Another wonderful story recounted by Milledgeville historian Hugh Harrington is the story of the murder of Smithy Leonard. The murder took place on March 23, 1892 in Baldwin County near Milledgeville. Harrington mentions that this murder took place just a few months before the famous Lizzie Borden episode.
Smithy Leonard was not the youthful young damsel that Ordeoro Shaw was, as also reflected by Harrington in More Milledgeville Memories. Leonard was sixty years old, and her husband, Simeon C. Leonard, was the pastor of Black Springs Baptist Church. It was Reverend Leonard who returned home the day of the murder to find his wife lying in a pool of blood. She was hanging on by a thread, a thread that would soon unravel and allow her life to slip away. The Leonard home was, according to Harrington, "ransacked during the apparent robbery but nothing was found to be missing." A coroner's inquest found that the murderer had used an axe to kill Mrs. Leonard. The murderer never was found.
Harrington ends the story of Smithy Leonard with somewhat of a weird twist. On May 25, 1896, in Gaithersburg, Maryland, a man assaulted a young family, killing one young child. Later on, one Sydney Randolph was apprehended and arrested for the murder. A mob eventually broke in to the jail where Randolph was being held and nabbed him. He was hanged by the angry mob on July 5th. Right before Randolph was lynched, officials from the Superior Court of Baldwin County had sent a letter to officials in Maryland inquiring as to whether or not Randolph had scars on his face near his eyes. The officials back in Milledgeville thought that Randolph might actually be a man named Ben Temple. It was believed that Temple might be the murderer who killed Smithy Leonard. Maryland officials examined the body of Randolph, and to their astonishment, the scars were present.
Was Sydney Randolph really Ben Temple, and did this man murder Smithy Leonard? If he did, why? As Harrington writes at the end of his story about the murder, "Whether this man, using the names of Temple and Randolph, was guilty of the Smithy Leonard murder will never be known."
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Update on the Tara Grinstead Post and Case
After my post about the disappearance of Tara Grinstead from Ocilla, Georgia in 2005, I got lots of emails and a few comments on the site itself. As you can see, that post got the most responses from readers. One person that emailed me concerning the case was heavily involved in the case itself and has been following it since 2006. He emailed me to discuss some of my hypothesis. I asked him if I could quote him. He never got around to responding to that, so out of respect for him, I will not give his name here, but I will update you on what he said to me in his email discussion.
In my post, I suggested that Tara's abductor probably drove her, in her car, to another location. I even surmised that the abductor was a man due to the driver's seat being pushed far back in the car, much further back than would be necessary for Tara to drive it. This researcher told me that the seat was moved by someone who got to the car before police could secure the perimeter. That same person also washed the car. So, there really is no proof at all that the car was driven after Tara disappeared. As a matter of fact, according to this professional, it is highly unlikely that anyone drove the car. It is his opinion that whoever took Tara did not use her car.
I also read recently that there was a strange vehicle, a black truck, seen at Tara Grinstead's home shortly after her disappearance. I have not heard what connection this vehicle had to the case, but there was something strange about the driver and the fact that he was parked at Tara Grinstead's house after her disappearance. If anyone has any additional information on that development, please post it here or email me.
In my post, I suggested that Tara's abductor probably drove her, in her car, to another location. I even surmised that the abductor was a man due to the driver's seat being pushed far back in the car, much further back than would be necessary for Tara to drive it. This researcher told me that the seat was moved by someone who got to the car before police could secure the perimeter. That same person also washed the car. So, there really is no proof at all that the car was driven after Tara disappeared. As a matter of fact, according to this professional, it is highly unlikely that anyone drove the car. It is his opinion that whoever took Tara did not use her car.
I also read recently that there was a strange vehicle, a black truck, seen at Tara Grinstead's home shortly after her disappearance. I have not heard what connection this vehicle had to the case, but there was something strange about the driver and the fact that he was parked at Tara Grinstead's house after her disappearance. If anyone has any additional information on that development, please post it here or email me.
The Murder of Ordeoro Shaw-Was Her Husband Michael Shaw Really Guilty of Her Murder?
