Florida, executions in city and county histories, 1954-1993, Undated

H/F 30%

36. Beltran-Lopez, Maur.* H 26 H/M 35%* M 7/10/86
H/F 30*

37. McKinney, Boris B22 W/M 64 M 2/14/87

38. Riechmann, Dieter W 43 W/F 31 M 10/25/87

39. Robertson, Lavarity B 19 H/M 19% M 11/6/88
H/F 18*

40. Rodriguez, Juan D. H 35 H/M ?? M 5/14/88

41. Padilla, Raymond H 37 H/M ?? M 2/10/89

42. Street, Charles H. B 37 W/M 34-cop M 11/28/88
W/M 41-cop M 11/28/88

43. Escobar, Douglas M.* Bn oe W/M 49-cop M 3/30/88

44. Escobar, Dennis J.* H 31 W/M 49-cop M 3/30/88

45. Griffin, Michael A. W 21 W/M 28-cop M 4/27/90

46. Arbelaez, Guillermo H 34 H/M 5 M 2/22/88

47. King, Willie James B 27 M

48. Watson, Kenneth B 29 F M

49. Johnson, Ronnie 24

50. Robinson, Bobbie Lee B 29 B/M M 3/20/89

51. Coney, Jimmie Lee WwW 45 W/M M 4/7/90

52. Cardona, Ana-Marie HF H/M 03 M 11/2/90

so approximately 52 under death sentence now

Sources:

11/4/88*

8/4/89

11/4/88

8/21/89%

3/28/90
5/25/90
9/18/90%
9/18/90*
2/22/91%
2/22/91%
3/7/91
3/14/91
4/15/91
11/6/91

12/13/91

2/11/92
3/27/92
4/1/92

Legal Homicide: Death as Punishment in America, 1864-1982.

90-130693

87-42355
88-40181

89-5686

91-131064

88-38759
89-14998
89-12383A
90-13913
90-48092B

(Appen-

dix A: Excutions Under State Authority, An Inventory, pp. 423-427) by William

J. Bowers with Glenn L.

Pierce and John F. McDevitt.

The list of executed persons was originally compiled by Negley K. Teeters and
Charles J. Zibulka and has been corrected and updated by M. Watt Espy, Jr.,

of Headland, Alabama.
FL Dept. of Corrections, Planning and Research.

obtained from indexes on 7th floor of Metro Justice Building.

Executions since 1961 and death row list provided by

The Dade Court Case Numbers

The overall

list given above made by Dr. Wm. Wilbanks of FL International University.


150

a screaming, shouting mob on foot and on horseback. The box was
deposited in the courthouse yard where the people gathered around.
They cheered as the hero of the hour, Elbert Hardy, explained how he
had been able to kill lurray. Sheriff Fennell then informed the
tovmspeople that as soon as the body had been embalmed it would be
placed on public exhibition for several days.3h
It should not be assumed that Gainesville was entirely
permeated with lawlessness and crime. Indeed, the majority of her
citizens were Ged fearing, church going people who were sincerely
concerned over the unholy atmosphere which was present in the torm.
The conservative residents were a deeply religious group and were
responsible for the passage of "Sunday laws" prohibiting the sale of
alcohol and the operation of other business pursuits on the Sabbath.
Considerable complaint was voiced by the pecple over the laxity of
the mayor Min failinz to bring offenders against the Sunday law to
justice."39 Even in the 1890's we find that the operating of a
restaurant on Sunday was illega1.36
The Presbyterians, Baptists, Episcopalians, and Methodists

continued to be strong forces during this period. A nev faith in the
town were the Ciristians; or Disciples, who conducted their services
in the courthouse each Sunday moming ard evening as had been the

practice of all denominations before they became strong enough to

3ltpid. 35Heekly Bee, Sertember 29, 1882.
36paily Sun, Hay 3, 1891.

ee

oe ne ae


(Ah A las, ated

femenes

ALACHUA COUNTY, FLA.

A HISTORY OF GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA

By
CHARLES HALSEY HILDRETH

A DISSERTATION PRISENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNCIL OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
TIN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
June, 1954


both of them.31

On September h, 1891 an nrxtra" appeared on the streets vhich
electrified the tom-—"Harmon Murray Slain by one of his Cyn Race-—
Great Rejoicing Among the People~-Eocy to be Placed on Exiibition—
Now Let us Have peace."32 News had reached Gainesville on the morning

of September l; that the notorious outlaw was dead at the hand of a
Negro, Elbert Hardy. lurray had forced Hardy to accompany hin on a
projected shooting spree in Archer. Hardy had managed to get behind

iurray for a moment and had vlaced a rifle slug between his shoulder

blades.23
It was learned that the renegade's body would arrive in

Gainesville on the morning train. Half an hour before train time the

scene at the depot was one of excitement and cmfusion. An immense

ot

crowd had gathered, including all the prominent men of the torn, to

see the bedy of the dead Negro. Every minute the mob grew largere
Hundreds of people, both Negro and white, fousht madly for a vantage

point to catch a glimpse of the dead outlaw. The arrival of the train

was greeted with shouting and struggling as the entire mob attempted
to enter the car containing the box in which the body lay. With great
difficulty the sheriff and the undertaker managed to get the box off
the train ad onto the waiting wagon. Then without further ado, the

vehicle took off at full speed for the courthouse square, followed by

3lipid., September 5, 1891.

32Tpid., extra edition, September hl, 1891.

33ibid.


152 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

for a murder growing out of a brawl. Moses was released on the
bond of Isaac and Asa Townsend, but another altercation caused
him to be returned to jail. He then escaped with the assistance of an
accomplice named Jonathan Vickery. Spencer apparently fled with
them. William Saffold, an early settler and prominent land owner in
the Miccosukee Lake area, and John McDowell, Jr., both
committed murders a little later. Both fled to avoid arrest. By the
time the grand jury assembled in 1834, there were four murderers
in flight from justice in Jefferson County. It appears that none of
them was ever apprehended.

In 1836 Leonard Dozier was arrested and held without bail for
the murder of Thomas Redding. He was ultimately tried and
convicted. Hugh Duncan killed a man named Hines in 1838 and was
confined in jail on a murder charge. After reflecting on his chances
'n court, he apparently concluded that they were not promising. He
burned a hole through the floor of the jail and fled. A reward of
$400 was offered for his apprehension. It was ironic that a slave
escaped with him who was being held on an arson charge.”

A bumper year for murder indictments was 1842, but the
absence of convictions suggested that accused persons could expect
the benefit of the doubt regardless of their station in life. Harmon
Adams, Samuel R. Stokes, and Andrew J. Stokes, all day laborers,
were indicted for murder, but each was found “not guilty.” Henry
W. Bacon, another ordinary day laborer, was indicted for the same
offense. He was found “not guilty” of murder, but guilty of
manslaughter, and fined $500. On the affadavit of Wilkin Cook
Smith, two other day laborers by the striking names of John
Bellame and John Braden—no relation to the prominent men
bearing those names—were charged with homicide. They
voluntarily appeared, surrendered, and the marshal took them into
custody. They were indicted for murder at the November 1842
term of court, but were found “not guilty” in April 1843 and
discharged.® |

In 1848, the same year that Richard B. Cole was killed by his own
slaves, Thomas J. Holten, an unfortunate eighteen year old youth,

4. Records of the Superior Court of Jefferson County, Minute Book, p. 21;

Tallahassee Floridian and Advocate, December 28, 1830, December 6, 1834.

5. Records of the Superior Court of Jefferson County, Minute Book, p. 199;
Tallahassee Floridian, July 21, 1838.

6. Records of the Superior Court of Jefferson County, Order Book B, pp. 21, 44,
76-77, 152.

SS
=
=

By cones rah cates

Frontier Law and Order 153

became involved in a drunken brawl with a man named Stafford.
Holten struck Stafford on the head with a “large stick” and killed
him. Tried and found guilty of the murder, the youth was hanged in
December 1848.7 —

Although the provocation is not known, Samuel Puleston, a
prominent Monticello druggist, shot and wounded Richard P.
Leonard and Winfield Anderson as they were riding past William
West’s tavern in Monticello in 1850. Leonard appeared to be the
target; Anderson was shot accidentally. Neither died, but Puleston
was charged for assault with intent to kill. The case was continued
for several terms and apparently was never tried. In 1834, three
other substantial citizens were involved in a violent affray. John B.
Russell and Joseph McCants—the latter a promment attorney and
former judge—assaulted George W. Gelzer with a cirk. Both were

indicted for assault with intent to murder and found “not guilty.”8

In 1857 George Riley was indicted for murder, but was found
guilty of manslaughter. He was sentenced to imprisonment for two
months and thirty-nine lashes to be inflicted by the sheriff. Josiah
T. Scruggs was indicted for murder in the late 1850s, but the case
was continued during the Civil War and was never tried.?

The murder of Aron B. C. Scott by his brother David E. M. Scott
in 1850 was one of the more senseless crimes of passion during the
period. At a family gathering David and Aron became involved in a
playful argument, but David lost his temper and threatened his
older brother with a loaded shotgun. With incredible audacity Aron
grabbed the gun and began swinging David around with it while
the younger man became more and more enraged. Finally, he
pulled the trigger, killing Aron instantly. He mounted a saddled
horse standing nearby and rode off, but was arrested a few days
later by the sheriff. But he broke out of jail and fled to “parts
unknown.” Governor Thomas Brown offered 2 $100 reward for
Scott’s return.

The wanted poster described the fugitive as about forty years of
age, medium size and frame, and “very talkative, particularly after
taking a drink of ardent spirits. ..His language is very much like

7. Henry Wirt to Mother, December 6, 1848, Wert Papers: Records of the
Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Order Book A, pp. 123-24.

8. Records of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County. Orser Book A, p. 214, Case
Files, 1854.

9. Ibid., Order Book B, pp. 115, 402.


Jefferson County Courthouse. Built in 1835 by public subscription and
remodeled several times before being replaced in 1909.

Frontier Law and Order 157

Umphrey signed his bond, but the case never came to court. In
1856, Elias Burnside was also charged with disturbing religious
worship, but he died before the case was tried. In 1859 Josiah T.
Scruggs was indicted on a similar charge. He fought the case, got it
continued, and it was dismissed in 1860. In 1852 William Budd was
indicted for an unspecified misdemeanor, found guilty, and fined
five dollars.!4

Although it was a misdemeanor after 1829, duelling was so
ingrained in the customs of Jefferson County residents, that it was
a frequent resort of persons who felt their honor had been
besmirched. Until after the Civil War there was dispute between
Georgia and Florida over the boundary on the northern side of
Jefferson County. As a kind of legal no-man’s land, the area became

the duelling site for much of Middle Florida. There were many

duels in the period, and even more near duels, but attention will be
given only to a few representative ones. The Gardiner-Enderman
duel of 1829 was one of the first, and it had a classic ending. The
cause of the dispute is not known, but it was fought according to the
long-standing code regulating such affairs. Philip White and James
L. Parish were seconds for Gardiner and P. H. Scott and Martin
Sparks acted for Enderman. Agreeing to fire on the count of three,
the two faced each other with pistols ready. Enderman fired on the
first count and missed. He reloaded, they started over, and he fired
again on the first count. When they lined up for the third time, both
guns fired at the same time, and Enderman fell dead.15

The grand jury had grounds for attributing violence to “party
spirit.” In 1833, a bitter battle between Joseph White and Richard
Keith Call for the office of territorial delegate caused a bloody duel.
Oscar White, the delegate’s nephew, made a slurring remark in
public about Call. Leigh Read, Call's young protege, challenged him.
They met in a duel, fired pistols without results, and then attacked
each other with knives, battling until both were exhausted. Both
men recovered from their wounds.16

The duel between Judge David Macomb and Achille Murat was
not so grim. Fought near Lake Lafayette in 1834, it began with a
dispute over Murat’s slaves stealing Macomb’s hogs. The

14. Records of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Order Book B, pp. 59,
221-22, 273, 326, 333.

15. Tallahassee Floridian and Advocate, September 15, 1829.
16. Doherty, Richard Keith Call, p. 78.


154 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

that of a low-country Georgia or South Carolina negro.” Three
surviving brothers, Alexander, Mitchel and William, and their
sister, Molsey Ann Townsend, were shocked by one of those twists
of the law when Aron’s estate was being divided. According to the
law David was one of the heirs and was going to receive a
proportionate share of the estate. Thinking that was an
unreasonable consequence of murder, the four tried to prevent it,
but the judge over-ruled them, primarily on the ground that
David's creditors hada right to recover. As a result, David E. M.
Seott, who apparently never returned to Florida, received a
one-fifth share of the estate of the brother he had killed in a fit of
anger. 10

In a few cases the courts were used by angry neighbors to
demonstrate their pique. In 1845 Theophilus Beatty was charged
with stealing a heifer belonging to Mrs. Elizabeth Wirt of Wirtland.
" ©>>-¢e Anderson brought the charges as Mrs. Wirt’s manager.
It was a case of a brand being mistakenly placed on the wrong
animal, in all probability with no intention of stealing it. At least
Beatty was found innocent of the charge. But the master of
Casabianca retaliated by suing Anderson, Thomas Ross, the
Wirtland overseer, and Grant Scurry, Anderson’s own overseer at
Increase, for debt. It appears that he had little basis for the suit
other than anger over the branding incident, since the case was
dismissed. However, the defendants were required to pay the court
costs.

When Achille Murat was taken to court in 1844 on a misdemeanor
charge, he was so certain that the charges were inspired by
prejudice that he believed a fair trial impossible. Arguing that he
could not obtain justice in the county, he asked for a change of
venue to Leon County. The court agreed and ordered the change.1!

There were some larceny cases with more substance. In 1834
James Branch, who had only recently moved to the county from
neighboring Madison, was arrested for stealing cattle. He was
tried, convicted, and sentenced to receive fifteen stripes on the
bare back with a cowskin and to pay $20 court costs. Chesley

10. Tallahassee Floridian and Journal, October 5, 1850; Records of the Chancery
Court of Jefferson County, Case Files, 1851; Circuit Court Order Book A, pp.
246-47, 288-89, 320-21.

11. Records of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Minute Book, 1847, p. 106;
Order Book B, p. 243; Circuit Court Order Book B, p. 344-

Frontier Law and Order 155

Boatwright (the individual who bought the stolen cows) was
indicted for larceny and receiving stolen goods, tried, and found
guilty. He was sentenced to receive 21 stripes on his back and pay
$28.22 court costs. In 1846, Robert W. Anderson was convicted of
larceny and sentenced to receive 39 lashes, to be inflicted by the
sheriff.12 Additional larceny cases underscored those cited and
demonstrated the frequency with which corporal punishment was
administered against white offenders as well as blacks.

The so-called crimes without victims dealing with the moral
conduct of the community included gambling, adultery and such
related acts as “keeping a disorderly house,” selling liquor in
violation of the law, and disturbing religious worship. Enforcement
of the laws against gambling seemed to be a sometime thing, but in
1832 William T. Clark and David Y. Farmer were arrested for
“keeping a game house.” On conviction they were each fined the
prohibitive sum of one dollar. Guilty of gambling were Edwin W.
Dorsey, fined 50 cents; James Hall, fined 50 cents; and Reuben
Scott, fined $25. Albert J. Dozier was also arrested at the time, but
his case was continued and charges were dropped in 1833. In 1834
Hannah Taylor, James B. Watts, Barthey Winn, and Cravey Lamb
were arrested and charged with adultery. Since Winn was a justice
of the peace, the arrest created a delicate situation. The community
wanted him removed because of the indictment for “certain
enormities and offences,” but Governor John Eaton hesitated until
the case was decided by trial. Everyone was probably relieved
when the case was not proved against any of the accused persons.
When Nancy Granger was indicted for living with a man to whom
she was not married, the case was dismissed when she furnished
evidence of being “duly married.” Joseph B. Watts was one of
several persons charged with “keeping a disorderly house.” He was
found “not guilty” as were several women so charged during the
period.18

In 1845 Joseph Kersey was indicted for “disturbing a
congregation assembled for divine worship.” He admitted his guilt
and was fined five dollars and costs. When William Stuart was
charged with the same offense, John Gamble and Mitchell

12. Ibid., Order Book D, p. 125; Minute Book, 1834, p. 121; Circuit Court Order
Book A, 1846, p. 61.

13. Ibid., Minute Book, 1829, p. 11, 1832, pp. 44-45; Order Book B, p. 332, Order
Book D, p. 129; Carter, Territorial Papers, olume 25, p. 159.


158 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

immediate occasion, however, was an argument at a political rally
where both men were campaigning for office. In a shouting match,
Murat called Macomb a liar, and the duel occurred about three
days later. At the site of the duel, Murat allegedly told his second
that he was in error. Instead of firing at Macomb, he planned to
draw his fire by “a grand flourish” of his pistol. Macomb shot one
of Murat’s fingers off, and while the prince may or may not have
fired, he subsequently boasted that he had put a bullet through
the judge’s shirt and “scared out the lice.”17

In 1835 the county was shocked at the Bellamy-White duel and its
outcome. The cause of the difficulty has been forgotten, but it may
have been the result of political excitement. Everett White was the
brother of Territorial Delegate Joseph M. White, and Abram
Bellamy had been a member of the legislative council during most
of its sessions since 1824. Both candidates for council seats in 1835,
they were members of opposing factions. Whatever the cause, the
two met in the ne-man’s land between Georgia and Florida early
one morning in late November 1835 and shot it out before 13
witnesses.

From a distance of 60 yards, each armed with four pistols, they
advanced and fired at each other. White walked forward without
firing while Bellamy fired and missed three successive times. At 15
paces White shot Bellamy first in the arm and then in the body.
Then Bellamy fired a final shot which mortally wounded White.
According to one report, “both were dreadfully wounded. Captain
White’s recovery very doubtful.” White died a few days later, but
Bellamy recovered and lived until 1839. White’s death occurred
only a few weeks after a huge bridal party at Casabianca had
celebrated the double marriage of White and his son, Oscar. The
older White’s bride was from Kentucky, and he had just brought
her to Florida to live after a long-distance courtship of several
years. Arrested along with Abram Bellamy for violating the
anti-duelling law were Bethel Bellamy, William Bellamy, Leigh
Read, Richard C. Parish, Henry R. Edwards, A. B. Harvey,
Michael Ledwith, Jefferson Sanders, Thomas Long, Reuben Scott,
John R. Scott, and Allen Hinton. The charges against them were
dropped in 1837 for lack of prosecution.!®

17. Tallahassee, Floridian, September 18, 1883; Hanna, Prince in their Midst, p.
152.

18. Mary Gamble to Catharine Wirt, November 23, 1835, William C. Wirt to

Frontier Law and Order 159

Another duel involving Jefferson County residents ultimately
ended in a bloody assassination on Tallahassee’s main street. Leigh
Read, a relative of Abram Bellamy’s, killed Augustus Alston, a
prominent local planter in an 1839 duel. The cause of the argument
had been political. Alston was a Whig and an advocate of the Union
Bank. Read was an anti-bank Democrat. Willis Alston, the dead
man’s brother, had recently moved from Jefferson County to Texas
where he was residing when the duel occurred. At the insistence of
his sisters, Willis returned to Middle Florida seeking revenge
against Read. After two unsuccessful attempts to kill him, Alston
hid in the house of Michael Ledwith in Tallahassee until Read
walked along the street. He then stepped out and shot him down
and again left Florida. Ledwith was convicted as an accessory to
the crime, but Governor Call pardoned him.}9

The most serious abuse of the law occurred in 1845 and 1846 in an
attempt by exasperated county residents to halt the depredations
of an elusive band of marauders who were stealing slaves from
plantations along both sides of the Georgia-Florida border and
taking them to western Alabama for sale. There had been talk of
“blue-eyed Indians” after some of the raids on the plantations
during the Seminole War. The raids along the Aucilla in 1842 were
assumed to have been by Indians, but robberies and slave
kidnappings continued long after the Indians were known to have
left the area. By 1845 the people of the county learned that a gang
headed by Stephen P. Yeomans of Jefferson County had been
responsible for the continuing raids on their plantations and the
resulting property losses. In November 1845 Yeomans was indicted
in absentia for these crimes and declared a fugitive from justice. He
was also believed guilty of plundering the Thomas and Lowndes
county plantations in Georgia as well. The difficulty of
apprehending such a man with a sizable gang of ruffians operating
under his direction was beyond the normal law enforcement
capabilities of county sheriffs. The situation demanded extreme
action.

At a called meeting on November 19, 1845, citizens of Thomas
and Lowndes counties in Georgia met at Monticello with Jefferson
Countians and formed an Association for the Protection of

sister, November 15, 1835, Wirt Papers; Niles Register, December 2, 1835, p. 282.

19. Doherty, Richard Keith Call, p. 131.


SOME HIGHLIGHTS

From Ten Years As The High Sheriff
Of Levy County

By G. T. Robbins

I came to Levy County as a member. of the
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp that was
in Bronson on the old county fairgrounds in 1933.
After getting out of there I courted a beautiful
school teacher and finally, on June 4, 1938, we
joined hands in wedlock and remained so ever
since. I got into the poultry business, producing
eggs, baby chicks, and fryers. During that time |

became interested in law enforcement. I gained

some experience working as night policeman in
Williston substituting for Chief P. L. Wiggins
when he was out on sick leave or vacation, or when
anything special was happening in Williston. The
Chief's _— was to treat others as he would like
to be treated.

___ During my poultry venture, Walter B.
Whiddon, the High Sheriff, offered to hire me as a

deputy for $60 a month. During the 1944 campaign
I worked in behalf of Millard F. Caldwell for
governor. He was elected. During that campaign I
heard Sheriff Whiddon make his last political
speech. This was his speech.

‘Hello, folks. This is your sheriff, Walter B.
Whiddon. All these other fellows running for
sheriff have been yelling about what-all they would
do if they get elected. Now, you folks here in Levy
County don’t actually need no sheriff and that’s
the reason you are going to reelect me. Thank
you.”’

And he sat down. The crowd roared,
applauded, and reelected him. He beat all eight
opponents.

During July of 1942 two men escaped from
Chattahoochee and got to Bronson where they
were given a ride by a salesman named K. D.
Shores. Before they got to Williston one of the men
killed Mr. Shores. They dumped his body between
Williston and Montbrook near the little Bob Brooks
house on a side road. The two men and a woman
with them took the dead man’s car, money, and

identification cards and headed for Lakeland. After
the body was discovered, a state detective named

W. D. Bush entered the case. He knew the

reputation of one of the men and where he was .

from. Perry Acree had been sent to Chattahoochee
for killing a policeman in Lakeland. Bush captured
the fugitives and returned them to Levy County.
W. F. Anderson was appointed to defend Acree.
The other man turned state’s evidence. Acree
decided to feign insanity. During his insanity
hearing, he jumped upon the big table around
which the hearing was convened and lowered his
pants as if he were going to the bathroom. The
circuit judge ordered him to be handeuffed. Then
Acree beat his face and head with the cuffs until
his face was all bloody. The judge ordered
additional restraints. Perry Acree became angry.
He called the judge a ‘‘squint-eyed SOB”, then

turned on the state’s attorney, T. E. Duncan, and

called him a ‘‘cooter-faced SOB". Duncan later
said that when he got home he studied himself in
the mirror and the longer he looked the more he
became convinced that he did indeed resemble a
turtle.

The trial lasted several days. Acree dismissed
his lawyer and defended himself except for
motions and appeals. The jury found him guilty of
murder in the first degree and the judge sentenced
him to be executed. His lawyer appealed all the
way to the State Supreme Court. On November 22,
1943 at 9:22 AM, Perry Acree was electrocuted for
cold-bloodedly murdering the man who had tried
to help him by giving him a ride along the
highway. I was invited to witness this electrocution

. but I was too busy with my chicken business.
During my poultry: years I had the privilege of
knowing Mr. Bob Walker who had been sheriff for.

a long time, about twenty-two years, I think. The
Walkers lived in the B. O. Smith house now owned
by Mrs. Rilla White. After being defeated as
sheriff, Mr. Walker got a job as Quarters Boss at
Gulf Hammock and she ran a boarding house.
Then they moved back to Bronson. Mr. Walker
would stroll over to the old Seaboard Depot and sit
on the freight platform in the sun. I stopped by to
talk with him whenever I had a chance. He was a

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PRR, oS li ee ee A Te RANG LR ASS BOE |
Pebrgeps: cc te EA Ae, aie — See pie Feb Pg Ss VG eS hie s. z Ee

Fred Moring (left) was appointed sheriff in 1956. His department staff was Willard Hardee, Ray Burnett, H. A. Perkins, Jim Wilkerson,
and Evelyn Drummond.

mente


Leap netgear Neer

Poa oN Ee gr aap ine emmy A Hae esetbinges aati bore

SRO ote Ghent tnr «minty esate ae eee A Uta aR me eB ee

Edith and Leroy Foster at Otter Creek, 1926. Her parents were Elmira (Lane) Surls (1874-1968) and James M. Surls (1876-1919). She lives at

Rosewood.


| .

< é
Ge

on

very interesting person.

His most famous case was while he was a
deputy under Cap Sutton. Two men went to the
Britt Lewis home and shot Mr. Lewis while he was
sitting in a rocking chair in-the hall of his house.
Mrs. Lewis ran out to see what was going on and
they shot her too. Both were killed. This was on
August 29, 1902. The two men then took the Lewis

safe out to the smokehouse and broke it open. They

got the whole amount of one twenty dollar gold
coin. Deputy Walker knew about where the two
would go to hide out. He brought them in
singlehandedly. Their trial was conducted rather
hurriedly as the sheriff. and court were
apprehensive of a lynch mob being formed. They
were executed by hanging on Sept. 29, 1902.

Not long after this, Cap Sutton resigned and

Bob Walker was appointed to fill the unexpired

term as sheriff. He served as sheriff for twenty-two
years. From the accounts given by the old timers
who knew him, Sheriff Bob Walker was a fine and
honorable officer of the law. L. L. Johns ran
against him and was elected. When Mr. Walker
found out that he had lost, he promptly resigned.

He said that the people had indicated that they no

longer wanted him so he would get out of the way
right then. I knew Sheriff L. L. Johns quite well.
He was a sporty dude given to wearing cowboy
boots and tremendous western hats along with two
guns in fast-draw holsters. After he was defeated

for reelection he and his wife Zelma ran a store in a.

wooden building where White’s Grocery is now.
When the Whites moved to Bronson they bought
out the Johns Store. The Johns couple moved to
Zephyrhills. Each hunting season, L. L. DeBuck
Johns would drive a horse-drawn Hoover wagon
back to Bronson. He and Percy L. Fender would
load supplies and go to the hunting woods where
they would spend long periods of time. Both of
them enjoyed these temporary returns to the
frontier life of the old days. Mr. Johns really loved
Levy County and its people. He did not want to
leave here, oe

On November 19, 1944, the night before
hunting season was to open the next day, Sheriff
Whiddon was planning on a big hunting expedition
the next day. He died that night. Governor
Spessard Holland appointed J. W. Turner as

sheriff to finish the unexpired term. When Millard .

F. Caldwell went into office as governor he
appointed me, G. T. Robbins of Bronson, also
known locally as the Chicken Man, to take office as

sheriff as of Thursday, February. 1, 1945. On the

Saturday night before that date, Deputy Hagood

Ellzey of Otter Creek had chased two white men
away from the colored juke in that area. Later, that
samenight, Deputy Ellzey returned to the juke and
was killed by gunfire froma palmetto thicket. I will
designate the gunman as John Doe. The other man
was not seen at the crime scene: Both were
convicted of second degree murder and sentenced
to life imprisonment.

The: next constable at Otter Creek was Willis
Crews. One night he was called to a liquor store
disturbance. Upon arrival, he found John Doe’s
father drunk and raising cain. Constable Crews
tried to get the man to go home; instead, he
attempted to attack Crews with a knife. Crews shot
the man, John: Doe’s father: The coroner's jury
returned a verdict of justifiable homicide. All
during my ten years as sheriff it was rough going
for a greenhorn sheriff. 1 got permission from the

state to escort John Doe from prison to his father’s

funeral at Rocky Hammock Church. Later, two
younger brothers of John Doe were caught for
breaking and entering, shooting at an officer, and
carrying a gun illegally. One was sent to the state
prison.

Thad avery good deputy named Henry Cannon
in the Inglis-Crackertown-Yankeetown area,
another one named Johnny Rowland at Cedar Key.
I tried to work the whole county, depending .on
deputies and constables to. keep me informed.
Things usually went along smoothly until the full
moon and then everything would break loose. The
deputies and constables were on the old fee
system; if they did not make any cases during the
month they got no pay. For my first eleven months
after expenses were paid I netted $3260, a Big Job,
that was. And we had to furnish our own vehicles.

One night Mr. S. E. Gunnell and I were sitting
on the Intellectual Exchange Bench (gossip) at the

corner liquor store in Bronson. A car stopped:

outside and two young men entered. | knew one of
them, he shook hands with me. The other greeted
me cordially enough, he knew who I was. Then he
asked me if I knew who he was. I said not exactly
but that he looked like one of the Blank boys. He
said that was right, he was. I asked him which one

of the Blanks his father was. He hesitated, then

stuck his head out the door.

‘‘Hey, Ma! Just exactly who was.my Pa?’’ You
could have heard him shouting two blocks away.
The old lady stuck her head out the car window and
shouted back that she didn’t know and that he had
better not forget to buy her snuff. I found out later

that she had been married to three of the Blanks at,

different times and I concluded that she actually

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By James W. Turner, Jr.

Lonnie Williams, one-time depot agent at

. Ellzey, invented a 4-wheel drive vehicle in 1913. |

He built this machine from the first car ever owned
in Levy County. This first car was purchased by my
father from the Gainesville agency that was later to
become Shaw and Keeter. He bought the car in
1907, kept it a few years, then sold it to Lonnie
Williams. .Mr. Williams built a second 4-wheel
drive vehicle in 1914. His design was stolen and
patented by the representative of a corporation
while the company man was negotiating with
Lonnie to buy the design. Then the company stored
the patent away and no significant commercial
development of the 4-wheel drive vehicle took
place until World War II. Lonnie was the father of
Dutch Williams and Guy Williams. Today, when a
hunter drives his Jeep through Ellzey, Florida, he
should pause to think about his 4-wheel drive
design being invented and built right there in that
place, sixty six years ago.

A lot of things happened while I was sheriff.
For instance, two men were executed by

_ electrocution. John Hall was sheriff of Clay County

for thirty six years without a single execution from
his county. It happened that I caught both of the
men here. One of them was next to the last
execution in Florida until this time (1979). The
other man shot and killed Mark Read, the sheriff of
Gilchrist County. I went over there and caught him
and kept him in the jail at Bronson.

Certainly, one of the highlights of my career as
sheriff, to me at least, was the conspiracy wherein
this bunch planted a moonshine still on my farm
not long after I started my first elected term. Their
objective was to get me suspended from office and
one of their number appointed. The investigation
and research that brought that case to a head was
long and complicated. I had a lot of help from the
State Sheriffs’ Bureau.

Wesley Booth from Cedar Key was one of my
deputies. He stopped a car that was weaving
around all over the road and charged the driver

with driving under the influence. The jury returned .

a verdict of not guilty. Immediately following this,
Wesley came into the office, got a writing pad, and

23

went out to his car. A few minutes later he came
back in and tendered his resignation. He said that
if the people of Levy County thought that I had a
deputy of such little integrity working in the
department, well, then, he wished to have no part
of such an office. The outcome of that trial was
mostly the prosecuting attorney’s fault. When
Wesley was on the witness stand, the attorney
asked if he had smelled alcoholic furnes on the
accused driver’s breath. Wesley replied that he
had no sense of smell. The prosecuting attorney
said, ‘‘Do you mean, Mr. Booth, you don’t smell
good, is that right?’’ Naturally that broke the jury
up into howls of laughter and the case was lost
right there.

My father was Dr. James Turner. My great
uncle Jim Turner sent my father through Stetson
University for pre-med, then my father went over
to Tulane for two years. He ran out of money, came
back and worked at Tom Yearty’s cedar mill at
Vista for eighteen months. During that time he

bought two outfits of overalls and jumpers, the rest -
; ¥ ad

of his earnings he saved to return to Tulane and
complete his medical degree. He graduated in
1904 and began his medical practice in Bronson.
Then he moved to Otter Creek and that is where I
was born. My father’s full name was James Wilcox
Turner. The Wilcox name came in on my grand-
mother’s side and the community of Wilcox in
Gilchrist County was named for her people. My
father is buried at Bronson.

When I was sheriff we had a jailer, a couple of
deputies, and a bookkeeper, which is quite a
contrast with all the staff they have now. I wouldn't
be surprised if some of the deputies don’t even
know each other.

One night a woman called in to report a
peeping Tom and said she had been threatened
with rape. We went tearing out there. The dog
picked up the fugitive’s trail right where he
jumped off the porch. It was drizzling rain but the
dog never lost the trail. He followed it about a mile
to a house, sniffed his way up onto the porch and
rared up on the door. This dog was a famous old
hound named Charlie. I told the dog-handler to

_—_—_—


secure the dog, then I knocked on the door. A man

opened the door and stood there, I knew him well.

