Newspaper Page Text
Rev. George B. Culpepper of Ft. Valley
Relates Interesting and Thrilling Events
Which Occurred One Hundred Year Ago
(Continued from Previous Issue)
CHAPTER VI
dying. One night there came to my
door an old man and asked me to
_ .. 8° ar *d talk to a man who had
To answer the question “Who been injured in a railroad accident
committed the crime , propounded and was in a dying condition. It
at the close of the last chapter was late at night, the weather
is no easy matter; but maybe a was cold and I was loath to leave
summing up of several factors may my comfortable room, but I went,
help the reader to reach a satis- the dying was a negro; and see-
factory solution. ing that he could live but a lit-
There were several possible crim- Ue while I urged him to talk while
inals at Peddy’s Tavern on the nite he could, if there was anything
of April the fourteenth .eighteen he want ed say. His sufferings were
hundred and forty-four. In this day great : but he said that he wanted
each one of them would be -are- Y 3 conte ss to having killed a man
fully considered by the authorities in Ge «rgia whil he was on his way
of law and administrators of jus- f° treea °m. He said this was down
tice. m the South, and was the only
First: There were two young men be t had °ot tried to make
present when Thurmond counted ^ e , told ot the cruel treat-
out the money mentioned as “Mon- h - 1S ° % '' ner: , of the beating
roe Railroad Money”. Both were re- ai ), d starvi ug by the “slave dev
iated by marriage to Mrs. Penelope .i n f S h J h f: ovc ^ saer was called,
Peddy; and both of them were , d of hlS f T nal de ] erminaf -ion to
named Wiley—Wiley Peddy. They Inm ‘ f He i, j° ld of how he
were a gay and reckless pair of 5.. in p d track ' dogs and the pur-
daredevils. But they left ihe tavern ^ te ™ e r ?’ and . fmally
over an hour before the travelers, L r th hP^iiioH 6 ty ' ° n W f V
Thurmond and Murdock did, think- l \ n f n; and h f de ‘
p wM„ d n all o''
dlodlrom dnnkHnd mfgh t b have 7 n C | d ^ u ‘° s “"y "“hat'
considered the deed- but he re g your story ’ that the dying
m ai„ed a. hia mcJeVs
midnight and then went straight said tbat this waa the j t f tbe
5 i h ‘ s ;° me - “ e „ was ab ° v * su "; roll he took from the man he
picion and ail his hours that night kjn ed that night in April.” Ihe old
were accounted tor at the coroner's man took fro ^ his po £ ket a wallet
inquest next day. He was neve, took out a piece of P oiled un
even suspicioned then, but he w d it P and showed ^ com .
would be closely questioned now. there assem51ed the only bi]1
So he is eliminated. So far as any of Monroe railroad m a * f
character introduced atthe trial the number had ever y een y It
goes, there is but one possible per- was old and ^ the date of 1841 .