One of my favorite local Georgia historians is Hugh Harrington. He specializes in Milledgeville history among many other things. I highly recommend his books Civil War Milledgeville and More Milledgeville Memories. One of the most interesting stories in More Milledgeville Memories is the story of Michael Shaw, a man hanged in Milledgeville on July 12, 1878 for the murder of his wife, Ordeoro. The murder took place on April 30, 1877. Mrs. Shaw was 24 years old.
According to Harrington, Michael Shaw left home the morning of the murder to chop firewood. Some time later, he heard a gunshot, prompting him to return to the house where he found his wife lying on the floor in a pool of blood with her brains bashed out and skull fractured. Beside her on the floor was her four year old daughter. It was also discovered that a lightwood knot was used to kill her and her arm was bruised and broken in places, obviously from an attempt to shield herself from the blows. It was also discovered that Mrs. Shaw had been shot in the head by Michael Shaw's gun, a gun that was nonetheless missing.
The four year old daughter claimed that two black men had killed her mother. Michael Shaw took the child and rushed her to the home of Sarah Moore, Ordeoro Shaw's mother. Soon after, a manhunt took place for the two black men who were said to have committed the murder. Dogs were used to pick up the scent. Two men were brought in who were unable to account for their whereabouts.
It was not long after that the murder case began to take on a very different nature. Now it appeared that Michael Shaw would be the prime suspect. This turn of events was the result of the four year old daughter changing her story. She now said that her father had killed her mother. Sarah Moore, the deceased's mother, believed her granddaughter. It was also brought up that Michael Shaw was not of the most upright reputation. Some time before this incident, he had been accused of killing a black man, as well as being part of the Ku Klux Klan. In addition, a man who lived with the Shaws, David Butler, testified that he had been out plowing the morning of the murder and saw Michael Shaw beat his wife with a log and then drag her in to the house where he then heard gunfire. Previously, Butler had testified that Shaw had been out cutting firewood when they both heard gunfire from the house. He said Shaw called out to him and then ran to the house. His new story was much different and made Shaw look guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt.
A detective from Atlanta, E.C. Murphy, was sent to Milledgeville to investigate the case. The district attorney felt that the evidence against Shaw was mainly circumstantial, and he wanted something more concrete. Rumors began to circulate that Shaw abused his wife and was considered a terror to the black community where he was thought to have been responsible for the deaths of a few black citizens. An anonymous letter was sent to a local police official saying that Shaw had murdered a black man and then thrown the body in his well. The letter encouraged police to search the well to find the skeleton. They did, and a skeleton turned up. Harrington ponders who sent the letter in his retelling of the story in More Milledgeville Memories. There was also a rumor that Shaw was part of a group of desparados called the Georgia Tigers. Harrington says in his book that there was never any evidence connecting him with any of these claims, but that this did not stop the local rumor mill. Nevertheless, it was after Murphy came to Milledgeville and opened his investigation that David Butler changed his story.
Shaw was convicted of the murder of his wife, and he was sentenced to hang. His execution was carried out on July 12, 1878, in a private hanging on a gallow constructed near the Oconee River. An eighteen foot fence was constructed around the gallows to shield it from public view. When Shaw's body was examined, it was reported that he died from strangulation. His neck did not break.
Was Michael Shaw guilty, or was he the victim of a duplicitous scheme? Why did David Butler change his story? And why did his little girl say that black men had killed her mother at first only to change her story later? And who sent that anonymous letter to local police alerting them that there was a skeleton in Shaw's well? After the murder, many people in the local area maintained that Shaw was innocent. He never admitted guilt while on the gallows, but he also never claimed to be innocent at the gallows that day. He claimed that he never received a fair trial. He said over and over again while he was awaiting his execution that David Butler had told lies in his testimony. It is true that David Butler was not the most reliable of witnesses. One Georgia Supreme Court justice wrote that David Butler was less than credible, not simply because he changed his original testimony, but that when asked, he did not know in what state he lived, how many days were in a week, nor how many months were in a year. Furthermore, he did not know how to count to ten, and he swore he had never tried to count that high. In my opinion, this makes his testimony highly dubious.
It may never be known if Michael Shaw was guilty or not. As a matter of fact, the whereabouts of his grave are unknown. His wife is buried in West-Neal Cemetery off County Line Road in Baldwin County near Milledgeville. However, as Harrington reports, that cemetery is overgrown with weeds and brush. Her grave is marked, however. To me, this sounds a bit like the case of Tom Woolfolk, who as you know from a post I wrote about him on this blog, was accused and hanged for murdering his entire family in Macon in the late 1880s. Macon is just a 45 minute drive from Milledgeville.
