Book Read Free

Without Mercy: The Stunning True Story of Race, Crime, and Corruption in the Deep South

Page 22

by David Beasley


  21. “Six Young Negroes Are Electrocuted at Georgia Prison,” Columbus Ledger, Dec. 10, 1938.

  22. Author’s observations from a visit to the death chamber at Tattnall Prison, May 2012.

  23. Description of the executions is derived from newspaper and wire service accounts.

  24. Author’s observation from witnessing an execution in Georgia’s electric chair as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

  25. “Smyrna, Georgia, Murder Suspect Given Freedom,” Atlanta Daily World, Dec. 17, 1938.

  26. “Six Negroes Pay Extreme Penalty in Tattnall Chair,” Atlanta Constitution, Dec. 10, 1938.

  27. Ibid.

  28. “Electric Chair Ready for Watchman Killers,” Columbus Ledger, Dec. 9, 1938.

  29. “Six Negroes Pay Extreme Penalty in Tattnall Chair.”

  30. “Six Die in Electric Chair,” Atlanta Georgian, Dec. 9, 1938.

  31. Mrs. E. J. Forrester to E. D. Rivers, Dec. 10, 1938, Georgia Archives, RCB 9002: 1937–1941—Gov. E. D. Rivers—Clemency, 1938.

  32. Downing Musgrove to Mrs. E. J. Forrester, Dec. 12, 1938, ibid.

  33. A. M. Anderson to Downing Musgrove, Dec. 19, 1938, ibid.

  34. Ibid; postcards are attached to Anderson’s letters to Musgrove.

  35. Register of inmate deaths, Tattnall Prison, viewed by author on visit to prison in May 2012.

  36. “Beautiful Christmas Lights to Be Placed Around the Courthouse Square for Christmas Season,” Jackson Progress Argus, Dec. 15, 1938.

  10. Millionaires in Prison

  1. “Harsh, Gallogly Taken to Prison to Begin Terms,” Atlanta Constitution, April 10, 1929.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Burns’s account is taken from his book, I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! published in 1932.

  4. “Gallogly Is Equally Guilty with Him, Harsh Testifies,” Atlanta Constitution, May 18, 1939.

  5. Ibid.

  6. “Gallogly Escapes with Bride,” Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 7, 1939.

  7. “Dick Gallogly Attempts Suicide,” Atlanta Constitution, Nov. 30, 1932.

  8. “Commission Rejects Plea of Gallogly,” Atlanta Constitution, Dec. 30, 1932.

  9. In Harsh, Lonesome Road.

  10. Ibid., 37.

  11. Ibid., 52.

  12. “The Press: Atlanta’s Grays,” Time, June 10, 1935.

  13. “Gallogly Pardon Is Aim of Cohen, Says Governor,” Atlanta Constitution, Aug. 8, 1934.

  14. “Gallogly Parole Favored by Board,” Atlanta Constitution, June 30, 1936.

  15. “Harsh and Gallogly Denied Clemency,” Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 1, 1936.

  16. “Transfer of Harsh from Fulton Looms,” Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 6, 1936.

  17. “Early Clemency Is Requested for Dick Gallogly,” Atlanta Constitution, May 11, 1939.

  18. Ibid.

  19. “Gallogly’s Clemency Hearing Continued Until Wednesday,” Atlanta Constitution, May 12, 1939.

  20. “Gallogly Escapes with Bride.”

  21. Ibid.

  22. “Gallogly Surrenders at Texas Jail,” Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 11, 1939.

  23. “Gallogly Escape Car Found Here,” Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 9, 1939.

  24. “Gallogly Wins First Round as Hearing Opens Heatedly,” Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 17, 1939.

  25. Ibid.

  26. Taped interview with Ellis Arnall conducted by Jane Walker Herndon for dissertation on E. D. Rivers, available at Georgia State University Special Collections and Archives, Series M., E. D. Rivers (P1992-18).

  27. “Texas Governor Orders Gallogly Back to Georgia,” Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 19, 1939.

  28. “Gallogly’s Flight Was Planned Far Ahead,” Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 20, 1939.

  29. “Journal, WSB Sold to James M. Cox,” Atlanta Constitution, Dec. 13, 1939.

  30. James M. Cox, Journey Through My Years (Simon and Schuster, 1946), 46.

  31. “Melanie, Laurence Olivier, David Selznick Arrive,” Atlanta Constitution, Dec. 14, 1939.

  32. “Cinema: G with the W,” Time, Dec. 25, 1939.

  33. Gary Pomerantz, Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn (Scribner’s, 1996), 135.

  34. “Seeking Ushers for Gone with the Wind Premiere,” Atlanta Daily World, Dec. 9, 1939.

  35. “Gone Mad with the Wind,” Atlanta Daily World, Dec. 16, 1939.

