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By Seth Pinson
Last year I was conducting research for a political science class where I was tasked to focus on my hometown. I remember being home at the time and going down a rabbit hole about Simpson County, accidentally stumbling on the story of a man named George Dinning. I found a CNN article about George and subsequently found a book titled A Shot in the Moonlight by Ben Montgomery. In the horrors of the Jim Crow era, Simpson County had a story with a positive outcome. A former slave was defended in a court proceeding by a confederate veteran turned lawyer, becoming one of the first African-American men in America to win damages, as well as receiving a pardon from the Governor of Kentucky. Reading this book and recognizing landmarks ties me to the book, as this is not history as distant as some think. Sometimes I wonder why I have never heard this story until conducting independent research, and I wonder how many people knew about it. I have provided a small summary of the book and I encourage everyone to read this powerful story, because I believe that it is one of hope and resilience.
“A Shot in the Moonlight tells the powerful and true story of George Dinning, a formerly enslaved man in post-Reconstruction Kentucky who became the first Black man in the United States to win damages in court after being wrongfully targeted by a white mob. In 1897, Dinning, a respected landowner and family man, was falsely accused of theft by local white neighbors in Simpson County. Late one night, a mob of armed men descended on his home. In defense of his family, Dinning fired back, killing one of the attackers. Though he fled to escape lynching, he was soon captured and charged with murder. What followed was an extraordinary legal case. Instead of being railroaded by the justice system, Dinning received an unexpected ally: Bennett H. Young, a former Confederate officer turned prominent Louisville attorney. Young, an unlikely figure of racial reconciliation, believed in justice and took on Dinning’s defense, ultimately helping him secure a pardon from Kentucky’s governor after a controversial conviction. Refusing to remain silent, Dinning later sued the men who had attacked his home and won in civil court—an unprecedented outcome in the Jim Crow South. His victory challenged the entrenched system of racial violence and impunity that dominated the era.
Ben Montgomery, a Pulitzer Prize–finalist journalist, brings Dinning’s story to life through meticulous research, including trial transcripts, letters, and newspaper accounts. He weaves a compelling narrative that not only recounts the harrowing events of that night but also explores the complexities of race, justice, and redemption in a deeply divided America. At its heart, A Shot in the Moonlight is a story of courage, resilience, and an unexpected alliance that defied the odds and left a lasting legacy in the fight for civil rights and equal justice under the law.”
The book is available on Amazon and I have provided the link. If you are a Simpson County native, I highly encourage you to get this book and read the story of George Dinning. https://a.co/d/9g8vJBD
Seth Pinson is a McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville in the class of 2027. He is studying political science and urban studies.