- Meanwhile, the woman complaintant had followed
us in a car and was parked out front. She started

screaming that this was not the right man, this was —

definitely the wrong man, furthermore, she was

going to kill me and the dog both. 1 looked inside, ~

his wet shoes were parked neatly on the floor
where he had placed them, he still wore his wet
pants, plus the dog had said that he was the
culprit. The evidence was plain enough. Further
investigation disclosed that she had been shacked
up with her boyfriend when her husband arrived
on the scene. He detected the hasty exit of the
boyfriend, so she contrived the peeping Tom story:
to save face. Then he would wonder. why she did
not report the incident, so she called us. Now, she
was doing all the hollering out in the front yard to
keep her boyfriend from being arrested. Ole
Charlie had blown the lid off.

I remember when Stacey Hardee and Al
Arrington went down the Suwannee River in an
airboat and never came back. That was one of the
sad things. I was president of the State Sheriffs’
Association in 1964, it was before that, so it must
have been "61 or ’62. They were friends of mine.

——" wre found Al at the- fork -where- the river. divides. __

into the East Pass and West Pass. The airboat was
nearby, on the bottom. We snared it with a grapple
hook. Two days later. we found. Stacey a short
distance down the West Pass. The “wind was
blowing hard the day they went down. A witness at
Vista saw them go by there with only a couple of
feet near the boat’s stern touching the water. They
must: have hit some big waves at the fork and
flipped.

1 was elected for two terms, starting in 1956.
Before that 1 was appointed twice. In 1956 I
attended a training school in Tallahassee for
newly-elected sheriffs along with Ed Blackburn
from Hillsborough County. Ed had seen the Father
Flannigan Ranch in Texas and wanted something
like that started in Florida. He mentioned this to
five of us during a casual conversation and from
that the Florida Sheriffs’ Boys Ranch began. We
met in Suwannee County to start the organization.
‘Cecil Webb donated $1000 at the start and later
donated as much as $20,000 a year. The movement
later grew into three centers: the Boys Ranch, the
Girls Ranch, and the Youth Villa. Whatever my
accomplishments as sheriff were, the one that
means the most to me in my memory is my
participation in the founding and growth of those

___ youth centers.


S¢

The boy with his arms folded was Mr. Norwood F. Ishie of Bronson when he was 14, in 1925. The others were his brother Cecil, his mother,
brother Joe, sister Flossie, and a neighbor, Curtis Lane. This was at Sumner. z :

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Sometime during the early 1890's he married
Mattie Amanda Tindale. She was a sister of Ira

Tindale of Otter Creek. Mr. Berryhill was working —

in the Dry Creek cedar woods when the 1896
hurricane hit; the whole woods crew almost lost
their lives. He was foreman of the Kamode
plantation on Wekiva Run for awhile. Mr. Kamode
was an Englishman. Mr. Berryhill would load his
boat, the Ida, with vegetables and go over to Cedar
Key where the Greek sponge boats would buy the
whole load. As many as fifty of these sponge boats
would be in the Cedar Key harbor at one time. This
was from 1915 to 1920. Im 1936 Mr. Berryhill
settled in Gulf Hammock where his son Willie
Berryhill still lives. He never shaved during the

last fifty six years of his life because of a bad scar:

from jaw surgery at the age of thirty six. When I
knew Oscar Berryhill he was past the age of ninety.
He could tell of some violent happenings he had

seen. There was no law at all in the logging camps.

For awhile, the only law in Cedar Key was one
colored man,-the town marshall, and he rarely ever
arrested anyone. The Berryhills had twelve
children and numerous grandchildren and great
grandchildren, many of whom still live in Levy
County.

Another person whom J will always remember
is Annie Higgenbottham Sheffield. She had a great
heart, she was very concerned about the problems

of anyone who was down, sick, or burned out. She’

would hit the road taking up a collection for the
benefit of those unfortunate ones. Annie grew up
in Cedar Key during the rough and tumble days.
She reared a family there, the only two I can think

of at the moment are Cecil and Maude. Annie was:
| aunique personality during her younger days. One

time, she overheard a man making some remark
about her in a crowd, so she threw him to the
ground and sat on his face until he stopped
moving, then she got up. Sonteone threw a bucket
of water on the man to revive him. He did not make
any more critical remarks about Annie..

During the early fifties the people were still
recovering from the World War Two economic
disruptions by farming, pulpwooding, or whatever

they could find to do. We had the Hotrod Age upon.

us, as it was called then. The highways were two-
laned and during a holiday the traffic would be
bumper to bumper. There were no Interstates, all
the traffic of a holiday rush would be crammed
onto these two-laners. The Florida Highway Patrol
had unmarked cars making traffic cases right and
left, so I put my deputies out there, too. Freddie
Hale chased a Georgia driver from Lebannon

ai

Statiom to Chiefland and back around to Bronson
doing around a hundred miles per hour. That was

the type of traffic violators we were after. The: -

Georgia driver put up a $150 bond and forfeited it.
All the speeding cases we made were for’speeds in
excess of seventy five miles per hour. The: next
thing I knew, the acting governor hauled me into
Tallahassee. Out of one side of his mouth he would
hold a big hearing and threaten to suspend me
while out of the other:side he would say Sheriff,

you and the Senator be sure to come to see me. [

had known this man a long time. He was part of the
old Pork Chop Gang which finally got their feathers

clipped when Florida went to one man, one vote.

Now that 1 am about to end my reminiscences
of my ten years as sheriff of Levy County, I hope
that my services. as sheriff were satisfactory. I
enjoyed the work most of the time, it was always

interesting. I know that I made some enemies

along with lots of friends. To all the county officials
who also served while I was sheriff and especially
to my faithful staff, you were a congenial group
whom I enjoyed knowing and working with, and
may the best be for you during your remaining
years. I realize that there were many instances of
cattle rustling, non-support, assaults, etc. that I
have not mentioned, but as J said at the beginning,
these are just some highlights. 1 would like to
quote here the Indian Prayer by Chief Red Mouth.
Oh, Great Spirit, grant that I may not
criticize my neighbor or friend until
I have walked a mile in his moccasins
while he walks barefooted.
If there is anything further to be said or added
to this manuscript, let it be said by others.
Respectfully,
G. T. Robbins, former sheriff

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Murder ©
Murder

Mr. Ronald C. Van Raalte

RE: Officers Killed in Line of Duty
25 February 1982

PAGE TWO

D
VQ x
arrived, they found Officer Owen shot. It was later learned UC
that the suspect held a raincoat over his arm and hand, and oe
in the hand, he had same type of hand used to shoot the aa
officer. One week later, the suspect was shot to death by
the Chief of Police of Winter Park, Fila. oe te

4, February 1937 - Officer Harry G. Mason

Officer Mason was walking the beat when he encountered a
disorderly person. A fight between the officer and the

ee tee:

suspect erupted, and the officer was severely beaten. The

officer subsequently died as a result of his injuries incurred

during the fight. The suspect was ; later hanged.

5. August 1933 - Officer Egbert C. Moore

Officer Moore and his partner discovered a burglary to a
liquor store. Upon searching the building, “they round the

suspect hiding behind the bar. He refused to give up, and
shots were exchanged. Officer Moore was shot by the suspect
with a .38 cal. pistol. The suspect | was” then killed by
Officer Moore's partner. cme

Currently, the department's survivor benefits provide for the surviving
Spouse to receive 75% of the sum of money which the member would have been
entitled to as a monthly pension for 25 years service. Surviving children,
under 18 years of age, will receive 25% of that pension for their welfare paid
to the widow or widower. When the children reach the age of 18 years,

their portion would go back to the widow or widower who would then receive
the full 75%.

*"

If you have any further questions, please direct them to me. Again, I am
sorry about your unanswered previous requests.

Sincerely,

WILLIAM L. KOLESZAR
CHIEF SF POLICE

at ge, Major 5

mdoly Chief of Police
Field Operations Bureau

RS:bkp


.mmons sought
1e wouldn’t get
ty ‘against him.
unty, where he
the fall term of

srwards sought
ackson County.
alhoun County,
nce. Ammons’
|, appealed the
udgment of the

r the county of
e the said John
appearing why
said judge, in
2d at such time
court do cause

McQuage, then
part «f Holmes
sea Walton
cel or iand. The
‘Quage with his
from which the

lancy Sutley, an
1. They stopped
to Eucheeanna.
in gold that he
stopping on the
ied. He then sat
toward the cart,
her yard fence
ill him.

n her yard, and
ad killed him by
i with his knife.
neck and upper
long his breast,
.. She said that
osom of his shirt

ph Carroll, who
was out to feed
ded a barrel of
of . Sutley,

" ES ML, EN Ee eae

ee ee
See TSS ws oR

si es nn a li i

according to his testimony. Others arriving on the murder scene gave
testimony, which tended to support that given by Mrs. Sutley, Carroll and
Mrs. Sutley’s son Harry, whose home was about 200 yards away and who soon
arrived at the scene of the murder. Members of the coroner’s jury, plus Mrs.
McCaskill, McQuage’s sister, and Angus Gillis and D. Neal, were present
when McQuage’s pockets were searched and only a 20-cent piece was found.
They also failed to find McQuage’s purse. Benjamin Sutton testified that he
later found $20 in McQuage’s daybook in the cart.

Ammons left the Sutley home during the night after the murder, saying he
was going to the home of his father-in-law, a Mr. Hodge, whose residence was
about three and a half miles away. Sheriff Daniel Brownell testified that, when
he failed to find Ammons at the Hodge home, he went up into Alabama and
found Ammons at Elba, in Coffee County. The sheriff said that Ammons
returned with him willingly to Holmes County and that he saw no mark of
violence on the prisoner.

Ammons’ attorneys, unable to present witnesses who actually saw the
incident, seemed to concentrate on trying to discredit the state’s witnesses
and to attempt building a case on self-defense. Harry Sutley, Nancy Sutley’s
son, testified that Ammons told him the night of McQuage’s murder that he
did it in self-defense. Albert Parish testified that he saw a scratch on
Ammons’ left side after he was returned from Alabama. ‘‘The place looked a
little purple,’’ Parish testified. He said he was present when McQuage’s
pockets were searched, and that he saw no blood about the mouth or the
pocket. Benjamin Sutton said that Mrs. Sutley appeared to be angrily
disposed toward the defendant. ‘‘I heard her talk sorter angry about
Ammons,”’ he testified.

John Milton, who was soon to become governor of Florida, testified as a
defense witness that Mrs. Sutley said at Ammons’ previous trial in Marianna,
‘‘to the best of my recollection, that Ammons said while. ..at her house (just
after McQuage’s death) that he had killed McQuage in his own defense.”’

Jesse Sutton and Albert Campbell testified that they had known Joseph
Carroll in Alabama and that people there had described his character as pretty
bad for honesty. Sheriff Brownell testified that he had known Carroll from two
to two and one-half years and had heard nothing wrong of him in Holmes
County.

The Supreme Court’s report for 1861, the year the case was argued and
adjudged, fails to record the final chapter in the case. Since Holmes County’s
records were destroyed by fire in 1902, reliance must be placed on the handed
down memories of at least third-generation descendants of those carrying out
the sentence of the court. One such descendant of John A. Vaughn, who
succeeded Brownell as sheriff in 1859 and held the office into 1865, is Albert
Harris, who resided in Bonifay in 1985. Harris said it became the duty of his
kinsman, Sheriff Vaughn, to hang Ammons, as ordered by the court.

The hanging, Harris said, took place in Cerro Gordo possibly late in 1861 or
early in 1862. Harris recalled a family legend to the effect that Sheriff Vaughn
confided that he dreaded discharging that responsibility more than anything
he had ever done. His brother, William, responded that for $25 he’d trip the
hangman’s treadle, according to Harris. Harris said the sheriff handed his

293


ig all manner of

rdered them to

e marshal, who
to stop. Mixon

with five bullets
ry and returned

ey Holland and
the mysterious
he road near his
been blown in

; in jail charged
ght three miles
es. There were
p on moonshine

the sawmill in
was found in his
.e instant death.

he { shooting
at a uance near
it convicted of

t 12 miles north
wounded. W.R.
is neighbor, was
ye serious. The
a long time.
pe following the
»r 6, when Dave
scessitated the
as been arrested

ve Charlie Floyd
over farm rents.
ided by a load of
1 night at W.M.
oke out between
joor party. Buck
ers then jumped
charged. Some of

vt gate intending

> fnurder of Pink
rf, come up for

Se ne ee Ce

commitment trial in county judge’s court Thursday. Judge Hathaway, after
hearing the evidence, decided that it was not sufficient to commit her to jail to
await the action of the grand jury, and therefore ordered the prisoner and
witness discharged.

October 1, 1915 — C. Manley was acquitted for the murder of C.J. Shaw at
Noma in May, 1915. Manley was Alabama-Florida Lumber Company sawmill
superintendent, and Shaw was manager of the company’s blacksmith shop.
The two men engaged in an argument in the blacksmith shop during which
Manley struck Shaw the fatal blow on the head with a shovel.

October 24, 1914 — The State Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court
conviction of Frank Chancey, 60, for manslaughter in the death of his wife. He
was given a 15-year sentence. Chancey’s wife was found dead near his house
one morning last winter. She had been clubbed over the head with a blunt
instrument. It seems that a general neighborhood row had been in progress
early Sunday night in which corn rum and bad women played an important
part.

July 29, 1911 — Last Friday Ed Shirley shot and killed Woodie Gates. The
shooting occurred near H.H. Brown’s naval stores camp 14 miles north of
Westville. It was while Gates was at work that Shirley, armed with Gates’ own
shotgun, slipped up on him and shot him in the back.

February 12, 1912 — A gang that has been doing minor offenses for some
time on the Esto road north of Bonifay grew quite bold Saturday night and
held up four different parties. Early in the night, the gang held up a driver
from Dupree & Green’s stable and robbed him of a chew of tobacco, the only
thing he had. Another driver from the same stable was taken from his carriage
later, beaten and sent back to Bonifay. Two other holdups were reported, with
a Winchester rifle and $90 in cash being among the items taken. Eight
individuals were later arrested in connection with the hold-ups.

December 24, 1908 — A telephone message from Milton last night
contained the report that J.B. Kelly and Thomas Adams, said to be Holmes
County naval stores operators who left Pensacola on the eastbound passenger
train at S o’clock yesterday afternoon, were arrested on their arrival in Milton
on the charge of promiscuously shooting in the passenger coach. Their bond
was placed at $1,000 each.

Both men are said to have been drunk when they fired their revolvers in the
coach, it being reported that more than 30 shots were fired, two of which are
said to have passed through a passenger’s hat who was seated in front of the
men doing the shooting. No one was injured by the bullets. The men
commenced shooting when the train reached Mulat, and it is said that they
fired several shots into a store at Gull Point. The conductor of the train wired
the authorities at Milton from Mulat. Both men were arrested in Milton by
Sheriff Mitchell and Deputy Mann.

HANGING SENTENCE UPHELD
Two sensational trials followed the indictment of John Ammons for the

murder of Samuel McQuage in 1858 when Holmes County had been in
existence only 10 years. The two trials, each leading to conviction, were held

Fae k

in two different nearby counties because of venue changes. Ammons sought
the first venue change on the basis of his expressed fears that he wouldn’t get
a fair trial in Holmes County because of prejudice in the county against him.
His request was granted and the trial was held in Jackson County, where he
got a continuance for one term of court and was convicted in the fall term of
1859.

Ammons then sought and was granted a new trial, but afterwards sought
another change of venue because of his former conviction in Jackson County.
That request was also granted, with the venue changed to Calhoun County,
where the defendant was convicted and given a death sentence. Ammons’
attorneys, claiming numerous errors in the course of his trial, appealed the
case to the Florida Supreme Court, which in 1861 affirmed the judgment of the
lower court, saying:

‘‘Let this case be remanded to the Circuit Court in and for the county of
Calhoun, and the judge holding said court be directed to cause the said John
Ammons to be brought before him in open court, and nothing appearing why
sentence of death should not again be imposed upon him, said judge, in
open court, do sentence the said John Ammons to be executed at such time
and place as the court may deem fit and proper, and that said court do cause
said sentence to be carried into execution.’’

Ammons, about age 23 when the incident occurred, and McQuage, then
described as an old man, were neighbors in the southwestern part of Holmes
County. They had been to Eucheeanna, then the county seat of Walton
County, where McQuage bought some supplies and sold a parcel of land. The
two men, riding on McQuage’s ox cart, headed homeward, McQuage with his
supplies and his money from the land sale, plus a jug of spirits from which the
two imbibed along the way.

It was after nightfall when they reached the home of Mrs. Nancy Sutley, an
elderly woman who resided about ten miles from Eucheeanna. They stopped
at the Sutley home, as they had done earlier while en route to Eucheeanna.
Mrs. Sutley testified that McQuage, who had shown her $55 in gold that he
had in his purse during the earlier visit, asked for water upon stopping on the
return trip and was invited to help himself at the yard watershed. He then sat
for a few minutes at the door of the house before heading back toward the cart,
Mrs. Sutley testified. She said Ammons met McQuage at her yard fence
cursing the older man and declaring that he intended to kill him.

Mrs. Sutley testified that Ammons then killed McQuage in her yard, and
that Ammons acknowledged immediately afterwards that he had killed him by
striking him with a gun, which was broken in the process, and with his knife.
McQuage’s body bore knife wounds across his shoulders, neck and upper
chest. ‘‘McQuage was lying on his face; he was bloody all along his breast,
and his pockets were very bloody,’’ Mrs. Sutley testified. She said that
Ammons’ hands, after the murder, were bloody and that the bosom of his shirt
was bloody.

Mrs. Sutley’s testimony was basically corroborated by Joseph Carroll, who
was staying at the Sutley home at the time of the incident and was out to feed
McQuage’s oxen and rearrange the cart’s load, which included a barrel of
pork. He thus saw the incident from the opposite direction of Mrs. Sutley,

292

according toh
testimony, whic
Mrs. Sutley’s sc
arrived at the s
McCaskill, Mc(
when McQuage
They also failec
later found $20

Ammons left
was going to the
about three and
he failed to find
found Ammons
returned with }
violence on the

Ammons’ att
incident, seem¢
and to attempt
son, testified th
did it in self-d
Ammons’ left s
little purple,’’
pockets were s
pocket. Benja:
disposed towa
Ammons,’’ he

John Milton,
defense witness
‘*to the best of
after McQuage

Jesse Sutton
Carroll in Alaba
bad for honesty
to two and one
County.

The Supreme
adjudged, fails
records were de
down memories
the sentence 0:
succeeded Brov
Harris, who res
kinsman, Sheri

The hanging,
early in 1862. H
confided that h
he had ever do!
hangman’s trez


leading him through town exhibiting him as a show and heaping all manner of
indignities on him.

Eventually the marshal grew tired of their foolishness and ordered them to
stop. Mixon then allegedly drew his knife and started on the marshal, who
backed some distance, all the time appealing to his adversary to stop. Mixon
did not stop but kept advancing until the marshal stopped him with five bullets
from a Colts revolver. Wellington was freed by a coroner’s jury and returned
to his job as marshal.

October 10, 1914 — Thomas Myers, Alonzo Grubbs, Wiley Holland and
Harvey Berry are being held without bail in connection with the mysterious
killing of John Walden, who was found dead September 20 in the road near his
home in the East Pittman Creek area. A large hole had been blown in
Walden’s head and back with a shotgun.

November 25, 1921 — Bill Odom is dead and Huey Bland is in jail charged
with murder as the outcome of a cutting scrape Sunday night three miles
southeast of Ponce de Leon. Odom was stabbed several times. There were
several men in the party and all hands were allegedly tanked up on moonshine
whiskey. Bland was unhurt.

March 29, 1914 — Jonas Kirkland, while working at the sawmill in
Wynnlum, was mysteriously killed Wednesday. A small hole was found in his
neck and it is supposed that a stray bullet struck him to cause instant death.
No one seems to know who fired the fatal shot.

November, 1914 — Joe and Elias Barnes are charged with the fatal shooting
of Dr. W.E. Lewis, an Esto physician, during an altercation at a dance near
Esto. They were charged with first-degree murder but convicted of
manslaughter.

August 17, 1907 — Tuesday a fatal shooting occurred about 12 miles north
of Bonifay in which one man was killed and another badly wounded. W.R.
Gilbert was shot and died Tuesday night. A Mr. Treadwell, his neighbor, was
hit in several places, but his wounds are thought not to be serious. The
shootout stemmed from some animosities that had existed a long time.

January 6, 1922 — Jeff Pennington, who made his escape following the
shooting in the New Hope section on the night of December 6, when Dave
Jones and his son received gunshot wounds which necessitated the
amputation of Jones’ left arm and the right leg of his son, has been arrested
and jailed in Bonifay.

November 30, 1912 — Saturday morning near Cedar Grove Charlie Floyd
shot and killed his father, J.C. Floyd, as a result of a dispute over farm rents,

November 30, 1912 — Willie Benton was accidentally wounded by a load of 4

squirrel shot discharged from Buck Sasnett’s gun Saturday night at W.M.
Sasnett’s home north of Westville. It seems that a fight broke out between
W.M. Sasnett and some unnamed individual during an outdoor party. Buck
Sasnett, seeing his father under attack, ran for his gun. Others then jumped
on him, but he held on to the gun until it was accidentally discharged. Some of
the shot hit Benton, who was untying his mule from the lot gate intending
evidently to leave. Dr. L.H. Paul extracted the shot.

July 4, 1908 — The case of Cora Garner, charged with the murder of Pink
Miller, both residing near the Choctawhatchee River, came up for

290

“ shooting occurred

commitment trial
hearing the evide
await the action
witness discharg:

October I, 1915
Noma in May, 19
superintendent, a
The two men eng
Manley struck SI

October 24, 19.
conviction of Fran
was given a 15-ye
one morning last
instrument. It see
early Sunday nigt
part.

July 29, 1911 —

Westville. It was v
shotgun, slipped
February 12, 19
time on the Esto 1
held up four diffe:
from Dupree & Gr
thing he had. Anot
later, beaten and s
a Winchester rifl
individuals were |
December 24,
contained the repo
County naval store:
train at 5 o’clock ye
on the charge of p1
was placed at $1,(
Both men are sai
coach, it being rep:
said to have passec
men doing the sh
commenced shooti
fired several shots »
the authorities at N
Sheriff Mitchell an

Two sensational
murder of Samue!
existence only 10 y«


rather than undergo a jury trial. Drummond, upon informing the court of
Peterson’s decision, said it had been made freely and voluntarily. Peterson
confirmed that he had made the decision without any inducements, promises,
threats or suggestions that a guilty plea might be to his advantage.
Peterson’s confession before Circuit Judge E. Clay Lewis in a crowded
courtroom early in 1959 brought an end, except for sentencing, to ‘‘the most
sensational trial Bonifay and Holmes County citizens have ever witnessed,’’
said the Holmes County Advertiser. Peterson recalled in great detail the
manner in which he inflicted death and injury upon members of the Carnley

family. ‘‘I don’t know why I did it. I must have been crazy,’’ he told the court.

He recalled, under questioning by State Attorney J. Frank Adams, that he had
entered the Carnley house through a window. ‘‘I saw a man lying there and he
started to get up and that ax was leaning on the wall. I picked it up and hit
him. Then I went into the room where the woman was,”’ Peterson testified. He
then told of his assault on the woman and the children.

‘*Yes, Judge, I was holding her with my right hand and hit the little children
with the ax I had in my left hand... She got up and fought me and I hit her
with the ax,’’ Peterson admitted. He said he then went out of the house and
put his shoes on and went down the road. Drummond asked if he had anything
further to say and Peterson said, ‘‘Yes, Judge, I want to ask the mercy of this
court. I don’t know why I did what I did, but I am guilty.’’

‘‘According to the testimony I have heard here today you are not entitled to
any mercy,’’ Judge Lewis responded. ‘‘It is hard for me to say whether any
man can live or die, but that is what I am called on to do. You made your
decision the other day when you said you were guilty of these crimes. I am
sorry for you, Frank, but I believe, as you have said, you have made peace
with your God.’’ Judge Lewis then read the death sentence to the defendant.

Sheriff Andrews, accompanied by Clifton Williams, a Bonifay night
policeman, George Hawkins, A.L. Hammack, Rev. Emory Andrews and Rev.
B.C. Bradley went to Raiford to join 49 other witnesses to the June 2 execution
of Peterson and two other convicted murderers. Peterson, recognizing
Andrews as he entered the death chamber, murmured, ‘‘Hello, Sheriff,’’ and
said softly, ‘‘Save me, Jesus’’ two or three times as the hood was placed over
his head. He was pronounced dead five minutes later.

COMMENTARY: A PRESENTMENT IS JUST AN OPINION

Once upon a time, long before my youthful idealism dimmed into adult
realism, I placed grand juries in the category with motherhood, the U.S.
Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and maybe
the Ten Commandments. Grand juries then, in my estimation, could do no
wrong.

I admit, however, that I didn’t understand the system very well at the time. I
was simply willing to accept a grand jury’s finding as factual because I had
heard the system praised from time to time as the best ever devised by man. I
was to learn later that a grand jury is about as perfect or imperfect as its
members. I still don’t quarrel with the system, since I don’t know of a better
one. But I’ve learned that a grand jury indictment is an accusation and not a

304

conviction, and t

I believe many
distinctions, Any
eyes of g Ip
The indicters, tl
determine if the ¢
deliberate in secr
until a few years

Circuit Judge R
demonstrated a
trying to impanel
hear with one ear
get to hear only o
presentments tha
earmarks of havi
Here, in part, is
jury in October,

ad

ae &

Circuit Judge
court session he
session began we
Boswell, Geneva
Virgil Q. Mayo,
attorney, Harvie
of Blountstown;
Holmes County S
attorney and late
south of Bonifay.
Bonifay, and cou

@


ng the court of
tarily. Peterson
ents, promises,
dvantage.

s in a crowded
g, to ‘‘the most
rer witnessed,’’
yreat detail the
; of the Carnley

told the court.

ms, that he had
g there and he
d it up and hit
on testified. He

e little children
e and I hit her
the house and
e had anything
e mercy of this

not entitled to
y whether any
ou made your
e crimes. I am
e made peace
the defendant.
Bonifay night
rews and Rev.
ne 2 execution
, recognizing
, Sheriff,’’ and
as placed over

INION

med into adult
nood, the U.S.
ice and maybe
n, could do no

Il at the time. I
because I had
vised by man. I
nperfect as its
10w of a better
ition and not a

Pact as

sara ce a Rtn caren Sn intel CTs og onc lei ia
NaS? cpa Sees ARAL ogee ee zee

ms
i
|
i?
i
i

4
1
4
|
ae

5

=3

Sein ae Re a mer te Hoe tte enone

conviction, and that a presentment is opinion and not proven fact.

I believe many of my fellow citizens go through life without making those
distinctions. Anyone who gets indicted therefore has had his bell rung in the
eyes of general public. Failure to convict never completely unrings the bell.
The indicters, then, are simply the accusers. It is up to a petit jury to
determine if the grand jurors were right or wrong. Grand juries, then as now,
deliberate in secret. That adds an aura of mystery. Only men served on juries
until a few years ago. Women didn’t even vote here until about 1920.

Circuit Judge Robert L. McCrary once told me of one of his colleagues who
demonstrated a good understanding of the functions of a grand jury while
trying to impanel one. To a man who asked to be excused because he couldn’t
hear with one ear, the judge said: ‘‘You’ll do just fine. As a grand juror you’ll
get to hear only one side of the evidence anyway.’ I’ve observed grand jury
presentments that I believed to be instruments of injustice. Some had the
earmarks of having been manipulated for political or some other purpose.
Here, in part, is one such presentment returned by a Holmes County grand

jury in October, 1914:

Circuit Judge Robert L. McCrary of Marianna presides in 1963 over the first
court session held in Holmes County's new courthouse. Pictured as the
session began were [standing from left]: Earl Lewis, Milton attorney, E.C.
Boswell, Geneva, Alabama, attorney; A.P. Drummond, Bonifay attorney,
Virgil Q. Mayo, public defender, Blountstown, Clyde R. Brown, Bonifay
attorney; Harvie J. Belser, Bonifay attorney; J. Frank Adams, state attorney,
of Blountstown; J. Paul Griffith, Marianna attorney formerly of Bonifay;
Holmes County Sheriff Cletus Andrews; and Clyde Wells, DeFuniak Springs
attorney and later circuit judge, a native of the Washington County area Just
south of Bonifay. Seated are Circuit Court Clerk Judge B. Helms [left], of
Bonifay, and court reporter Bobby Russell of Marianna.

305


= past few months
srtain violations of
ult that we find no

we find that his
coming the dignity

he voters rang his

uN

scores of longtime
elp him celebrate
st 5S as a county
Representatives. I
er back in 1925 or

nsmen, Clyde R.
1alf century as an
spective jurors to
ered as it is, is no
or service. Their
have shaped their

130s, said he hada
native of Holmes
cluding J.J. (Boy)
oners. Brown said
ould,’’ had been
eir native county.
ck juries during a
nty commissioner
les, was one of the
that term of court
night celebrity by
Je. His courtroom
itted against C.R.

Jones offered him
al insight into the
he evidence, the
derations.

e young attorney,
ed of farmers and
rosecutor, to have
ne region of ticks.
first time we ever
ine

REFERENCES

Holmes County Advertiser, Bonifay, Florida, from issues on and near the
dates indicated. Copies on microfilm available in the John C. Pace Library,
University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida.

Tebeau, Carson. Florida from Indian Trail to Space Age, Volume 1.
Southern Publishing Company, Delray Beach, Florida, 1965, page 129.

Ammons v. State, case file in the archives of the Florida Supreme Court.

Interview with Albert Harris, December 4, 1985.

Holmes County Advertiser, August 4, 1910.

Wells, Anna Paget, and Clemmons, Geraldine Kryder. Heart and History of
Holmes County, privately published, Bonifay, Florida, pages 220 and 408-413.

Interview with Sheriff Lon Brown following apprehension of the men
indicted and convicted of kidnaping and robbing Mrs. Sophie Phelps.

Holmes County Advertiser following Ples Dixon’s indictment, trial, appeal
and execution, February 28, 1944, April 11, 1944, June 7, 1944, May 29, 1945
and October 29, 1945.

Dixon v. State, case file in the archives of the Florida Supreme Court.

The author provided newspaper coverage of the Frank Peterson case from
The Pensacola Journal, the Associated Press and United Press International ~
from the time the murders were reported until Peterson was sentenced and
executed.

Interview with Sheriff Cletus Andrews following Peterson’s execution,
which was witnessed by the sheriff.

Holmes County Circuit Court records, Grand Jury Presentment, 1914.

307

‘Reports have been current throughout the county for the past few months
to the effect that our sheriff (J.Z. Mayo) has been guilty of certain violations of
the law... We have investigated these charges with the result that we find no
proof that Sheriff Mayo has violated the statute law, but we find that his
association with immoral women has been unwise and unbecoming the dignity
of the high and responsible position that he occupies.”’

That bit of bell ringing took place prior to an election. The voters rang his
bell again by voting him out of office.

COMMENTARY: THE JURYMEN GOT EVEN

A lot of reminiscing took place here May 31, 1980, when scores of longtime
friends and neighbors of J.J. (Boy) Williams gathered to help him celebrate
his 89th birthday. Williams had spent six years of the last 55 as a county
commissioner and 10 as a member of the Florida House of Representatives. I
was among those who recalled the start of his political career back in 1925 or
thereabouts.

Another one who remembered it all was one of his kinsmen, Clyde R.
Brown, who will soon round out a remarkably successful half century as an
attorney. Brown has a reputation for knowing which prospective jurors to
retain or reject. He acknowledges that the jury system, revered as it is, is no
more perfect than the individuals who are summoned for service. Their
convictions and prejudices, molded by the influences that have shaped their
lives, must be taken into account.

Brown, recalling the start of his law practice in the early 1930s, said he had a
new law degree but no trial court experience. He was a native of Holmes
County, however, and had a lot of kinsmen in the county, including J.J. (Boy)
Williams, then chairman of the Board of County Commissioners. Brown said
that Williams, ‘‘who promised to help me all that he could,’’ had been
instrumental in persuading him to start his practice in their native county.

He said Williams assisted him initially by helping him pick juries during a
~ term of court. Brown recalled that Cal Jones, a former county commissioner
and father of onetime Holmes County Sheriff W.C. (Ben) Jones, was one of the
jurymen that Williams had approved. I myself remember that term of court
quite well, and I recall that Brown became an almost overnight celebrity by
winning all seven of his cases. His reputation had been made. His courtroom
victories were all the more impressive since he had been pitted against C.R.
(Bob) Mathis, a highly regarded prosecutor.

After the court term had ended, Brown recalled that Cal Jones offered him
some friendly advice. That advice, Brown said, gave him a real insight into the
way juries sometimes reach decisions on the basis of the evidence, the
lawyers’ arguments and other completely unrelated considerations.

‘Don’t start thinking you’re all that good,’’ Jones told the young attorney,
according to Brown. Jones, noting that the jury was composed of farmers and
cattlemen, said they earlier had been forced by Mathis, as prosecutor, to have
their cattle dipped periodically, as required by law, to rid the region of ticks.
‘“We had been mad at Mathis ever since, but this was the first time we ever
had a chance to get even with him,’’ Brown said Jones explained.

306

Holme oun
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executed.

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148 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

probate judge in the county of their residence and pay a one dollar
fee for the registration. Any free black who failed to register was
classified as a slave and became the property of any white person
who claimed him.®°

The restrictive legislation of the 1850s and the rhetoric
surrounding its passage reveals the dilemma of the Middle Florida
planters as well as their counterparts everywhere. They were
caught up in a labor system whose legal basis was at odds with the
world in which they lived and especially with many of the basic
assumptions underlying the government which they admired and
under which they lived. Underneath the legalities of slavery and
even the brutalities, there existed a human relationship between
white planters and black slaves which went beyond the law and
which the “outsiders” who attacked the system failed to
understand. The struggle continued and slavery ended in the chaos
of Civil War, but many personal relationships between blacks and
whites of Jefferson County continued and survived even the
difficult times of Reconstruction.