petrator left. | It told a sad tale. An old mother
About one mile north of Talbot- U p North died for grief over her
ton, in the county or r aibot, in trie boy who never came; three graves
State of Georgia, about three hun- where four are buried under a
area yaras on tne right hand, as towering magnolia on the banks
one taces to the norm, stands a of the Ochlochnee river down in
wide-spreading .oak tree. Around Florida, one of these a fair, faith -
this oak there is a tangle of briers ful and trusting maiden, waiting
and oamooo and yellow jasimine and hoping for her lover’s return;
vines, maaing now quite a uense an unmarked grave up in Georgia
thicaet, and u one pusnes through hides the dust of the man wno
this copse, to a spot uirecuy oe- was murdered—sleeping until
neath this giant old tree, he will all wrongs shall be righted and
find some rotting posts and another grave, watched over by a
boards, iney mark a lone grave, hoary monarch of the forest, cov-
The southern songster—the inocK- ers the dust of Albert Murdock,
ing bird—sings gany through the who was wrongfully executed on
day, and his silvery notes may oe circumstantial evidece, for the
heard at night, when tne moon murder of Allen Thurmond,
shines at the lull- drowsy sieepy, Qne of Georgia’s most gifted
music. The red bird flashes ins writers, whose publications have
scarlet plumage in and out thru gone around the world and num-
the spring and summer and au- ber hundreds of thousands, said ol
tumn; and on dreary winter days a cr j me committed 43 years after
the crows caw from the leanest, tb Murdock-Thurmond murder—a
branches of this hoary old sentinel cr j me where a man was hung for
oak, wnue ms feiiovv-marauders (. be supposed killing of eight
puli up the sprouting grain ol member of his family and a visit-
farmer s surrounding field. No j ng acquaintance—that he was
chance traveler, as ne views these never satisfied with the verdict
scenes and listens to these voices lbat <- ook t be life of Thomas Wool-
of the woodland, would think tnai f 0 i k) for he always thought that
the lone grave ocnt-ain this treu tbe negro j n that case knew fai
holds the secret of as grim a
more than came out at the trial,
THE END
tragedy as was ever enacmu m and tbat as a p the evidence was
the good old county of iauioi. circumstantial, Tom Woolfofk,
True, occasionally, some supersu- should not have been executed
tious darkey will ten oi some ^ murder Beware of circumstan-
moans arm groans he neard as ne
passed “dar in de mgnt. or, an- Ual evidence,
other will til you oi a strange,
“blue'light” he saw in chat unca- (
et at mmiiignt, one night; out toi — —
most people or tins generation it, paul and John . had a clear ap .
is only Known as MuraocKS giave ens . on +hat _ ., s mortal man
In rauty there ues ouiieu intie achieves no worldly honors except
the booy oi a slender, ian-naned, h sacr ifi cej so he must gain
blue-eyeu youth, scarcely m»re h * avenl rich(>s by forsaking all
than a boy wnen he was nung ordninoss ._ Mary Baker Eddy,
muraer. ioo piquci to let ms tiuu-j
bles oe known; too tender to seek* —•
am lront an ageu mouier, or to let
her know of his calamity; iar
from his home in tne north, no
fought out nis battles against
fate—tougnt and lost on circum
stantial evidence, he made a spien
dia two years fignt aim was an
ally hung without one iota oi eye
witness evidence, inis evioencei
saici tnat Albert Muraock was tne |
man "vs no committed tne^crnne .
Circumstantial evidence simuid
never oe anowed to convict or inui :
der; as win be snown here and
now.
One night about three score
years alter that Apia muraer, i
and on the anniversary tlieieoi,
this case of circumstantial cvi-1
dence was told to a company ot
men in a note! looby, as the
strongest case ol suen evioence on
record; but not strong enough to
convict or murder. ior uue was a,
missing iiiik m tne cnain. And ai-1
thougn juuge Vvelooi n sum mat
the evidence was stronger man it,
any one man had seen ihe crime
committed, the chain was not
complete for mere was not one I
woru oi evidence concerning that,
which prompted the crime- -me |
lour nunuieu dollars of iVionroe |
railroad money which ihurmond
had—nobooy nad it; nobouy nad
seen it, and nobody knew anything
or asned anything about it.
One of the listeners that night
arose as the story was completed
and said to the man whu had re
cited the occurrence: “Sir, you are
right. I am a minister. Until re
cently I have lived in the North. I
have had. many strange expeii-
ences and heard many remarkaole
confessions' from those who were j
dying, or who thought they were |
Secretary of State
Ben W, Forlson Seeks
Endorsement Term
Conducting a vigorous campaign
for au endorsement, term as Secre
tary ol .Stale of lieorgia, Hen W.
Fnrtson, .lr., pledges himself to ef
ficient service in that important
office.
"I will do my
nest to make my
services as Sec-
relary ot State
as valuable to
the people ot
Georgia as is
p o s s l h I e, ' he
said “It's im
portant duties
will be perform
ed efficiently
and the public
Jr - will receive
Beil W Fnrtso
courteous and prompt attention to
every request that comes to my
office.