  36. “Mrs. J. R. Gray Dies in 78th Year,” Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 7, 1940.

  37. “Sons, Daughters, Granddaughters Left Gray Estate,” Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 11, 1940.

  11. A Bankrupt State

  1. “Braswell D. Deen, 88, Ex-Congressman, Dies,” New York Times, Nov. 30, 1981.

  2. Erskine Caldwell, Tobacco Road (Signet, 1932), 320.

  3. Emily Woodward, Empire (Ruralist Press, 1936), 23.

  4. Taped interview with Braswell Deen conducted by Jane Walker Herndon for dissertation on E. D. Rivers, available at Georgia State University Special Collections and Archives, Series M., E. D. Rivers (P1992-18).

  5. “Evans Lectures to Probers,” Atlanta Constitution, Feb. 7, 1939.

  6. “Six Kidnappings Klan Initiation, Evans Admits,” Atlanta Constitution, Feb. 7, 1939.

  7. “Rivers Proclaims Martial Law to Bar Miller from Road Post,” Atlanta Constitution, Dec. 19, 1939.

  8. “Rivers Reported Ready to Use Troops in Defying Court Order,” Atlanta Constitution, Feb. 20, 1940.

  9. “Rivers Arrested by U.S. Marshal,” Atlanta Constitution, March 16, 1940.

  10. “The Court Speaks,” Atlanta Constitution, April 12, 1940.

  11. “Gillis Testifies to Job Threat Made by Evans,” Atlanta Constitution, May 14, 1942.

  12. “Free School Books Add Fuel to the Fire in Campaign for the Governorship,” Atlanta Constitution, August 10, 1938.

  13. “Talmadge Pleads for Passage of Budget Control Bill,” Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 28, 1941.

  14. Letter to Gov. E. D. Rivers, May 6, 1939, name of letter writer redacted, Georgia Archives, 26-2-3 DPH, Governor, 1939.

  15. Letter from Abbie Weaver, director of Public Health Nursing to E. D. Rivers, June 24, 1939, Georgia Archives, 26-2-3 DPH, Governor, 1939.

  16. R. Nesteller, M.D., to Tallapoosa patient, May 19, 1939,

  17. Letter to E. D. Rivers from Irwinton, Georgia, May 1939, patient name redacted, ibid.

  18. Ibid.

  19. E. D. Rivers to Irwinton patient, June 1, 1939, Georgia Archives, 26-2-3 DPH, Governor, 1939.

  20. Maud Fleming, district itinerant nurse, to Abbie Weaver, director of Public Health Nursing, June 15, 1939, ibid.

  21. Letter to E. D. Rivers from Waycoss, Georgia, Sept. 28, 1939, name of letter writer redacted, ibid.

  22. “Only Harmless Patients Sent Home from Hospital,” Atlanta Constitution, May 10, 1939.

  23. Edward J. Larsen, Sex, Race, and Science (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), 131.

  24. “Leading Augusta Citizens Urge Passage of Pending Selective Sterilization Bill,” Atlanta Constitution, Feb. 17, 1935.

  25. Edwin Black, War Against the Weak (Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003), 7.

  26. Ibid., 276.

  27. “Sterilization for Control of Criminality Is Unsound,” Augusta Chronicle, March 3, 1935.

  28. Larson, 119.

  29. “Talmadge Vetoes Bill to Sterilize Criminals, Insane,” Atlanta Constitution, March 27, 1935.

  30. Larson, 137.

  31. Lombardo, Paul, “A Century of Eugenics in America,” Indiana University Press, 2011, Page 45.

  32. Helen Muse to Dr. T. F. Abercrombie, Jan. 29, 1938, Georgia Archives 26-2-3 DPH Eugenics Board, 1939.

  33. Dr. T. F. Abercrombie to Helen Muse, Feb. 10, 1938, ibid.

  34. Roy Harris to Dr. T. F. Abercrombie, March 30, 1939, ibid.

  35. Minutes of the Meeting of the State Board of Eugenics, April 28, 1939, ibid.

  36. Epilepsy Foundation, Genetics Factors and Heredity, http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/aboutepilepsy/causes/geneticfactors.
cfm.

  37. “Sterilization for Control of Criminality Is Unsound,” Augusta Chronicle, March 3, 1935.

  38. “Five Youths Perish in Gracewood Fire,” Augusta Chronicle, Dec. 19, 1939.

  12. The Price of Freedom

  1. “Rivers Commutes Fluker Death Sentence to Life,” Atlanta Constitution, Aug. 10, 1939.

  2. “Rivers Assailed as ‘Public Enemy No. 1,’” Atlanta Constitution, July 11, 1939.

  3. “Grand Jury Opens Probe into Pardons,” Atlanta Constitution, Aug. 19, 1939.