50. Tallahassee Floridian and Journal, December 20, 1856, December 25, 1858,
December 17, 1859; Smith, Slavery and Plantation Growth, p. 121.

he ae

UI TREE ce

Frontier Law and Order

Jefferson County settlers came from areas where criminal laws
and customs regarding personal relations were usually
well-established. The law was respected and law enforcement was
a public responsibility. The sheriff or other officials could assemble
a force of citizens on short notice to defend the community against
unlawful force or to capture fleeing offenders. Yet even in the older
communities certain offenses against home, family and person
customarily resulted in punishment by the affected individual. If
retaliation happened to be a violation of the law that was a
secondary consideration. Imbued with standards of self-reliance
and personal conduct acquired from living where such a
relationship between law and custom prevailed, the early county
residents found themselves in a wilderness beyond the reaches of
any established law. While building a community where virgin
forests stood, Indian bands roved, and unknown climatic and health
conditions prevailed, these optimistic, enthusiastic, self-reliant
settlers implemented the standards of the communities where they
had grown up. They defended themselves, their families, and their
property against any threats which arose, whether natural or
personal, by the methods available to them.

It was to be expected that personal violence would be common
where large numbers of ambitious and strong-willed people came
together. But these same people were anxious to establish a
community where the law prevailed and people were free to raise
families, hold property, and travel about in security. They rapidly
built such a community, but it was one based on law and attitudes
toward law enforcement which were modified by the customs of the
older communities applied to a frontier situation. The letter of the
law received strict attention, but its enforcement was tempered not
only by the ability of accused felons to escape into the wilderness or
to “parts unknown,” but also custom by which special offenses were
expected to be handled directly by individuals without waiting for
the law to work its course.

149

150 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

The people of the county recognized the problems of crime and
punishment in a frontier community. Thomas Randall's explanation
to William Wirt regarding the ruffians who had helped to destroy
his German colonization experiment, for example, was based on the
lack of a place to incarcerate violators of the public peace. The
grand juries of the 1830s were all concerned with the necessity of
building a courthouse and a jail. But some of them believed there
were other problems peculiar to the frontier society of Florida
which made the situation more acute. Physical attacks on Wirt’s
German colony in 1834 and several separate murders about the
same time, provoked from the grand jury its “deepest regret and
mortification for the multiplied instances of flagrant causes” which
it had to consider. With William R. Taylor as its foreman, the jury
concluded that at least one cause of so much crime was “the
violence of party spirit.” The political disputes of J oseph M. White
versus James Gadsden and his allies were only one example of the
harsh feelings engendered by politics. Even elections for militia
offices sometimes caused bitterness between competing
candidates. The assault on the Germans was believed by Randall to
have been the result of fears that their votes could be controlled by
Louis Goldsborough. The grand jury felt, however, that partisan
spirit had even reached the state where elected officials were using
their positions to “aid and shield” some violators and that such a
practice was coming to be expected from political friends. This was
a “most demoralizing and dangerous” encouragement to crime. As
one partial deterrent to this particular difficulty the grand jury
recommended that elections be made less frequent by making
candidates for county offices, territorial offices, and delegates to
Congress run at the same time. It further noted that some of the
“most intelligent and respectable and virtuous of our citizens” were
reluctant to serve as magistrates, jurors, and other officials. It
quite logically concluded that “if the minister of the Law is not
worthy of confidence. . . .in like degree will the Law be condemned
and disregarded.”!

Probably the most frequent crime of violence was assault and
battery, the indictments for which were numerous. Only some of
the prominent examples will be mentioned to demonstrate how the
problem cut across all groups of society as well as the difficulty of

1. Records of the Superior Court of Jefferson County, Order Book D, p. 132;
Tallahassee Floridian and Advocate, December 6, 1834.

Latha vine aammamage

Frontier Law and Order 151

obtaining convictions because of community standards of conduct in
such matters. Everett White, one of the brothers of the territorial

_ delegate who was subsequently killed in one of the famous duels of

the day, was the offender in several assault and battery cases. In
1829 he and his brother Philip assaulted David Bozeman. They
were arrested, indicted, convicted, and fined 614 cents each. Three
years later Everett White was once again involved in an altercation
this time with John B. Collins who ran a store in Monticello. White
allegedly entered Collins’ store with a drawn knife and attacked the
proprietor, but a witness later refused to testify. Both men brought
suit and both were arrested and tried. White was found guilty on
two charges. He was fined one dollar and ten dollars respectively
for the offenses. Collins was also found guilty and assessed a
twenty dollar fine. At the same session William Land was found
guilty of the same offense and fined 614 cents. In 1838 John Gamble
was indicted on an assault and battery charge on a warrant sworn
by Joseph Kersey. The grand jury found it “not a true bill” and
Kersey was assessed $6.25 court costs. In 1830 Stephen Townsend
was charged with assault and battery and false imprisonment, but
the cases were never tried.” His brothers Spencer and Moses were
charged with assault and battery at the same time, but the charges
were dropped, probably because both of them were subsequently
charged with murder.

There were several cases of false imprisonment, but the most
Serious one which resulted in conviction was brought against
Hezekiah Brown, John McMullen, Daniel McMullen, James King,
Thomas F. McCall, and Moses McCall. They were found guilty in
1848 and fined fifteen dollars each. In 1858 Joshua Everett, Hugh
Connell, Nicholas Johnson, John Dugger, E. B. Weeks, Thomas
Jones, Benjamin Standland, and John Kelsey were indicted on the
same charge. Their case was transferred to Leon County, however,
and continued.?

Murder was an almost ordinary offense, but there were few cases
of premeditation. Some began as assault and battery cases and
simply resulted in a death, but most of the others grew out of the
heat of the moment. Moses and Spencer Townsend were indicted

2. Records of the Superior Court of Jefferson Count i
ons y, Minute Book, pp. 11, 19,
36, 37, 39; Order Book B, p. 74; Tallahassee Floridian and Advocate, May 22, 1832.

3. Records of the Circui :
Gude Book p . pe Vircus Court of Jefferson County, Order Book A, p. 185;


152 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

for a murder growing out of a brawl. Moses was released on the
bond of Isaac and Asa Townsend, but another altercation caused
him to be returned to jail. He then escaped with the assistance of an
accomplice named Jonathan Vickery. Spencer apparently fled with
them. William Saffold, an early settler and prominent land owner in
the Miccosukee Lake area, and John McDowell, Jr., both
committed murders a little later. Both fled to avoid arrest. By the
time the grand jury assembled in 1834, there were four murderers
in flight from justice in Jefferson County. It appears that none of
them was ever apprehended.

In 1836 Leonard Dozier was arrested and held without bail for
the murder of Thomas Redding. He was ultimately tried and
convicted. Hugh Duncan killed a man named Hines in 1838 and was
confined in jail on a murder charge. After reflecting on his chances
in court, he apparently concluded that they were not promising. He
burned a hole through the floor of the jail and fled. A reward of
$400 was offered for his apprehension. It was ironic that a slave
escaped with him who was being held on an arson charge.°

A bumper year for murder indictments was 1842, but the
absence of convictions suggested that accused persons could expect
the benefit of the doubt regardless of their station in life. Harmon
Adams, Samuel R. Stokes, and Andrew J. Stokes, all day laborers,
were indicted for murder, but each was found “not guilty.” Henry
W. Bacon, another ordinary day laborer, was indicted for the same
offense. He was found “not guilty” of murder, but guilty of
manslaughter, and fined $500. On the affadavit of Wilkin Cook
Smith, two other day laborers by the striking names of John
Bellame and John Braden—no relation to the prominent men
bearing those names—were charged with homicide. They
voluntarily appeared, surrendered, and the marshal took them into
custody. They were indicted for murder at the November 1842
term of court, but were found “not guilty” in April 1843 and
discharged.®

In 1848, the same year that Richard B. Cole was killed by his own
slaves, Thomas J. Holten, an unfortunate eighteen year old youth,

4. Records of the Superior Court of Jefferson County, Minute Book, p. 21;
Tallahassee Floridian and Advocate, December 28, 1830, December 6, 1834.
5. Records of the Superior Court of Jefferson County, Minute Book, p. 199;
Tallahassee Floridian, July 21, 1838.
; ° oo of the Superior Court of Jefferson County, Order Book B, pp. 21, 44,
6-77, 152.

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Frontier Law and Order 153

became involved in a drunken brawl with a man nam

wry struck Stafford on the head with a “large ea
aia ree ee guilty of the murder, the youth was hanged in

Although the provocation is not known, Samuel Puleston, a
prominent Monticello druggist, shot and wounded Richard 'P
Leonard and Winfield Anderson as they were riding past William
West's tavern in Monticello in 1850. Leonard appeared to be the
target; Anderson was shot accidentally. Neither died, but Puleston
was charged for assault with intent to kill. The case was continued
for several terms and apparently was never tried. In 1854, three
other substantial citizens were involved in a violent affray. John B
Russell and Joseph McCants—the latter a prominent attorney and
former judge—assaulted George W. Gelzer with a dirk. Both were
indicted for assault with intent to murder and found “not guilty.”8
In 1857 George Riley was indicted for murder, but was found

guilty of manslaughter. He was sentenced to imprisonment for two
months and thirty-nine lashes to be inflicted by the sheriff. Josiah
T; Scruggs was indicted for murder in the late 1850s, but the case
was continued during the Civil War and was never tried.9

_ The murder of Aron B. C. Scott by his brother David E. M. Scott
in 1850 was one of the more senseless crimes of passion during the
period. At a family gathering David and Aron became involved in a
playful argument, but David lost his temper and threatened his
older brother with a loaded shotgun. With incredible audacity Aron
grabbed the gun and began swinging David around with it while
the younger man became more and more enraged. Finally, he
pulled the trigger, killing Aron instantly. He mounted a saddled
mie standing nearby and rode off, but was arrested a few days
ater by the sheriff. But he broke out of jail and fled to “parts
unknown.” Governor Thomas Brown offered a $100 reward for
Scott’s return.

. The wanted Poster described the fugitive as about forty years of
pc medium size and frame, and “very talkative, particularly after
aking a drink of ardent spirits. ..His language is very much like

7. Henry Wirt to Mother, Dece i
ies ; mber 6, 1848, Wirt P ; »
Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Order Book A, pp. 123-24. iho hi

8. : .
Files oe of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Order Book A, p. 214, Case

9. Ibid., Order Book B, pp. 115, 402.

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Jefferson County Courthouse. Built in 1835 by public subscription and
remodeled several times before being replaced in 1909.

Frontier Law and Order 157

Umphrey signed his bond, but the case never came to court. In
1856, Elias Burnside was also charged with disturbing religious
worship, but he died before the case was tried. In 1859 Josiah i
Scruggs was indicted on a similar charge. He fought the case, got it
continued, and it was dismissed in 1860. In 1852 William Budd was
indicted for an unspecified misdemeanor, found guilty, and fined
five dollars.14

Although it was a misdemeanor after 1829, duelling was so
ingrained in the customs of Jefferson County residents, that it was
a frequent resort of persons who felt their honor had been
besmirched. Until after the Civil War there was dispute between
Georgia and Florida over the boundary on the northern side of
Jefferson County. As a kind of legal no-man’s land, the area became
the duelling site for much of Middle Florida. There were many
duels in the period, and even more near duels, but attention will be
given only to a few representative ones. The Gardiner-Enderman
duel of 1829 was one of the first, and it had a classic ending. The
cause of the dispute is not known, but it was fought according to the
long-standing code regulating such affairs. Philip White and James
L. Parish were seconds for Gardiner and P. H. Scott and Martin
Sparks acted for Enderman. Agreeing to fire on the count of three,
the two faced each other with pistols ready. Enderman fired on the
first count and missed. He reloaded, they started over, and he fired
again on the first count. When they lined up for the third time, both
guns fired at the same time, and Enderman fell dead.15

The grand jury had grounds for attributing violence to “party
spirit.” In 1833, a bitter battle between Joseph White and Richard
Keith Call for the office of territorial delegate caused a bloody duel.
Oscar White, the delegate’s nephew, made a slurring remark in
public about Call. Leigh Read, Call's young protege, challenged him.
They met in a duel, fired pistols without results, and then attacked
each other with knives, battling until both were exhausted. Both
men recovered from their wounds.16

The duel between Judge David Macomb and Achille Murat was
not so grim. Fought near Lake Lafayette in 1834, it began with a
dispute over Murat’s slaves stealing Macomb’s hogs. The

14. Records of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Order Book B, pp. 59,
221-22, 273, 326, 333.

15. Tallahassee Floridian and Advocate, September 15, 1829.
16. Doherty, Richard Keith Call, p. 78.

axes, two crow bars, and the three safes, without
getting any of the safes open. Again, no finger-
prints. We believed this to be the work of the two
fugitives although they never admitted it after they
were caught.

One day about 2:00 PM two men held up the
Perkins State Bank in Williston and made off with

about ten thousand dollars. A citizen observed.

them stopping along the road and discarding a
Pennsylvania tag from the rear of their car. He
retrieved the tag. Then one of the bank robbers
contacted the owner of the car from which the tag
had originally come and advised him to remove the
other tag from the front of his car as they had used
his old rear tag while robbing a bank that very
afternoon. The owner of the car was scared half to
death. He went to a highway patrolman he knew
stationed in Gainesville, Doc Townsend, and told
him the story. Townsend set up a conference of
representatives from local sheriffs’ departments,
police departments, and the FBI and reported the
man’s story. The Alachua County sheriff did not
believe the story, so he went straight to the alleged
bank robber and asked him about it. That suspect
was never seen nor heard of again anywhere. It is
possible that he was killed and dumped into a
pond. Two months later, part of the same gang
robbed the Bushnell bank but were caught that
night in Gainesville while in the act of dividing up
the money. But the case of the Perkins State Bank
robbery was never solved.

At one time, Gulf Hammock was a thriving
sawmill town. owned by the Patterson-MclInnis
Lumber Company. It was a big operation, about six
hundred people worked there. Besides the
Company’s commissary, Peek’s Store, Spell’s
Store, and Gaven’s Store were there. There was
never an unusual amount of violence around the
place. The usual ‘‘juke’’ was in operation. One
Sunday morning the juke operator, Sandy Moore,
was killed in the gambling room by pointblank
gunfire. I interviewed about two dozen people who

' were in the place, not a one of them heard or saw a

thing. The case was never solved. I always
believed that Moore was killed: by some white
criminal and the witnesses were too scared of him
to talk.

I used to talk with Uncle Joe Curry. He told me
the story of the buried treasure at Fowler’s Bluff.
He was born in 1861 in Columbia County. In 1888
when he and his wife Lou were living at the Tuck
Hudson place near Fowler’s Bluff an old man with
a mule appeared on the scene to dig for the
treasure. No one knew who he was or where he

17

came from. After two months of digging his -

partner got sick with swamp fever. The old man
showed up at the livery stable in Hardeetown with
the sick man, turned in his rented wagon and
mules, and disappeared. Nine years later he
showed up at Gracy, Florida (Alachua County)

where the Biard brothers: ran a sawmill. Their -

foreman was Oril Freeman. He saw that the old
man was sick, so he put him in a makeshift bed in a
shack and tried to care for him. He died the next
day, but before he did, he gave a vellum paper
map of Fowler's Bluff to Oril Freeman and Emmett

Baird. The map purportedly showed the locations —

of three treasure caches near a bend of the river.
Emmett Baird, Oril Freeman, and a colored man
showed up at Fowler’s Bluff in 1897. They rented a
room from Joe Curry, hired Joe and George
Higginbotham, and swore both te absolute
secrecy. After locating the three large oak trees,
they began to dig: After a few weeks they had a
hole about twelve feet deep. At this point they

struck quicksand which would slide into the hole as_

fast as they could dig it out. When they probed into
the quicksand with a pole they struck some solid
object underneath. Baird went to the Barker
Blacksmith Shop in Hardeetown (where the
Townsend Truckstop is now) and had a large set of
tongs made.

They erected a scaffold over the hole and
attached the tongs to a hoist rope. After getting a
hold on the buried object with the tongs, they were

_able to raise the object which cieared the surface

with a loud sucking noise. At this point the object
was revealed to be a large chest. Joe Curry, in the
excitement, hopped down to the top of the chest
shouting to the others to hoist away. His added
weight broke the rope and down went the chest
again.

Then they built a coffer dam of vertical timbers
around the hole and started moving the quicksand
out, lowering the timbers as they went deeper.
One night, Baird, Freeman, and the colored man
worked in the hole alone until well past midnight.
Then they appeared at the Curry house and
indicated that they were giving up the search. The
three of them left before dawn, leaving all their

equipment behind. Curry went to the dig site and.

in the nearby scrub he found parts of an old lock,

thin sheets of a concrete-like material with hinge.

and strap marks on them. No one seems to know

what ever became of Freeman and the colored

man, but the Biards soon opened various
businesses in Gainesville.
Uncle Joe Curry moved to Cedar Key where he

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Mr. and Mrs. Oscar W. Berryhill. He came to Cedar Key from Quitman, Georgia in 1881. She was Mattie Amanda Tindale.

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ran a store. Three of his grandchildren were born
there. Joe’s son, Ben Curry was a teacher in.Cedar
Key from 1914 to about 1920. Uncle Joe was
running a store at Rosewood in 1923 at the time of
the Rosewood Riot. In 1926 he moved to Curryville,
built a store and dwelling, and lived there the rest
of his life.

Other attempts have been made to recover the
treasure at’ Fowler's Bluff. In 1910 one group

unearthed a bunch of skeletons, apparently those -

of swamp fever victims dating back to the time
when a lumber camp was at the site many years
before. That group of treasurer hunters quit. In

1923 Nelson and Mahone let one of the chests get’

away from them. Nelson appealed to the Army

Corps of Engineers for assistance. Then the river

went on a rampage and flooded the whole site.
Nelson was back again in 1926 only to have a
hurricane wreck all his equipment. He quit for
good. Not long after that, a group of.twenty one
persons atrived to dig. This group broke up into
fights, killings, poisonings, gunfights, burnouts,
suicides. The last of the treasure hunters was a
Sanford realtor, Walter Cooper. He detected the
presence of one of the chests but was unable to
retrieve it. In his report to state officials he stated
that the two remaining treasure chests could be
recovered with modern equipment.

On the morning of July 24, 1949, a charter boat,
the Hozee, left Yankeetown with six couples
aboard. for a fishing excursion. The captain was L.
R. Burnett, owner of the boat; his crewman was
Buck Gilley. During the morning a fire broke out in

the engine room, Burnett gave each person a life

jacket, and gave orders to abandon ship. All of
them made it to a nearby birdroost. Gilley, a strong
swimmer, struck out for Lighthouse Key to get
help. He was never seen again. A few people in

Cedar Key sighted the smoke of the burning.

vessel. Monday, an attendant of Lighthouse Key,
Dad Collier, was fishing on the flats when he
Sighted two persons in the water. Collier carried
this couple to the Lighthouse Key and gave them
some food. They had been in the water twenty four
hours. That afternoon he carried them into Cedar
Key. The Cedar Key fishermen mounted a massive
search of the area where the Hozee went down. A
few bodies were found, very mutilated, still
floating in the life jackets. The only survivors were
the couple Collier rescued. They were from Ocala.
They eventually got married. I guess they thought
that fate had certainly thrown them together. If the
whole group had stayed with the bird rack, all of
them would have probably survived. Instead, we

19

had a real tragedy. That big water out there in the
Gulf is no place to be taken lightly.

In the fall of 1946, William F. Marschek, a
World War I veteran, headed south from
Wisconsin. Just south of Columbus, Georgia he
picked up a hitchhiking World War II veteran by
the name of Jackson Cornelius Jenniby. That
night, November 25, Mrs. Hilda Jones registered
the two into a motel at Perry, Florida. Marschek
paid for the room. The next day, after passing
through Chiefland and approaching Bronson, the

two got into an argument. Jenniby stated that old

WWI vets were a sorry bunch, good for nothing,
etc. He produced a gun and ordered Marschek to
stop the car. That was just south of the Little
Waccasassa bridge. He marched Marschek out
into a dry pond and shot him in the back. Marschek
fell on his face, dead. Jenniby then took
Marschek’s money, identification, clothes, and car
and headed to Daytona Beach. There he traded
Marschek’s car for another one, spent most of the
money, and went to LaGrange, Georgia. Near that
town, he ran over and killed a deaf mute who was

walking along the highway. During the following —

investigation, LaGrange PD Chief R. E. Matthews
detected that Jenniby was not Marschek as he
purported to be. Further interrogation confirmed
this and then the suspect confessed to killing the
man he was posing as and described the spot
where the victim’s body had been feft. The Georgia
Bureau of Investigation sent representatives down
here, I went out there with them. Jenniby got a ten
year sentence in Georgia for running over the mute
person. This was early in 1947. Some of us made
an unsuccessful trip to Atlanta to bring Jenniby
back to stand trial for murder. The governor of
Georgia had died and two men were claiming to be
governor. While there we saw the gory residue on
the streets where people had jumped when the big
hotel burned. After the governor squabble was
settled, we went back to Atlanta and brought
Jenniby back to Bronson for trial. He was charged
with first degree murder and plead not guilty by
reason of insanity. A sanity hearing board declared
him fit to stand trial. He was found guilty of first
degree murder and got life. John A. H. Murphee
was the judge.

Oscar W. Berryhill was an interesting person
and I enjoyed talking with him whenever I got the

chance. He was born at Quitman, Georgia in 1868. .

At the age of thirteen he came down the Suwannee
River with an older brother and three older sisters
and landed at Cedar Key. He went to work for the
Eagle Pencil Company, mostly in the cedar woods.


26.
27.
28.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.

al.

38.
#
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.

1895
1895
1914
1915
1915
1915
1916
1916
1916
1921
1921
1923
1925
1927
1927
1927
1928
1928
1928
1928
1929
1933
1933
1935
1938
1940
1941
1941
1946
1947
1948
1950
1951
1951
1951
1952.
1953
1935
1957
1957
1958
1958
1960
1962
1962
1962
1964
1965
1966
1967
1967
1969
1970

LIST OF POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN DADE 54.
for Police Officers Killed in Dade County, 1895-1991 55.
by Dr. Wm. Wilbanks of FIU (305-595-6102) 56.
57
Aug. 12 Metro Rhett McGregor 58.
Aug. 17 Metro Gustav A. Kaiser 59.
March 7 Dania John Clifton 60.
June 2 Metro Wilbur W. Hendrickson 61.
June 2 Miami John Rhinehart Riblet 62.
Aug. 24 Dania W. L. Cox 63.
Sept 16 Homestead Allen Henderson 64.
Sept 16 Homestead Will Z. "Bud" Henderson 65.
Sept 16 Homestead Charles R. Williams 66.
May 22 Miami F.A. Croff 67.
Nov. 28 Miami R.R. Marler 68.
June 15 Homestead Charles D. Bryant 69.
Mar. 15 Miami Sgt. Laurie R. Wever 70.
Jan. 10 Miami S.J. Calioway 71.
July 8 Miami Jesse L. Morris 72.
Sept 25 Miami A.R. Johnson 73.
Feb. 3 Miami Det. Frank Beckham 74.
Mar. 20 Miami Beach David Beardon (shot on 19th) 75.
Sept 26 Miami A.S. McCann 76.
Dec. 25 Coral Gables Cy Guest 77.
Apr 24 Miami S.C. Crevrs 78.
Mar 31 Miami John Brubaker . 79.
Nov. 12 Miami Det. R. lL. Jester 80.
Aug. 9 Miami S.D. Hicks 81.
June 6 Coral Gables Homer C. Bartone= Ke LAREN 82.
Mar 29 Miami Patrick Nowell~Baldwin 83.
Sept 18 Miami Wesley Frank Thompso ( 84.
Dec. 5 FHP Luther Daniels “7 te] ns 85.
Nov 2 Miami ohn Mil..edge 86.
Mar 7 Miami Johnnie Young 87.
Sept 24 Miami F.P. Wichman, Jr. (FDLE has accident) 88.
Jan. 16 Miami Charlie Cohen 89.
Feb. 13 Coral Gables lLuther T. Hardison 90.
Feb. 16 Miami Leroy LaFleur, 27 91.
Feb. 28 Miami J.H. Briyman cl RS 92.
Mar 16 Homestead W.F. Brantley N 4 ‘5 ne 93.
Feb. 3 Metro itz, Jr. 2 Mpe 94.
July 13 Miami Edwar vephen al . _ 95.
Oct. 31 Bal Harbour E > st 32— YA VKie WIC 296.
Nov. 22 Coral Gables Billy Stephens (FDLE has accident) 97.
Mar 8 Miami John T. Burlinson (FDLE has accident)
Oct. 18 W. Miami Leonard C. Tribble
Dec. 3 Metro Jerome R. Christman (FDLE-accident )
Feb. 3 Metro Earl Lee Johnson, Jr.
Nov. 7 Miami Jerrel Eugene Ferguson, 33
Nov 30 Miami James Frederick Hines
Aug. 23 Metro Carlos S. Stuteville, 27
Sept 9 FHP Bender, Owen Karl, 48
July 25 Hialeah Hugo Becker (FDLE has accident)
May 7 Metro Paul G. Anderson (FDLE has accident)
Dec. 19 Coral Gables Walter Fianklin Stathers, 45
May 7 Miami Ronald F. McLeod, 30
May 23 Miami Rolland J. Lane, II, 21
CVG

1971
1971
1972
1974
1974
1976
1976
1976
1977
1978
1978
1978
1979
1979
1980
1980
1980
1981
1981
1982
1982
1982
1983
1983
1983
1984
1984
1985
1986
1986
1986
1986
1986
1986
1987
1988
1988
1988
1988
1988
1989
1990
1991
1991

Feb. 20
Dec. 31
Jan. 21
May 18
May 21
Apr. 1
Apr. 1
Apr. 1
Aug. 4
Apr. 2
Feb. 14
Sept 19
July 24
May 16
May 18
Oct. 12
Nov. 5
Sept. 2
Sept 23
July 28
Aug. 31
Dec. 2
July 12
May 28
Dec. 25
Feb. 25
Dec. 21
Oct. 17
Apr. 11
Apr. 11
June 3
June 25
Sept 3
Nov. 6
Nov. 27
Mar 31
June 21
June 29
Nov. 28
Nov. 28
Nov. 2
Apr. 27
Apr 29
June 11

Miami
Metro
Coral
Metro
Metro
Metro
Metro
Metro
FHP
Coral
FHP
FHP
Metro
Metro
Miami
Coral Gables
N. Miami
Miami

Metro

Metro
Probation
A.T.F.
A.T.F.

Metro

Metro

Miami Beach
Miami
B-Harbour
FBI

FBI

Opa Locka
Sweetwater
Miami
Hialeah

S. Miami
Miami

Miami

Miami Beach
Metro

Metro

U.S. Cusiioms
Metro

Metro

Gables

Gables

Miami Sp.:-ings

Victor Butler, Jr., 45

Johnny E. Mitchell (FDLE has accident)
Robert KeKorte, 46

Sgt. Harrison Crenshaw, Jr. 33
Simmons Arrington, 31

Thomas Allen Hodges, 32

Clark Hamilton Curlette, 28

Frank Kenneth D’azevedo, 31
Bradley Glascock

Luis Pena, 41

Elmer Barnett

Alvin Kohler, 23

William F. Askew

William Coleman Cook, 25

Lt. Edward F. McDermott

Sgt. Alfred William Terrinoni

Carl Wallace Mertes, 41

Nathaniel Keith Broom, 23

Edward Russell Young

Cheryl Weiner Seiden, 33

Bjorn Thomas Svenson, 34

Ariel Rios

Eddie Benitez

Stephen O. Corbett, 21 (FDLE-accident)
Robert Bell Zore, 25

Donald Bernard Kramer

Jose DeLeon, 26 (FDLE has accident)
Melendez, John, 27

Benjamin Grogan, 53

Gerald Dove, 30

Ephriam Brown, 29

James Mathis Beasley, Jr. 44

David Herring, 25 (FDLE has accident)
Emilio F. Miyares, 27

Laverne Daniel Schulz (inj. Oct. 16)
Victor Estefan, 49

William D. Craig,37(inj=2 & 1/2
Scott Richard Rakow, 28

Richard Allen Boles

David Henry Strzalkowski

George Saenz

Joseph Martin, 28

Leis, Thomas

Stafford, Charles Bryan, 28

34.

35.

Sullivan, Robert A.---a 26 year-old ex-manager of the Homestead Howard
Johnson’s motel who in 1973 robbed that hotel of $2700 and kidnapped the
manager, Donald Schmidt, 39. Sullivan and a companion took Schmidt into
a marsh area off Krome Ave. where Sullivan beat him with a tire iron and
shot him with a shotgun.

Washington, David---a 35 year-old black man killed four people in Sept.
of 1976. He stabbed to death a 69 year-old white minister, Daniel
Pridgen, in a robbery and killed two elderly white women, Katrina Birk,
64, and Georgia Griffith, 68, in a separate robbery murder three days
later. In the second robbery, Washington tied, gagged, shot and and
stabbed Birk, Griffith and two sisters-in-law (ages 70 & 73). Two sur-
vived. Six days later Washington kidnapped and killed Frank Meli, 20, a
U. of Miami student.

36. & 37. Francois, Marvin and Beauford White---Four masked black men went to

a home in Carol City in 1977 to rob the occupants in a "drug rip-off."
When the mask of one fell off, the robbers decided to kill everyone in
the house. Eight persons (seven black men and one black woman) were
bound and gagged and shot in the back of the head, execution style. The
woman and one man survived to identify the killers. John Earl Ferguson
is on death row for this killing.

Death Row:

Knight, Thomas Otis---he abducted Sydney & Lillian Gans in 1974, forced
them to withdraw $50,000 for their bank, then shot both in the head. On
Oct. 13, 1980, Knight stabbed to death Richard Burke, 48, a prison guard
at Starke, FL, while on death row. |

Jackson, Ronald---On July 31, 1974, he and an accomplice robbed a couple
in a downtown parking lot and kidnapped the occupants, Mr. Lamora and
Mrs. Iturba, and took them to a remote area. Lamora attempted to subdue
his captors, was shot, and escaped into the woods. Iturba was shot,
stuffed into the trunk of her car with a cord around her neck. She died
of suffocation.

Thompson, William Lee---In 1976 Thompson and Rocco Surace, a co-defendant,
beat and tortured a woman in a hotel room after she was forced to call
home to obtain money but did not obtain enough to satisfy the co-
defendants. Surace also was sentenced to death but his conviction was
reversed on appeal.

Stewart, Roy Allen---In 1976 he robbed and raped an elderly woman and then
beat and strangled her to death. ???

John Earl Ferguson---Sentenced again in 1992 for two separate multiple
murders. He participated in the killing of 6 persons in the "Carol City
Massacre" in 1977 (see description under executions of Francois and
White) and in a double murder and rape in Hialeah) .????

Breedlove, McArthur---

Valle, Manuel---On April 2, 1978, he shot and killed Coral Gables officer
Louis Pena during a traffic stop. He fired two shots at a second
officer as he fled the scene.

Parker, Norman---he and an accomplice went to a home (in 1978) for a drug
deal and instead robbed the four occupants of the home. Parker raped
the female joccupant and fatally shot her boyfriend ("Chavez) in the
chest. The two survivors identified Parker as the killer.

Trawick, Gary---In 1978 he & three accomplices went on a robbery spree.
They first shot a female gas station attendant in the face, fled, shot

6


Summary of Each Death Penalty Case:

1. Faison, James---he was sentenced to death for murder in Palm Beach (then
in Dade County) on May 8, 1901.

2. Dedwilly, Robert---raped Mrs. Gould on Jan. 19, 1903.

3. Gamble, David---

4. Bright, John---killed Lottie Hardeman and was hanged in the jail yard on
April 3, 1903.

5. Kelly, William---a black man who shot his employer, Richard Hone, with a
rifle as the victim sat in his home writing a letter. Kelly was aware
that Kelly kept money in the home and planned to rob him.

6. Brown, Edward---a black man who beat and murdered Dora Suggs, a 29-year
old white female, on the road between Coconut Grove and Miami. Brown
was hung in the jail yard behind a fence so that spectators got only a
partial view of the hanging.

7. Daly, Clarence---"invaded the room" of an 80 year old woman ina Ft.

Lauderdale (then in Dade County) borading house where he lived and raped

her. She fled the boarding house only to be beaten "unmercifully" by
Daly with his fists. Neighbors interceded and Daly fled to his room
where he was arrested.

8. Brown, Joseph---a black man who shot and killed another black man in the
victim’s tent. He claimed that he was drunk at the time.

9. McKinney, Clarence D.---a black carpenter went to his home with an auto-
matic revolver to threaten his wife who had instituted divorce proceed-
ings against him. He fled from a constable sent to arrest him and
during his flight saw Rev. James Bolton, 76, walking to the railorad
station. The Rev. had been counseling his wife and he thought had

"influenced her". McKinney fired four shots at the Rev. and was in turn

hit by gunfire from a posse.

