Alfred Moore Waddell

Alfred Moore Waddell
Alfred M. Waddell between 1865 and 1880
Mayor of Wilmington, North Carolina
de facto, unlawful[a]
In office November 10, 1898 – 1906
Preceded by	Silas P. Wright
Succeeded by	William E. Springer
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 3rd district
In office March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1879
Preceded by	Oliver H. Dockery
Succeeded by	Daniel L. Russell
Personal details
Born	September 16, 1834 Hillsborough, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	March 17, 1912(1912-03-17) (aged 77) Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Julia Savage (1857) Ellen Savage (1878) Gabrielle de Rosset (1896)
Relations	Hugh Waddell Francis Nash Alfred Moore
Children	Elizabeth Savage Alfred M. Waddell Jr.
Occupation	politician, lawyer, publisher
Known for	led only coup d'état on U.S. soil
^ Waddell seized the office of mayor after holding his predecessor at gunpoint to force his resignation, as part of the Wilmington insurrection of 1898.[1]

Alfred Moore Waddell (September 16, 1834 – March 17, 1912) was an American politician and white supremacist. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. representative from North Carolina between 1871 and 1879 and as mayor of Wilmington, North Carolina from 1898 to 1906.

Waddell was a leader of the Wilmington insurrection of 1898, in which a violent, coordinated mob of about 2,000 white men massacred up to 300 African-Americans, destroyed the property and businesses of African-Americans, and overthrew the elected Fusion government of the city of Wilmington, North Carolina; and Waddell became mayor of Wilmington after holding his predecessor at gunpoint and forcing him to resign. This event is considered to be the only successful coup d'état to have taken place on U.S. soil, and helped to initiate an era of severe racial segregation and disenfranchisement of African-Americans throughout the South.^[1]