Blyew v. United States (1871), was a court case that originated in Lewis County, Kentucky, where the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the states right to forbid African Americans to testify against white people.

History 
On August 29, 1868, two white men by the names of John Blyew and George Kennard entered the house of the Foster family, an African American home in Lewis County, Kentucky. The two white men had a woman with them, and they were arguing with the Foster family insisting they needed to house the woman. The two white men attacked the family with an axe; four African-Americans died and many were injured, including children. Kennard used an axe and another bladed tool to hack at the bodies of the family members. Jack, his wife Sallie, and his grandmother Lucy Armstrong, who was blind, were killed outright. Richard, the Foster's 16-year old son, hid under his father's body. He later regained consciousness and crawled 300 yards to a neighbor's house for help, but died two days later. The two youngest children were the only survivors: 8-year-old Laura Foster, 8-years old, who hid, and 6-year old sister Amelia, who was hacked in the head, but lived.

The case was heard before the U.S. Supreme Court in April 1872 addressing the civil rights of African Americans, as well as states' rights issues. The case involved the testimony of African-American victims of the attack. At the time of the murders, Kentucky law prohibited the testimony of a "Negro" against a white man and barred African Americans from serving on juries (the law was repealed in 1872) The testimony revealed that among the reasons for the murders was retaliation for the American Civil War and the potential for another war about African Americans. According to Blyew, Kennard had declared that "he thought there would soon be another war about the niggers; that when it did come, he intended to go to killing niggers, and he was not sure that he would not begin his work of killing them before the war should actually commence." The case was eventually moved to federal court, where the attackers were convicted. Both men were sentenced to death by hanging.

The State of Kentucky then appealed the case to the Supreme Court citing states' rights in defense of its laws prohibiting African Americans from testifying against whites. The case was a test of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Supreme Court ruled that victims were not entitled to protection from the state law because the word "affected" in the law did not apply to victims of crimes who are not defendants in a case. Noah Swayne (the first Republican appointed to the Supreme Court) and Joseph Bradley dissented. Civil rights legislation was subsequently modified and comments in the dissent are noted for putting forth a group right to the adequate protection of the law. Justice William Strong wrote that any case involving an African American witness could be brought to a Federal Court if the court had ruled for the victims and upheld the right of African Americans to testify in court.

The case was moved back to state court. In 1876, Kennard was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison with hard labor. He was pardoned by Governor Luke P. Blackburn on health grounds in 1885, and died on April 5, 1923, at the age of 82. Blyew's case ended in a hung jury, albeit he escaped custody before he could be retried. He was recaptured in 1890, found guilty of murder, and sentenced to life in prison. He was pardoned by Governor William Jackson Worthington, who had expressed doubts over the evidence used to convict him.

References

Further reading
The Family of Jack and Sallie Foster, Blyew v. United States," Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, accessed March 7, 2018

Blyew v. United States, 80 U.S. 13 Wall. 581 (1871)

1872 in United States case law
States' rights
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Chase Court

United States racial discrimination case law
Mass murder in 1868
Murder in Kentucky
Mass murder in the United States
Racially motivated violence against African Americans