10. Scrimm, Harry---a 35 year old cook who raped a 4-year old girl and left
her in the woods near Little River in 1925.

11. Taylor, Philip---

12. & 13. Green, Willie & Arthur Williams----A gang of three black men were
part of a robbery gang ("The Twentieth St. Killers") that robbed and
killed at least four people during a two month period robbery spree.
Three of the victims were white males and one was a black male. All
were shot in the back and then robbed.

14. Johnson, Melvin---a black man who broke into a Coral Gables home after
posing as a Western Union Messenger, beat a man, then "attacked" his
wife and fled with $35.

15. Collins, Jim---a black man who raped a white woman in Miami in 1929.

16. Zangara, Guiseppe---a 33 year-old Italian who had been in the U.S. for 9
years, attempted to assasinate President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt
during a speech in Bayfront Park in Miami on Feb. 15, 1933. Zangara
fired six bullets with a handgun, missing FDR but wounding five persons

(two critically) who were near the President. One of the two critically

wounded, Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak, 59, died on March 6. 4angara
who had already been convicted and sentenced to prison for 80 years for
attempted murder, was tried again for murder, convicted, sentenced to
death and executed 13 days after the death of Mayor Cermak.

17. Williams, Walter---"Dock" Williams, a black man, was convicted of raping
four white women in 1934. It appears that each of the four involved a
home invasion and robbery and one or more involved a rape.

4


IEE

18. & 19. Casey, Clarence D. & James Milligan---Casey, 20, and Milligan, 20,
were two black males who robbed a 54 year-old Miami druggist and killed
him when he grabbed a gun and resisted the robbery on New Year’s Eve,
i931.

20. Scroggins, George W.---a black man who killed another black man

21. McCall, Franklin P.---a 21 year-old farm worker kidnapped 5 year-old
James "Skeegie" Cash, Jr., from his home in the Redlands in 1939.
Skeegie was killed (suffocated accidently) in the abduction but McCall
attempted to ransom the child. The case made national headlines for
several days as hundreds searched for and found Skeegie and McCall was
arrested.

22. McLaren, Frizell---a 32-year old black man who shot and killed Coral
Gables Police Officer Homer Collins Barton, 38, as he stood on a porch
across the street in Coconut Grove. McLaren, who was "crazy drunk,"
appeared to have no motive for the shooting.

23. Mardorff, Paul H.---a Miami printer who killed his wife by jabbing a
Chinese dagger into her body 23 times. He fled the home only to be hit
by an automobile, suffering serious injuries.

24. Stanton, John A.---& Albert Gurney Taylor beat to death Fred Knust, 64,
in his room in a boarding house in 1940. The burglary/home invasion
turned into a murder when Knust recognized the two men. The victim was
tortured to make him reveal the location of his money.

25. Hudgins, Byrdl---a 22-year old drifter who shot and killed Paul Daniel,
32, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper, in 1941. Trooper Daniel had
stopped Hudgins for speeding but was killed when Hudgins realized
Daniel’s radio was about to report that the car he was driving was
stolen.

26. Christy, Vincent J.---a 36 year-old ex-convict who killed four people in
one incident in 1942 in Miami. Christy claimed to have had a dispute
with Irving Leopold, 37, and entered the Leopold home and shot and
killed Leopold, his pregnant wife, Esther, 32, and son Stephen, 6.
Christy then hijacked a car driven by Ralph Morin, 19, killing and
dumping the body of the driver.

27. Warren, Ernest---a 29 year-old black man who raped a 15 year-old Perrine
white girl.

28. Reed, James---a 28-year old black man who raped a 37 year-old white
female nurse who was picking fruit at a grove adjoining Kendall Hospital
where she worked in 1946.

29. Green, Lewis---a 19-year old black Navy veteran who broke into the home
of a 9-year old white girl and raped her in 1946. The father chased
Green and slashed his throat.

30. Enmond, Alphonso---a 34 year-old black man who raped a 5 year-old white
female in 1948.

31. & 32. Anderson George and Percy Armbrister---Three black men (Anderson,
31, Armbrister, 23, and Richard Floyd, 20) were fleeing an armed robbery
in 1953 when stopped by Metro-Dade Motorcycle officer Edward E. Fritz,
23. Fritz was "ambushed" and shot in the head by a passenger from
inside the car before he could draw his own gun.n

33. Mackiewicz, Norman J.---a 32 year-old ex-convict and World War II hero
shot and Killed Lt. Robert Staab, 32, of the Bal Harbour Police Dept. in
1957 when he was caught burglarizing a hotel. Mackiewicz first scuffled
with Officer Joe Stahmer and then shot and killed Lt. Staab who was
rushing to rescue his partner. Mackiewicz shot at Stahmer as he fled.

5


?

= cgtallony,
Y Oo

i a Florida International University

The State University of Florida at Miami

Sz Department of Criminal Justice

M. Watt Espy, Jr. July 22, 1993

Box 277

Headland, AL 205-693-5225
36345

Dear Mr. Espy:

Here is the material I promised some time ago---copies of all my
newspaper articles and terms papers on Dade executions. The name of
each person executed is at the top of each stapled file. Attached to
this letter is my list of Dade executions (Note ref. to you in
"Sources"). I hope you will alert me to any early executions I may have

missed. A —
ym Weak

Dr. Wm. Wilbanks
6639 S.W. 116 Pl. #H
Miami, FL 33173

805-595-6102

School of Public Affairs and Services
North Miami Campus, North Miami, Florida 33181
(305) 940-5850

Equal Opportunity/Equal Access Employer and Institution

LIstTtT OF THOSE FROM DADE EXECUTED 1901-1992
Offender Victim Crime Date of Date of Date of

No.

Name

Race Age R/S Age M or R Offense Sentence Execution

Under County Authority:

1.

Faison, James
Dedwilly, Robert
Gamble, David
Bright, John

Kelly, William
Brown, Edward

Daly, Clarence
Brown, Joseph
McKinney, Clarence D.

Bwotowv= TS

SSDS SSE WS

Jol
1/19/03

/03
10/20/02
12/18/05
6/27/13
/13
12/12/16

5/8/01
2/23/03

/03
2/19/03

7/2/14
1/21/14
1/2/17

7/5/1901
3/13/1903
4/3/1903
4/10/1903
4/10/1903
6/5/1906
4/10/1914
7/3/1914
12/7/1917

Under State Authority:

10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
i$...
20.
21.
2h *
23.
24.
25.
26.

27.
28.
29.
30.
SLs
KF"
33.
34.
35.

36.

37.

Scrimm, Harry
Taylor, Philip
Green, Willie
Williams, Arthur*
Johnson, Melvin
Collins, Jim
Zangara, Guiseppe
Williams, Walter
Casey, Clarence D.*
Milligan, James*
Scroggins, George W.
McCall, Franklin P.
McLaren, Frizell
Mardorff, Paul H.
Stanton, John A.
Hudgins, Byrdl
Christy, Vincent J.

Warren, Ernest

Reed, James

Green, Lewis

Enmond, Alphonso
Anderson, George*
Armbrister, Percy*
Mackiewicz, Norman J.
Sullivan, Robert A.
Washington, David

Francois, Marvin*

White, Beauford*

PTPTVPTNPTNTP Toto wsnswes

wettwonowowds

v9

SSSR SASS SDWSDWSSTRD

SSS SSDWDWD

11/26/25

11/12/25
11/12/25
12/16/26
10/20/29
2/15/33
8/26/34
12/31/31
12/31/31
/36
5/28/38
6/6/38
/39

12/26/40

12/3/25

1/29/26
1/29/26
3/23/27
4/27/31
3/10/33
9/18/34
1/19/32
1/19/32

/36
6/16/38
7/13/38

5/25/1926
10/28/1926
11/23/1926
12/11/1926

9/4/1928
11/12/1931

3/20/1933

10/8/1934
10/19/1936*
10/19/1936*
10/26/1936

2/24/1939

10/6/1941
10/27/1941

5/18/1942

12/5/41 2/17/42 7/20/1942
7/17/42 11/7/42 3/1/1943

11/12/44
10/10/46
2/11/48
2/3/53
2/3/53
10/31/57
4/8/73
9/20/76

7/27/77

7/27/77

11/24/44
11/29/46
3/24/48
10/20/53
10/20/53
6/3/58
11/12/73
12/6/76

4/22/78

4/27/78

10/29/1945
1/14/1946
4/21/1947

9/6/1948
2/20/1956*
2/20/1956*

8/7/1961

11/30/83

7/13/84*

5/29 /85%

8/28/87%

ene ane eee ee gD SSUES GND ND GANS ERED GUD ND GRD GED SNES GONE GRE SN GENS SOD GED GREED GOD MD GD GRD GENO GENO GREE GUD GEIR GE GEER Gin GED Gomi Go GoNmD GD GED GENS GD END SED SS SED Sh SIS GENS GD GND SEED GED GENE eee GD Geen GEN Gi GED SEN GE Mem Gite SNES GEE SEEN} SEER conn “Ny

Those Currently on Death Row:

35.

Knight, Thomas Otis

Jackson, Ronald

Thompson, William Lee

Stewart, Roy Allen
Ferguson, John Earl

Breedlove, McArthur
Valle, Manuel
Parker, Norman
Trawick, Gary

Diaz, Angel
Bolander, Bernard
Jones, Ronnie L.
Harris, Theodore
Griffin, Frank
Lara, Mario

Patten, Robert
Gilliam, Burley
Phillips, Harry
Lopez, Eduardo
Garcia, Henry
Bryant, James
Irvine, Michael
Maqueira, Jose A.
Ramirez, Joseph
Roberts, Rickey
Cook, David

Scull, Jesus

Rivera, Samuel
Maharaj, Krishna

Pardo, Manuel Jr.

Garcia, Rolando

Campbell, James

Sanchez-Velasco, Rigo

Espinosa, Henry J.*

B

B

sein siiee

28

35

21

27
Le Ps

35

25
cP
29

H/M 1

1 W/M
1 W/F
F

5 B/M’s
1 B/F
2 W’s??

H/M ??-cop

3 B/M’s
F 73

1 H/F 13
1 H/M ??

B/M

W/M ??-cop

H/M 8
W/F 90
W/F 86

W/M ?
W/F ?
W/M ?
W/F ?
9

H/F 1
F 2

H/M ??
H/F ??
W/F ??
W/F 2?
w/M
W/M 53
W/M 23
5 H/M’s
3 H/F’s
1 W/M
5 H/M’s
3 H/F’s
W/M 53
H/F 11
H/M 35*
2

M
M
M

M

SSeS &

Date Date First Case
Offense Sentence No.
74
74
7/31/74 74-6538A
76 76-3350B
76 76-6621
7/27/77 222???
7/27/77 2222?
22222??? 2??2?
78 78-17415
4/7/78 5/2/78
7/18/78 11/18/81
12/13/78 79-355A
12/29/79 83-1893B?
1/7/80 80-640A
7/2/80 80-12103
3/22/81 81-7561
4/2/81 82-3268B
7/16/81
7/16/81
9/2/81
6/8/82 2/1/85
9/31/82
1/2/83
1/17/83 88 85-23640
1/17/83 88
83 6/??/87 84-9397B
or 84-3997
83 6/22/87 84-9397B
7/25/83 9/5/89 87-39099
12/24/83 2/20/85
6/4/84
8/15/84
11/22/85 3/7/86 83-26753
11/22/85 3/7/86 83-29461
11/6/86 7/14/87
10/16/86 12/1/87
Jan-Ap’ 86 4/20/88
Jan-Ap’ 86 86-12910B
12/22/86 5/19/88 86-38693
12/12/86 9/23/88 86-37102
7/10/86 11/4/88*


64
arce hide his mirth when
t of his soldiers ration.

that he substitute SP
rs in the Pensacola garrison W

e “Jobster-b acks.

Gentlemen
need campaigne! put also 4 confirme
i i tendent, John

tO overindul
was am experie

debility forced
d his troubles in a nigh

Stuart drowne
that he danced like @ man bitten by 4 tarantula. Even
had a reputation for getting drunk and quarrelsome in the evening, but,
in fine fettle 0 the moming-
. Redcoats

it was reported, he was always 10
Violence was nO stranger in this Gulf Coast frontier town
and Indian traders were rea d fists. Weapons
at hand, and in 1772, it wa ary to issue an ordinance
forbidding the casual discharge of firearms. One vistor declared that
among the soldiers there was nothing put “cursing, fighting &
drinking.” Beatings wer not uncommon, and the jail was seldom
ty. At Pensacola that symbol of civilization was no Bastille,
howeve!; rather, it would seem, just another bark hut, ope? of door
during the . Little wonder prisoners were Known to walk out
undetected on more than one occasion,
arrested and imprisoned for their debts,
to incarceration beside the common run ©

were close

So effective was
ed in 1769, it was S°

m those convicted of violent

i oned for debt, and
for the release of
of West Florida in

f inmates.

crimes.
Haldimand had to petition the Attomey

several of his men when the troops W
cial courts as well as of the

1769.
Pensacola was the seat of the provin
government of ‘da. and though minor local problems could be
dealt with by justices of the t Mobile or on the Mississippi, more
serious charges we hief Justice Clifton and Attomey
General Wess in : for the
murder of George Harrison, in October 1772, an i
lasting thirteen hours, four- i
up by 4 pointless harangue b

only six minutes t

Indian Affairs had acted u
and Charles Holmes

; A different fate was
| were hanged in May 1774, the Mississipp! 4”
: murdering its crew of three Frenchmen and two Negroes.

Scott was convicted of killing his servant, John

cepecepoenaeie A

Bi © smmand os COokernment
LE 22


Se ae A a

Some citizens living along the road saw them and
contacted Constable Wiggins. He intercepted the
two boys and inquired about the mattress. They
‘aid they had found it in the road. Mr. Wiggins
inew of two nearby houses that were vacant but
still containing furniture. He loaded the boys into
his car and went to one of the houses. They still
insisted that they had found the mattress lying in
the road. Mr. Wiggins went to the other house. Its
door was open. They confessed that they had
stolen the mattress from that house, which was
three miles from where they lived. They said they
needed it as they had been sleeping on the floor.
After further questioning, they said they came
from West Florida and had to leave there, that
their father could not get a job because he had shot
a man ‘‘in self advance’’. I called the West Florida
county to check out their story. Seems that their
father had been engaged in the manufacture of
-moonshine and a neighbor reported him. After
serving six months in prison, the father
determined to get revenge on the neighbor. Early
one morning he spied the neighbor squatting in the
bushes behind his barn, whereupon the father shot

the neighbor in the rear end with a load of ©

birdshot. That was the shooting in ‘‘self advance’’.

Early in 1945 there were several liquor store
burglaries around the county. We found most of
the evidence, caught the suspects, got them
- convicted and sent to prison. We were two years
late on one of the men who had robbed a liquor
store in Bronson. At the Williston bus station I
spotted the man sitting inside a bus. I arrested him
and brought him to Bronson. The same operator
was still running the liquor store. He was asked to
identify the suspect. He came out to the car and
said, ‘‘That certainly is the same SOB that held me
up two years ago!’’ The suspect plead guilty to
armed robbery and was sent to Raiford.

In 1947 two men from Macclenny broke into the
Cedar Key State Bank and attempted to cut a hole
in the vault door. Mrs. Day lived upstairs across
the street. She saw the sparks from their cutting
torch and called George Delaino. He contacted
Police Chief Warren and the two of them
approached the bank. The lookout man ran around
acorner, Warren and Delaino went in on the inside
man who attempted to pull a gun but the Chief

already had him covered. Paul Day called me, and.

when I got there, most of the Cedar Key population
were out looking for that other fugitive. They found
him hiding under a house near the Number One
Bridge, which I thought was aptly named. Both of
the suspects were tried and convicted in federal

11

__ My most enjoyable accomplishment was to help
start what turned out to be the Suwannee Valley
Semipro Baseball League. There were several
teams in and around Levy County. Most of the
players on the Bronson team are still living in the
county or nearby counties. The teams were
Bronson, Williston, Cedar Key, Gulf Hammock,
Otter Creek, Chiefland, Trenton, Archer, Cross
City, and Romeo. Trenton had nine Parish boys on
their team at one time. Williston’s was mostly
Smiths. I can still remember the Bronson team: G.
T. Robbins, Dogan Cobb, Luther White, B. E.
Brice, Epperson Marshburn, Elton Cobb, Haskell
Hardee, Gordon Drummond, S. C. Clyatt, Pussell
Watson, Dave Shewey,. Wayne Shewey, Dizzy
Dean (a pitcher), Franklin McKoy, Clinton McKoy,
Doyle McCall, and Frank McCall. Norwood F.
Ishie was concessions operator and would pass the
hat around for donations to help defray expenses.
Mr. Ishie was. always ready to help. We simply
loved to play baseball, whether we won or not.
Playing baseball on Sunday afternoons might have
helped keep some of the boys out of mischief.

In 1950 I appointed two young deputies, J. C.
Corbin of Chiefland and Freddy Hale of Morriston.
Both were good reliable men, always ready to
work. In Chiefland, the night of Dec. 28, 1954, a
soldier was courting a young widow. He saw her
coming home from a party, went to her house and
shot the girl twice with buckshot loads, a really
hideous and cold-blooded murder. He then
returned to his car and attempted to kill himself
but blew his chin off along with part of his tongue
and nose. Deputy Corbin found him lying on the
ground and sent him to a Gainesville hospital. His
family had him transferred to the Lake City VA
Hospital. The state’s attorney declined to
prosecute the man because of his condition. I have
never seen him again but others have seen him
around Chiefland at times. Where ever he is, he
still has no chin, tongue, or nose. In a way, he is
paying dearly for his crime, he can spend the rest
of his life regretting it. At the same time, the girl
had not committed a crime at all. She died.

During my ten years as sheriff I used to ride
with the deputies and constables in their districts
to get an overall idea of what was going on.
Constable Dave Hudson was a good officer and lots
of fun to be around. One day an out of state car
came flying through Chiefland and Dave took after
him in hot pursuit. The other man’ simply outran
Dave and left him behind. Dave stopped at the city
limits and said, ‘‘Oh well, let the SOB go. We'll

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did not know exactly which one was the boy's
father. Anyway, I never asked anyone else who his
father was. Mr. Gunnell probably never has either.
We both learned something there.

Levy County had its quota of bad men. Two had
been killed before I took office and two more were
killed during my tenure by different officers and
citizens. The one I dreaded most was a certain

exconvict. Several years back he had shot his own

first cousin in the back and killed him. For that he
went to Raiford. After getting out of there, he
returned and somehow was awarded a permit to
carry a gun. When his permit expired, 1 appeared
before the County Commission and objected to his
permit being renewed due to complaints from

various citizens of the county. The Board declined

to issue him another permit. During the next two

years I arrested him three times for carrying

firearms illegally. The last time was in a small cafe
in Bronson. The proprietor slipped to a phone and
whispered that this man was inside twirling two
guns around his fingers. When I arrived at the
scene he was sitting at a table with his back to the
door. Sitting at the opposite side of the table was a
highway patrolman with his face white as a sheet.
This bad man was very carried away with his
ability to juggle the guns and at the same time
intimidate an officer of the law. I poked my finger,
not a gun, into his back and told him that he was
under arrest and ordered him to place the guns on
the table and to raise his hands slowly. He did so. I
then asked the patrolman, O. C. Belott, to secure
the guns, which he did. Then I put the cuffs on the
bad man with his hands behind his back. When he
turned around it was his turn to go white as a sheet
when he saw that I did not even have a gun. I got
the guns from the other officer and carried the bad
man to jail.

That night he told the jailor (Mr. J. W. Wilker-

-son was a fine and conscientious deputy) that he

intended to kill me the first chance he got. Mr.
Wilkerson called:me and told me what the man had
said. After he bonded out, I met him in the
courthouse hallway the next morning. I told him
that I knew about his threat and that I had one
request, and that was that he meet me face to face
and not try to shoot me in the back as he had done
his other victims.

A few weeks later Chief P. L. Wiggins of the
Williston Police Department called to inform me
that the bad man had been killed by one Webby
Joe on or near the Chesser Flats west of the tung
oil farm. I advised the Chief to assemble a

_ coroner’s jury and meet me at the Top of the Hill,

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an all night service station. I joined the group and
we proceeded to the crime scene where we found
Webby Joe waiting for us. The two guns involved
were there. After all the usual swearing in, we
heard Webby Joe’s account. His testimony was
that he and the bad man were working together
making moonshine and had agreed to split the
proceeds. After delivering a five gallon jug to a
nearby customer, they were returning to the
moonshine shack when they got into a dispute over
the money. The bad man pulled a Spanish-made

semi-automatic pistol and fired one shot at Webby
Joe’s head, whereupon the latter reached over his _

shoulder for an automatic shotgun and hit the bad
man in the head with a load of buckshot. At the
time they were riding in what was known then as a
Model A stripdown. The dead man had been
driving, his feet became entangled in the pedals
and his body hung over the side until Webby Joe

got the vehicle stopped. The jury decided on
justifiable homicide, self defense.

The fact that Webby Joe had killed a bad actor
gave him the big head, he started acting tough.
Several weeks later he came. back to Levy County
and started across Elmar Richardson's freshly
plowed field. Elmar intercepted him and told him
he did not want a path established across his field.
Webby Joe pulled a new 38 pistol and made Elmar
Richardson: dance for about thirty minutes.
Whenever Elmar slowed down “cbty would shoot
near Elmar’s feet. Finally he ran cut of ammuni-
tion and left, catching a ride towards Dunnellon.
Constable P. L. Wiggins called me, we interviewed
Richardson and picked up the spent cartridges. We
went to Dunnellon and talked to the bus depot
manager, Henry Betts. From our description he
advised that such a person had bought a bus ticket
to Dade City. I returned to Bronson and got a
warrant out for Webby Joe, then called the Pasco
County sheriff and advised him of the situation,
that Webby Joe was carrying a concealed weapon
and fancied. himself as being tough. The other
sheriff said he would be ready, he had a good
friend who was a professional wrestler to help
him out in such a case. Well, they met the bus and
the wrestler had Webby Joe tied up like a pretzel
so fast that Webby didn’t know what hit him. I
escorted him back to Levy County. After the county
judge got through with him, he went back to Dade
City and straightened himself out. The combina-
tion of the wrestler and the county judge made a
model citizen out of Webby Joe.

One day two strangers appeared in the county —

carrying a mattress up the road in broad daylight.

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the remains up again and moved them to a burial
site where they were eventually recovered by
Sheriff's deputies.

The victim's family confirmed her disappear-
ance at about the same time it was estimated that
the shooting occurred. However, the victim had
been known to disappear for several months at the
time and even though it was more than IS months
later, no missing persons report had been filed.

The husband was charged with conspiracy to
commit murder, the son pled guilty to murder in
the second degree. The victim's friend couldn't be
charged with any related crime to the murder
because of a quirk in Florida law that disallows
immediate family members from being charged

with conspiracy or accessory to a crime committed |

by another family member that they attempt to
cover up. She, however, did receive the maximum
prison sentence allowed for the burglary she was
charged with. The woman whose emotional
hallucinations started the trail that led to the
several gravesites and the victim’s final resting
place, received a prison sentence and probation to
follow her release.

Another bizzare case tock place with an
undercover Sheriff's deputy being retained as a
“hired gun’’ to kill the brother and sister-in-law of
~# recently divorced man. The suspect blamed-his
divorce on the brother-in-law and sister of his
ex-wife and attempted to persuade a private citizen
to kill them for him. After tipping the Sheriff's
Department off to the scheme, an undercover
officer was introduced to the suspect as ‘‘John
from Miami.”’
with medicine, struck a deal with ‘‘John’’ to pay
for the contract double killing with forged
prescriptions for cocaine. After the prescriptions
were delivered to ‘‘John’’ and Sheriff's deputies
had obtained tape recordings of the conversations
between the two, ‘‘John’’ returned to the suspect
to collect his cash down-payment to cover
expenses. The defendant, however, couldn't come
up with the money, although seyeral attempts had
been documented by investigating deputies. So,
the undercover ‘‘hired gun’’ struck a compromise

and accepted a bill of sale for several expensive

items of equipment used by the suspect in his
profession.

The next day, rather than the sad call from his
ex-wife that he expected, the suspect received a
visit from sheriff's deputies armed with a warrant
charging him with solicitation to commit murder in
the first degree. Subsequently, the defendant
entered guilty pleas to the charge and additional

The suspect, associated in a way _

36

charges of attempting to obtain cocaine through’

fraud.
Figures obtained through a study of the
services provided by the ‘‘High Sheriff’’ show that

conservatively, eighty percent of a deputy’s time is |

spent in providing services that have little or no
relation to enforcing laws. These services range
from providing jump-starts to a motorist with a
dead battery to helping chase a bat that had

wandered down the chimney from a home at three

o'clock in the morning. On one occasion, the
non-police service involved the ‘High Sheriff’
himself.

An older resident of the county found himself
with a deer hound that wouldn’t run deer. Instead,
as the story was related to the Sheriff, “‘the

good-for- nothing dog don’t do nothing but run.

foxes and I can’t eat ’em.’’ In Levy County, of
course, it is no problem to find a fox hunter more
than anxious to add a good fox hound to his pack
and before the day was over, the disappointed
owner of the ‘‘good-for-nothing’’ was pleased to be
rid of him and the new owner was proudly showing
his latest acquisition to his fox hunting buddies. As
for the ‘‘High Sheriff’’, it was another day of
service and another one-of-a-kind call.

The operation of the ‘High Sheriff's’’ office

- has changed in some ways to meet the needs of

changing times. Levy County remains an area
where people can come to- escape the rat-race of
the crowded metropciitan area. It remains the

tranquil, peaceful weekend or vacation escape for»

thousands of people. Relatively speaking. this is a
true picture of life in Levy County. However, two

main highways and more permanent residents

have increased the need for updated law
enforcement and services available from the High
Sheriff.

Deputies now work particular shifts in specific
areas called assignment zones. This means closer
response to the major population centers of the
county and it means that a deputy now has some
time to devote to his family and rest rather than

being expected to respond around the clock.’

Departmentalization, in a modified form, has taken
place with the creation of three distinct sections in
the High Sheriff's Department. The uniformed
officers, strategically assigned to zone areas still
provide the backbone of service to the public and
are supplemented by the communication-detention
section, investigations section and a meaningful
crime prevention section.

Modern radio equipment enables a deputy at
the end of SR40, the far southwest corner of Levy

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planners because the best case was directly
against him. As is the case in a lot of criminal
activities, the lesser involved defendants gave up a
good portion of their defense to protect the
boss-man and all of those charged ended up paying
heavy fines, court cost and facing additional
charges in other jurisdictions.

In the final rounds of plea negotiations, the

defense team was surprised when State Attorney's
representatives played a hole card and demanded
the location of the 44’ sailboat that had been used
to transport the marijuana from Colombia, S.A. It
was a tense moment for a short while but ended
with the seizure of the vessel in a Daytona Beach
marina on information provided by the defendants.

Four other major smuggling cases were worked
by the office of the ‘High Sheriff" during 1978. All
of them involved hundreds of man hours and
coordination between other local police depart-
ments, Sheriff's Departments, state agencies and,
especially, three federal agencies, the U. S. Coast
Guard, Drug Enforcement Administration and U,
S. Customs Patrol service. The common thread
that weaved in and out of all of those investigations
was the tracking down of paper connections
between those low-level people caught at or near
the illegal loads and those who financed, planned
and protected the high-profit cargo of drugs. From
Miami. to New York, from Key West to Los
Angeles, trails of bank records, telephone toll
records, credit cards and other items were tied
together.

The major Smuggling cases netted over 30
defendants from all levels of the operation, seizure
of approximately 65 tons of illegal weed with a
wholesale street value of $39 million dollars, the
confiscation of a shrimp boat, a 49’ twin diese]
party boat, the 44’ motor sailer from the Ten Mile
Creek Deal, several four-wheel drive trucks, two
Station wagons and five small shuttle boats.
Although the Marijuana smugglers certainly
managed to get some of their cargo by, it is to be
safely assumed that the percentage of weed
Successfully smuggled past men from the office of
the “High Sheriff’? was less than the 90%
assumed to be a correct figure around the
Peninsula State. ! !

While the marijuana smuggling cases were the
all-involving cases during recent years, the office
of the ‘“‘High Sheriff’ continues to handle the
nitty-gritty cases that attract less attention.
Mutder doesn’t stop for the smugglers and the
Sheriff’ s Department responded to several
homicide calls during the past years. Most were

those falling into the classical, tragic folder of
husband and wife, family or neighbor disputes that
evolved into heated moments of passion and gun.
fire. One murder case, however, was bizzare in the
way it was discovered and the acts of those
involved after it had taken place.

The investigation got underway after a woman
with a history of a number of confinements in
mental institutions was booked into the jail on
burglary charges. Unable to post bond, her
emotional and mental condition began to
deteriorate. The lady was a familiar figure to many
of the jail staff and it was a normal routine to
expect based on prior occasions when she'd been
in the: jail awaiting bed space at a state mental
institution. One deputy, however, paused to speak
to the woman and listened as she told of seeing a
body in the ground in her dreams. The deputy tried
to establish a rapport with the disturbed. woman
and found that she was claiming to have helped put
the body in the ground and told him where the
gravesite was. The victim, another woman,
according to the inmate, had been killed after a
quarrel with another woman. The victim’s husband
and the second lady's children had been present at
the house and after the woman had been shot, dug
a hole in the backyard and buried her.

Following the directions of the jailed woman,
skeletal remains of a female human being
matching the description of she victim were
uncovered in a shallow grave on the north side of
the Suwannee River. The 18-year-old son of the
second woman in the house at the time. of the
shooting was indicted by a grand jury for first
degree murder and returned to Levy County from
his Army station in. the western United States.
Through interviews and evidence found in several
places, investigating deputies found that after the:
initial burial the people involved in the shooting
and decision to cover-up the story of what
happened, had become frightened that the body
would be found in the first grave. The body was.
dug up and an attempt made to burn it. When the
attempt was not successful, the body was re-buried
a few feet away and Stayed there for several weeks.
The conspirators then decided to move the body to
a.wooded area north of Chiefland when they were
evicted from the rural farm house where the
shooting occurred.

After moving the body there they were Satisfied
for a time but became anxious one day when they
Saw Surveyor stakes along the graded road by the
third burial site. Afraid that contractors digging
home foundations would find the body, they dug

puipntitinctaistiamnenmnueneee ede tt


County, to communicate with another deputy at
the Alachua-Levy County line in the far northeast
corner by walkie-talkie.

Major criminal investigations that once
required the calling in of state or federal agencies

are now handled by deputies of Levy County's own.

‘High Sheriff’ of Levy County enjoys an enviable
reputation of being the example of how a small law
enforcement agency can be good, professional,
and serve the people if its jurisdiction with the
services they require.

The “High Sheriff’ has to move to meet those

needs in an age where people expect. the services.
He has to move to meet the needs of an
ever-changing and complex criminal justice
System. The courts demand. professional.
investigations, the people demand. courteous
officers to answer their calls and the “High
Sheriff’’ continues to be the man all turn to with
their expectations. It is demanding and time
consuming, but when the job is done, the feeling of:
accomplishment is worth all the effort required to
achieve it.

nw

37


stuffed under the seat and an examination of the

map revealed some custom alterations pointing to |

the dead end of Robinson road in the Gulf
Hammock management area and Ten Mile Creek.

All of a sudden, deputies on the scene found
themselves with a variety of suspicious circum-
stances, three people being detained, a strangely
marked marine chart showing woods roads, two
vehicles, a boat trailer and one adrift boat with
enough marijuana residue to maybe roll a slim
cigarette.

Darkness began to fall on the night of February
8th and deputies were quietly dispatched to
Robinson Road to place the area under surveillance
from a strange bunch of law enforcement vehicles.
Four-wheel drive pickups, unmarked cars and men

eased into the area and found two trucks, stuck up»

to the axles in the mud at the western end of the
logging road. When it appeared that no one was
around the two trucks, deputies backed off and hid
in the woods, huddling close together for warmth.

The wait wasn’t too long. A dim light was seen
coming towards the hidden deputies from the
direction of the trucks and swamp. When the
suspect almost stepped on the hidden officers, he
was ordered to stop and was taken into custody.
The 23-year-old jad told officers a weird story
~ about back: packing through the Guif Hammock:
swamp with two companions he’d met while
_ hitchhiking out of Orlando earlier in the day. While
the back-packer was being turned over to other
officers, the surveillance crew returned to hiding
and soon spotted two lights coming towards them
from the direction of U. S. 19/98.

When the crew emerged from hiding and
demanded .the two men stop, there was a brief
moment of hesitation and the two hit the drainage
ditch on the side of the road into about four feet of
freezing water. Searches until dawn failed to find
the two men in the flooded hammocks and

attention was turned back to the customized
marine chart.

At noon on the second day, deputies searching
the banks of Ten Mile Creek spotted a large cache
of burlap containers in a palmetto patch and moved
in to examine it. Almost four thousand pounds of
the illegal weed was found neatly stacked behind a
thick palmetto front. The men taken into custody
under the barge canal, on Port Inglis Island and
‘‘back-packing”’ through the worst winter night in
many Gulf Hammock years, were in the process of
conferring with notable criminal defense attorneys

regarding their detention when word was received |

of the ‘‘stash’’ find. Detention was changed to
arrest and the Ten Mile Creek deal was officially

34

underway.. ;
As the investigation progressed in an effort to
identify and locate the two ‘‘swamp rats’’ who had
bailed out into the flooded woods, it was
discovered that one had hired a $50 taxi ride to
Ocala and left the area. Another suspicious looking
man was reportedly trying to call a Gainesville taxi
from a public phone in Gulf Hammock at midnight,
three days after the boat had been found. When
deputies asked for identification, a driver’s license

name was found to match the name of the person |

owning one of the trucks at the end of Robinson
road. Thusly, was the fifth defendant added to the
“Ten Mile Creek Deal.”’

