“Oh my, what a time of reading and conjecture and talking and asking questions as there has been for the last two week.and oh my, my, the lies that have been told on the stand at that courthouse.” Such were the words of Mollie Hope who lived near Sharon concerning a murder trial that was in progress in November 1896.
On Tuesday night, 6 February, the most sensational murder in the history of Blacksburg was committed, and just one year before that portion of York County became part of Cherokee County. The murder, according to the Yorkville Enquirer had been urged “by the charms of a dangerously handsome and fascinating woman.” That beauty was Ellen Anderson who came to Blacksburg several years before that fateful night and had set up a millinery business.
The warm, bloody body of an unidentified man was discovered on a residential sidewalk a few minutes before ten P.M. by brothers Jim and Ed Duff. Within fifteen minutes it seemed everyone in the neighborhood had turned out to see what was taking place. Everyone, that is, except Daniel Lucky, his sister Ellen Anderson, and real estate broker, Marion Reese who all lived within a hundred feet of the scene. Lamps and lanterns were held high over the body in hopes of identifying the victim, or in just pure curiosity. No one seemed to know the man, but shortly J. W. Thomson of the Merchant’s Hotel arrived and identified him as Jerry H. Williams of Atlanta who had registered earlier as a guest in the hotel
Someone fetched a board to carry the body to the town council chambers in preparation for an inquest, but the plank was not sufficient to bear the weight. About this time Marion Reese joined the crowd and offered the used of a cot he had at the Iron City Hotel. He and several others went to the hotel that was only two hundred yards away. When they returned with the cot the body was transported to the town hall. Dr. J. T. Darwin performed a post mortem examination, concluding death came by a gunshot that shattered the spinal column at the base of the brain. The ball ranged upward from the point of entry and had apparently been fired by someone who was directly behind the victim and from a lower position. Darwin removed the .38 caliber bullet which had lodged in the jaw. There was a ugly bruise on one side of the face. The physician concluded it occurred when he fell, but others who had no medical training speculated he had been struck before he was shot.
A search of the body produced a number of items that widened the mystery: a Smith & Wesson hammerless revolver, two handwritten notes (one in a man’s handwriting and the other in a woman’s), several free passes on the Western & Atlantic Railroad for a Mrs. E. Anderson, and an unsigned letter addressed to Williams in a woman’s handwriting. The letter expressed an undying love for Williams and pledged she would be with him as before, but not just now. The writer bewailed her condition of having lost the respect of everybody as well as for herself. She gently blamed him for all her troubles. Replying to his desire to come to Blacksburg to be with her. She implored him not to come. The two notes deepened the mystery. The first read, “”It is impossible for me to see you. Please, please don’t ask me to–you know it is best not. I swear to you by all that is holy I will see you again real soon. But oh! I can’t now. I have never asked you any favors; grant me this one. Whatever you do, don’t come here for my sake. I forgive you.” The second, also in a woman’s hand: “No, I am not too sick to talk, but prefer not to see you now. If you think it is best to make yourself known here, call openly. That is the only way I can see you, but please don’t. I will write you fully later. I am sick with measles–also Foster. I am sorry it is the way it is. Do not write me again while here. It is much better not. Believe me, I am sorry.”
On Friday, three days after the murder, Jack Williams, a brother of the victim arrived in Blacksburg to claim the body, and ship it to Tunnel Hill, Georgia. Through Jack it was learned that the man who registered at Merchant’s Hotel as Jerry Williams was actually thirty-year-old Charles T. Williams. He had been an employee of the Western & Atlantic Railroad at Tunnel Hill, and in hometown he was considered to be a social man, belonging to the Masonic Lodge and Knights of Pythias. He had a wife and several children.
Jack Williams arrived in Blacksburg on the day the inquest convened. A mass of testimony was taken, but the most important came from an old spinster, Mary Farrington. She was employed as a milliner by D. L. Brown’s dry goods store and boarded with George W. Moore. Miss Farrington said, about nine o’clock on the evening in question she heard a pistol shot that was quickly followed by two more. Looking onto the street from her window she saw two men. One said, “Hush! Not a word about this,” and proceeded up the street. The other went into Marion Reese’s without turning on a light. The man that went up the street went to the door of Mrs. Anderson and demanded to be let in. When the door opened she saw it was Daniel Lucky, brother of Mrs. Anderson. She was convinced that the man she saw go into Reese’s house was Reese himself.
Reese, however, disputed the testimony of Miss Farrington. He testified that he had spent the evening from six to nine with Mrs. Anderson and her brother across the street. He left their home at nine o’clock and threw himself on his bed with his clothes on, He said that in about ten minutes later he heard pistol shots and went over to get Dan Lucky to investigate the shots. They walked around awhile and then returned to their homes. Reese said he believed that Miss Farrington saw them returning to their homes at that time.
Dan and his sister, Ellen collaborated Reese’s testimony. She was extensively questioned on her relationship with Charles Williams. She told the jury that she had known him for about six years, that he had lived at one time near her family and was often a visitor in their Georgia home. She testified that the last time she saw Williams was shortly after she came to Blacksburg, when he came to try to persuade her to forego divorce proceedings and reconcile with her husband. She admitted writing the notes found on Williams, but thought she was writing to her husband who was dodging a warrant.
That afternoon Marion Reese was indited for the murder of Charles Williams and Dan Lucky and Ellen Anderson as accessories to the fact. Warrants for their arrest were issued. Lucky and Ellen were promptly placed under arrest, but Reese could not be found. Lucky soon escaped from jail and Ellen was released on bail. The spring term of court began in March. Ellen was ready to go to trial but the solicitor was unwilling to proceed without Reese and Lucky. Shortly before the June term, fear of bounty hunters compelled the men to surrender to the sheriff in Marion, North Carolina . Reese told the authorities that when he left Blacksburg he went to the home of A. J. Goforth where he mother was living. He promised her he had not committed murder, but when he heard a warrant had been issued for him he decided to stay hidden.. Reese and Lucky were taken into custody and later released on bonds of $3000 and $2000, respectively.
When the trial commenced in November, Major James F. Hart, Thomas F. McDow and General Leroy F. Youmans represented the defendants. Solicitor J. K. Henry and W. B. DeLoach represented the state. The case had generated a great deal of interest among the public and when the courtroom was opened there was a made rush for seats. Within two minutes every seat was taken and the room was packed with standing spectators. When Robert A. Anderson, the husband of Ellen Anderson, was called to the stand, everyone knew the expected sensation had arrived. The Yorkville Enquirer described him as “about 5 feet 6 inches in height, he looked as if he would weight perhaps 160 pounds. He was dressed in a neatly fitting suit of black with a cutaway coat. His hair was brushed straight back from a broad, intellectual forehead, and a prominent nose, wide mouth, thin lips and piercing black eyes were so combined as to instantly stamp him as a man of experience in the ways of the world, bright intelligence and strong determination.”
As soon as Anderson was seated an argument erupted among the attorneys. Youmans quoted a law about husbands testifying against the wife and said that if husbands were allowed to testify against their wives and vice versa, “society would become the riot of hell.” While they argued and the judge listened, “small beads of perspiration broke out on his [Anderson’s] forehead and the veins of his neck and face enlarged to distinctly visible cords.” Judge Watts ruled that Anderson’s testimony was permissible as long as he was not compelled to testify and could refuse to answer any question he wanted.
J.L. West – Author
This article and many others found on the pages of Roots and Recall, were written by author J.L. West, for the YC Magazine and have been reprinted on R&R, with full permission – not for distribution or reprint!
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