  4. Roy Leathers to E. D. Rivers, April 15, 1940, Georgia Archives, RCB 9002: 1937–1941—Gov. E. D. Rivers—Clemency, 1940.

  5. Roy Leathers to E. D. Rivers, Nov. 5, 1940, ibid.

  6. Telfair County judge E. Graham to E. D. Rivers, June 4, 1938, Georgia Archives, RCB 9002: 1937–1941—Gov. E. D. Rivers—Clemency, 1938.

  7. “Pardoner’s Tale,” Time, July 14, 1941.

  8. Spense M. Grayson to Marvin Griffin, Dec. 4, 1940, Georgia Archives, RCB 9002: 1937–1941—Gov. E. D. Rivers—Clemency, 1940.

  9. “Notorious Georgia ‘Fugitive’ Is Refused Pardon by Rivers,” Atlanta Constitution, March 7, 1937.

  10. “Rivers Gives Massachusetts Bug Parolee,” Atlanta Constitution, Sept. 2, 1937.

  11. “Rivers’ Revenge,” Time, Sept. 13, 1937.

  12. “Rivers Refuses to Intervene in Cawthon Case,” Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 12, 1941.

  13. “Clemency Plea of Cawthon Is Opposed,” Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 11, 1941.

  14. “Gallogly Goes Before Rivers to Seek Freedom Today,” Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 13, 1941.

  15. “Do Your Duty Governor,” Atlanta Journal, Jan. 11, 1941.

  16. “Gallogly, Harsh Are Granted Full Pardons,” Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 14, 1941.

  17. Ibid.

  18. “Rivers Pardon Total Hits 72 on Final Day,” Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 15, 1941.

  19. Taped interview with Roy Harris conducted in 1972 by Jane Walker Herndon for dissertation on E. D. Rivers, available at Georgia State University Special Collections and Archives, Series M., E. D. Rivers (P1992-18).

  20. “Rivers Pardon Total Hits 72 on Final Day.”

  21. “The Pardoning Orgy,” Augusta Chronicle, Jan. 16, 1941.

  22. “Georgians May Be Forced to Arm Against Pardon Hazard,” Atlanta Constitution, Feb. 8, 1941.

  13. The Long Way Up

  1. “Klan, Shorn of Power, Seeks to Regain It,” New York Times, Sept. 19, 1937.

  2. “Klan Wizard Accepts Invitation to Dedication of New Catholic Church,” Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 17, 1939.

  3. “Co-Cathedral Dedicated,” Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 19, 1939.

  4. “Wizard Evans Present at Ceremony with His Family,” Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 19, 1939.

  5. “Evans Talks Klan out of Balloting,” Atlanta Constitution, June 10, 1939.

  6. “Hiram W. Evans, John W. Greer Indicted in Road Probe,” Atlanta Constitution, May 31, 1940.

  7. “Court Accepts Evans Plea of No Contest,” Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 6, 1941.

  8. “Greer Is Found Guilty,” Atlanta Constitution, June 3, 1942.

  9. “Former KKK Head’s Tax Bill at $257,763,” Omaha World Herald, July 18, 1946.

  10. Hiram W. Evans v. Commissioner, United States Tax Court 5 T.C.M, (CCH) 336, April 30, 1946.

  11. “Washington Merry Go Round,” Dallas Morning News, July 16, 1946.

  12. Ibid.

  13. Ibid.

  14. “Fists and Bullets Fly During Wild Fight,” Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 3, 1941.

  15. “Rivers, Son, 18 Others Indicted,” Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 4, 1942.

  16. George Banks, interview with the author, December 2012.

  17. “Will Open Klan Books to Federal Probers,” Atlanta Constitution, Sept. 23, 1921.

  18. “Judge Declares Mistrial in Evans Case,” Atlanta Constitution, June 12, 1942.

  19. “Graft Charges Against Rivers, Evans Dropped,” Atlanta Constitution, April 9, 1943.

  20. “Cocking and Pittman Ousted by Board of Regents,” Atlanta Constitution, July 15, 1941.

  21. “Ten Colleges Suspended from Southern Accredited List,” Atlanta Constitution, Dec. 5, 1941.

  22. “Crowd of 15,000 Wildly Cheers Arnall,” Atlanta Constitution, Aug. 7, 1942.

  23. “Complete Text of Ellis Arnall’s Speech on Pardon Racket,” Atlanta Constitution, Sept. 6, 1942.

  24. “Prison Shadows, Clank of Chains Shaken from Life of Robert Burns,” Atlanta Constitution, Nov. 2, 1945.

  25. David M. Chalmers, Hooded Americanism (Doubleday, 1965), 327.

  26. “Arnall Tells Georgia’s Story Well,” Atlanta Constitution, Nov. 15, 1945.