The investigation continued along the lines of
developing tie-ins between the five who had
addresses ranging from Minnesota to Colorado,
Tampa to Dallas, to Orlando and Illinois. One of
the first surprises was to find two of the defendants
were smuggling veterans and had served Federal
prison sentences for importing grass. Another
turned up in the FBI files as a drug store burglar
from Dallas and two others were identified as first
timers in the smuggling business.

The real clincher came when a Gainesville man,
whose phone number and address had been found
in the personal effects of the Tampa men, was

arrested in a smuggling operation in Wakulla

County, just south of Tallahassee. The Gainesville
man decided he would trade some information for

consideration on his north Florida charges and told —

of his friends involvement in a smuggling deal that
had occurred in Levy County. Reluctantly, the
friend of the friend began to talk to investigators
about people, places and amounts of money

involved in putting the “Ten Mile Creek’’ deal |

together. The suspicious truck driver trying to ease
by the curious officers under the barge canal

bridge and one of the occupants of the Port Inglis.

privy were identified as the planners and head
men. The second man on Port Inglis Island was a
friend of the boat captain that had made the run
from Columbia, South America to Waccasassa Bay
with its contraband cargo. The Orlando, Florida,
Dallas, Texas, back-packer was representing a St.
Cloud group that was to receive part of the load
and the Gainesville taxi customer was identified as
a transportation specialist that would have moved
part of the load into the northeastern United
States.

Although five highly regarded defense lawyers
entered the case and found some loopholes for
some of the clients, the defense team was handi-
capped in representing one of the leaders and


RA:

7

Jail and hanged without the sanction of the court. Cn the morning of

the "event," over tio thousand people, of wiom one-third were yoren
3 people,

and "those not entirely confined to the colored people," thronzed

around the gallows. The victim was led to the scene by the deputy

sheriff, and here he adcressed the crowd at length, denouncins his

crime and admonishing his audience to profit by his example. Ee con-

cluded his renarks with the Lord's Prayer and the Apostle's Creed, and

then with a "calna ang resizned" spirit, indicated that he was ready to

Gos At 11:15 A.M. the drop fell. In the words of the editor, "At

Awe

four minutes a slight shrug of the shoulders was visible , e ¢ Not

another movement until pronounced dead,"55

Apart fron the scene of noise and violence ras the substantial,

Conservative, church going Portion of the population. In 1865 and 1866

a?

there were no weekly church services in the town for the white reorle.
One minister conducting services in 1865 did appear once a montn.56

The Civil War had Paralyzed the nissionary enterprise of the Methodist

Church and their building was now occupied by a Nezro consrezation.

The Presbyterian Church, thoush greatly in need of repair, was the
only building available to the whites and was used by all deno

until 187). 57 The Presi;

“inations

syterian sect, having a church building and a

Pastor, was the leading denontinatéon in tovn. In 1857 the Florida

Alachua Citizen, May 15, 1875,
56New New Era, September 2, 1865,

5? New Era, February 16, 1866, March 16, J

une 29, 1367;
Webber, op. cit., op. li-i.2.


But his task was difficult, because he wes supported by an j{nadequately

small number of deputies.18 An occasional fisht on the streets and the

shooting up of the town at night were considered to be normal con-

ditions.2?

Murder and robbery were of frequent occurrence, and the streets

of the town were fer from safe after darke29 One gentleman, when only

a block from the squere, was overtaken by three white men, throvn to

the ground and robbed of his money, watch, cun, ana ring.¢t A Negro

who had slain a friend in an argument over a woman was seen on the

streets of the tovn a few nights later with a shotgun over his shoulder

literally daring anyone to bother hime’? Horses, left unguarded on the

streets, often disappeared. One instance was reported in which a thief

entered the hall of a private residence am stole an overcoat belonging

to a young man visiting the dauvhter of the household. 23 The order of

the day was "to nail dovn windows tnd bar the door «24

Gainesville—in fact the entire section of Florida from

Fernandina southward—-was terrorized during 1890 anc 1891 by a gang

of cut-throat criminals uncer the leadership of Harmon Murraye kfurray

wes the son of a respectable wegro family of Gainesville ma had

attended Union Acadexy. In 1€83, while in the employ of a local

ee es -_—_——

18ipid., January 27, 1891.  19Pbid., August 1, 1693.

20jeekly See, April 1h, 1662. 2lrpid., Avril 12, 168h.
22tpid., November 2h, 1682.
23paily Sun, January 20, January 25, 1891.

2hipid., February 21, 1891.


shanshaiing sailcrs and then he crifted to Florida and became a member
of hurray's gang.c?

So intense was the fear rcenerated by the Lurrey gang, that even
with Champion and Kelly in jail the people were not satisfied. A group
of vigilantes of Gainesville took the two men from the prison on
February 17 and lynched them in a ercve of trees in fast Gainesville.22
Six months later, a Negro, accused of providing Murray with shelter,
was taken from the warden by 2 croup of twenty or thirty men, none of
whom could be identified, and was hanged in the same grove which had
witnessed the demise of Champion and xelly.°?

Despite the unstinted efforts of the sheriff and his men to

capture lLurray, they met with no success. Hight after night Fennell

‘ and his deputies tram&ped the woods, tracing down every possible clue

on Hierwaty t's whereatouts. Eurrey was constantly on the go and was as
slirpery as an eel. The itezgroes of the" country-side, in fear of their
lives, provided shelter vhen the cutlaw demanded it. They remembered
the fate of the colored informer whe had disclosed Murray's plens to
the sheriff. He had been hunted dcowm by kurray and murdered shortly
after the cun ficht in Geinesville.39 ‘Three more killings followed
before lurray was brought down. Leevins Gainesville, he proceeded to
Fernandina where he shot a white mene Fleeing prosecution the out-
law arrived in Starke where he was aptouled by the county sheriff and

his deputy. In the ficht which resulted, hurray succeeded in killing

27Ipid., February 21, 1891. ?°rpia.

27Tbid., August 23, 1991. 30Tbid., August 25, 1891.


147

merchant, he wes accused and convicted of stealins his exployer's
horse. After servine several months in prison, he escaped with nine
ether convicts end formed a gang which successfully eluded capture for
a number of months despite the untiring efforts of officials of the
lar to bring them to bay .25
In February, 1891 Sheriff Fennell learned fron a colored in-
former that iirray and his gang were to meet at the home cf a Negro
Woman near the Florida Central end Peninsular Railroad Depot. His
posse hid behind the warehouse and when the geng arrived, a gun fight
develoved. Only iirray escaved. Two of his coxpanicns, a Negro named
Tony Champion and a thite man named Michael Kelly, were captured and
placed in the county jeir.29
Kelly ras an interesting character. He was frer a respected

family of the northern part of Ireland, and in line with his family's
wishes he had attended the iatiess of the Jesuits on the Isle of
Jersey with the idea of becoming a priest. here, he became fluent in
Greek and Latin. Before completing his work, however, he left college
to follow the sea. His wanderings took him to China, Africa,
Australia, over most of SBurope, and finally to tne Lnited States,
where he joined the army and fought the Indians in the West. After a
year of army life he deserted and embarked on a life of crime. His
new career led hin to ijisconsin, Canada, and Kentucky. In Kentucky
he attemcted to reform and secured a Job as a church organist, but he

finally moved cn to New York. ‘hile in this state he was arrested for

25Tbid., Septenber 5, 1891. 26Tpid.


uty the court

dk place after

ed as sheriff

dary stories
rs’’ at Cerro
ents seem to
as meted out
tely after the
lace without

absence of

loaked in the
ye a matter of
1ad allegedly
3, on Friday,
stern Holmes
1 widow who
, wi as en
sea when

f men taking
>d to strike a
s. Signs of a
detention of
He was held
f men. Their
n with heavy
e the surface

surrounding
ed. The men
irker named
y. The second

1 was equally .

pated in the
ob’s custody.
““Bunk’’ and
|

rene to claim
lines to keep
ing the three

men up and

f weapons,
Si to be

second-hand and based on sketchy unofficial reports and estimates.

The telephone lines, if cut as reported, had been restored by late Saturday
afternoon. That’s when Sheriff H.E. Hickman reported hearing of the incident
in Bonifay. He headed for the scene but got only as far as Westville. He
reported having been informed there by telephone that ‘‘the trouble had
subsided and everything was quiet and peaceable again, and the sheriff
returned to Bonifay on the last train Saturday night,’’ according to a report
August 6, 1910 in the Holmes County Advertiser. The report, one week after
the lynchings, made no reference to inquests or other official investigations
regarding the murder of the girl or the three men.

The report mentioned that a fourth black man was apprehended, but that he
was released after members of the mob became convinced that he was not
associated with the other three in their assaults on the girl.

Hickman’s failure to go to the scene to investigate may seem inexplicable in
a later era. It was not uncommon then, however, for a sheriff to seem reluctant
to clash with such mobs — possibly because they might have been composed
of many of his friends and supporters, possibly from fear of being
out-numbered and out-gunned, possibly from fear of injuring or killing
someone or getting injured or killed, or possibly because of shared sympathies
with members of the mob. iG

In Hickman’s case, failing health could have played a role in his seeming
failure to investigate promptly. He died after a lingering illness three years
later just after having completed a second consecutive term as sheriff.
Hickman had the distinction of having served as Holmes County’s, and maybe
Florida’s, youngest sheriff. He had been appointed to the office in 1877 at the
age of 18 during the administration of Gov. Edward Aylesworth Perry. He
served until 1881, and again in 1893-94. He was returned to office a third time
in 1905S, serving until just before his death in 1913.

PISTOL PETE'S LAST GUNFIGHT

As the Choctawhatchee River region’s whiskey-making reputation grew
during the Prohibition Era, that activity attracted the attention of local, state
and federal enforcement agents. Their destruction of numerous distilleries,
which often were cheaply built and easily replaced, slowed but failed to halt
the activity.

The enforcement effort reached its high tide early in 1925 when a
sensational gunfight erupted between one or more U.S. officers and alleged
moonshiners in Holmes County north of the Westville and Caryville
communities. The principal participants in the battle, in which two people
were killed and two badly wounded, had died prior to 1986. Only memories of
the gunfight, embroidered perhaps with the telling and spiced with rumor and
speculation, then remained.

An account of the incident carried by the Holmes County Advertiser on
February 20, 1925, seems to contain the most complete public documentation
readily available 60 years after the event. Although many questions remain
unanswered regarding the gunfight, the Advertiser apparently told about all
that could be learned at the time. Little more was ever known.

295


The parts of Holmes County along the banks of the Choctawhatchee River
have long been the site of lawlessness, especially during the height of the
moonshine era. It was here that ‘‘Pistol Pete'' Bowdoin had his last gunfight.

Here, in part, is the newspaper’s account:

‘‘) E. Bowdoin, better known as ‘Pistol Pete,’ federal prohibition officer,
was shot to death and Houston Harris was killed and Harvey Walker and
Sumpter Harris, alleged moonshiners, were seriously wounded in a gun battle
Monday afternoon on Choctawhatchee River at a point known as the Berry
Hewett Landing, five miles north of Caryville, just over the line in Holmes

County.
‘‘Bowdoin and Houston Harris, son of Sumpter Harris, were killed instantly,
while Walker received seven wounds from a load of buckshot... Sumpter

Harris came through the duel with a broken leg as a reminder of one of the
most exciting gun battles ever staged in Holmes County.

“The shooting affray with its attendant fatalities, has created intense
excitement in this entire section, and while fears were freely expressed that
further outbreaks might take place any minute, no other trouble has occurred
and peace and quietude has about settled down while relatives and friends
bury their dead and minister to the needs of the wounded.

‘A large force of federal agents have been sent to the scene and augmented
by the sheriff and his forces of the county, and also Washington County, a
searching investigation is being made. Both Harris and Walker are under
guard at the home of the former in Caryville where they were taken after the
shooting.

“Officer Bowdoin, generally referred to as ‘Pistol Pete’ because of his
accuracy with gun or pistol, and who had become a terror to moonshiners,

296

Pe 2S ESS

went to Caryvi
officers. They h
along the Cho
bootlegging in |
colorful and fl
legends. Accor
notches, one e
shootouts with

‘*The office:
vicinity of whe
Monday, one sc
officers Davis
composed of off
of the river.

‘After going
from the river.
remain with the
had informatio
preparing to br

‘*At the landi
the motive pow
approach of the
Harrises and W
When it was abc
surrender.

‘At this poin
never be known
are, as far as is |}
affair is that whe
their guns lying
his shotgun. Th
Walker full in |

‘*Then followe
shot himself. Bc
with a bullet squ
broken. Six em
shotgun. No gu
Harris and his «
after the battle

‘*Another ver
land the boat an
in range, killing
opening fire and
the true one, is
secreted near t

‘*An examina
seated, or leant
opinion that all


brother the money and that the brother actually performed the duty the court
had directed the sheriff to perform.

The Supreme Court’s judgment and the reported hanging took place after
Florida had seceded from the Union early in 1861. Vaughn continued as sheriff
until after the War Between the States ended in 1865. Legendary stories
continue to circulate about the hanging of some ‘‘bushwhackers’’ at Cerro
Gordo during or soon after the war, but few substantiating documents seem to
be available. It was a lawless era, however, one in which justice was meted out
directly and informally, and Holmes County during and immediately after the
war was a hotbed of outlaw activity. If such hangings took place without
benefit of due legal processes, that may explain the absence of
documentation.

THE LYNCH MOB INCIDENT

Violence, not uncommon in Holmes County, has rarely been cloaked in the
form of lynch-mob justice. Only one lynching incident seems to be a matter of
record, but it involved three victims. The three, all black, had allegedly
confessed to the rape and murder of Bessie Mae Morrison, age 13, on Friday,
July 29, 1910. Both incidents took palce near Dady in northwestern Holmes
County. The girl was the daughter of Mrs. Gus Morrison, a widow who
resided in that community with her seven children. Bessie Mae, who was en
route to school when she was assaulted, became the subject of a search when
she failed to return home in the afternoon.

The search continued Friday night with a growing number of men taking
part. Dogs furnished by the Walton County sheriff’s office failed to strike a
trail, possibly because of too much activity by the searchers. Signs of a
struggle at one point along the route to the school brought the detention of
Tom Johnson, a black man who was dipping turpentine nearby. He was held
for questioning as the search continued by a growing number of men. Their
efforts paid off with the discovery of her body, weighted down with heavy
wood, in a pond Saturday at 7 a.m. Only an arm protruded above the surface
of the water.

The search party, attracting reinforcements from the surrounding
communities, turned into a mob as the girl’s body was removed. The men
closely questioned Johnson and he implicated a fellow worker named
‘‘Bunk,’’ who was quickly found and taken into the mob’s custody. The second
suspect allegedly confessed and told his questioners that Johnson was equally
guilty, and that a third turpentine worker had also participated in the
commission of the crime. That man was also taken into the mob’s custody.
Sketchy news reports failed to list the three by name except for ‘‘Bunk’’ and
Tom Johnson.

Fearing that law enforcement officers might arrive on the scene to claim
custody of the three, members of the mob allegedly cut telephone lines to keep
the sheriff from being informed. In the meantime, after questioning the three

separately and together, members of the mob lined the three men up and j

executed them with bullets and buckshot from hundreds of weapons,
according to news accounts. All of the reports, however, appear to be

294

second-hand an
The telephone
afternoon. That’:
in Bonifay. He
reported having

: subsided and e:

returned to Boni
August 6, 19101
the lynchings, m
regarding the r
The report me
was released aft
associated with
Hickman’s fail
a later era. It was
to clash with suc
of many of his
out-numbered :
someone or getti
with members o
In Hickman’s
failure to investi
later just after |
Hickman had the
Florida’s, young:
age of 18 during
served until 1881
in 1905, serving

As the Chocti
during the Prohi
and federal enfo
which often wer:
the activity.

The enforcer
sensational gunf
moonshiners ir
communities. TI
were killed and t
the gunfight, em
speculation, the

An account of
February 20, 192
readily available
unanswered reg:
that could be le


vhatchee River
> he of the
sla_. ,.nfight.

libition officer,
ay Walker and
in a gun battle
n as the Berry
line in Holmes

<illed instantly,
ot... Sumpter
r of one of the

reated intense
expressed that
le has occurred
es and friends

and augmented
gton County, a
Iker are under
taken after the

because of his
>m hiners,

yi

re
a

ee ee a

went to Caryville Sunday, accompanied by a force of state enforcement
officers. They had received information concerning activities of moonshiners
along the Choctawhatchee River and had been instructed to break up
bootlegging in that section, which had become notorious for its outlawry. A
colorful and flamboyant officer, Bowdoin was the subject of numerous
legends. According to one, he carried a pistol on which he had carved six
notches, one each for six moonshiners Bowdoin had allegedly killed in
shootouts with moonshiners. He liked to work alone.

**The officers had laid plans to make a raid Tuesday in the immediate
vicinity of where the shooting occurred. The officers divided into squads
Monday, one squad going on the west side of the river. In this squad were
officers Davis, Rabb and Whitehead. Bowdoin headed another squad
composed of officers Smith and Houghton, who proceeded up the eastern side
of the river.

‘‘After going some five miles the car was parked about a quarter of a mile
from the river. Here Bowdoin instructed Officers Smith and Houghton to
remain with the car while he reconnoitered a point on the river bank where he
had information that Sumpter Harris was operating a rum still and was
preparing to bring out a load for disposal.

‘‘At the landing Harris had anchored his barge, equipped with a Ford car as
the motive power. On this car ‘Pistol Pete’ seated himself and awaited the
approach of the alleged moonshiners. Soon the boat, occupied by the two
Harrises and Walker, hove into sight and headed straight for the landing.
When it was about 20 yards away, it is said, Bowdoin called out for the men to
surrender.

‘“‘At this point many conflicting stories have been told and the truth may
never be known, unless it falls from the lips of either Harris or Walker, who
are, as far as is known now, the only surviving witnesses... One version of the
affair is that when Bowdoin clled upon the men to surrender, they reached for
their guns lying in the boat and it was then that Bowdoin fired upon them with
his shotgun. The first shot killed Houston Harris, and the second shot struck
Walker full in the breast and head, breaking his jaw bone.

‘‘Then followed a duel between Bowdoin and Harris, the latter being a crack
shot himself. Bowdoin’s left arm was broken, it is thought, before he was hit
with a bullet square in the forehead. It killed him instantly. Harris’ left leg was
broken. Six empty shells were found in Bowdoin’s pistol and two in his
shotgun. No gun or shells have so far been found in the boat occupied by
Harris and his companions, and it is assumed they were thrown overboard
after the battle was over.

‘Another version of the affair is that Bowdoin did not wait for the men to
land the boat and give themselves up, but opened fire as soon as the boat came
in range, killing young Harris and wounding Walker, Sumpter Harris then
opening fire and killing Bowdoin. Still another version, believed by many to be
the true one, is that Bowdoin was shot from ambush by parties who had been
secreted near the spot or by parties on the opposite side of the river.

‘*An examination of the bullet holes in the Ford car on which Bowdoin was
seated, or leaning, tend to discredit the latter theory and officers are of the
opinion that all the shots which struck the car came from the boat. It is said

297

that Walker told officers Smith and Houghton that Harris did the shooting and
he also made this statement to Dr. L.H. Paul in a signed statement. Harris is
alleged to have confessed to the shooting at first, but since has denied that he
fired a shot.

‘‘Officers Smith and Houghton, who had been left with Bowdoin’s car a
quarter of a mile from the scene of the shooting, upon hearing the firing, put
out immediately to see what happened. It was necessary for them to wade
through a slough waist deep. Just across this they found Walker, who was
making his way out of the swamp. He begged to be carried at once to a doctor
and the officers picked him up, carried him to the car and rushed him to
Caryville, where they procured Sheriff Henry Farrior of Washington County,
and two of his deputies, J.H. Black and John Roberts, and returned to the
scene of the battle.

‘‘They found young Harris lying balanced on the side of the boat with his
feet in the water. His father, Sumpter Harris, was lying in the bow of the boat.
Officer Bowdoin was found on the barge in a kneeling position with his head
resting on a brace running from the car to the side of the barge. Sheriff T.W.
Johnson and Judge James R. Carswell of this county were notified and they
went immediately to the scene. A coroner’s jury was empaneled, and after
viewing the bodies of the two dead men, adjourned to meet at the courthouse
in Bonifay Tuesday morning.

‘‘The bodies of the dead men were carried by truck to Caryville. The body
of young Harris was carried to the home of his parents, where also his father,
Sumpter Harris, and Harvey Walker, were carried. The body of Officer
Bowdoin was carried by hearse to Chipley, where it was prepared for burial in
the Blackburn Undertaking Parlors, and later shipped to his home in
Tallahassee, the funeral taking place Wednesday afternoon.

‘‘The coroner’s jury, composed of Dr. L.H. Paul, T.D. Richards, E.F.
Houseman, Bud Sellers, Tan Sellers and John Callahan, met at the courthouse
here Tuesday morning, and heard the testimony of a number of witnesses. The
examination was conducted by State Attorney L.D. McRae. Officers Houghton
and Smith were the first witnesses examined. They testified substantially as
reported above. Sheriff Farrior of Washington County and Deputies Black and
Roberts and Sheriff Johnson of Holmes County were examined. Their testi-
mony dealt largely with what they found at the scene of the shooting; the
position in which the dead men were found; the position of the barge and boat.

‘‘Neither of the officers was able to throw any light on how the shooting
actually occurred. At the conclusion of the testimony the state attorney asked
the court to postpone the hearing until Saturday in order to give the officers
time to gather additional information...’’

Harris subsequently was charged with shooting Bowdoin, but he was
acquitted. He was killed several years later in an automobile accident in
Caryville. Walker recovered from his wounds but died several years later.

FRUSTRATED BY THE UNEXPECTED

Bonifay was the scene of a robbery-kidnapping that led in 1934 to a widely
publicized trial of three men, two of whom were sentenced to death and one to

298

3
q
a
;
i.
i
‘

life imprisonme
were changed

The victim of
who didn’t trus
distrust had pr¢
of an insuran
Confederate vé

The presencé
rumors, had in
Bernard Rethe
While seeking
the house, tw
robbery victim
been made a ca
1932 of the 20

The three m
Bonifay on the
gained entranc
daughter-in-la
After gaining «
tell them the hi
after emptying
men, stymied
forced her to

There, to th¢
while his two
Phelps. Being
Ethel, neighbo
elderly woman
Chevrolet coup
Phelps testifie«
home, and that
gang, which t
officers.

The kidnapp
them under cl
threatening M
money. She fi
home. While ¢
departed with
leaving the lak
flat tire and r

Upon appr
slow-moving ci
the house. The
and turned off
injured woma
Deputy Sheriff


ith Pennington.
ized that he had
upon arriving at
is pistol. Dixon
5 own life.
rings. Assistant
r State Attorney
he case because
ized.
pril 11, 1944, by
of the all-white
Coy Anderson,
d Groce, G.A.
ry found Dixon
ercy. Sentence
rred to the state
W trial had been

rt, which heard
by Justice H.L.
hich said:

der in the first
baled from the

or the deceased
ge with a shot
the jury did not
the testimony
air trial by an
he verdict and
- d. 99
sentenced from
by electrocution

ued to circulate

had not been
Supreme Court
ial on the basis
cts of the case
Dixon’s one-day

R

p second person
Peterson was
a Gene Carnley
pht of June 11,

1958. Peterson also confessed that he had fatally beaten Carnley’s daughter,
Ernestine, age 2, assaulted his wife, Sibyl Ellen, 21, severely beat their son,
Herschell Gene, 6, and daughter, Geraldine, 4. A small baby, asleep in a bed
beside that of its mother, escaped injury.

Peterson, a South Carolina native, had been released June 9, 1958, after
serving a sentence in the state prison camp at Noma for breaking and
entering. He said he had been drinking in Bonifay before walking out into the
country, where he peeped into the window of the Carnley home and saw Mrs.
Carnley on her bed. He entered the home through a window and attacked the
sleeping members of the family.

He fled soon afterwards, going to Caryville and then on to DeFuniak
Springs, from where he traveled by truck with some migrant farm workers to
New York. He left much physical evidence at the Carnley home, however,
including fingerprints on the ax and a bloody footprint on the pine floor. The
footprint became a possible key piece of evidence that persuaded New York
Gov. Averill Harriman to grant Florida Gov. LeRoy Collins’ request for
Peterson’s extradition. Holmes County Sheriff Cletus Andrews, who directed
the investigation, removed a piece of the floor bearing the footprint to carry to
New York to present to authorities.

Andrews said strong evidence was needed because the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had mounted a campaign to
prevent extradition, contending that Peterson knew nothing about the crimes.
The anti-extradition campaign got strong support from northern U.S. and
some foreign newspapers, which published inflammatory stories contending
that Peterson was an innocent victim of racial discrimination.

Andrews said he was convinced, on the basis of the evidence collected, that
‘Peterson is the man we’ve been looking for. Our evidence is ironclad and I
believe he will be brought back for trial.’’ The sheriff said that Peterson
apparently committed the crime by himself and denied press reports that
other persons were being held in nearby jails. Andrews also denied press
reports that lynch mobs had formed and threatened to take the law into their
own hands and that state troops had been called out to maintain order.

One of the more sensational reports appeared in a London, England,
newspaper telling how the alleged mob had demanded the keys to the ‘‘gaol’’
from the sheriff. The sheriff refuted that report, too, noting that there had
been no lynch mob and that no one had demanded the keys to the jail, where
Peterson then never had been imprisoned. He said the news reports were
intentionally untruthful.

Gov. Harriman finally approved the prisoner’s extradition to Florida after
both Mrs. Carnley and her son Herschell had added to the physical evidence
already presented by identifying Peterson as their attacker. Peterson
continued to deny knowledge of the crime while under questioning in New
York. He also pleaded not guilty after being indicted by a Holmes County
grand jury. He was given a psychological evaluation at Florida State Hospital
in Chattahoochee, where he was pronounced mentally able to stand trial.

A.P. Drummond, Peterson’s court-appointed attorney, conferred with the
prisoner almost daily in preparing for the approaching trial. Peterson
eventually decided to change his plea to guilty and ask the mercy of the court

303

a

Hel M zs CA A/ a

For Reference

Not to be taken from this room

HOLMESTEADING

The History of
Holmes County, Florida

By E. W. Carswell

1490
Edited by Ray Reynolds |
Illustrations by Frank Roberts

Property of
Houston-Love Memorial Librar
Dothan, Alabame


e shooting and
ment. Harris is
denied that he

owdoin’s car a

the firing, put
- them to wade
alker, who was
once to a doctor
rushed him to
1ington County,
returned to the

ie boat with his
bow of the boat.
n with his head
e. Sheriff T.W.
otified and they
ieled, and after
the courthouse

yvill he body
-als__s father,
o0dy of Officer
red for burial in
to his home in

Richards, E.F.
t the courthouse
f witnesses. The
ficers Houghton
substantially as
outies Black and
ed. Their testi-
ie shooting; the
barge and boat.
ow the shooting
> attorney asked
give the officers

yin, but he was
bile accident in
o years later.

1934 tn 4 widely
eal d one to

life imprisonment. As a result of a new trial, however, the two death sentences
were changed to life imprisonment.

The victim of the robbery-kidnapping was Mrs. Sophie Phelps, 77, a widow
who didn’t trust banks with her money during the Economic Depression. That
distrust had prompted her to keep her personal funds, including the proceeds
of an insurance settlement, hidden in her home. She was the widow of
Confederate veteran J.L. Phelps.

The presence of the money, the amount having been greatly exaggerated by
rumors, had induced Dewey Keith, 26, and Millard Keith, 19, brothers, and
Bernard Retherford, 21, to undertake the robbery that netted them only $1.80.
While seeking the more substantial sum rumored to be hidden in or around
the house, two of the men beat, threatened and finally kidnapped their
robbery victim. The incident occurred soon after kidnapping for ransom had
been made a capital offense following the celebrated kidnapping and death in
1932 of the 20-month-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Lindbergh.

The three men, all Holmes County residents, went to the Phelps home in
Bonifay on the night of May 7, 1934, where Millard Keith and Retherford
gained entrance by telling Mrs. Phelps, who had retired for the night, that her
daughter-in-law had just died. They had left Dewey at the car to keep watch.
After gaining entrance, Millard and Retherford demanded that Mrs. Phelps
tell them the hiding place of her money. She refused, and they beat her badly
after emptying her purse and finding that it contained only $1.80. The two
men, stymied by her steadfast refusal to cooperate, threatened her life and
forced her to accompany them to the car.

There, to their surprise, they found that Dewey had acquired two captives
while his two accomplices were in the house robbing and battering Mrs.
Phelps. Being held by Dewey at gunpoint were Howard Bailey and his wife
Ethel, neighbors of Mrs. Phelps, who had been halted as they approached the
elderly woman’s home. The three captives were then transported in the car, a
Chevrolet coupe, to Chainey Lake, about 12 miles northwest of Bonifay. Mrs.
Phelps testified that she was still in her nightgown after being forced from her
home, and that one of the three men told her they were a part of the Dillinger
gang, which then had a reputation for murdering robbery victims and police
officers.

The kidnappers allowed the Baileys to leave the car, but one of the men kept
them under close guard nearby while the other two resumed beating and
threatening Mrs. Phelps to try to force her to disclose the hiding place of her
money. She finally relented, offering to cooperate if they would carry her back
home. While one of the men remained to guard the Baileys, the other two
departed with Mrs. Phelps in the car. They punctured a tire shortly after
leaving the lake, however, causing them some delay while they removed the
flat tire and resumed their journey on the bare wheel along dirt roads.

Upon approaching the Phelps home, the two men jumped from the
slow-moving car and ran after seeing a sheriff's car and a crowd of people near
the house. The driverless car, with Mrs. Phelps still inside, chugged forward
and turned off the road where it was halted when it hit an embankment. The
injured woman reported the plight of the Baileys and Sheriff Lon Brown sent
Deputy Sheriff Wallace Justice and another officer to try to find them. They

299

144 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

Dilworth, then beginning a distinguished legal career, defended
Ellick and Poor Boy, and his $50 fee was paid by Cole’s widow,
Caroline, as required by law. Cole had been severely beaten,
kicked, and finally thrown into a creek to drown. Whether he died
from wounds or was drowned was not clear, but that he died from
the violence was indisputable. Simon was found guilty and hanged
in December 1848, but both Ellick and Poor Boy were found
innocent.42

A tragic case involved Cato, a slave of James Gadsden. In 1846
Robert Lang, John McRae, and William Dewitt were riding in the
Waukeenah area searching for runaways. Nathan, a slave of Achille
Murat, told them the people they were seeking were at the
Gadsden plantation. They went there and began searching the
houses in the Negro quarter. At one of them they “met the boy
Cato and ordered him to make a light.” Instead, Cato told the
white men that if they wanted anything to get it themselves and

that they could not treat him that way in his own house. He added ~

that he did not “belong to any poor buckra but...to a white
gentleman.” The slave then stepped inside a room and came back
with an axe, whether to go out and cut the pine knot for a light was
not certain. Robert Lang told him he could not go outside with the
axe and Cato said he could not get the light without it. McRae
threatened to “shoot your brains out,” and Lang again demanded
that he put down the axe. At the same time he struck at Cato with a
stick. Cato struck back with the axe, and although the blow was
deflected by McRae, it still cut a large gash in Lang’s arm. Cato was
subdued, arrested, and charged with attempted murder. A jury led
by John Finlayson as foreman found Cato “not guilty of intent to kill
but guilty of assault and battery.’ He was sentenced to receive 150
lashes.43

Another point of historical debate over slavery is the question of
miscegenation. Although the evidence was everywhere and
knowledge that it happened was common, it was prohibited by law.
Few people referred to it except sometimes in their wills. In this
case, as in most others, Achille Murat was an exception. He
frequently spoke of his Negro mistresses, but he was especially
fond of Mary, a 14-year-old mulatto girl “who served her master in
ways infrequently mentioned in polite society... .” Mary bore his

42. Ibid., Minute Book, p. 12, and Case Files, 1848.
43. Ibid., Case Files, 1846.

The Peculiar Institution and the People of Jefferson County 145

child and then committed suicide. But, apparently there were limits
beyond which society was not willing to go in this matter. Joseph F.
Sherman was accused of living in a wicked state on January 1, 1853,
“and diverse other days” with Sally Williams, “a certain mulatto
woman...to the great scandal of all the good citizens of the
county.” 44

When such cases involved property, punishment could be severe.
Despite the preference for slaves to work in the fields, there were a
considerable number of white day laborers employed around the
county. One reason why they were not preferred can be seen in the
case of Redding Evans, a free white laborer, on Robert Richey’s
plantation in 1850. Tobey and Rose were married slaves living
together in the Negro quarter there. Rose had a quarrel with
Tobey and participated in an affair with Evans. When Tobey
complained to the master, Evans and Rose ran away together.
After about ten days they were found, and Evans was charged with
stealing a Negro slave valued at $600. Before the trial Evans’
attorney asked for a change of venue because of a “deeprooted
prejudice in Jefferson County against all persons accused of the
crime for which he now stands indicted.” The change was denied.
Although his first trial ended in a hung jury, he was tried again,
convicted, and hanged.*°

As the agitation of the sectional slavery debate increased in the
1850s, Middle Floridians became more rhetorical in defense of their
labor system. Dozens of new laws were proposed to improve its
security. Some of them and the rhetoric surrounding their passage
leave the impression that Florida was almost an armed camp in the
1850s. Yet along with all the statutory enactments and speeches,
life continued much as it always had. The concerns of the 1852 and
1853 grand juries demonstrate the ambivalent situation. Part of
their problem was to render the system of “passes” for slaves
effective without unduly interfering with the use of unaccompanied
Negro wagoners. The 1852 body criticized some planters for
permitting “several negro drivers to attend single teams hauling
cotton to the market towns, .. .” They believed the practice made it
easier for “refractory slaves to leave their owners” and get so far

44. Smith, Slavery and Plantation Growth, p. 93; Records of the Circuit Court of
Jefferson County, Case Files, 1853.

45. Records of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Case Files, 1850, State vs.
Redding Evans; and Order Book A, p. 215.

