 They were not successful in protecting freedmen, but the Bureau established schools in

Determined to crush populist efforts and alliances with Republicans that resulted in victories in 1896 and 1898, white Democrats formed what became the White Man's Union, a secret, oath-bound organization that violently took over elections in 1900, after killing several black Populist leaders.It selected all county officials until 1958.White violence continued after Reconstruction and into the early 20th century, when whites committed 9 lynchings of blacks in the county, part of racial terrorism to suppress the freedmen.