Fortson served four terms in the
Georgia Assembly. During debates
on Important measures, his wheel
chair always was “down front.”
As chairman of a House subcom
mittee, he handled legislation ex
tending the franchise to 18 year-old
Georgians and was the author of
the Georgia Soldiers Ballot Act. re
garded as the best legislation ot
its kind In the Nation He was a
vigorous leader tu the tight to es
tablish a non political penal system,
and served as chairman ot the
committees on the University Sys
tem and on Hygiene and Sanitation.
Regarded by his colleagues in the
legislature as one of the most en
ergetic and valuable members, he
is receiving assurances of wide
spread support in his campaign for
an endorsement term as Secretary
of Statr v
Annual Meeting of the First
Church of Christ, Boston,
Mass, June 3 1946
i (From Christian Science Monitor)
Until all responsible government
heads are made to realize that the
measure of a nation’s true great
ness is the spiritual stature of its
people rather than its physical re
sources, there can be no end to
the conflict between materially
mental forces that parcipitated
World War II, The Christian Sci
ence Board of Directors told the An
nual Meeting of the Mother Church,
The First Church of Christ. Scient
ist, in Boston, Mass., today.
The time has come, the Directors
affirmed when representatives of
all social and religious systems are
being called upon to give someth
ing more convincing than promises,
preachments, and paganistic to sus
tain the faith of their fellows, and
to provide for a lasting peace.
If these systems are to survive,
declared the official spokesman of
the world embracing Christian
Science movement, they must “fur
nish proof that the ideals for which
they stand can be made of practi
cal use in advancing the cultural,
economic and spiritual welfare oi
the race.”
This statement from the Direc
tors was given before thousands of
Christian Scientists attending the
first peacetime Annual Meeting in
five years, many of whom came
from countries long shut off from
the world of war. They brought
with them vital lessons from the
troubled years just passed to em
phasize the Director’s contention
that “the supreme duty of states- I
men and churchmen at this crucial
hour is to use every means at their
command to prevent another world
conflict and to bind up the un
healed wounds left by the last one.”
“This is no time for them to re
sort either to subterfuge or aggres- i
sion as a means of extending the
political influence of any cnurch!
or state,” the statesment said. j
Continuing on these lines, the
Directors insisted that “there is no
loom in the church for politics, and
in a democratic system of govern
ment there is no room in politics
for the church There is, however,
always room in politics for the mo
ral sense of religion.” ■ |
Applying that statement with
equal force to national and inter- i
national affairs, the Directors ad- j
ded: “It makes little difference
whether it be a conflict between i
political ideologies and religious;
dogmas or an open warfare be
tween armed forces; the results are
always stultfying.
“If those wno are today engaged
in the grave task of building ai
world government for the purpose
of establishing permanent and un
iversal peace on earth, fail to turn
to God for guidance and fail to
make spiritual integrity the very,
foundational stone in their struct-
ures, they will have labored in
vain.”
Awareness of the basic national
need for divine guidance evoked'
a profound statement from Ben
jamin Franklin during the heated
Constitutional Convention in Phil
adelphia, which the Directors cited
as still apropos in today’s problems.
Quoting the familiar Scriptural
passage, “Except the Lord build the
house, they labour in vain that
build it,” Franklin added: “I firm
ly believe this: and I also believe
that without His concurring build
ing aid we shall succeed in this
political building no better than the
builders of Babel; we shall be di
vided by our little, partial local in
terests . . . .And what is worse,
mankind may hereafter from this
unfortunate instance despair of es
tablishing governments by human
wisdom and leave it to chance war
and conquest.” *
In the present unsettled econo
mic and political picture, the
Christian Scientist’s official gover
ning body envisage conditions
fraught with the same evil conse
quences as in Franklin’s day. And
they assured the Annual Meeting
that “it is just as true now as it
Was then that without God’s guid
ance and the spiritual support of
the church, no government, either
national of international, can suc
cessfully cope with these difficul
ties.”