160 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

Property. About 175 people were present. They accused Yeomans
of “stealing negroes, and running them into Alabama under false
names” and announced that he was probably “lurking about on the
Georgia-Florida border.” With William Bellamy presiding, the
meeting offered a $500 reward to anyone who would deliver
Yeomans to the sheriff of Jefferson County.2? On December 27,
Yeomans was arrested in Baker County, Georgia, and taken to
Newton where he was charged and released on a writ of Aabeas
corpus. He was immediately taken into custody by three men
named Mallory, Brinson, and Adams who took him to Jefferson
County. On the way he allegedly confessed to having organized a
gang which had killed people and kidnapped slaves under the guise
of Indians. In more recent months, he had stolen Negroes from all
three of the counties concerned. The outlaw estimated the amount
property taken at about $10,000. Before the group reached the
Florida line Yeomans offered his captors $1,000 if they would
release them. They refused. :

The three men delivered Yeomans to an assembly of 90 men at
the Jefferson County-Georgia boundary at about ten in the morning
of January 1, 1846. A committee of 12 men was appointed to serve
as a jury. Witnesses were sworn, and Yeomans confessed to the
crimes of which he was accused. He also named about 14 men who
had been his accomplices, several of whom were Jefferson County
inhabitants. The /rial” lasted all day, and when the “jury” found
Yeomans “guilty,” no one was surprised. Having held this informal
trial, the assemblage then voted on the question of whether they
should turn the prisoner over to the constituted authorities. The
vote against doing so was nearly unanimous. Because of the
county’s inadequate jail facilities and the presence of such a large
band of Yeomans’ friends who were likely to break him out, they
were reluctant to take a chance on the law. By a yote of 67 to 23, 90
of J —— County’s leading citizens voted to hang him on the next
day.

When the decision was reached, Yeomans asked for a prayer on
his behalf. There were four ministers present, and one of them
called on the Supreme Being to show the prisoner the mercy denied

20. Tallahassee Floridian, November 1, 1845.

“b0 Savannah Republican, January 9, 12, 1846; Niles Register, January 17, 1846,
p. ;

Frontier Law and Order

Larabar e 161

him by the assemblage. A guard of 25 men watched him during the
night and at noon January 2 he was hanged.22

Noting that lynch law was wrong and that both ministers of the
gospel and justices of the peace had been among the lynchers, the
Savannah Republican warned of the dangers of such an act. It would
“unsettle the very foundation of society” and subject everyone to
“the capricious will of an excited multitude.” Individual liberty and
property would become a mockery if lawlessness were continually
met with lawlessness.7%

A few days after the hanging one of the men named by Yeomans
was captured in Baker County, Georgia. He was also tried
informally, given 75 lashes, and released on his promise to leave the
state within five hours. In early June, Jackson Jewel, another of
the brigands and a long-time resident of Jefferson County, was
captured in the county and hanged “after an informal trial by lynch
law.”

The Association for the Protection of Property was not yet
finished with its grim business. In early October “a large nest of
negro stealers” was arrested in and near Jefferson County, and,
according to Niles Register, “the matter has created some
excitement in the community.” Indeed it had. Twelve more men
had been arrested. Six of them were tried informally and sentenced
to death. One was hanged on the first Friday in October, three
more on the following Friday, and two a week later. The other six
men were reportedly in jail awaiting regular trials by the next
court, and “there is no doubt of the result.” Yet some doubt
remains because the county court records reveal no trial of these
six men, and there are no other indications of their ultimate fate.
When Judge George S. Hawkins convened his circuit court in
Jefferson County in November he made “remarks touching
unlawful associations for the redress of wrongs’ to the grand jury.
The jury “maturely considered” those remarks, but concluded that
“no special presentment or complaint has been preferred to us.” It
laconically noted its confidence that “it will never again be
necessary to allude to this unpleasant subject in consequence of

99. Frank Hatheway Diary, January 6, 1846.
93. Savannah Republican, January 12, 1846.
24. Ibid., January 9, 1846; Niles Register, June 6, 1846.

142 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

by losses sustained by plantation masters. Such establishments
also had demoralizing effects on the character of the slaves and
deserved to be suppressed by “every consideration connected with
the rights of the master, the morality of the slave, and the security
of the country.” Trading with slaves or even giving liquor to them
were made punishable offenses and enforcement was apparently
rigorous, but offenses continued as long as slavery lasted.37

In the late 1830s John M. Brooks was found guilty of trading with
a slave, fined $100, and imprisoned for three months. In 1841
Benjamin Carley was indicted for “selling spirtuous liquors to
slaves.” In 1848 Isaiah Smith “unlawfully, wilfully and maliciously”
sold one quart of liquor for ten cents to a slave named John
belonging to Andrew Lee “without written license from the owner
or overseer... .” But the case was later dismissed. The following
year James Casady was found “not guilty” of a similar charge. In
1852 Jonathan Beatty was under indictment for the same offense.
In 1859 William Kinsey had a case dropped against him for “giving
liquor to a slave.” In 1860 cases against William Horton for giving,
and Joseph Rumsey for selling liquor to slaves were both
dismissed.38

White residents of the county ran afoul of the slave code in other
ways as well. In 1831 Lewis Brittle was tried but found innocent of
“enticing slaves’ to run away. In 1832 Stephen Pilcher was charged
with both slave stealing and horse stealing. In 1847, Josiah T.
Scruggs, charged with assault and battery on aslave, was convicted
and fined five cents. William Stuart was found guilty and fined $10
for the same offense. James Philips allegedly committed assault
and battery on a slave named Toney belonging to Alexander
Jernigan. The case was found unsubstantiated, and Jernigan was
assessed $7.06 court costs. In 1856 Banister Kersey was charged
with “unusual punishment of a slave.” In 1860, John Sanford, John
Ross, John Anderson, and Joseph Anderson were charged with
stealing a slave. Most of these cases were either continued
indefinitely or transferred to Leon County on the ground that a fair
trial could not be had in Jefferson. The same was true of the three
indictments for aiding runaways. Charles L. Powell, Molsey Ann

37, Laura Randall's journal, December 19, 1827, Wirt Papers: Tallahassee
Floridian and Advocate, June 5, 1832.

38. Records of the Superior Court of Jefferson County, Order Book A, p- 616,
Order Book B, p. 185; and Records of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Order
Book A, pp. 131-32, 294, and Order Book B, pp. 228-274.

The Peculiar Institution and the People of Jefferson County 143

Townsend, the wife of Thomas Townsend, and Caroline Cole, the
wife of Richard B. Cole whose own slaves killed him, were all
indicted for this offense, but none was convicted.?9

When Ben, a slave of James B. Watts, was found not guilty of
murder, but guilty of manslaughter in 1834, he was sentenced to
receive 39 stripes on the bare back. This was not necessarily done
to avoid depriving Watts of his property. Slaves were convicted of
murder and hanged during the period, but the legislature usually
passed a special act to compensate the owner when this happened.
Watts had another slave, Simon, charged with assault in 1837, but
this case was remanded to the justice of the peace and the
disposition is not recorded. George, a Negro slave, was charged
with arson in 1838 and found not guilty. Aleck, a slave of William
Burney, was in the J efferson County jail awaiting trial for burning
and robbing the dwelling of John Slaughter when a white prisoner
charged with murder made his escape. Aleck chose to follow him,
and his trial is not on record. In 1840, a slave named Tom was
charged with arson, and the case was dismissed .*°

In 1846, Chapman, a skilled carpenter belonging to Wirtland, was
indicted for larceny and left to languish in jail for several weeks.
When he was brought to trial he was found guilty, but since it
appeared that he had already been punished the court sentenced
him to “a stripe on his bare back.” 4!

During the past few years historians have subscribed to a theory
that the institution of slavery was So oppressive that it developed a
submissive, docile personality in those subjected to it. Some of the
Jefferson County slaves were not aware that this was the case. One
of the most notable incidents involving slaves was revealed in the
trials of Simon, Ellick, and Poor Boy, charged with the murder of
their master, Richard B. Cole. Asa May, Cole’s son-in-law, was the
major state witness, although he had not seen the murder, but only
possessed strong circumstantial evidence. Ellick and Poor Boy
were tried together and Simon in a separate trial. William Scott

39. Records of the Superior Court of Jefferson County, Minute Book, 1831, p- 37,
1847, p. 110, and Order Book A, p. 499; and Records of the Circuit Court of
Jefferson County, Order Book A, pp- 115, 170, 187, and Order Book B, pp. 93.
275-76, 402.

40. Records of the Superior Court of Jefferson County, Minute Book, November
1834, November 1837; and Order Book A, pp. 323, 486; Tallahassee Floridian and

Advocate, December 8, 1829; Tallahassee Floridian, July 21, 1838.
41. Records of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Order Book A, Pp. 12.

ved 2g

gy

D4

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, FLORIDA

y Jerrell H. Shofners; Tallahassee: Sentry Press, 1976.


162 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

another similar breach of law.” Insofar as the record shows it never
was.°° .

Some violations of the law were blamed on easy availability of
liquor. The sale of alcohol to slaves with or without proper licenses
had long been a problem. During the 1840s Jefferson County and
the rest of Middle Florida experienced an enthusiastic growth of
temperance societies aimed at stamping out the sale and use of
liquor. There were licensing laws already in the statutes, but the
temperance movement agitated for more restrictive legislation or,
better yet, prohibition of the sale of liquor altogether. Reflecting
the prevailing sentiments of the community it served, the 1852
grand jury condemned the “evil of retailing ardent spirits” and the
inadequate licensing laws of the state. Because liquor was such a
“fruitful source of domestic troubles and of incalculable evil to the
community at large,” the jury recommended repealing all licensing
laws and permitting the counties to deal with the problem at local
option.26 oo

Jefferson County Senator Elias E. Blackburn introduced a bill in
the 1852-1853 legislature permitting the voters in each justice of
the peace district in the counties to decide the availability of liquor
licenses in their districts. A mass meeting of Jefferson County
residents oh December 27, 1852, endorsed the bill, thanked
Senators Blackburn and Long for their efforts, and called on all
Jefferson County representatives to support the measure. The bill
failed to pass, and the legislature tried to restrict the sale of alcohol
by a prohibitively high licensing requirement.2” Advocates of
abstinence in the county were satisfied with this approach and soon
credited the improved law with bringing about a reduction in
crime.

A visitor in early April 1854 reported “not a grog shop in the
village” and not a person seen drunk during’ his stay. He was
apparently incorrect on the first point at least, since G. J. Streety
was then paying the requisite license fees to sell liquor. But the
grand jury agreed with him. Congratulating the citizens on the
“peace and harmony within our borders,” it posed the question of
why there were so few cases of violations of the law when there had

25. Niles Register, October 24, 1846, p. 122; Records of the Circuit Court of
Jefferson County, Order Book A, p. 63.

26. Tallahassee Floridian and Journal, December 4, 1852.
27. Tallahassee Florida Sentinel, January 4, 1853.

Frontier Law and Order 163

been so many just a few years earlier. Had the people changed?
Had a new population arrived? No. The same people were still in
the county who had always been there. Whereas men had until
recently been ready “for the most trivial offense” to shed blood,
they were now “quiet, peaceable and useful” citizens. The reason
for the change was that they had left off the “drinking to excess of
alcoholic beverage.” The new licensing law, which had “caused
many a retailer to close his doors, and seek a more laudable
avocation,” was the reason for the improvement.28

The jury may have had a point. There were still violent offenses
committed in the subsequent years. In fact, the knife fight
involving John B. Russell, Joseph McCants, and George W. Gelzer
occurred just shortly after the grand jury presentment was
published. But the number does seem to have diminished. The 1858
grand jury was pleased that it had “so little business of a criminal
nature,” and the one which followed it in 1859 noted the “peace,
quiet, and prosperity” of the county. The latter body thought the
reason was effective law enforcement. The best preventive to
crime was enforcement of the criminal statutes “with justice and
mercy but at the same time with strictness.”29 Perhaps the
improvement was due to better laws and their enforcement as
Jefferson County emerged from its frontier stage of development.

28. Tallahassee Floridian and Aovocate, April 1, 22, 1854; Jefferson County
Board of Commissioners, Minutes, 1855, p. 134.

29. Records of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Order Book B, pp. 165.


get him when he comes through again.’’ Another
time, Dave and I were sitting in a patrol car when a
driver sailed through a red light right in front of us.
Dave. took off and got him stopped.

‘‘May I see your driver's license, please?”’

‘Sure, here you are.”’

‘““Where are you from?”’

‘“*Chicago.”’

‘“‘Now, come on, don’t hand me that stuff. I
already seen that Illinois tag!’’

One time, Deputy Henry Cannon and I
approached Mr. Will Long’s dance hall in Inglis.
The scene appeared to be tranquil enough, then
two young men shot out the door in a rolling tangle

of fists and skulls. We separated them and asked |

what all the hostilities were about. The one I was
holding said that SOB is over here from Citrus
County stepping out with my wife. The one Henry
had said that other SOB is my brother and he is
over here stepping out with MY wife. I handcuffed
them together and asked what their names were.
Driggers, they said. I inquired as to the

whereabouts of the wives. They were still inside

fighting, the men said. Henry went in to look for
them, no problem to spot them, they were still
pulling hair. He brought the wives out, learned
that they were sisters. So I offered them a
proposition. They could put up a $50 bond and go
home and stay out of Levy County. They could
keep it all in the family as long as they kept the

whole family over in Citrus County. Years later, I

read about Billy and Torley Driggers in the book,
IF NOTHING DON’T HAPPEN by David M.
Newell of Leesburg and I think I understand the
situation a little better. I wonder if my bunch
named Driggers was any kin to his bunch of the
same name. ?

A man here in Levy County ran for tax collector
against M. D. Graham, the incumbent. Mr.
Graham beat all his opponents in the first primary.
This one fellow went home late that night after all
the votes were counted. He told his wife that if she
wouldn’t tell anyone that he had run for the office,
then no one would ever know but the two of them.

Otter Creek was still sort of a boom town during
my tenure in office. The West Brothers Turpentine
Company and the Cummer Cypress Company must
have employed three hundred men. There was a

character in the area known as Moonshine Mary.

She operated a one-horse wagon equipped with
two ice cream freezers and a fish box under which
she concealed half-pints of whiskey for sale along
with the ice cream and fish. One Saturday,
business was slow and she become bored. She

13

began. drinking: the moonshine, Deputy J. J.
Coleman noticed her glugging along “from the
bottle and started over to arrest her. She saw him
coming and started beating the horse. The horse
took. off at high speed. Colemam finally overtook
her in his car and got her stopped only when she
got home. He confiscated several bottles of
whiskey, waited while she put away the horse and
freezers; then took her to Bronson where he
charged her with possession of contraband
whiskey, drunk driving and reckless driving of a
one-horse wagon. The judge dismissed the driving
charges. ;

Another time, I got a search warrant for
Moonshine Mary’s house and went to the front
door while Deputy Perry Osteen went to the back. I
knocked and Mary asked who was out there. I said
I was the sheriff. She said she would be out in just
a minute. She ran into her kitchen and poured out
one gallon of whiskey but forgot another one on the
floor under a table. Then she opened the door,
invited me in, all sweetness and light, so glad I had
come, etc. I handed her the warrant and suggested
that she could be reading that while | searched the
house. I came back from the kitchen with the
gallon and said she had overlooked this one. Mary
got so mad she swarmed al! over me. It took both
Deputy Osteen and Highway Patroirnan Doyle to
pull her off me.

Most of the moonshine stills we tore up were
one and two barrel outfits. But the granddaddy of
them all was a 102 barrel outfit operated by a man
from another county. When we went in on it we
caught one colored man working it. The boss never
showed up. We confiscated a truck, some copper,
some barrels, all we could load onto the truck.

In 1945 George Hemingway came to Levy
County to manage the IPC acreage in the area.
With him he brought a collection of characters with
names such as Boose, Pulpwood Slim, Willie,
Horace, and others to cut, load, and haul the
pulpwood. One named Boe was a top-notch worker
but when he was off from work his hobby was
stealing. On his first outing he walked. miles to
steal the magnetos from two chainsaws belonging
to his boss. Then he stole a farm tractor, drove it
into Bronson and hid it in the old Coulter barn.
Several people remembered seeing him walking
out to where the saws and tractor were. The next
Monday morning, Lint Moring and I followed the
tractor tracks through the woods to the barn where
it was hidden. Mr. Hemmingway brought Boe to
the jail. He admitted the thefts and signed a
confession. On plea day, Mr. J. W. Wilkerson had


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handcuffed Boe and was escorting him to the

judge’s office when Boe decided to take off. Mr.

Wilkerson fired over his head several times but
Boe merely got faster. We trailed him with
bloodhounds most of the night but he got away.
Someone cut the handcuffs off of him that night.

Several months later, a rash of burglaries and
auto thefts developed in the area. One night the
Gainesville PD got after Boe. He ditched the car he
was driving, stole a large Oldsmobile from
Brasington and headed for Jacksonville. The Jack-
sonville PD spotted him and caught him. He plead
guilty again and got several three to ten year

concurrent sentences. After he was released from.

prison he went into the big time stuff such as bank
robberies. The last time the Perkins State Bank
was robbed an automatic machine took the
robber’s picture which was circulated on the
television news. One of Boe’s old pulpwood
buddies named Boose recognized Boe, reported
this to the FBI and collected a thousand dollar
reward.

In 1946 two young men broke into a service
station at Cedar Key and stele a Chrysler coupe
loaded with mechanic’s tools. The car belonged to
a Greek mechanic from Tarpon Springs who was in
Cedar Key to work on a sponge boat’s engine. The
next thing we heard from those boys was that they
had been apprehended attempting to cross the
border into Mexico at Del Rio, Texas. The sheriff
of that county called me. I told him about the B and
E and grand larceny warrants and requested him
to try for extradition. That sheriff worked fast. In
less than an hour he called back ‘saying they had
signed the extradition papers. The next day State’s
Attorney T. E. Duncan and I headed for Del Rio,
Texas, and that took two days of hard driving going
and two more returning. The two boys plead guilty
to all charges and each got five years. Hobo Joe
made parole, Charlie Rae had to make his full five
years in prison.

Charlie Rae came back to Williston soured on
the world. His aunt was a friend of Miss Gertrude
Baxley of Williston. Charlie Rae tried to borrow
some money from Miss Baxley but she declined.
He got mad, went to his aunt’s house, got a .22
rifle, slipped around to the house where he could

see his aunt and Miss Baxley in the kitchen .

cooking supper. He killed Miss Baxley, ran from
the house, went to the telephone exchange,
kidnapped the operator and raped her. Mr. Pete

Smith, a mechanic in Williston, flushed Charlie.

Rae out of his hiding place during the following
manhunt, shot him down at close range with bird

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shot, and disarmed him. When I got to the scene, a
half dozen men were pointing guns at Charlie
Rae’s head. | took the man by the hospital. Dr:
Vinson said he was not hurt so I carried him:on to

jail. At the time we used the Gainesville jail while a.

new one was being built at Bronson.

_ One afternoon I was hauling a Negro man who
had gotten: life for ‘murder and this: Charlie: Rae
who was in the front seat with me. When I stopped
at a traffic light, Charlie Rae jumped out and ran. I
chased him shouting to everyone in sight to catch
him. He jumped over a hedgerow and fell down
and I landed on top of him. I got the handcuffs on

him with his hands behind his back. Meanwhile, _

some good man saw what was happening, walked

over and turned my ignition switch off. | thanked.

him for his help. During all this, the other prisoner
had sat quietly in the back seat, and him with a life
sentence. I carried him on to Raiford the next week
and filed a strong recommendation for his parole.
Charlie Rae got a life sentence. The rape charge
still holds against him, living or dead.

During those years the usual complement of
drunks adorned Levy County, if that is the word.
One of them whom I will call Herschell Joe started
from Bronson to Chiefland one night and ran his
car into the Little Waccasassa River. i got there
and asked him what happened. He said He had
been driving straight enough, the read went
crooked, it was the road’s fault. i said i would cail
for a wrecker.

He said, ‘‘Sheriff, now that is mighty good of
you. Pll tell you what, I'll do. my part. Vl go
haffence with you on that.’’

The most cunning crooks that ] have ever tried
to catch were safe crackers and bank robbers.
Within a relatively short period of time there were
three different. safe jobs taking place in Levy
County. Two of them were done by amateurs. The
one at the Dixie Lily was a professional operation.
They drilled the door, blew the door open, got the
money, left their tools and two mattresses used to

muffle the explosion, and wiped everything clean:

of fingerprints. In the case of the Chiefland
Postoffice safe, the thieves knocked the handle and
dial off and failed to gain entry to the safe; again,
no fingerprints. The next safe job was that of the
Pat-Mac Commissary at Gulf Hammock. One
afternoon, two prisoners escaped from a road gang
at Lebannon Station. They were trailed with
bloodhounds for several hours, almost to Otter
Creek. Deputy Perry Osteen was on a stakeout at
the commissary until about 2:00 AM. The two
fugitives broke into the store, demolished three

Bee et wee o


eee
nT ania

9t

é ana

na ga ee REE owes

mee

A

maaan
a

h, and fifth grades at the Gulf Hammock School,
n Black, Billie Pearl McElveen, unidenti

The third, fourth,

(teacher). Second: Agatha Howell, Evely

May, unidentified, Perry Sauls, Kendall Jones. C, D. Tummond, unidentified. They were des
Miss Bean married G. 4 still lives in Bronson.

d, Theda Patterson, unidentified, Eleanor Bean
three unidentified, L. H. Howell. Front:

1929. Back row: unidentifie
tined to become teenagers of the

fied, Dale Jones,

Charles
T. Robbins an

Great Depression.

eee teas ee IEE
ae me ome

inal


LIST OF THOSE FROM DADE EXECUTED 1924-1979

No. Name Race Age Date of Offense Appeal
Execution 7

Under County Authority:

1. Daly, Clarence W 4/10/1914 ? FL Sup. Ct.

2. Brown, Joseph £ 7/3/1914 Murder

Under State Authority:

3. Scrimm, Harry W 5/25/1926 Rape

4. Taylor, Philip B 10/28,1926 Murder

5. Green, Willie B 11/23/1926 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

6. Williams, Arthur B 12/11/1926 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

7. Johnson, Melvin B 26 9/4/1928 Rape

8. Collins, Jim B IIfiI2Z2/1931 Rape

9. Zangara, Guiseppe W 33 3/20/1933 Murder

10. Williams, Walter B 31 10/8/1934 Rape

11. Casey, Clarence D. W 23 10/19/1936 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

12. Milligan, James W 24 10/19/1936 Murder

13. Scroggins, George W. B 41 10/26/1936 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

14. McCall, Franklin P. W 21 2/24/1939 Kidnap FL Sup. ct.

15. McLaren, Frizell B 34 10/6/1941 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

16. Mardorff, Paul H. W 50 10/27/1941 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

17. Stanton, John A. W 44 5/18/1942 Murder FL Sup. ct.

18. Hudgins, Byrdl W 23 7/20/1942 Murder

19. Christy, Vincent J. W 38 3/1/1943 Murder

20. Warren, Ernest B 29 10/29/1945 Rape

21. Reed, James B 28 1/14/1946 Rape

22. Green, Lewis B 19 4/21/1947 Rape

23. Enmond, Alphonso B 35 9/6/1948 Rape FL Sup. Ct.

24. Anderson, George B 32 2/20/1956 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

25. Armbrister, Percy B 25 2/20/1956 Murder

26. Mackiewicz, Norman J. W 32 8/7/1961 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

Source:

Legal Homicide: Death as Punishment in America, 1864-1982.

(Appendix A: Excutions Under State Authority, An Inventory, pp. 423-427)
by William J. Bowers with Glenn L. Pierce and John F. McDevitt.

The list of executed persons was originally compiled by Negley kK.
Teeters and Charles J. Zibulka and has been corrected and updated by M.
Alabama.

Watt Espy, Jr., of Headland,


LIST OF THOSE FROM DADE EXECUTED 1924-1979

No. Name Race Age Date of Offense Appeal
Execution

1. Scrimm, Harry W 5/25/1926 Rape

2. Taylor, Philip B 10/28 ,1926 Murder

3. Green, Willie B 11/23/1926 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

4. Williams, Arthur B 12/11/1926 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

5. Johnson, Melvin B 26 9/4/1928 Rape

6. Collins, Jim B 11/12/1931 Rape

7. Zangara, Guiseppe W 33 3/20/1933 Murder

8. Williams, Walter B al 10/8/1934 Rape

9. Casey, Clarence D. W 23 10/19/1936 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

10. Milligan, James W 24 10/19/1936 Murder

11. Scroggins, George W. B 41 10/26/1936 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

12. McCall, Franklin P. W 21 2/24/1939 Kidnap FL Sup. Ct.

13. McLaren, Frizell B 34 10/6/1941 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

14. Mardorff, Paul H. W 50 10/27/1941 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

15. Stanton, John A. W 44 5/18/1942 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

16. Hudgins, Byrdl W 23 7/20/1942 Murder

17. Christy, Vincent J. Ww 38 3/1/1943 Murder

18. Warren, Ernest B 29 10/29/1945 Rape

19. Reed, James B 28 1/14/1946 Rape

20. Green, Lewis B 19 4/21/1947 Rape

21. Enmond, Alphonso B BAS: 9/6/1948 Rape FL Sup. Ct.

22. Anderson, George B 32 2/20/1956 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

23. Armbrister, Percy B 25 2/20/1956 Murder

24. Mackiewicz, Norman J. W 32 8/7/1961 Murder FL Sup. Ct.

Source: Legal Homicide: Death as Punishment in America, 1864-1982.

(Appendix A: Excutions Under State Authority, An Inventory, pp. 423-427)
by William J. Bowers with Glenn L. Pierce and John F. McDevitt.

The list of executed persons was originally compiled by Negley kK.
Teeters and Charles J. Zibulka and has been corrected and updated by M.
Watt Espy, Jr., of Headland, Alabama.


(ide Could

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT RESEARCH PROJECT
P. O. DRAWER 277
100 E. MAIN STREET
HEADLAND, AL 36345
(205) 693-5225.

27th April 1992.

Prof. William Wilbanks,
6639 S. W. 116 Place, #H,
Miami, FL 33173.

Dear Bill:

Please accept my apologies for not getting this to you sooner,
but, as I stated to you over the telephone, I have been incredi-
bly busy.

Following is a list of the nine Miami hangings that I have
confirmed prior to 1924:

James Faison, July 5, 1901;
Robert Dedwilly, 3-13-1903;
David Gamble, 4-3-1903;
John Bright, 4-10-1903;
William Kelly, 4-10-1903;
Edward Brown, 6-5-1906;
Clarence Daly, 4-10-1914;
Joseph Brown, July 13, 1914; and
Clarence D. McKinney, 12=+7-1917.

AS per our agreement, I will appreciate your sending me copies of
any newspaper items that you might develop on these cases pertain-
ing to their crimes trials and/or executions. About all that I
have on them is the fact that they were hanged on the dates indica-
ted above. I will also appreciate a copy of your book and, upon
receipt, it will be listed for a period of one year in my inven-
tory, a current copy of which is enclosed.

Again, I am sorry for the delay.

With best wishes, I am,

Wee y yours,

WATT ESPY, Director.

66

Tombecbe, but managed to escape from jail in Pensacola while awaiting
execution.

The most startling bit of bloodshed resulted from the political
controversy that eddied around Lieutenant Governor Montfort Browne.
Relieved of his post because of charges of peculation, maligned by his
former subjects, and betrayed by his closest associates, Browne’s ire
tured upon Evan Jones, a prominent merchant. Browne challenged
Jones to/a duel, and at seven o’clock one morning they and their
seconds strolled up Gage Hill to settle their differences. Jones’ pistol
misfired, but Browne’s well-aimed shot hit his opponent in the body,
and it appeared that he would die. The unrepentant Browne was duly
arrested and imprisoned, but as Jones’ wound did not prove fatal,
Browne was allowed to depart on the first ship sailing for England
without standing trial. All Pensacola seems to have sighed, “Good
riddance!”

The courts were more frequently concerned with the claims
and disclaimers of colonial businessmen whose financial arrangements
were at best either complicated or extremely casual and whose lack of
ready cash forced them into promissory aggreements that spawned

- litigation. Charles Strachan was but one of many merchants based at
Mobile, Manchac, or Natchez who found that legal as well as
commerical necessity required him to visit Pensacola regularly during
_term-time."?

By far the most famous trial to take place in Pensacola, however,
was that of Major Robert Farmar who had led the occupation forces
into Mobile, ascended the Mississippi at the head of the first successful
British expedition up the river, and as planter and Assemblyman played
a leading role in the Mobile area. Farmar’s rather irregular financial
arrangements and his personal vendetta with Governor George
Johnstone and Lieutenant Philip Pittman led to charges of malfeasance
and misappropriation, and an investigation by court martial was
demanded by all parties. The business dragged on for years. In order to
assemble the eight captains and one major necessary for the court
martial, Haldimand had to draw upon every army post between
Pensacola and Charlestown, and then Farmar insisted that witnesses for
his defence he brought in from New Orleans. Finally, in April 1768, the
matter was adjudicated, and Farmar was cleared of all charges. The
whole affair had been more trouble for the British army than all the
Indians in West Florida.

In spite of his numbers and the fear that he occasionally inspired in
the minds of the inhabitants of Pensacola, the redman was rather more
of a red herring than a real danger to the British settlement. The Indians
of the Gulf Coast had long been associated with Britain’s enemies, but

they had lear
Georgia had ca
could provide
Local tribesme;
and Lieutenant
Indians from fi
friendship. Ney
chieftan Wolf K
fire-brand and
rising in the nor
warlike proclivi
admittedly, a nu
the stockade els
fair game. But :
Indian congresse
soon underlined
debated at great
cloth, axes, knis
dependent upon
settlements. Wit}
and careful regu!
would keep him
antagonisms k
internecine wars
politicians, notab]
profit and prestig
Indian Superinten
was a cheaper anc
Indian congresses
at Pensacola they
warrior, The Mori
seven-gun salute, a
Out in their dress u;
The real Indiz
unscrupulous trade
and susceptibility t.
traders’ rum kept 1
Inevitably, scalpin;
agents spoke stern]
Justice upon the oul
Lower Creeks killed
ceding lands east 0}
have little fear of


160 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

Property. About 175 people were present. They accused Yeomans
of “stealing negroes, and running them into Alabama under false
names” and announced that he was probably “lurking about on the
Georgia-Florida border.” With William Bellamy presiding, the
meeting offered a $500 reward to anyone who would deliver
Yeomans to the sheriff of Jefferson County.29 On December 27,
Yeomans was arrested in Baker County, Georgia, and taken to
Newton where he was charged and released on a writ of habeas
corpus. He was immediately taken into custody by three men
named Mallory, Brinson, and Adams who took him to Jefferson
County. On the way he allegedly confessed to having organized a
gang which had killed people and kidnapped slaves under the guise
of Indians. In more recent months, he had stolen Negroes from all
three of the counties concerned. The outlaw estimated the amount
of property taken at about $10,000. Before the group reached the
Florida line Yeomans offered his captors $1,000 if they would
release them. They refused.

The three men delivered Yeomans to an assembly of 90 men at
the Jefferson County-Georgia boundary at about ten in the morning
of January 1, 1846. A committee of 12 men was appointed to serve
as a jury. Witnesses were Sworn, and Yeomans confessed to the
crimes of which he was accused. He also named about 14 men who
had been his accomplices, several of whom were Jefferson County
inhabitants. The “trial” lasted all day, and when the “jury” found
Yeomans “guilty,” no one was surprised. Having held this informal
trial, the assemblage then voted on the question of whether they
should turn the prisoner over to the constituted authorities. The
vote against doing so was nearly unanimous. Because of the
county's inadequate jail facilities and the presence of such a large
band of Yeomans’ friends who were likely to break him out, they
were reluctant to take a chance on the law. By a vote of 67 to 23, 90
of J eeron County’s leading citizens voted to hang him on the next
day.

When the decision was reached, Yeomans asked for a prayer on
his behalf. There were four ministers present, and one of them
called on the Supreme Being to show the prisoner the mercy denied

20. Tallahassee Floridian, November 1, 1845.
21 —— Republican, January 9, 12, 1846; Niles Register, January 17, 1846,
p. 320.