According to Harrington, Michael Shaw left home the morning of the murder to chop firewood. Some time later, he heard a gunshot, prompting him to return to the house where he found his wife lying on the floor in a pool of blood with her brains bashed out and skull fractured. Beside her on the floor was her four year old daughter. It was also discovered that a lightwood knot was used to kill her and her arm was bruised and broken in places, obviously from an attempt to shield herself from the blows. It was also discovered that Mrs. Shaw had been shot in the head by Michael Shaw's gun, a gun that was nonetheless missing.
The four year old daughter claimed that two black men had killed her mother. Michael Shaw took the child and rushed her to the home of Sarah Moore, Ordeoro Shaw's mother. Soon after, a manhunt took place for the two black men who were said to have committed the murder. Dogs were used to pick up the scent. Two men were brought in who were unable to account for their whereabouts.
It was not long after that the murder case began to take on a very different nature. Now it appeared that Michael Shaw would be the prime suspect. This turn of events was the result of the four year old daughter changing her story. She now said that her father had killed her mother. Sarah Moore, the deceased's mother, believed her granddaughter. It was also brought up that Michael Shaw was not of the most upright reputation. Some time before this incident, he had been accused of killing a black man, as well as being part of the Ku Klux Klan. In addition, a man who lived with the Shaws, David Butler, testified that he had been out plowing the morning of the murder and saw Michael Shaw beat his wife with a log and then drag her in to the house where he then heard gunfire. Previously, Butler had testified that Shaw had been out cutting firewood when they both heard gunfire from the house. He said Shaw called out to him and then ran to the house. His new story was much different and made Shaw look guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt.
A detective from Atlanta, E.C. Murphy, was sent to Milledgeville to investigate the case. The district attorney felt that the evidence against Shaw was mainly circumstantial, and he wanted something more concrete. Rumors began to circulate that Shaw abused his wife and was considered a terror to the black community where he was thought to have been responsible for the deaths of a few black citizens. An anonymous letter was sent to a local police official saying that Shaw had murdered a black man and then thrown the body in his well. The letter encouraged police to search the well to find the skeleton. They did, and a skeleton turned up. Harrington ponders who sent the letter in his retelling of the story in More Milledgeville Memories. There was also a rumor that Shaw was part of a group of desparados called the Georgia Tigers. Harrington says in his book that there was never any evidence connecting him with any of these claims, but that this did not stop the local rumor mill. Nevertheless, it was after Murphy came to Milledgeville and opened his investigation that David Butler changed his story.
Shaw was convicted of the murder of his wife, and he was sentenced to hang. His execution was carried out on July 12, 1878, in a private hanging on a gallow constructed near the Oconee River. An eighteen foot fence was constructed around the gallows to shield it from public view. When Shaw's body was examined, it was reported that he died from strangulation. His neck did not break.
Was Michael Shaw guilty, or was he the victim of a duplicitous scheme? Why did David Butler change his story? And why did his little girl say that black men had killed her mother at first only to change her story later? And who sent that anonymous letter to local police alerting them that there was a skeleton in Shaw's well? After the murder, many people in the local area maintained that Shaw was innocent. He never admitted guilt while on the gallows, but he also never claimed to be innocent at the gallows that day. He claimed that he never received a fair trial. He said over and over again while he was awaiting his execution that David Butler had told lies in his testimony. It is true that David Butler was not the most reliable of witnesses. One Georgia Supreme Court justice wrote that David Butler was less than credible, not simply because he changed his original testimony, but that when asked, he did not know in what state he lived, how many days were in a week, nor how many months were in a year. Furthermore, he did not know how to count to ten, and he swore he had never tried to count that high. In my opinion, this makes his testimony highly dubious.
It may never be known if Michael Shaw was guilty or not. As a matter of fact, the whereabouts of his grave are unknown. His wife is buried in West-Neal Cemetery off County Line Road in Baldwin County near Milledgeville. However, as Harrington reports, that cemetery is overgrown with weeds and brush. Her grave is marked, however. To me, this sounds a bit like the case of Tom Woolfolk, who as you know from a post I wrote about him on this blog, was accused and hanged for murdering his entire family in Macon in the late 1880s. Macon is just a 45 minute drive from Milledgeville.
