The et cetera chronicles – vol. 127

HANG ME FROM THE HIGHEST TREE! – Dublin’s Mrs. Amanda Jones admitted that she killed Frank Hamilton, a well-known African-American politician. In her mind, Hamilton needed to be killed. Declared guilty by the jury, the judge sentenced the satisfied woman to ninety-nine years in prison.  Jones began to smile and begged Judge Smith to hang her by the neck to a high tree instead.  The County Record, Kingtree S.C. Jan. 5, 1898.

THE FLAMES OF WRATH – As fires in downtown Dublin go, the greatest or worst massive fire in the history of Dublin took place in May 1889. The fire destroyed every structure on the southern side of West Jackson Street except the brick office of Dr. R.H. Hightower Sr.  Another horrible conflagration took place on New Year’s Day of 1894.  The two-story building, known as the largest and handsomest structure in Dublin, was owned by Whitehead and Watkins and was actually made of four stores with retail shops and professional offices on the second floor. The flames took only two hours to reduce the fine structure to ashes.  Lost in the fire on the north side of the first block of West Jackson were Tarpley and Kellam’s pharmacy, E.J. Tarpley’s Millinery Store, and the stores of G.W. Bishop & G.W. Maddox.  The professional offices of F.G. Corker, Ira Chappell, J.P. Walker, Mercer Haynes, A.T. Summerlin, Charles Hicks  and A.L. Wade.  Atlanta Constitution,  Jan. 2, 1894. 

WHERE’S THE LOOT?  – Dublin’s businessmen found themselves in a defuddled quandary. Night after night, their goods were slowly disappearing. No one could figure out who was taking their stuff and, more importantly, where it was hidden.  Some residents of the downtown area reported that they have heard weird, blood-curdling groans coming out of an abandoned building near the City Cemetery. The merchants rounded up a posse to venture into the suspected hiding place. It was almost midnight when the men broke open the door. They were taken aback when they observed a stack of coffins. Just then, the searchers heard a loud groan coming from one of the coffins.  A lid was taken off one of the coffins. Inside a bright-eyed man rose and asked them what they were doing. The thief was arrested and taken to jail.  A subsequent search revealed a large amount of the missing goods in the other coffins. None of the victims, still shaking, wanted their stuff back.  Boston Globe, Dec. 20, 1893. 

THE IDIOT ARSONISTS – Turner Hill, an accused rapist, Lewis Griffin, accused of attempting murder, Exum Pitts, an accused thief, and Pink Flanders, who was charged with murdering his brother-in-law, Sam Monftord, knew that they were in big trouble.  In their time, Negro men were severely charged with these types of crimes.  

It was about 10:30 o’clock in the evening when the cries of fire rang out throughout the area of the county jail.  A horde of bystanders rushes to the sound of the alarm.  

The quartet of prisoners, hoping to pull off a last chance to escape.  The men lit a fire, which raged out of control and prevented their escape. Some of them cried out for help.  Jailer Hudson was the first to appear on the scene of the fire.  He let out the miscreants, who once again attempted to remove themselves from the front door.  Henry Hudson, the jailer’s son, tripped the men as they descended the staircase. City Marshal Cowart, George Bang and a band of citizens drew their guns at the dazed criminals, ending their attempt to flee.  Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 25, 1890.

YOU’RE KILLING US, MAN! – The temperance folks needed to take drastic steps to stop the consumption of demon rum. Dublin and Laurens County’s infant communities were suffering from way too many fights, many of which ended in death. So for most of the last two decades, the non-drinkers proposed and sometimes obtained a license fee to sell spiritous liquors and beer in the amount of $10,000 per year, or in today’s world, about $325.000.00 a year.  Savannah Morning News, Feb. 11, 1891. 

A SHOT IN THE ARM – Carson Keen, a young boy from Alston, Georgia, was brought to the Coleman Hospital in Dublin.  The young man was suffering from “rabbit fever.”  For the first time in Laurens County, the doctors used penicillin to cure the young man. Macon News. May 16, 1944.