Othcf high lights of the annual
gathering were the announcements
that all major Christian Science
periodicals, including The Christian
Science Moqitor, attained new high
circulation peaks in the last year,
that the volume of Monitor adver
tising established a new high re
cord of 20,000 regular contributors,
and that religious contacts have
been rapidly renewed with many
foreign lands since the end of the
war.
Modern new presses, introducing
four-color advertising ‘and four-co
lor feature material, will be in
stalled as part of the equipment
of the Monitor, possibly this fall, it
was reported by the Trustees of The
Christian Science Publishing Soc
iety.
The Trustees also disclosed that
the Monitor’s regular staff. corre
spondent has been returned 'to Rus
sia, and that special peacetime cor
respondents have been assigned for
the first time to the Far East and
Middle East.
Plans to document the records
PAGE FIVE
of Christian Science wartime ac
tivities of the last conflict in a
book to be published early in 1947
were disclosed by the Trustees.
The vast scope of these activities
was covered in another report,
showing that 135 paid wartime
Ministers, 26 Chaplains and 495
volunteer Wartime Workers were
engaged at the peak of war activi
ties in Canada and the United
States alone.
In Great Britain, 135 Christian
Science Rest Centers for the troops
were established and 330 almoners
were appointed to dispense relief, it
was disclosed Appointment of near
ly 500 volunteer Wartime Workers
from members of the British and
United States armed forces, sup
plemented the w-ork of 20 Officiat
ed Workers under British and Aus
tralian commands abroad.
In the field of relief, clothing,
valued conservatively at $4,250,000
has been shipped and distributed,
irrespective of race or creed,
through Christian Science channels
in at least 13 foreign countries, ac
cording to the report of the Clerk
of the Monitor Church. In addition
over 550,000 hand-knitted garments
were said to have been distributed
among the armed forces.
In the field of legislation, a num
ber of provisions favorable to Christ
ian Science were included in state
laws, city ordinances and in ad
ministrative regulations during
1945, it was reported by the Com
mittee on Publication. Extreme al
ertness was the theme of this report
in protecting “The constitutional
and God-given rights of Christian
Scientists” against health and so
cial legislation which would inter
fere with the practice of their re
ligion.”
Announcement of the appoint
ment of Luther Phillips Cudworth,
C. S. B. of Boston, as President of
The Mother Church, The First
Church of Chrict, Scientists, in Bos
ton, Mass., was made today by The
Christian Science Board of Directors.
Sen of Posey Hopes | Feeding Poultry
His Father's Mantle | During Feed-Short
Will Foil On Him Periods Discussed
UiUUn.
n\T UU KiH
Kilter
Mixed
and Ready For Use
Payne Warehouse
BUTLER, GEORGIA
(By Grady Adams)
Moultrie, June 4—C. H. Posey Jr.
son of the famous Moultrie clair
voyant who died in his famous
home at Moultrie May 28, hopes he
will be able to “carry on his fath
er’s work” he said Tuesday.
The 39-year-old printer admitted
“I haven’t felt the gift stirring
within me yet." He added, how
ever, “there is still time. My
grandfather’s ‘mantle’ didn’t fall
on my father’s shoulders immedi
ately after the former’s death. In
fact, it was several months before
he came into full possession of the
uncanny gift.”
Posey said his father was just
about “my own age when grand
father died. My first memories are
about people driving to our home
seeking my father’s counsel about
problems that worried them, or
asking him to tell where some
thing which had been lost or
stolen could be found.
Posey declared “time after time
father said the gift would come to
me when he died. He never did
name any specific time. He could
be as accurate about that as he
was about so many other things
he couldn’t possibly have known
if he hadn’t possessed occult pow
er.”