Show Tonight
For those of you following the blog, don't forget that I will be on Dimension X tonight at 10:00 p.m. with Dr. William Lester. Dr. Lester is a man after my own heart, having a Ph.D. in history from Clark Atlanta University, and having become interested in the weird and paranormal much like I did. I have told people before that researching the strange and paranormal can sometimes be a natural outgrowth of history. So many ghost stories and strange phenomenon are rooted in history.
The show can be accessed through the website http://www.apsrradio.com/modules.php?name=Stream
Once you are there, you can select the type of stream you have. Windows Media Player is the one I use and works well for me. The show will start at 10:00 and Dr. Lester told me yesterday that I would be on around 10:05. I would love to have you all listen in as I talk about my research, this blog, my Georgia Bigfoot book coming out next year, and other items that I have been researching.
The show can be accessed through the website http://www.apsrradio.com/modules.php?name=Stream
Once you are there, you can select the type of stream you have. Windows Media Player is the one I use and works well for me. The show will start at 10:00 and Dr. Lester told me yesterday that I would be on around 10:05. I would love to have you all listen in as I talk about my research, this blog, my Georgia Bigfoot book coming out next year, and other items that I have been researching.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Your Favorite Blogger Will Be On the Radio Talking About This Blog!!
I received an email today from Dr. William Lester, the host of a show called Dimension X. He has invited me to appear on his radio show in Atlanta on November 22. The show airs on the APSR radio network. The show's website is www.dimensionx.synthasite.com. I will be talking about my blogsite, as well as my book on the legend of the Georgia Bigfoot, due out next year from Idyll Arbor Press.
Tune in and you can hear me talk about why I started the blog, how I got interested in these topics, as well as how I went about the research for my book. I hope Dr. Lester will allow me to discuss all those things.
Tune in and you can hear me talk about why I started the blog, how I got interested in these topics, as well as how I went about the research for my book. I hope Dr. Lester will allow me to discuss all those things.
Vidalia Man Commits Suicide The Same Way His Heart Donor Did, After Marrying The Same Wife
Tragically, there is another mystery that comes from Vidalia. Sonny Graham, who lived in Vidalia, began suffering from congestive heart failure around 1995. His salvation came when the Medical University of South Carolina contacted him telling him that a 33 year old man, Terry Cottle, had been a heart donor. Sadly, Mr. Cottle committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. His heart was available. Through this tragedy, Sonny Graham could have hope. The heart transplant took place, and Graham recovered. About a year after the surgery, Graham contacted the agency that helped him find the heart. He was given the name and address of Cottle's widow, Cheryl. Graham contacted her, and through letters, phone calls, and visits, the two formed a strong bond. Over time, the two fell in love, and Graham and Cheryl Cottle were married. She moved to Vidalia to be with him.
If the story ended there, it would have no place on my blog, but it was not to be. Four years after the two wed in 2004, Graham tragically took his own life, the same way that Terry Cottle had before. He shot himself in the head. He did it in the garage of the home that the couple shared in Toombs County. Cheryl was now a widow again. She had lost two husbands the same way, and ironically, they both had the same heart. Friends of Sonny Graham said he showed no signs of depression. Cheryl Graham herself made no mention of any concern she had about Sonny in that respect either. This is one strange story. Think of it. A man kills himself by shooting himself in the head. Then, his heart is given to another man in the next state. That man meets and marries the former man's widow. Years later, that man kills himself the same way the donor had, and leaves his wife as a widow a second time and in the same manner.
