He later served as the inspiration for the protagonist of his nephew Thomas Dixon Jr.'s infamous 1905 play The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan and its 1915 film adaptation The Birth of a Nation.
"[7] McAfee died in 1873 of tuberculosis ("consumption"),[8] and he was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in York, South Carolina.
[3] In 1916, his nephew Dixon planned to erect a statue of McAfee on the courthouse square of Shelby, North Carolina.
[9][10] The project was initially met with enthusiasm,[9] until it was announced that Dixon wanted McAfee to wear a Ku Klux Klan mask in the statue.
[10] Despite the controversy several Southern newspapers as well as The New York Times issued editorials in favor of the statue.