  27. Harold Paul Henderson, The Politics of Change in Georgia (University of Georgia Press, 1991), 127.

  28. “Men, Women at Tattnall Now Separated,” Atlanta Constitution, July 7, 1943.

  29. “Let’s Keep the Record Straight,” Atlanta Daily World, May 17, 1946.

  30. Henderson, 191.

  31. Ibid., 193.

  Epilogue

  1. Harsh, 121.

  2. Ibid., 124.

  3. Ibid., 169.

  4. Ibid., 179.

  5. Martin Luther King Jr., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. (Grand Central Publishing, 1998), 146.

  6. Ibid., 148.

  7. “You Can’t Hang a Million Dollars,” Atlanta Constitution, May 30, 1971.

  8. “George Harsh, a Pardoned Slayer Who Became a Hero and Author,” New York Times, Jan. 28, 1980.

  9. Furman v. Georgia, U.S. Supreme Court, 408 U.S. 238, June 29, 1972.

  10. Dawson v. The State, Georgia Supreme Court, S01A1041, Oct. 5, 2001.

  11. Ibid.

  12. “Davis Advocates’ Claims on Evidence, Recanted Testimony Are Not True,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sept. 15, 2011.

  13. Ibid.

  14. Ruling by U. S. District Court Judge William T. Moore in re: Troy Anthony Davis, Southern District of Georgia, Aug. 24, 2010, case number 4:09-cv-00130.

  15. Author’s observation while covering the march as a news reporter.

  INDEX

  The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your e-book. Please use the search function on your e-reading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.

  Abercrombie, T. F.

  abortion

  acid branding

  Adkins, Lucius

  Adkins, Mattie

  African Americans. See also National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

  Democratic Party and

  donation of corpses and

  education and

  Evans, H. W., and

  grand juries and

  lynching and

  mob violence and

  Social Security and

  statistics and

  at Tattnall Prison

  teacher salaries and

  voting by

  alcohol. See liquor

  Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America

  American Bitumuls Company

  American Medical Association

  Anderson, W. T.

  antilynching legislation

  A&P grocery store

  Arnall, Ellis

  asphalt scheme and

  Dyer and

  Gallogly, R., and

  sterilization bill and

  Arnold, Reuben

  asphalt scheme

  Associated Press

  Atlanta Braves

  Atlanta Constitution (newspaper)

  on Birth of a Nation

  on Evans, H. W.

  on Gallogly, R.

  on Harsh

  McGill and

  Atlanta Daily World (newspaper)

  Atlanta Falcons

  Atlanta Georgian (newspaper)

  Atlanta Journal

  Caldwell and

  Cohen and


  Cox and

  Gallogly, R., and

  Great Depression and

  on Harsh

  Smith, H., and

  Atlanta Police Department

  Augusta Chronicle (newspaper)

  Augusta Junior League

  Avery, Pat

  Backwater Creek

  Banks, George

  Banks Lake

  Barwick, M. C.

  Bell, E. H.

  Bell bomber plant

  Bellwood chain gang

  Benedict, Pope

  Bennett, W. J.

  Berry College

  Bethel Elementary School

  Bible

  Bickle, Horace

  Billy the Kid Returns (film)

  birth control

  The Birth of a Nation (film)

  Black, Edwin

  Black, Hugo

  Blalock, D. B.

  Board of Education

  bootleg liquor

  Borah, Bernard

  Bowers, Frank

  Boykin, John

  Gallogly, R., and

  Harsh and

  Rivers, E. D., and

  Bradley, Tom

  Brant, Irving

  Broadway theater

  Brogden, W. F.

  Brown, J. J.

  Brumby, Mary Louise

  Brumby, Thomas

  Brumby Chair Company

  Buck, Carrie

  budget crisis

  the bug (lottery game)

  Bureau of Internal Revenue

  Burford, Freeman

  Burns, Robert

  Burson, Wright

  Butler, Pierce

  Butts County Jail

  Caldwell, Erskine

  Atlanta Journal and

  Deen and

  Camp, George Washington

  Camp, Lawrence

  Camp, Lindley

  cancer

  Capes, W. W.

  Carmichael, James

  Carnegie, Pennsylvania

  Carter, Jimmy

  Carter, Raymond

  execution of

  Smith, R., and

  trial of

  Catholic Church

  Cawthon, Henry

  Central State Hospital

  chain gangs

  Bradley and

  Burns and

  Fluker, O., and

  Fox and

  Harsh and Gallogly, R., and

  Williams, J. M., and

  Chandler, Albert

  Chastain, Mark (“Chicken”)

  Cheatham, L. P.

  childbirth, deaths in

  Christ the King (church)

  Christianity. See also specific churches

  Bible

 

‹ Prev