The son of the “fortune teller”
then recalled that “he told me
right after the Lindbergh baby had
been kidnaped the child was dead
and the searchers will ‘walk all
around his body’ before they find
it.
“About five years prior to this
his advice led to the discovery of
the bodies of a woman and child
who had been killed by the hus
band and father. They had been
buried in a field in whicii peas
were later sown. The murderoi was
convicted and hanged. While in
the death cell, he escaped and
father was instrumental in his re
capture. A story of the case was
published by True Detective about
12 years ago.
“I would like to have a gift that
would inable me to help just a
small percent as many people as
my father did.”
It is not the fact that a man has
riches which keeps him from the
kingdom of heaven, but the fact
that riches have him.—Caird
Reporting that the poultry feed
shortage is becoming more critical
in some areas of the State, County
Agent Coleman, this week gave
Taylor County poultry keepers sugr-
gestions for “weathering” feed-
short periods.
"Some broiler producers are mar
keting broilers before they are
ready to market and a few counties
have reported that laying flocks are
being sold,” Mr. Coleman revealed.
“If poultry raisers cannot buy star
ting or broiler mash for their young
chicks, they chould change to any
type poultry mash they can obtain.
If only limited amounts of mash,
are obtainable, equal parts of corn-
meal may be mixed with the mash
to make it go further. i
"When no masu oi any type is
available, poultry keepers may be
forced to feed grain alone,”he con
tinued. “A grain ration with no
mash will slow down growth of
chicks and may cause mutritional
disordrs if continued longer than
two weeks where chicks are raised
in confinement”
Whole wneat and cracked corn
may be fed safely to chicks five
weeks old. Whole corn and oats
may be fed to chicks eight weeks
old, the agent said. “Forchicks un
der five weeks, grain should be
ground. A good mixture is two parts
ground corn, one partground oats,
one part ground wheat and one per
cent table salt. Any mixture of
ground grains will do as temporary
measure for a week or two until
regular mash is available.”
Green feed should be provided to
help offset the vitamin deficiencies
of the all-grain rations and the
chicks should be allowed access to
direct sunlight to overcome any
lack of vitamin D in the emergency
ration he advised. Young chickens
on inadequate rations are more like
ly to contract diseases.
“Every effort should be made to
get the lock back on regular rations
as soon as possible," the agent re
commended. “In view of the feed
situation, it may be best to market
broilers at weights of two and two-
and one quarter pounds
“Removing mash from the ration
of the laying flock will cause an
immediate drop in egg production
and may cause the layers to start
molting,” Mr. Coleman declared,
“Leep the laying flock supplied
w,th mash if it is at all possible.
Cull the layers closely and keep
only the best hens. Market any
hens that are slowing down pro
duction or have stopped laying.
VOTE FOR
SENATOR
(John B. Giles)
JOHN’S PLATFORM
If elected Senator it will be my purpose to support legislation making provisions for 50
per cent increase in salaries for the public, elementary and high school teachers of Geor
gia, and to support such other legislation as will promote the educational, health, and
economic development of the State of Georgia. ‘
I will advocate the revision of our election laws so as to protect the ballot from the evils
of ignorance, fraud, intimidation and bribery, and will oppose any change in the County
Unit System for nominating or electing public officials of this State. *
As Senator it will be my purpose while thinking of the welfare of the State at large to,
at the same time, give special attention toward looking after the interest of the people
from Taylor, Peach and Crawford counties. •
The people of this district depend almost entirely on farming for their livelihood. I am
a member of the Georgia Farmers’ Bureau and pledge my efforts toward the best interest
of the Georgia farmer.
•
We veteran supporters of John Giles, candidate for Senate, urge
the support and influence of our friends in helping us to elect a
man to take part in our Government that we fought so hard to
protect.
We feel that John has the ability and courage to stand up and
fight for the best interest of our County, District, and State.
YOUR VOTE AND INFLUENCE WILL BE APPRECIATED
Contributed by Veteran Supporters of John Giles