Frontier Law and Order
161

him by the assemblage. A guard of 25 m i i

nee and at noon J cai? he was sane it Gee an
- Noting that lynch law was wrong and that bo ini

gospel and justices of the peace had been Se es ae
Savannah Republican warned of the dangers of such an act. It would
“unsettle the very foundation of society” and subject everyone to
Red a gee i of an excited multitude.” Individual liberty and

rty would becom i i
pro) ~, Lieb asbes a8 mockery if lawlessness were continually
A few days after the hanging one of the men named by Yeomans

was captured in Baker County, Georgia. He was also tried
informally, given 75 lashes, and released on his promise to leave the
state within five hours. In early June, Jackson Jewel, another of
ie bee and a long-time resident of Jefferson County, was
cap ere in the county and hanged “after an informal trial by lynch
. The Association for the Protection of Property was not yet
finished with its grim business. In early October “a large ie of
negro stealers” was arrested in and near Jefferson County, and
according to Niles Register, “the matter has created ' some
reeset in the community.” Indeed it had. Twelve more men
i? been arrested. Six of them were tried informally and sentenced
o death. One was hanged on the first Friday in October, three
more on the following Friday, and two a week later. The other Six
he a reportedly in jail awaiting regular trials by the next
— * there is no doubt of the result.” Yet some doubt
eign S meer the county court records reveal no trial of these
iL . ra pak are no other indications of their ultimate fate.
ie udge George S. Hawkins convened his circuit court in

' erson County in November he made “remarks touching
1 awful associations for the redress of wrongs” to the grand jury
The jury maturely considered” those remarks, but concluded that
ed ae presentment or complaint has been preferred to us.” It
: ically noted its confidence that “it will never again be
ecessary to allude to this unpleasant subject in consequence of

22. Frank Hatheway Diary, January 6, 1846.
eS Savannah Republican, January 12, 1846.
24. Ibid., January 9, 1846; Niles Register, June 6, 1846.

162 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

amueuer similar breach of law.” Insofar as the record shows it never
was.

Some violations of the law were blamed on easy availability of
liquor. The sale of alcohol to slaves with or without proper licenses
had long been a problem. During the 1840s Jefferson County and
the rest of Middle Florida experienced an enthusiastic growth of
temperance societies aimed at stamping out the sale and use of
liquor. There were licensing laws already in the statutes, but the
temperance movement agitated for more restrictive legislation or,
better yet, prohibition of the sale of liquor altogether. Reflecting
the prevailing sentiments of the community it served, the 1852
grand jury condemned the “evil of retailing ardent spirits” and the
inadequate licensing laws of the state. Because liquor was such a
“fruitful source of domestic troubles and of incalculable evil to the
community at large,” the jury recommended repealing all licensing
laws and permitting the counties to deal with the problem at local
option.76

Jefferson County Senator Elias E. Blackburn introduced a bill in
the 1852-1853 legislature permitting the voters in each justice of
the peace district in the counties to decide the availability of liquor
licenses in their districts. A mass meeting of Jefferson County
residents on December 27, 1852, endorsed the bill, thanked
Senators Blackburn and Long for their efforts, and called on all
Jefferson County representatives to support the measure. The bill
failed to pass, and the legislature tried to restrict the sale of alcohol
by a prohibitively high licensing requirement.?? Advocates of
abstinence in the county were satisfied with this approach and soon
credited the improved law with bringing about a reduction in
crime.

A visitor in early April 1854 reported “not a grog shop in the
village” and not a person seen drunk during his stay. He was
apparently incorrect on the first point at least, since G. J. Streety
was then paying the requisite license fees to sell liquor. But the

grand jury agreed with him. Congratulating the citizens on the
“peace and harmony within our borders,” it posed the question of
why there were so few cases of violations of the law when there had

25. Niles Register, October 24, 1846, p. 122; Records of the Circuit Court of
Jefferson County, Order Book A, p. 63.

26. Tallahassee Floridian and Journal, December 4, 1852.

27. Tallahassee Florida Sentinel, January 4, 1853.

Sas pide ete

sapere

Frontier Law and Order
163

been so many just a few i
years earlier. Had the
iy a new population arrived? No. The same at gan ate,
pie Si ills a Bil been there. Whereas men had anti
eady “for the most trivial offense” t
ead) o shed
pie Reka now quiet, peaceable and useful” citizens. The —
ties 0 ro age had left off the “drinking to excess of
ge. e new licensing law, which had “
many a retailer to close his doors, a poaihe: -
a re , and seek a
aveuatiot, was the reason for the improvement.28 ee
a a ry gece had a point. There were still violent offenses
oes . e subsequent years. In fact, the knife fight
= g John B. Russell, Joseph McCants, and George W Gelze
en : _ shortly after the grand jury presentment fea
jie ed. But the number does seem to have diminished. The 1858
— yr pleased that it had “so little business of a criminal
on ; = the one which followed it in 1859 noted the “peace
ula , an prosperity of the county. The latter body thought the
2 copie anit law enforcement. The best preventive to
eniorcement of the criminal statutes “with justi
: with just
dahon Rai —- ra with strictness.”29 haces fs
S due to better laws and thei
; eir enforcem
efferson County emerged from its frontier stage of decek anil.

28. Tallahassee Floridian
and A i
Board of Commissioners, Sisntes, 1855. p. ist ciate aac Bt soeteathapeet. |

Records of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Order Book B, pp. 165

uD, « Fea. 7
ATES

700g /1 12

158 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

immediate occasion, however, was an argument at a political rally
where both men were campaigning for office. In a shouting match,
Murat called Macomb a liar, and the duel occurred about three
days later. At the site of the duel, Murat allegedly told his second
that he was in error. Instead of firing at Macomb, he planned to
draw his fire by “a grand flourish” of his pistol. Macomb shot one
of Murat’s fingers off, and while the prince may or may not have
fired, he subsequently boasted that he had put a bullet through
the judge’s shirt and “scared out the lice.”!”

In 1835 the county was shocked at the Bellamy-White duel and its
outcome. The cause of the difficulty has been forgotten, but it may
have been the result of political excitement. Everett White was the
brother of Territorial Delegate Joseph M. White, and Abram
Bellamy had been a member of the legislative council during most
of its sessions since 1824. Both candidates for council seats in 1835,
they were members of opposing factions. Whatever the cause, the
two met in the no-man’s land between Georgia and Florida early
one morning in late November 1835 and shot it out before 13
witnesses.

From a distance of 60 yards, each armed with four pistols, they
advanced and fired at each other. White walked forward without
firing while Bellamy fired and missed three successive times. At 15
paces White shot Bellamy first in the arm and then in the body.
Then Bellamy fired a final shot which mortally wounded White.
According to one report, “both were dreadfully wounded. Captain
White’s recovery very doubtful.” White died a few days later, but
Bellamy recovered and lived until 1839. White’s death occurred
only a few weeks after a huge bridal party at Casabianca had
celebrated the double marriage of White and his son, Oscar. The
older White’s bride was from Kentucky, and he had just brought
her to Florida to live after a long-distance courtship of several
years. Arrested along with Abram Bellamy for violating the
anti-duelling law were Bethel Bellamy, William Bellamy, Leigh
Read, Richard C. Parish, Henry R. Edwards, A. B. Harvey,

Michael Ledwith, Jefferson Sanders, Thomas Long, Reuben Scott,
John R. Scott, and Allen Hinton. The charges against them were
dropped in 1837 for lack of prosecution.!®

17. Tallahassee, Floridian, September 18, 1883; Hanna, Prince in their Midst, p.

152.
18. Mary Gamble to Catharine Wirt, November 23, 1835, William C. Wirt to

Frontier Law and Order 159

Another duel involving Jefferson County residents ultimately
ended in a bloody assassination on Tallahassee’s main street. Leigh
Read, a relative of Abram Bellamy’s, killed Augustus Alston, a
prominent local planter in an 1839 duel. The cause of the argument
had been political. Alston was a Whig and an advocate of the Union
Bank. Read was an anti-bank Democrat. Willis Alston, the dead
man’s brother, had recently moved from Jefferson County to Texas
where he was residing when the duel occurred. At the insistence of
his Sisters, Willis returned to Middle Florida seeking revenge
against Read. After two unsuccessful attempts to kill him, Alston
hid in the house of Michael Ledwith in Tallahassee until Read
walked along the street. He then stepped out and shot him down
and again left Florida. Ledwith was convicted as an accessory to
the crime, but Governor Call pardoned him.!9

The most serious abuse of the law occurred in 1845 and 1846 in an
attempt by exasperated county residents to halt the depredations
of an elusive band of marauders who were stealing slaves from
plantations along both sides of the Georgia-Florida border and
taking them to western Alabama for sale. There had been talk of
blue-eyed Indians” after some of the raids on the plantations
during the Seminole War. The raids along the Aucilla in 1842 were
assumed to have been by Indians, but robberies and slave
kidnappings continued long after the Indians were known to have
left the area. By 1845 the people of the county learned that a gang
headed by Stephen P. Yeomans of Jefferson County had been
responsible for the continuing raids on their plantations and the
resulting property losses. In November 1845 Yeomans was indicted
im absentia for these crimes and declared a fugitive from justice. He
was also believed guilty of plundering the Thomas and Lowndes
county plantations in Georgia as well. The difficulty of
apprehending such a man with a sizable gang of ruffians operating
under his direction was beyond the normal law enforcement
ranges of county sheriffs. The situation demanded extreme

ion.

At a called meeting on November 19, 1845, citizens of Thomas
and Lowndes counties in Georgia met at Monticello with Jefferson
Countians and formed an Association for the Protection of

sister, November 15, 1835, Wirt Papers; Niles Register, December 2, 1835, p. 282.
19. Doherty, Richard Keith Call, p. 131.


ae Se. he ee Se

ah Ee ee eee ke Oe ee Oras

21 eae ete of ope megane gt #
| ;
z {
\

Shirley Hiers, Evelyn Drummond, Sheriff J. W. Turner viewing a moonshine still at Raleigh, Fla., 1957.


e¢

* 1h nes ‘ so “
% oes mene seme :

The log raft was prominent in Levy County commerce for many years. This one was on the Waccasassa River in 1907. The man in front was:
Hunter Smallwood, 26 at that time. oe ie ° ae


Cet PSE EEL GE

EE IOS PET

moet

eit neni Dat ge 8 nner rem

NGS SLATE BRNO IT a

a

Civil Liberties people got into the act. 1 still believe The county sheriff is on the horns of a

I did the right thing. At that time the drug scene continuous dilemma, starting on his first day in

was getting under way, young ‘persons would office. He is to uphold the law, do what is right to Ps
disappear and never contact their worried parents the best of his judgement, and at the same ¢ime try )
for years, and the hardcore promoters of this to maintain his political standing. When he starts a
lifestyle were aggressively seeking new recruits concentrating on his politics to the exclusion of |
among the ranks of young and vulnerable everything else, then he will certainly be a failure

teenagers. So they were not just doing their own as a sheriff.

thing and bothering no one else, not at all.

a.


1979.

’

ff of Levy County

i

present sher
31

Moody,

Horace A


THE SEVENTIES

By Horace A. Moody

As far as I know, I must have been the youngest
sheriff ever to take office in Levy County. That was
in January of 1977 and I was 29. I remember some
conversations we had in a civics class at Bronson
High School: back in the early sixties, how we
talked about the dreams, the ambitions, and the
goals we were setting for ourselves. I took all this
seriously and so did some of the others.

Over the years since then I worked in a variety
of law enforcement positions with the FBI and the
Sheriff's Departments of Volusia, Orange, and
Alachua Counties. Along the way I earned a BA
degree in criminal justice and public administra-
tion from Florida Tech University at Orlando and I
am currently working toward a Master’s Degree in
criminal justice at NOVA University.

Back to that civics class in the early sixties, I
had some good teachers. One of them said that if
you are going to be a ditch digger, you should
equip yourself with a first-class shovel and be a
dignified ditch digger. I got the message; it boils

down to something called adequate preparation”

pilus a consistent determination. I try to. pass this
same philosophy on to the young people of today
just as I heard it years ago. I followed it and
reached the goal I had set for myself, to be the
‘High Sheriff’ of my own home county.

As the population and diversity of Levy County
has grown through the years, so has the
responsibility of the County’s chief law
enforcement officer. The emergence of marijuana
as the nation’s clandestine recreational drug and
the isolated characteristics of Florida’s rugged
Gulf Coast in close proximity to the illicit trade
routes from Columbia combined to make Jaw
enforcement interesting in 1978. Five major
smuggling efforts in Levy County were terminated
with arrest and large seizures of marijuana.

The first of these became known as the ‘‘Ten
Mile Creek Deal.’’ It all started innocently enough
when members of the U. S. Coast Guard Station at
Yankeetown were called to a boat drifting at the
mouth of the Withlacoochee River on the north
side of Port-Inglis Island. All that was left of a once
bustling port of entry on Port Inglis Island is the

foundation of the old Customs House and a
recently added ‘‘two-hole’’ privy. The rest. of the
island is marshland and sawgrass. When the Coast
Guardsmen took the boat, an eighteen foot, open
fisherman, under tow and returned to the station,
an alert Guardsman noticed residue from
marijuana in the bottom of the boat and the Sheriff
was notified. )

A number of things began to happen
simultaneously. It was shortly after noon on
February 8, 1978, that deputies arrived at the
Coast Guard Station to inspect

ed from people fishing on the north bank of the
Withlacoochee that a small boat had been rowing
in and around the Island. At the same time, a
Marine Patrol officer checked a suspicious truck
parked under the Florida Barge Canal bridge.

