1931 – March 7, Fire, Duplin County prisoner stockade, Kenansville, NC                   —     11

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 1-20-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–11  AP. “Eleven Convicts…Burned To Death In Duplin Stockage Fire.” Daily Times, Wilson, NC. 3-7-1931, p1.

–11  AP. “Senate Passes Bill to Erect a New N.C. Prison.” High Point Enterprise, NC. 3-9-1931, 1.

–11  NFPA. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life,” NFPA Quarterly, V24, April 1931, 472.

–11  Wilson, Walter.  Forced Labor in the United States.  NY:  Int. Publishers Co., 1933, p. 52.

–10  Duplin County, NC – Cemeteries. 

Narrative Information

Duplin County, NC – Cemeteries: “Duplin County death certificates show that on March 7, 1931, ten men ages 16-52 died in a fire that occurred at 3 a.m. in the county stockade. The men were locked in their cells when the fire broke out. The guard on duty did not have a key to let them out. The sheriff had gone home and taken the keys with him. These men had been sentenced by the courts to work on the County Home grounds and tend the vegetable garden which fed the residents of the County Home and the prisoners. Every county is required to have a public cemetery to bury those people who are unclaimed and become wards of the state.”  (Duplin County, NC – Cemeteries.) 

Wilson: “On March 7, 1931, eleven Negro prisoners died screaming in agony when flames swept the prison at Kenansville, N. C. An ‘investigation’ after the criminal tragedy revealed that it was known all along that the prison was a fire trap.”  (Wilson 1933, p. 52.)

Newspaper

March 7, AP: “Kenansville, N.C., March 7. – (AP) – Trapped in their cells, 11 negro convicts burned to death early today as flames swept through the huge, wooden stockage of Duplin County. Forty-one other prisoners, all negroes except 12, were led from the burning building by guards.

“Owen Basden and B.S. Nicholson, the guards on duty, discovered the fire shortly after 2 a.m. The flames began first in the kitchen. Their origin had not been determined.

“The stockage, built of heavy timbers, was located one mile from here. It was virtually without fire protection.

“Dan H. Bridgers, Duplin County coroner, began an investigation immediately. Pending its completion, he requested the two guards not to discuss the fire.

“Residents of the community who first reached the fire said, however, that Basden rushed into the burning building time after time to lead forth the prisoners.

“Rescue of the 41 prisoners was attributed by persons familiar with the tragedy to the courage of Own Basden, guard, who braved the flaming interior of the stockade to unlock cell doors and free individual prisoners.

“Three of the dead were identified later in the morning as Preston Hall, Claude Cox, and John James. All bodies remained in the ruins as Coroner D. H. Bridges prepared to hold an inquest, and the records had not been checked to show the identities of the other victims.

“Some indication that the blaze might have been of incendiary origin was being investigated.

“The stockage was build after the manner of many of the earlier prisons in the United States. It consisted of a high ‘stock’ or stake fence covered with corrugated iron….” (Associated Press. “Eleven Convicts Are Burned To Death In Duplin Stockage Fire.” Daily Times, Wilson, NC. 3-7-1931, p.1.)

March 9, AP: “Raleigh, March 9. – (AP) – Without debate and by a unanimous vote the senate today passed the administration bill to reappropriate $400,000 to state’s prison to provide for the erection of a modern, fire-proof central prison. Under the reappropriation a new prison plant will be built at Cary Farm, near here. The measure must be adopted by the house.

“Death of 11 negro convicts in a fire which swept the Duplin county stockage at Kenansville Saturday brought vividly to the attention of the legislature the need of better prison quarters here. Governor Gardner and other state officials issued formal statements calling attention to the dangerous condition of state’s prison and when the bill was called today it passed immediately….”

(Associated Press. “Senate Passes Bill to Erect a New N.C. Prison.” High Point Enterprise, NC. 3-9-1931, p. 1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Eleven Convicts Are Burned To Death In Duplin Stockage Fire.” Daily Times, Wilson, NC. 3-7-1931, p.1. Accessed 1-20-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/wilson-daily-times-mar-07-1931-p-1/

Associated Press. “Senate Passes Bill to Erect a New N.C. Prison.” High Point Enterprise, NC. 3-9-1931, p. 1. Accessed 1-20-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/high-point-enterprise-mar-09-1931-p-1/

Duplin County, NC – Cemeteries. Accessed 5-27-2009 at:  http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/duplin/cemeteries/dupcocem.txt

National Fire Protection Association. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life,” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 24, No. 4, April 1931,p.  472.

Wilson, Walter. Forced Labor in the United States. New York: International Publishers, Co., Inc., 1933. Accessed at:  http://www.archive.org/details/forcedlaborinuni00wilsrich