for intense political competition marked by accusations of fraud and impropriety.<ref name= whiteallen/><ref name= gilkeson>{{cite news| last = Gilkeson| first = Bill| title = FBI Probe: Corrupt Label Produces Ire In Residents Of Columbus| newspaper = Durham Morning Herald| pages = 1A–[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117122699/columbus-reacts-to-colcor-2/ 2A]| date = August 15, 1982| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117122648/columbus-reacts-to-colcor-1/}}</ref> The FBI had received several complaints from local police officers and residents about alleged [[protection racket]]s run by public officials and [[election fraud]]. In early 1980, a former FBI informant moved to the county and reported that he was being told to pay bribes to ensure the smooth operation of his business.<ref name= alston3>{{cite news| last1 = Alston| first1 = Chuck| last2 = Swofford| first2 = Stan| title = Early Recruits Blaze A Trail of Deceit|series=The Colcor Chronicles| newspaper = Greensboro Daily News| year = 1984| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=khFYyHUauRAC&pg=PA457}}</ref> Taking into account the previous complaints they had received, upon being informed, the FBI initiated an undercover investigation into corruption in Columbus County, codenamed "Colcor".<ref name= alston3/><ref name= mcadams>{{cite web| url = https://www.wect.com/2021/02/24/crimes-cape-fear-fbi-colcor-sting-uncovered-hotbed-corruption-southeastern-north-carolina/| title = Crimes of the Cape Fear: FBI 'Colcor' sting uncovered hotbed of corruption in Southeastern North Carolina| last = McAdams| first = Ann| date = February 24, 2021| website = WECT6 News| publisher = Gray Media Group| access-date = January 21, 2023}}</ref>

FBI agents posed as corrupt businessmen with connections to the [[Detroit Partnership|Detroit Mafia]]. They set up an illegal gambling club in Lake Waccamaw to make connections with locals<ref name= mcadams/> and paid bribes to a local judge and the town's police chief to protect their operation.<ref name= alston3/> The agents also paid bribes to county commission chairman Ed Walton Williamson in exchange for political influence.<ref name= mcadams/> With Williamson's help, the agents devised a scheme to investigate election fraud by instigating a referendum in the town of [[Bolton, North Carolina|Bolton]] to legalize liquor-by-the-drink and supplying a local political leader with funds to [[vote buying|buy votes]] to achieve their desired outcome,<ref name= alston4>{{cite news| last1 = Alston| first1 = Chuck| last2 = Swofford| first2 = Stan| title = The FBI Snares A Patsy: Official Played Role Agents Wrote For Him|series=The Colcor Chronicles| newspaper = Greensboro Daily News| date = January 23, 1984| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=khFYyHUauRAC&pg=PA462}}</ref><ref name= alston2>{{cite news| last1 = Alston| first1 = Chuck| last2 = Swofford| first2 = Stan| title = FBI Springs Its Last Traps: Agents Fake Arrests To Keep Deception Alive|series=The Colcor Chronicles| newspaper = Greensboro Daily News| date = January 25, 1984| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=khFYyHUauRAC&pg=PA473}}</ref> the first time the FBI had ever tried to manipulate a public election.<ref name= mcadams/><ref name= alston2/> The town ultimately voted in favor of legalizing liquor-by-the-drink.<ref name= alston2/> The agents were also asked by State Representative G. Ronald Taylor to burn down a business competitor's property, though Taylor eventually enlisted other men to commit the arson.<ref name= mcadams/>

The FBI publicly revealed the Colcor operation on July 29, 1982.<ref name= alston1/><ref name= alston2/> A total of 40 people were indicted for crimes observed during the course of the investigation. Of those indicted, 38 were convicted of crimes, with many reaching [[plea bargain]]s with prosecutors.<ref name= alston1>{{cite news| last1 = Alston| first1 = Chuck| last2 = Swofford| first2 = Stan| title = Cops As Crooks—Is Justice Served By Deceptions?| newspaper = Greensboro Daily News| date = January 26, 1984| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=khFYyHUauRAC&pg=PA479|series=The Colcor Chronicles}}</ref> The [[U.S. House of Representatives]] and the [[North Carolina State Board of Elections]] were critical of the FBI's involvement in the vote-buying sting surrounding the liquor referendum in Bolton, with the Board of Elections ultimately nullifying the referendum.{{sfn|Lawless|2012|loc=Chapter 14: Stings, Scams, Future Trends and Collateral Attacks : Operation "Colcor"}}

===Economic stagnation===
The manufacturing sector in Columbus County began a decline in the 1990s. Between 1999 and 2014, the county lost about 2,000 manufacturing jobs. The number of local farmers also declined.<ref>{{cite news| last = Voorheis| first = Mike| title = Once a place of hope, Chadbourn in poverty's grip after jobs lost| newspaper = StarNews Online| date = November 2, 2014| url = https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/news/2014/11/02/once-a-place-of-hope-chadbourn-in-povertys-grip-after-jobs-lost/30971164007/| access-date = January 12, 2023}}</ref> The county was heavily impacted by [[Hurricane Florence]] in 2018.<ref>{{cite news| last = Martin| first = Edward| title = Columbus County claws its way back from Florence's strike| newspaper = Business North Carolina| date = October 1, 2019| url = https://businessnc.com/columbus-county-claws-its-way-back-from-florences-strike/| access-date = January 16, 2023}}</ref>