A search party was formed and went ashore on
Port Inglis Island. About to be terminated, the
search hit pay dirt when an inquisitive officer

~~~~~opened the door to the “two-holer” and found two

men shielding themselves from the, foul cold rain.
While gathering information from the two concern-
ing their presence on the island without a boat,
officers found that one of the men worked for a
Tampa firm in construction. As this information
was relayed back to a make-shift command post,
the registration from the suspicious vehicle under
the barge canal bridge came in and the two
matched.

While officers were waiting under the bridge
and the two men were being transported from Port
Inglis Island, a young man approached the
suspicious truck in another pickup and seeing the
patrol] units, tried to ease on by as if he had no
connection with it. When officers stopped the
second truck and routinely inquired about the
man’s presence, for the third time, the Tampa
construction firm’s name mysteriously appeared as
his employer. A map, marine chart, was seen lying
on the seat but couldn’t be found in sight when
deputies returned from running radio checks on
the driver.

A quick search of the vehicle revealed the map g?
ey

the boat. _
_ Immediately afterwards, information was develop-

&
ae
4.

96

notice of some new burglary or theft. ‘The terms of the county court
were filled with cases of larceny, horse stealing, breaking and enter-
ing, assault and battery, and murder 29

Punishment for these crimes harked back to colonial days. Two

' Negroes convicted of larceny were sentenced to receive thirty-nine

lashes.ol Another, tho, the editor said, "cid not know anything about

_ the Tenth Commandment end had sinned against the majesty of the Law by

coveting and taking possession of certain articles which did not be~
long to him, had to pay the cost of court for which our accommodating
and good-natured sheriff asreed to give hin twenty-five stripes on the
bare back."52 Daniel Baskins (colored), who was convicted of enticing
people to quit their employer, was required to stand in the pillory on
the public square one hour for three days.23 Harrison Slaughter, a
white man convicted of horse theft, was fined $1000 an court costs
plus the customary thirty-nine lashes .°4

The execution of criminals-was a public display aid the people
of the area made it the occasion for celebration. The tow took ona
carnival atmosphere as entire families trocved into town for such
events. In May, 1875 James honroe, a leona weneiatne of the murder of
a irs. Smith, was executed on the public square. lonroe had been held
at Jacksonville until the night previous to the execution because

local authorities feared that he reould be tekken fren the Cainesville —

50Did., February 2h, 1866, February 23, June 1, June 22,
August 31, 1367; Alachua Citizen (Gainesville), Lay 15, 1875.

Slew Era, February 2), 1866. S2ibid., February 23, 1867.

eee

53 Ibid. SuIbid.

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o Eity af Orlande

100 SOUTH HUGHEY AVENUE
ORLANDO, FLORIDA

TELEPHONE

POLICE

DEPARTMENT

32802-0913

(305) 849-2470

May 13, 1985

Mr. Ronald C. Van Raalte
re Ve BOX 2O4
Arlington Heights, Illinois

Dear Mr. Van Raalte:

Unfortunately some of our

older records are rather sketchy,

but some supplemental information was available regarding the

five police officers killed in

1. Additional information
DOB: 4/4/41
DO Hire: 3/18/63
DO Death: 2/10/68

the line of duty.

on Officer Mitchell L. Nutter:

Offender: John Henry Adams -—- BM - 4/26/38

2. Additional information
DOB: .9/30/10
DOH: 11/15/40
Date of accident which
Offender: Birdie Grace

3. Additional information
DOB: 11/18/37
DOH: 1/25/60
DOD: 8/4/62
Offender: Melvin James

4. Additional information
DOB: 8/18/1892
DOH: 2/19/36
DOD: 2/20/37

5. Additional information
DOB: 6/31/1888
DOH: 7/20/30
DOD: 2/10/33

on Officer Sidney Crenshaw:
resulted in death: 7/20/65
Snipes - WF - 1/2/22

on John Owen:

Stevenson —- BM

on Harry Mason:

on Eghert C. Moore:

I hope this information will assist you in your research of

"domestic soldiers".

Sincerely, Fe
; ’ —— Zh
A / {4% a , vel
— . / ¢ * * z ’ A ~ . am enn yn
Pa Cy ae, ee a oe ee SAS ¢ ts a
| Pal “a i on Ce cet C4. .

Lt. Keeter Prevatt
Records Section Commander
KP:pmp

City of Orlandea

100 SOUTH HUGHEY AVENUE
POLICE ORLANDO, FLORIDA TELEPHONE
DEPARTMENT 32802-0913 (305) 849-2470

iA —
« Vd ——,
25 February 1982 x SS

Mr. Ronald C. Van Raalte
P. O. Box 584
Arlington Heights, Illinois 60006

Dear Mr. Van Raalte:

It is regretful that your previous requests for information on officers
killed in the line of duty were not answered. This is the first time I
have seen your request, and I will be more than happy to assist you.

Our records reveal that a total of five (5) officers have been killed in
the line of duty:

1. February 1968 - Officer Mitchell L. Nutter

Officer Nutter was answering a "man with a gun call". Upon
arrival, the man waved Officer Nutter over to him, while
hiding the gun behind his back. The officer drove up to
him. The suspect then pulled the .38 cal. handgun and shot
Officer Nutter in the face. The offender is currently
serving a life term in the Florida State Prison.

2. November 1965 - Cfficer Sidney C. Crenshaw

te a8

Officer Crenshaw had finished dealing with a traffic violator
and was seated on his motorcycle at the rear of the offéndér's
car. A vehicle being driving by a drunk driver struck Officer
Crenshaw from the rear causing his death. The case never went
to court. oe

3. August 1962 - Officer John E. Owen

Officer Owen was checking out a suspicious person. As he called
the man's name in over the radio, another officer recognized the
name as an alias used by an escaped prisoner. When back up officers


oR
i)
AD
ny
H

ar =e paws e ee

10

A Frequent Scene
of Lawlessness

Some Holmes Countians have been reluctant to shed the frontier custom of
settling personal disputes directly and violently. That has led to a large
number of murders and other violent crimes throughout the county’s history.
Heritage may have had something to do with it, since the county was settled
mostly by people descended from violence-prone areas. Violence was
not caused solely by heritage, however, since settlers from other ethnic
backgrounds also demonstrated violent tendencies. Blacks of African heritage
accounted for a number of episodes of violence in the county, but apparently
only in proportion to their percentage of the population.

Most early settlers established themselves on small farms where they
sustained themselves while jealously guarding their personal independence.
They resented governmental interference and were unwilling to trust their
safety and the safety of their families solely to agencies of the law. The Comte
Francis de Castelnau had observed similar manifestations of violence
elsewhere in North Florida in 1837-38, noting that it was universal practice for
men to carry arms and citing excessive amounts of drinking and lawlessness.
That, of course, was characteristic of frontier behavior in America.

Holmes County retained much of its frontier character well into the 20th
century through an era in which politics included a thread of turbulence and
violence. Those tendencies, while demonstrated by only a small percentage of
the total population, were sufficient to suggest disregard for the law in
general. The region’s reputation for violence began well before the War
Between the States. Barton D. Jones, writing mostly of events before the war
in Lippincott Magazine in 1882, described the region as being ‘‘from its
northern extremity to the Gulf Coast...the home for many years of land
pirates.’’ He described the pirates as being ‘‘dexterious in the theft of horses
and (before the war) slaves which were taken to vessels in some stream or bay
and conveyed to Cuba. Scores of men lost their lives in pursuit of these
robbers, and tales of crime and adventure are numerous.”’

The broad environs of the Choctawhatchee River swamp became a refuge

for deserters and organized bands of raiders during the War Between the

States. These men formed outlaw bands to prey upon defenseless
homesteaders and to conduct raids into southeastern Alabama. Disregard for
the law again became rampant in the early 20th century when prohibition was
in effect. During that era, the river region in particular developed a legendary
reputation as a major source of high-quality whiskey. Unverified reports
persist that much of the barreled product was shipped in railway car lots
intermixed with shipments of sugar cane syrup or spirits of turpentine.
There were few, if any, large distilleries in the county. There is much

287


evidence, however, to suggest production from dozens of small operators.
In some instances the small operators were represented by brokers who
arranged the sale of the product and its delivery to a designated collection
point. In other instances, production was undertaken under contract. The
extent of the business can only be gauged by reports of the destruction of
distillery operations by law enforcement officers, the number of operators
arrested, the convictions reported and the sale by nearby merchants of

distillery equipment, charred barrels for aging or shipping and the grain and

sugar used in the manufacturing process.

Consumption of alcoholic beverages played a role in some of the acts of
violence. Holmes County juries, perhaps reflecting the views of their fellow
residents, have been notably lenient with defendants in both murder and

alcoholic beverage law cases. Only a few defendants have paid the supreme .

penalty for murder during the 138 years the county had existed by 1986.
Evidence of self-defense often has been presented successfully on behalf of
defendants.

QUICK ON THE TRIGGER

Court records are not available for the county’s earlier years, many of them
having been destroyed in the courthouse fire in 1902. However, scores of
murders and other acts of violence have been reported in the Holmes County
Advertiser. A few of the reports are summarized here as examples of the
circumstances that led to murder or related violence. Because these events are
taken from newspaper reports, the eventual disposition of the case is not
always known.

June 13, 1907 — Last night Tommy Hall, who lives about a mile from
Westville, came to town to have Dr. Milton dress his wounds. He claims that
Dan Boseman called him out from his house after he retired, gave him a drink
of whiskey and then deliberately, without warning, cut him and ran off.

May 28, 1910 — Douglas Burgess, who shot and killed Vasser Hobbs at a
frolic in February of last year, was found guilty of manslaughter and
sentenced to three years in state prison.

February 20, 1910 — Douglas Birge is on trial here, charged with the
Christmas murder of Nick Taylor. Birge contends that he shot Taylor in self-
defense after Taylor threatened him with a knife.

May 21, 1920 — Fourteen miles north of Westville Jesse Bradley was killed
by his second cousin, John H. Bradley. The trouble grew out of a lawsuit about
some hogs. John Bradley was sentenced to life imprisonment, but appealed.

December 29, 1922 — W.E. Lewis, 40, shot and killed his son-in-law,
Reaver Pritchett, 23 near New Hope during a quarrel stemming from trouble
between Pritchett and his wife.

May 28, 1910 — Lon Singletary, who is charged with killing his brother
sometime in 1907, was convicted of manslaughter, but has been granted a new
trial because one of the jurors was a member of the grand jury that returned
the indictment in the case.

April 16, 1910 — A coroner’s jury is investigating the death of Albert
Armstrong, whose body was found in M.M. Ferrell’s burned Bonifay

288

blacksmith shop
to kill Armstron
earlier, but that
They had been :
badly burned. H
Ferrell innocent

October 29, 1
Hickman, was f
under the influe
killed Hickman,
Coatney was sé

May 3, 1913 -
accused Charlie
where Stevens a
Martin pointed
standing outsid
were exchangec
shooting, Charl
postoffice lobby

Martin had r
was not wounde
one through hi:
chest. Charlie S
Martin was late
imprisonment.

December I
Wednesday nig
Padgett, in Wes
following almo:
beat on the doc
Parrott said hej
the porch. Pan

January 23, j
which could he
his assailant, \
Tew’s office, v
drunkenness tt
Butler were als:
Judge Tew’s qi
from using his |
the county atto
armed.)

May 23, 191+
and killed Anc
Company. The
tanked up freel
red.’’ It seems
attempted to °


small operators.
by brokers who
gnated collection
ler contract. The
he destruction of
iber of operators
by merchants of

ind the grain and’

ne of the acts of
vs of their fellow
yoth murder and
aid the supreme
existed by 1986.
ully on behalf of

rs, many of them
wever, scores of
2 H-~'-e2s County
ex: les of the
» these events are
‘the case is not

out a mile from
3. He claims that
gave him a drink
m and ran off.

asser Hobbs at a
nslaughter and

1arged with the
ot Taylor in self-

radley was killed
if a lawsuit about
it, but appealed.
his son-in-law,
ing from trouble

ling his brother
2n granted a new
ry that returned

déath of Albert
ur § Bonifay

rt Sas ee oe

blacksmith shop. Ferrell was arrested after he had threatened, while drinking,
to kill Armstrong. Witnesses said that Ferrell and Armstrong had quarreled
earlier, but that the quarrel blew over and they seemed to be friends again.
They had been seen together prior to the fire in which Armstrong’s body was
badly burned. He also had sustained other injuries. A jury subsequently found
Ferrell innocent.

October 29, 1910 — Noah C. Coatney, charged with the murder of Charley
Hickman, was found guilty of murder in the second degree. Coatney, while
under the influence of liquor at a Sunday school picnic near Noma, shot and
killed Hickman, his brother-in-law, while Hickman was seated in a buggy.
Coatney was sentenced to life imprisonment.

May 3, 1913 — Someone killed’ J. Richmond (Rich) Martin’s dog, and he
accused Charlie Stevens of doing it. An argument ensued in a Bonifay market,
where Stevens and his father, Joe Stevens, were working. Witnesses said that
Martin pointed a pistol at Stevens and cursed him. Later as Joe Stevens was
standing outside the market, he encountered Rich Martin and a few words
were exchanged, followed by the rapid crack of revolvers. Upon hearing the
shooting, Charlie rushed out and Martin shot him down and went into the
postoffice lobby, where Marshal A.O. Davis took charge of him.

Martin had received three bullets in his right hand and arm. Joe Stevens
was not wounded. One bullet had passed through Charlie Stevens’ right hand,
one through his body at the waist, and the fatal bullet ranged through his
chest. Charlie Stevens died where he fell under the oak near the market door.
Martin was later convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life
imprisonment.

December 12, 1924 — Dan Parrot shot and killed Alton Hilliard, 22,
Wednesday night at the home of Parrott’s foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. J.E.
Padgett, in Westville. Hilliard was shot in the back with a shotgun, with death
following almost immediately. Parrott said that Hilliard came to his home,
beat on the door and, using abusive language, demanded that he come out.
Parrott said he finally grabbed his shotgun and fired on Hilliard as he stood on
the porch. Parrott served a prison sentence for the shooting.

January 23, 1920 — County Judge P.W. Tew yesterday averted a shooting
which could have resulted in the death of either Sheriff T.W. Johnson or
his assailant, Wallace Cooey of Westville. The affair took place in Judge
Tew’s office, where he and Cooey were discussing Cooey’s conviction for
drunkenness the previous day. County Attorney J.A.J. Hathaway and J.A.
Butler were also in the room. The sheriff entered and Cooey pulled a gun, but
Judge Tew’s quickness in jumping on Cooey and holding him prevented him
from using his pistol. The sheriff reacted by pulling his gun, as did Hathaway,
the county attorney. (It was not uncommon in this era for court officials to be
armed.)

May 23, 1914 — Last Sunday at Esto, Town Marshal Dell Wellington shot
and killed Andrew Mixon, a woods boss for the Alabama-Florida Lumber
Company. The homicide was the result of too much whiskey. Mixon was
tanked up freely on the fighting kind and had gone to Esto “‘to paint the town
red.’’ It seems that Mixon and a man named Lambert, who also was drinking,
attempted to ‘‘bully’’ the town marshal around by sacking his head and

289

e

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NONE MNO SSG

STANTON TAN AN TAN ANI TANANAN TAN

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LAS TAS TAS TON TON TSN TAN TOS TAN TON TAN UN TONS

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SANTANA TON

Siege of Pensacola May 8, 1781
lally engraved by M. Ponce. The
, Shown here on a white charger.

itish redoubt in the background.
lorida.

a i aie

COLONIAL

| PENSACOLA

Edited by

James k. McGovern

Professoe of History
University of West Florida

MCGCPENIS

Volume I of the Pensacola Series
Commemorating the American Revolution Bicentennial

qt

PUBLIC LIER” RY

BIRMINGHA™., ALA.

2 ONLI

eR <7


Copyright © 1976 by Sentry Press

gaping

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 76-11618
“For Catherine”

Printed in the State of Florida, U.S.A.

<

by 3

The Printing House, Inc. &
Tallahassee, Florida NX

150 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

The people of the county recognized the problems of crime and
punishment in a frontier community. Thomas Randall's explanation
to William Wirt regarding the ruffians who had helped to destroy
his German colonization experiment, for example, was based on the
lack of a place to incarcerate violators of the public peace. The
grand juries of the 1830s were all concerned with the necessity of
building a courthouse and a jail. But some of them believed there
were other problems peculiar to the frontier society of Florida
which made the situation more acute. Physical attacks on Wirt’s
German colony in 1834 and several separate murders about the
same time, provoked from the grand jury its “deepest regret and
mortification for the multiplied instances of flagrant causes” which
it had to consider. With William R. Taylor as its foreman, the jury
concluded that at least one cause of so much crime was “the

iolence of party spirit.” The political disputes of Joseph M. White
versus James Gadsden and his allies were only one example of the
harsh feelings engendered by politics. Even elections for militia
offices sometimes caused bitterness between competing
candidates. The assault on the Germans was believed by Randall to
have been the result of fears that their votes could be controlled by
Louis Goldsborough. The grand jury felt, however, that partisan
spirit had even reached the state where elected officials were using
their positions to “aid and shield” some violators and that such a
practice was coming to be expected from political friends. This was
a “most demoralizing and dangerous” encouragement to crime. As
one partial deterrent to this particular difficulty the grand jury
recommended that elections be made less frequent by making
candidates for county offices, territorial offices, and delegates to
Congress run at the same time. It further noted that some of the
“most intelligent and respectable and virtuous of our citizens” were
reluctant to serve as magistrates, jurors, andother officials. It
quite logically concluded that “if the minister’ of the Law is not
worthy of confidence. . . .in like degree will the Law be condemned
and disregarded.”!

Probably the most frequent crime of violence was assault and
battery, the indictments for which were numerous. Only some of
the prominent examples will be mentioned to demonstrate how the
problem cut across all groups of society as well as the difficulty of

1. Records of the Superior Court of Jefferson County, Order Book D, p. 132;
Tallahassee Floridian and Advocate, December 6, 1834.

Frontier Law and Order 151

obtaining convictions because of community standards of conduct in
such matters. Everett White, one of the brothers of the territorial
delegate who was subsequently killed in one of the famous duels of
the day, was the offender in several assault and battery cases. In
1829 he and his brother Philip assaulted David Bozeman. They
were arrested, indicted, convicted, and fined 6'4 cents each. Three
years later Everett White was once again involved in an altercation
this time with John B. Collins who ran a store in Monticello. White
allegedly entered Collins’ store with a drawn knife and attacked the
proprietor, but a witness later refused to testify. Both men brought
suit and both were arrested and tried. White was found guilty on
two charges. He was fined one dollar and ten dollars respectively
for the offenses. Collins was also found guilty and assessed a

twenty dollar fine. At the same session William Land was found

guilty of the same offense and fined 614 cents. In 1838 John Gamble
was indicted on an assault and battery charge on a warrant sworn
by Joseph Kersey. The grand jury found it “not a true bill” and
Kersey was assessed $6.25 court costs. In 1830 Stephen Townsend
was charged with assault and battery and false imprisonment, but
the cases were never tried.2 His brothers Spencer and Moses were
charged with assault and battery at the same time, but the charges
were dropped, probably because both of them were subsequently
charged with murder.

There were several cases of false imprisonment, but the most
serious one which resulted in conviction was brought against
Hezekiah Brown, John McMullen, Daniel McMullen, James King,
Thomas F. McCall, and Moses McCall. They were found guilty in
1848 and fined fifteen dollars each. In 1858 Joshua Everett, Hugh
Connell, Nicholas Johnson, John Dugger, E. B. Weeks, Thomas
Jones, Benjamin Standland, and John Kelsey were indicted on the
same charge. Their case was transferred to Leon County, however,
and continued.?

Murder was an almost ordinary offense, but there were few cases
of premeditation. Some began as assault and battery cases and
simply resulted in a death, but most of the others grew out of the
heat of the moment. Moses and Spencer Townsend were indicted

2. Records of the Superior Court of Jefferson County, Minute Book, pp. 11, 19,
36, 37, 39; Order Book B, p. 74; Tallahassee Floridian and Advocate, May 22, 1832.

3. Records of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Order Book A, p. 185;
Order Book B, p. 1832.


148 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

probate judge in the county of their residence and pay a one dollar
fee for the registration. Any free black who failed to register was
classified as a slave and became the property of any white person
who claimed him.°? .

The restrictive legislation of the 1850s and the rhetoric
surrounding its passage reveals the dilemma of the Middle Florida
planters as well as their counterparts everywhere. They were
caught up in a labor system whose legal basis was at odds with the
world in which they lived and especially with many of the basic
assumptions underlying the government which they admired and
under which they lived. Underneath the legalities of slavery and
even the brutalities, there existed a human relationship between
white planters and black slaves which went beyond the law and
which the “outsiders” who attacked the system failed to
understand. The struggle continued and slavery ended in the chaos
of Civil War, but many personal relationships between blacks and
whites of Jefferson County continued and survived even the
difficult times of Reconstruction.

50. Tallahassee Floridian and Journal, December 20, 1856, December 25, 1858,
December 17, 1859; Smith, Slavery and Plantation Growth, p. 121.

Frontier Law and Order

Jefferson County settlers came from areas where criminal laws
and customs regarding personal relations were usually
well-established. The law was respected and law enforcement was
a public responsibility. The sheriff or other officials could assemble
a force of citizens on short notice to defend the community against
unlawful force or to capture fleeing offenders. Yet even in the older
communities certain offenses against home, family and person
customarily resulted in punishment by the affected individual. If
retaliation happened to be a violation of the law that was a
secondary consideration. Imbued with standards of self-reliance
and personal conduct acquired from living where such a
relationship between law and custom prevailed, the early county
residents found themselves in a wilderness beyond the reaches of
any established law. While building a community where virgin

_ forests stood, Indian bands roved, and unknown climatic and health

conditions prevailed, these optimistic, enthusiastic, self-reliant
settlers implemented the standards of the communities where they
had grown up. They defended themselves, their families, and their
property against any threats which arose, whether natural or
personal, by the methods available to them.

It was to be expected that personal violence would be common
where large numbers of ambitious and strong-willed people came
together. But these same people were anxious to establish a
community where the law prevailed and people were free to raise
families, hold property, and travel about in security. They rapidly
built such a community, but it was one based on law and attitudes
toward law enforcement which were modified by the customs of the
older communities applied to a frontier situation. The letter of the
law received strict attention, but its enforcement was tempered not
only by the ability of accused felons to escape into the wilderness or
to “parts unknown,” but also custom by which special offenses were
expected to be handled directly by individuals without waiting for
the law to work its course.

149

Dixon testified that he had gone home after his encounter with Pennington.
After eating, he said he got his shotgun to go hunting, but realized that he had
left his jacket at the mill. He said he encountered Pennington upon arriving at
the mill to get his jacket, and that Pennington reached for his pistol. Dixon
said he shot Pennington first as a means of preserving his own life.

Dixon’s attorney was William W. Flournoy of DeFuniak Springs. Assistant
State Attorney Joseph M. Bailey of Panama City prosecuted for State Attorney
J. Edwin Holsberry of Pensacola, who had been assigned to the case because
State Attorney L.D. McRae of Chipley was ill and hospitalized.

A first-degree murder indictment had been handed down April 11, 1944, by
a grand jury whose foreman was Charlie Register. Members of the all-white
trial jury were Henry Redmon, foreman, Charlie H. Messer, Coy Anderson,
M.J. Kent, J.J. Hardy, Will Allred, B.B. Padgett, Floyd Groce, G.A.
Hawkins, J.C. Miller, H.W. Watson and Esker Martin. The jury found Dixon
guilty of first-degree murder with no recommendation for mercy. Sentence
was imposed by Circuit Judge E.C. Welch. Dixon was transferred to the state
prison in Raiford to await execution after his motion for a new trial had been
denied.

Flournoy appealed the verdict to the Florida Supreme Court, which heard
the appeal and on May 29, 1945, issued an opinion written by Justice H.L.
Sebring and joined by the other six justices of the court which said:

‘*Ples Dixon was tried and convicted of the crime of murder in the first
degree without recommendation to mercy. He has appealed from the
judgment.

‘The evidence shows that the defendant waited in ambush for the deceased
and then, without warning, shot deceased at point-blank range with a shot
gun. Although the defense interposed the plea of self-defense, the jury did not
believe his version of the controversy, but chose to believe the testimony
offered by the prosecution. The defendant was given a fair trial by an
impartial judge and jury and the evidence amply sustains the verdict and

judgment. The judgment appealed from is therefore affirmed.’’
~ Ples Dixon on October 29, 1945, became the first person sentenced from
Holmes County to die in Florida’s electric chair. Execution by electrocution
had been instituted in the state 21 years earlier.

Speculation and rumors surrounding the Dixon case continued to circulate
40 years after his trial and execution, but the speculation had not been
documented. Those discussing the case often concede that the Supreme Court
was correct in concluding that the defendant was given a fair trial on the basis
of the testimony presented, but that some illuminating aspects of the case
were never presented — by the state or the defense — during Dixon’s one-day
trial in which he appeared as his only witness.

THE COUNTY'S MOST SENSATIONAL MURDER

Frank Peterson, a 34-year-old black man, in 1959 became the second person
from Holmes County to die in the state’s electric chair. Peterson was
sentenced in 1959 following a guilty plea to the ax-slaying of Ira Gene Carnley
after breaking into the Carnley home near Bonifay on the night of June 11,

302

1958. Peterson <
Ernestine, age z
Hersche ne,
beside t of 1

Peterson, a S
serving a sent
entering. He sai
country, where |
Carnley on her |
sleeping memb

He fled soon
Springs, from w
New York. He |
including finger
footprint becam
Gov. Averill H
Peterson’s extrz
the investigatio1
New York to pi

Andrews said
for the Advance
prevent extradit
The anti-extrad
some foreign n¢
that Peterson v

Andrews said
‘*Peterson is the
believe he will
apparen ‘om
other pe is Vv
reports that lyn
own hands and

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newspaper tellit
from the sherif
been no lynch n
Peterson then r
intentionally un

Gov. Harrimé
both Mrs. Carnl
already preser
continued to de
York. He also {
grand jury. He '
in Chattahooch

A.P. Drumm
prisoner almo:
eventually decic

*


BOOKS BY JERRELL H. SHOFNER

Introduction to Sidney Lanier, Florida: Its Scenery,
Climate and History (Gainesville, University of Florida Press,
Bicentennial Floridiana Facsimile Series, 1973).

Nor Is It Over Yet: Florida in the Era of Reconstruction,
1863-1877 (Gainesville, University of Florida Press, 1974).

Daniel Ladd: Merchant Prince of Frontier Florida
(Gainesville, University of Florida Press, forthcoming in 1976).

—

J EFFERSON
COUNTY

Jerrell H. Shofner

SENTRY PRESS
Tallahassee


By S. E. Gunnell

That title, the High Sheriff, comes across hundreds of years from medieval England, the time of Chaucer. I

remember hearing it in the conversations of elderly persons around the rural area of my own childhood. Even
now, if you find the right people, the right time and place, and if you listen carefully and unobtrusively, you

might still hear a reference to
surviving in the spoken language.

We present here a collection of experiences and memories assembled by the present sheriff of Levy County— ~
and they have earned this place in the County’s

and three ex-sheriffs. This is their chapter, they wrote it,

‘the High Sheriff, himself’. You will have heard a semantical fossil still

history. They have written not so much of themselves as they have of the people wher they served. They have

witnessed the human comedy, tragedy,

the ludicrous events, the seamy and disgusting aspects of human

behavior. They also met a few heroes, some honest people, some kind souls, and these were at times necessary

to bolster their own concept of humanity. |

The county sheriff has something in common with school teachers and ministers in that he gives of himself
to the people. He also faces the same irrational guff and flak. Of all the elected county officials, the sheriff is
invariably the first target of criticism, deserved or not, after he takes his oath of office. He soon finds that he is

in the position of being a martyr sacrificed upon the altar of public service.

The following list of Levy County Sheriffs is complete from the county’s origin in 1845. It was assembled ;
mostly by J. W. Turner, completed by Pat Hartley, and made available by Horace Moody. A

this chapter, even though they have their own faults and failures as do the rest of us,
each man did his best as sheriff. |

J. J. Mixson 1883-85 W.D. Andrews

W.H. Bigham 1885-95 \ Robert Waterson

E. H. Lambert 1895-97 : E. A. Weeks

H. S. Sutton 1897-03 R. W. Randall

E. Walker 1903-25 Robert Waterson
_L.L. Johns 1925-29 J. F. Prevatt

W.B. Whiddon | 1929-44 L. J. Hogans —

J. W. Turner, Jr. 1944-45 ~G. W. Hodge

George T. Robbins 1945-55 F. B. Faintuno

Fred Moring 1955-56 H. Porter Jackson

J. W. Turner, Jr. 1956-64 W. D. Finlayson

Pat Hartley 1965-77 J. §. Parker

Horace Moody 1977

s to the writers of

I sincerely believe that

\

1845-47
1847
1848-49
1852-53
1854-55
1855-63
1866-67
1873-75
1875-77
1877-80
1880
1881-83

|
|


J. Min Ayers

Mr. J. Min Ayers was born in Rosewood and grew up in Bronson. He started his journalism career at about
the age of twelve, working for Mr. R. B. Child of the Levy County Journal. After a few years with the Journal,
he took over the Gilchrist County Journal at Trenton and has published that paper over a period of forty-three
years. He was Levy County’s state senator about thirty years ago.

Mr. Ayers’ printing company prints and binds these chapters of Search For Yesterday and he is an

enthusiastic supporter and effective promoter of the publication. This Chapter Nine is dedicated to him. The
Levy County Archives Committee acknowledges with grateful appreciation the efforts exerted in behalf of this
history by Mr. Ayers and his staff.

Norma Hutson Resha Hudson Jean Cooper $.:E, Gunnell

Norene Andrews Lindon Lindsey Kathryn Harris Iris Garner


s Sheriff of Levy County.

iters of this chapter.

ins of Bronson when he wa

G. T. Robb

Mr. Robbins is one of the wr

a ———.ti‘(i‘“ Or

_ 1 care ieemaiaeninern ee see ee med) ae nn came omens . .
Sanexs aaa = Si seco peace ee SS Re "

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paeneemecnn emnams erate caine Ie AEE ESET mad


prowlers but that could nof be considered as
conclusive. A tall fence was around the property
and we did not have a key to the gate. Not only
that, we were still unarmed. Meanwhile, I had
established radio contact with Deputy Dwight Bell
who was coming into Bronson, from Otter Creek.
We waited until he arrived, then. Dwight and I
prepared to climb the fence. Mr. Gunnell stayed
with the car to maintain radio contact with the
dispatcher at Bronson. I decided to let Dwight go
over the fence first. At that time he weighed about
380 pounds. That was a strong fence. We
determined that there were no prowlers on the
premises, the alarm system was faulty.

During the late sixties a so-called social-activist
from California teamed up with a person from
Chiefland to form a corporation they called
S.0.U.L., the Society Of Universal Love. This was
during the hippy. years. They recruited a few
followers and established a carmp on the Suwannee
River, Dixie County side. Marine Patrol Officer
Dick Moody reported that he had received citizen
complaints concerning nude swimming in the area
of this hippy camp. He offered to carry me up the
river to check out the complaints. The Sheriff's
Department had no boats of its own at the time.
While I was waiting for further contact with Officer
Moody, I got a call from Sheriff Parker of Dixie
County. He said some FBI agents and two news
media persons were going with him to Hog Island
to check out complaints down there concerning
some hippies. Since Hog Island is part of Levy
County he wanted our department to be involved in

the investigation. I contacted Moody, he said we

would have to go on the high tide out the East Pass
and up a tidal creek into Hog Island. He suggested
that all of us meet at the mouth of the East Pass the
next day at 1:00 PM.

I met Moody and Conservation Officer Cecil
Collins at Fowler’s Bluff. We went to the East Pass
and waited, the others did not appear. Acting on
the assumption that they had gone ahead, we
finally proceeded up the creek. At first we passed
by the squatters’ camp without detecting it, then
we did spot it. I suggested that Collins leave
Moody and me at the landing while he returned to
the East Pass to see if the others had arrived.

I hailed the camp. Two young men and a girl
appeared. While I was talking to them we heard a
commotion approaching through the swamp. This
turned out to be Sheriff Parker and his crew. The
tide was too low for them to get in there by boat so
they had walked all the way across Hog Island. The
squatters objected to the taking of pictures. They

had dug a shallow. well and constructed a crude
cooking apparatus from rusty tin. They admitted
that they were living there without permission of

the land owner but said they had written a letter to.

owner. Two of the men had no identification. They
had built a small palmetto leanto, apparently the
sleeping quarters for the four men and two women.
The leader was named Rhineheimer, Ill never
forget that. He was all decked out with a leather
band around his head and a chain around his waist.
He looked something like Tarzan slightly gone to

-seed. He was the spokesman, also one of the two

without identification. We started to leave and he
asked what we were going to do. I said we would
get warrants for trespassing and contributing to
the delinquency of a minor.

The girl known as Cricket turned out to be the
daughter of a prominent executive in a well known
Florida corporation. He thought she was attending
college, had not heard from her in some time, and
did not actually know exactly where she was. Their
leader assured us that theirs was strictly a platonic
operation, they operated like a family of brothers
and sisters: Then he wanted to know if Florida
recognized common law marriages. i said not
between brothers and sisters. I returned to
Bronson and discussed the situation with Judge
Wilbur Anderson and Prosecutor Ed ‘Wasson.
These young people obviously did not know how to
survive out there in the wilderness. They were
ignorant of even the basic health procedures and
they were being eaten up by insects. We agreed to
file the charges I have already mentioned.

On a Wednesday we went back but the tide was
too low to get in there so we went over to
Suwannee to eat. Meanwhile, the squatters had
left Hog Island. While in the restaurant I saw

Rhineheimer coming down the canal with his mane .

blowing in the breeze. A person in the restaurant
told us that a local fisherman named Aderholt had
rescued the group when their boat was sinking as
they were leaving the island with all their dogs,
cats, and equipment. They were now at a location
in Suwannee. At this point I had to decide whether
or not to pursue the matter further. In view of the
fact that these people had put the hard sell on in
trying to win converts to their lifestyle, plus the
idea of a precedent being set for this area
becoming a hippy refuge, I decided not to let the
matter drop. I called Sheriff Parker, he came over
and arrested four of them. The two others had left
the area.

I remember that I was soundly criticized at the
time for ‘‘not letting these people alone’’. The

ee

wes UFieuasiae:deshaaeethmaee oes cnet eee TEN


AND THEN CAME THE SIXTIES —

By Pat Hartley

I was elected in 1964, the primaries were held
in the month of May back then. I took office
January 5, 1965, and served twelve years. If I
remember correctly, Mr. Gunnell was operating
the public address systems for our political rallies
during those years. Mr. Turner was the
incumbent; J. W. Markham, Mr. Robbins and I
were the challengers. cea ee

The next winter after I took office, a small black
boy disappeared in Gulf Hammock. His father was
named William Veal. The child apparently just
wandered from. his home into the woods and
became lost. For eight days and nights a massive
search was sustained, there must have been well
over a hundred men looking for the little boy. He
was not found, until the next year when hunting
season opened and Mr. Bug W atkins found the

remains. The child was known to have gone-west- ~~~

from his home and we had searched from there to
the Gulf. Somehow, he had made a circle around to
the east side of his home and died there, not far
from the house. The weather was cold and the

- cause of death was no doubt exposure. That was

one of the saddest experiences | had as sheriff.

I realize that in the bigger counties the sheriff
is mostly an administrator but in a small county
like this one, he also tries to settle family
squabbles, provide counsel for persons with

problems, and he does investigative work. On one

particular day, a deputy and I were investigating
the burglary of a juke on the east side of the

county. This juke had already been burglarized

three times before. Each time the thieves would
destroy the jukebox, break into the cigarette
machines, and haul the merchandise away. The
owner was about to go broke. oe

We got there and found the tracks where a
vehicle-had backed up to the building for loading.
The soil was sandy and had been firmed up by
recent. rains. We poured the plaster casts. They
came out so plain that we could read the make of
tire, even the serial number, incredible as that may
sound. By this time we had a crowd of onlookers.
The jukebox had been hauled away. We tracked
the vehicle to a brush area where the jukebox had

26

been unloaded and burned. Where the vehicle had
turned I noticed a broken and missing limb on a
small cherry tree. I thought that the missing, limb
might still be caught in the vehicle’s bumper. I cut
off the stub of the limb and advised the deputies to
look for a vehicle with a cherry laurel switch caught

in the bumper. They found one. I compared my -
stick to the switch and they matched perfectly. The.

two brothers involved with the vehicle were
charged and plead guilty. Their father had a juke

in competition with the one they had been:

burglarizing.

Bill Griffin was working for the Gainesville Sun
and had just started covering this area in 1966. It
seemed that everytime a car was stolen in this area
of Florida, the thief would head straight to Levy
County to get himself caught or to ditch the. car.
One morning about 10:00 we got a statewide alert
that three convicts had escaped in Hamilton
County. They had gone to Madison County, broken
‘nto-a residence and stolen a pistci and shotgun.
They also had a stolen guard’s uniform. Still in

Madison County, they set up 4 dummy road work.
crew with one of the fugitives wearing the uniform:

and holding the shotgun. He flagged a car, they
tied the driver to a tree, and took off in his car.

All officers in our county were advised of the’

alert. I told Bill Griffin that before the day. was
over, these fugitives would land in Levy County, I
told Bill that was inevitable. Auburn Etheridge of
the Chiefland PD spotted the car that afternoon
headed toward Bronson. I advised him to follow at

a distance and keep the suspect vehicle under -

surveilance, to give the rest of us time to reach the
area. He did so. In my car was a double barreled
shotgun which I had intended to return to 4
woman. Her husband had gone to prison for
shooting someone with the gun. They still owed

payments on the gun and she had asked that it be’
returned. I hurriedly stopped by White’s Grocery |

and. bought four buckshot shells. When !

approached the Trenton fork heading out from —

Bronson on US 27-A, Auburn called and said that a
state trooper had inadvertently appeared and
spooked the fugitives so that they turned into a


Tom Townsend and William E. Yearty (1845-1915) in Otter Creek, about
William E. was the grandfather of John Yearty of Gulf Hammock. _

27

cereneewerer


a al

——

Pe oe «te ls

sgt peat Seep TORRE TS APRIL

eect thm heme OI RSI

Se 7
sapere ine tein OAR
sis oie pater pee :

Sth om

trees. He-was-at-such.a distance that I was unable

side road and took off doing over a hundred miles —

an hour.

The fugitives drove to an area behind Stewart
Brock’s store and ran their car into a ditch near
Mr. Geiger’s house. Mr. and Mrs. Geiger were
sitting on their front porch and saw this. The three
men ran into the woods headed toward Gleason’s
Trailer Park. I had called Trenton to get Sheriff
Clyde Williams to seal off that end. We arrived at
the ditched car in a matter of minutes. I took the
right flank route in our search pattern, Auburn left
to warn the trailer park residents. When he had
about time enough to get there, the rest of us
heard a sudden eruption of gunfire that sounded

like a small war. Clyde Williams jumped into the |

car with me and we tore off over there. When we
arrived, I saw the Chiefland PD car and Auburn
Etheridge standing there with Mrs. Gleason, no

one lying on the ground. I also saw a man holding a |

pistol running toward a small pond, so I gave
chase. I remember wondering about the other two
men and the shotgun they had. I was not too
worried about the pistol.

The ground became marshy, I stopped the car
and ordered the fugitive with the pistol to
surrendér. He kept running and dodging behind

to shoot just at his legs, I had to aim at the whole
man. I fired once, he kept going, so I fired again.
The second barrel was full-choke. He stopped after
the second shot but I was unable to see if he still
held the pistol. I was still running toward him and
reloading my shotgun at the same time. When he
stopped, I stopped and yelled at him to come on
out and not make me kill him. He came out holding
the pistol up high by the barrel. Sheriff Williams
arrived and held a gun on him while I climbed the

fence. | asked him if he had been hit, he said he

had been. I inspected his back and found a tiny

bluish hole there, not the faintest tinge of blood

around it, the little hole was completely dry. I told
him that he must not be hurt much. He said that
his insides were burning up. I found the one
buckshot just under the skin of his stomach. It had
gone completely through him.

I was somewhat upset that I might have killed

him, | thought the injury might be fatal. I asked ~

him where the other two were, he said they were
still out in the pine trees. You would think that a
man with a potentially mortal wound would not lie,
but he did. He did survive, though; the ambulance
took him away and the Division of Corrections
posted a 24-hour guard over him at the hospital.
Actually, the other two were hidden under the

28

mobile home all the time. The dog would follow the
trail up to the mobile home and then take off along
the route of the man I had shot. After dark we
began to get calls from people who thought they
had sighted the two fugitives. We had several

airplanes up, the Highway Patrol had set up

roadblocks. Then the dogs discovered a new trail |
going toward Luther White’s beacon light near

US-19. The fugitives went west, then south, then
east. About 2:00 in the morning, Deputy Walter
Beckham and Josh Garner of the Chiefland VFW

posse caught them. We could have closed in on-

them sooner but we were leary of the shotgun we
thought they still had. We asked them about the
shotgun, they said they had left it under the mobile

home where they had been hidden until darkness

artived. They had been lying on top of the mobile
home’s pipes.

Earlier, when Auburn Etheridge had arrived at
the Gleason mobile home, he saw John Dukes (the
man I later shot) pointing a pistol at Mrs. Gleason.
He was demanding the keys to her car. Etheridge
and Dukes then had a furious gunfight with neither
getting hit. That was the small war we had heard.
Dukes ran, and that was when Clyde Williams and
I arrived. The other two were named Stoddard and
Steele. Something like that burns into your

“memory and you never forget it.

When I first took office the desegregation
movement was getting underway. There was a lot
of apprehension about this. Various conflicts and
frictions did develop in neighboring counties but
not in Levy County. Both the black people and
white people here were understanding and
cooperative throughout on that issue. One of the
most. pleasant memories of my tenure as sheriff is
the mature poise and dignity shown then by all of
them. Levy County people should go down in

history for standing tall when almost every county —

around them had problems and difficulties. Robert
Wallace of Williston was the first black deputy in

“this county since Reconstruction. I had known him

a long time, known him to be a law-abiding citizen
of good standing. He made a fine law enforcement
officer from the start and is still in the department
(1979). . |

One night during the early sixties an alarm
went off indicating a breakin at this microwave
relay station on State Road 24 near the Alachua
County line. I started out there from Moring’s Gulf
Service in Bronson. Mr. Gunnell went with me to

keep me from going out there alone. While enroute

we discovered that neither of us had a gun. We
arrived at the scene and detected no indication of

~
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TELEPHONE 224-6131

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Williams, J. Laird, Willie A. Cozart, L.F. Deal, C.P. Reynolds, T.W. Balkcom,
Orvin Jones, Tom Braxton, Y.W. Jackson, Floyd Peterson, Roy Sheffield and
Cliff Summerlin.

Judge Jones died prior to the second trial. Judge Ira A. Hutchison
sentenced the two men to life imprisonment, the same sentence Dewey Keith

had received.

A KILLING LEADS TO THE ELECTRIC CHAIR

Stevie C. Pennington, 51, was killed in Bonifay on February 21, 1944, by a
shotgun blast fired at close range. Ples (Dick) Dixon was indicted, convicted,
sentenced to death and executed for the shooting.

Dixon fled the scene after the shooting at the Highland Crate plant in the
western part of the city, but he returned the next day to surrender to Holmes
County Sheriff W.B. Driver. Pennington, a white man, was night watchman at
the plant, where Dixon, a black man, was daytime mill fireman. As night
watchman, Pennington was overseer of the workers on the night shift. The
night crew included several women workers. .

Witnesses testified at Dixon’s trial on June 7, 1944, that Pennington prior to
the shooting had told Dixon to ‘‘stop quarreling with the hands”’ at the miil.
The testimony also showed that Pennington two or three times earlier had
ordered Dixon to stay away from the plant at night and to stop bothering the
help, identified in the trial transcript as “‘colored women.”’ Also mentioned in
the testimony was an earlier dispute between Dixon and Pennington over a
small loan, with Dixon saying he owed Pennington 30 cents and Pennington
claiming the amount was 60 cents.

Witness Willie W. Davis, 29, testified that Dixon left the plant on the night
of February 21, 1944, after Pennington had ordered him to stop quarreling
with the mill hands. Davis testified that he saw a gun barrel sticking out of a
box cat on a railway siding later as he and Pennington were making the night
rounds. Davis said that he ducked, but that Pennington was shot in the face
and fell dead. He said that Dixon called, ‘‘Look out, white folks’’ as he fired a
shot and then fled.

Other state witnesses were J.D. Culp, funeral home employee; Minnie Lee
Killings, whose sister, Orrie Lee Dixon, was married to Ples Dixon and who
lived with them; County Judge Klein McDonald, who helped examine
Pennington’s body after the shooting; and Sheriff Driver, who arrested Dixon
the morning after the shooting. Testifying on rebuttal were Walter Moore,
Ples Dixon’s uncle, Willie Mae Powell, Belle Bellamy and Willie W. Davis for
a second time.

Ples Dixon was the only person called in his defense. He testified that he
had indeed shot Pennington, but that he had fired in self-defense. He said he
had worked at the mill for about five years, and that Pennington had asked
him to work the night the shooting took place. Pennington, Dixon testified,
became angry after he said he could not work that night because he was going
hunting instead. Dixon said Pennington threatened to kill him for refusing to
work. He denied that Pennington had ordered him to stay away from the mill
at night, saying that he had occasionally worked there at night for Pennington.

301


found the lake simply by following the bare car wheel track. But the Baileys,
whose guard had deserted them but warned he would be watching from the
bushes nearby, feared to respond to the calls of the officers until they could be
identified after daylight. They said they feared that the callers were the other
two robbers who had returned, as they had promised upon departing, ‘‘to get
rid of us.’’ It was only a matter of time until the three suspects were taken into
custody. Assisting Sheriff Brown, Deputy Justice and other sheriff’s officers
in the investigation were Bonifay police officers A.O. Davis and W.W. Young.

The robbery attempt had been marred by unexpected developments from
the beginning. The robbers, for example, had not expected Mrs. Phelps to
stubbornly refuse to cooperate. They also expected her to be alone. She
wasn’t, but they were never aware that Minnie Hudson, a friend of Mrs.
Phelps, had been in an adjoining bedroom. Mrs. Hudson had quietly retreated
through a back door after witnessing the assault on Mrs. Phelps and hearing
the robbers’ demands and threats. She raced to a neighbor’s home to notify
police and sheriff’s officers, but found upon returning with the officers and
aroused neighbors that Mrs. Phelps had been hauled away.

The arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Bailey at the Phelps home also had been
unexpected, and so was the flat tire which delayed the car’s return and then
furnished a wheel track that led to the lake where the two captives were being
held. The series of surprises included the presence of a crowd, including law
enforcement officers, at the Phelps home when the two men returned with
Mrs. Phelps to get her money. A final surprise was the arrival at the lake of
two officers instead of the guard’s two accomplices.

Mrs. Hudson was able to describe the masked men who entered the house.
The others also were able to help identify them. Thus their apprehension came
easily. The men were indicted for kidnapping and robbery by a grand jury
headed by D.M. Lee as foreman. Other members of the jury were H.W.
Williams, clerk, T.E. Richardson, Will Callahan, J.C. Brown, Jesse M. Miller,
J.C. Commander, Ernest Jackson, D.B. Miles, D.R. Jackson, Joel Miller,
R.A. Faircloth, Terrel Rolling, T.M. Peterson, T.L. Williams, J.A. Jenkins,
Bascom Clark and Loes Williams.

Millard Keith and Retherford were tried together, but Dewey Keith was
given a separate trial. The joint defendants were convicted, and not given a
recommendation of mercy, by a jury composed of H.W. Ellis, foreman, Jake
Gillis, W.M. Jones, D.V. Williamson, W.E. Infinger, Major L. Adkins, W.W.
Haughton, A.H. Flournoy, S.D. Sutton, C.B. Stokes, C.D. Thomason and S.P.
Sutton.

Circuit Judge D.J. Jones sentenced Millard Keith and Bernard Retherford
to die in Florida’s electric chair. Prosecuting was State Attorney L.D. McRae.

Dewey Keith was convicted of the same charges, but received a
recommendation of mercy from a jury consisting of James Murray, Jesse
Davis, W.M. Hudson, Cary B. Smith, W.N. Allen, Wilmer Snell, M.L. Alford,
O.L. Andrews, P.A. Johnson, Dan Eldridge, R.D. Murphy and Nathan
Spears. Judge Jones sentenced Dewey to life imprisonment.

Millard Keith and Retherford after several months managed to get a new
trial, and this time the jury found them guilty but recommended mercy after
deliberating less than an hour. Members of the second jury were W.H.

300

Williams, J. Lai
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at night, saying


154 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY

that of a low-country Georgia or South Carolina negro.” Three
surviving brothers, Alexander, Mitchel and William, and their
sister, Molsey Ann Townsend, were shocked by one of those twists
of the law when Aron’s estate was being divided. According to the
law David was one of the heirs and was going to receive a
proportionate share of the estate. Thinking that was an
unreasonable consequence of murder, the four tried to prevent it,
but the judge over-ruled them, primarily on the ground that
David’s creditors had a right to recover. As a result, David E. M.
Scott, who apparently never returned to Florida, received a
one-fifth share of the estate of the brother he had killed in a fit of
anger.10

In a few cases the courts were used by angry neighbors to
demonstrate their pique. In 1845 Theophilus Beatty was charged
with stealing a heifer belonging to Mrs. Elizabeth Wirt of Wirtland.
J. George Anderson brought the charges as Mrs. Wirt’s manager.
It was a case of a brand being mistakenly placed on the wrong
animal, in all probability with no intention of stealing it. At least
Beatty was found innocent of the charge. But the master of
Casabianca retaliated by suing Anderson, Thomas Ross, the
Wirtland overseer, and Grant Scurry, Anderson’s own overseer at
Increase, for debt. It appears that he had little basis for the suit
other than anger over the branding incident, since the case was
dismissed. However, the defendants were required to pay the court
costs.

When Achille Murat was taken to court in 1844 on a misdemeanor
charge, he was so certain that the charges were inspired by
prejudice that he believed a fair trial impossible. Arguing that he
could not obtain justice in the county, he asked for a change of
venue to Leon County. The court agreed and ordered the change.!!

There were some larceny cases with more substance. In 1834
James Branch, who had only recently moved to the county from
neighboring Madison, was arrested for stealing cattle. He was
tried, convicted, and sentenced to receive fifteen stripes on the
bare back with a cowskin and to pay $20 court costs. Chesley

10. Tallahassee Floridian and Journal, October 5, 1850; Records of the Chancery
Court of Jefferson County, Case Files, 1851; Circuit Court Order Book A, pp-
246-47, 288-89, 320-21.

11. Records of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Minute Book, 1847, p. 106;
Order Book B, p. 243; Circuit Court Order Book B, p. 344.

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Bhi papas Te SM,

ARTA R LIOR DNC

Frontier Law and Order 155

Boatwright (the individual who bought the stolen cows) was
indicted for larceny and receiving stolen goods, tried, and found
guilty. He was sentenced to receive 21 stripes on his back and pa
$28.22 court costs. In 1846, Robert W. Anderson was convicted of
larceny and sentenced to receive 39 lashes, to be inflicted by the
sheriff.!2 Additional larceny cases underscored those cited and
demonstrated the frequency with which corporal punishment was
administered against white offenders as well as blacks.

The so-called crimes without victims dealing with the moral
conduct of the community included gambling, adultery and such
related acts as “keeping a disorderly house,” selling liquor in
violation of the law, and disturbing religious worship. Enforcement
of the laws against gambling seemed to be a sometime thing, but in
1832 William T. Clark and David Y. Farmer were arrested for
keeping a game house.” On conviction they were each fined the
prohibitive sum of one dollar. Guilty of gambling were Edwin W
Dorsey, fined 50 cents; James Hall, fined 50 cents; and Reuben
Scott, fined $25. Albert J. Dozier was also arrested at the time, but
his case was continued and charges were dropped in 1833. In 1834
Hannah Taylor, James B. Watts, Barthey Winn, and Cravey Lamb
were arrested and charged with adultery. Since Winn was a justice
of the peace, the arrest created a delicate situation. The community
wanted him removed because of the indictment for “certain
enormities and offences,” but Governor John Eaton hesitated until
the case was decided by trial. Everyone was probably relieved
when the case was not proved against any of the accused persons
When Nancy Granger was indicted for living with a man to whom
she was not married, the case was dismissed when she furnished
evidence of being “duly married.” Joseph B. Watts was one of
ethan persons charged with “keeping a disorderly house.” He was
eal ae guilty” as were several women so charged during the

In 1845 Joseph Kersey was indicted for “disturbing a
congregation assembled for divine worship.” He admitted his guilt
and was fined five dollars and costs. When William Stuart was
charged with the same offense, John Gamble and Mitchell

12. Ibid., ; Mi ircui
Hack aera D, p. 125; Minute Book, 1834, p. 121; Circuit Court Order

13. Ibid., Minute Book, 1829
; : , p. 11, 1832, pp. 44-45; Order B
Book D, p. 129; Carter, Territorial Pasars, Vetuthe 25, gt ae eh tae amend


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L. L. Johns was living at Rosewood when he ran for sheriff.