Some scientists report that there are over 70 cases of people taking on the characteristics and personalities of their organ donors. In fact, a woman from Lancashire, England claimed that her literary tastes changed significantly after a liver transplant she had. Previously, she had enjoyed the biographies of celebrities and pop-fiction such as The Davinci Code. After the transplant, she developed a taste for classical literature at the expense of her previous taste. Scientists say that the phenomenon is called cellular memory phenomenon. However, most in the medical field are skeptical of this and say there is no credible evidence to back this claim. But whatever the case may be, this incident in Vidalia sounds very, very strange. My prayers go out to Cheryl Graham. The news reports of this story can be found at the following links:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-04-06-ga-suicide_N.htm
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/13/national/main4011785.shtml?source=related_story
If the story ended there, it would have no place on my blog, but it was not to be. Four years after the two wed in 2004, Graham tragically took his own life, the same way that Terry Cottle had before. He shot himself in the head. He did it in the garage of the home that the couple shared in Toombs County. Cheryl was now a widow again. She had lost two husbands the same way, and ironically, they both had the same heart. Friends of Sonny Graham said he showed no signs of depression. Cheryl Graham herself made no mention of any concern she had about Sonny in that respect either. This is one strange story. Think of it. A man kills himself by shooting himself in the head. Then, his heart is given to another man in the next state. That man meets and marries the former man's widow. Years later, that man kills himself the same way the donor had, and leaves his wife as a widow a second time and in the same manner.
Some scientists report that there are over 70 cases of people taking on the characteristics and personalities of their organ donors. In fact, a woman from Lancashire, England claimed that her literary tastes changed significantly after a liver transplant she had. Previously, she had enjoyed the biographies of celebrities and pop-fiction such as The Davinci Code. After the transplant, she developed a taste for classical literature at the expense of her previous taste. Scientists say that the phenomenon is called cellular memory phenomenon. However, most in the medical field are skeptical of this and say there is no credible evidence to back this claim. But whatever the case may be, this incident in Vidalia sounds very, very strange. My prayers go out to Cheryl Graham. The news reports of this story can be found at the following links:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-04-06-ga-suicide_N.htm
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/13/national/main4011785.shtml?source=related_story
UFO Over Walmart in Vidalia, Georgia
My readers probably realize I grew up in South Georgia, Montgomery County to be exact. The city of Vidalia spills over the Montgomery County line just a bit. But the city is mainly in Toombs County. It is most famous as the home of the Vidalia Sweet Onion.
When I was a junior in high school, I remember hearing and reading about the sighting of UFOs above the local Wal-Mart store in Vidalia. As a matter of fact, I had worked at that store just a few months prior to the sighting of these flying objects. I worked in that store during the Christmas holiday in December 1990. The sighting happened February 16, 1991. I returned to work there in the summer of 1991.
So, I guess I just barely missed out on all the excitement.
The sightings took place, as I mentioned above, on February 16, 1991, and from what I can find, most of the activity took place over that Wal-Mart store on Highway 280 East headed toward the town of Lyons. The story reported that the local radio station, which in my guess would have been the local station 98Q, received over 30 calls about the strange silver disks that had red and white lights. It was reported that some think the objects were flying from Hazlehurst to Vidalia. One man reported that one of the four objects hovered over his car, making the car stall. The vehicle would only restart after the objects flew away.
As far as I know, there were never any reports of missing persons or animals associated with these sightings. The report I read stated that one police officer observed the flying disks, and his name was listed as Lt. P. McNeese. No other reports were noted immediately before these sightings in the area.
Perhaps visitors from another planet had heard how tasty our onions were down in Vidalia and just wanted to check on how to get a ten pound bag???
When I was a junior in high school, I remember hearing and reading about the sighting of UFOs above the local Wal-Mart store in Vidalia. As a matter of fact, I had worked at that store just a few months prior to the sighting of these flying objects. I worked in that store during the Christmas holiday in December 1990. The sighting happened February 16, 1991. I returned to work there in the summer of 1991.
So, I guess I just barely missed out on all the excitement.
The sightings took place, as I mentioned above, on February 16, 1991, and from what I can find, most of the activity took place over that Wal-Mart store on Highway 280 East headed toward the town of Lyons. The story reported that the local radio station, which in my guess would have been the local station 98Q, received over 30 calls about the strange silver disks that had red and white lights. It was reported that some think the objects were flying from Hazlehurst to Vidalia. One man reported that one of the four objects hovered over his car, making the car stall. The vehicle would only restart after the objects flew away.
As far as I know, there were never any reports of missing persons or animals associated with these sightings. The report I read stated that one police officer observed the flying disks, and his name was listed as Lt. P. McNeese. No other reports were noted immediately before these sightings in the area.
Perhaps visitors from another planet had heard how tasty our onions were down in Vidalia and just wanted to check on how to get a ten pound bag???
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