Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-04-23

he will interfere, in spite of the great
pressure from the women of Georgia.
II Mrs. Mobiles is hanged, she will be the
second woman to suffer execution in the
history of the South. the other having been
Mrs. Susan Eberhart, who was convicted
in 1872 of assisting in the murder Of one
Sarah Spann.
The crime for which Mrs. Mobiles must
hang was committed nearly two years
ago. in June, 1895. The Mobiles place was
about twelves miles below Jeffersonville.
Here the family, consisting of Mr.. and
Mrs. Mobiles, and their two children, Deb
by, aged Is, and Jack, about TO- lived They
were typical Georgia crackers of the most
pronounced backwoods type, knowing and
caring nothing about the world outside;
the course of their life revolving in its mar
row orbit, each day reproduction of the
one before, with the drudgery of work in
the fields beginning before sunrise contin-
uing all day long, and rounding up with
the setting of the sun.
The family life may or may not have
been harmonious. Opinions on that point
are widely at variance, as Mrs. Mobiles
claims that her husband cruelty mis-
treated her, while the neighbors maintain
that exactly the reverse was true. She
was far below her husband in every re-
Spect, and il is more than probable that
many disagreements were the outcome of
the Ill assortment of the pair.
Living on the place in the capacity Of
farm hands were Gus families, a former
Macon hackman; his wife, Mary Families,
and Dalton Joiner, all negroes. These
We're the participants in the horrible trag-
was accustomed to labor in the field as a
common hand One day, while working
complain most bitterly of her husbands
Ill treatment when Gus. with brutal frank
ness. asked why she didn't get rid of her
way. When M Mrs. MOBILES ANS answered @ j. him inn
with the question as TO how 1t could be
done, the first step toward the commission
of the crime was taken.
During the three weeks which followed
the plans for killing old man Mobiles were
developed, and IL is surmised that in the
making of these plans Debby Mobiles, Mary
Families, the wife of Gus. and Dalton JOHN
er, materially assisted the two chief con-
spirators. Very early one Sunday morning
Mrs. Mobiles aroused her husband. telling
him that some one was stealing the corn
from the barn. As several of these robber-
les had taken place on his farm. the old
man readily fell into the trap and started
out TO hunt the robber unprotected by any
weapon Mrs. Mobiles having taken the pre-
caution TO hide the gun behind the ward
stealthily seeking the thief. Even more
stealthily came Gus Families. creeping up
behind him. With a swing of his powerful
arm he struck the old man on the head
with a heavy AK, and he fell to the earth
In mortal agony.
Like an, evil spirit out of the darkness
Mrs. Mobiles appeared. and, fearing that
the murder might be only half done picked
up the AK, and with more of the feeling of
q demon than u woman, dealt second
blow.
The murderers carried the body TO the
edge of the lot. and there. digging grave,
they buried him. scarcely cold as he was
and perhaps with a faint spark of life still
breathing within.
When breakfast came ard the old man
did not come. little Jack Mobiles began
10 beg for mis- father, and finally when
he continued TO fret. his mother suggest
ed that he take Gus Families and go
hunt for him. as she said he was in the
fields. OF course. under such leadership
the search resulted in nothing, and then,
when the Inquiries of the neighbors began
husband had gone to Danville. neigh
boring town. ard would return home at
dark. which naturally was a satisfactory
But on the following morning. when he
had not yet made his appearance. some
alarm began TO be manifested, and
resulted in finding the body. Just why
suspicion should have pointed from the
very beginning to Mrs. Mobiles Is not known
hut she was arrested, together with Gus
Families and his wife. Mary; Dalton join
er. and Debby Mobiles
The excitement Was intense. the unusual
Nervousness of the crime and the UNIQUE
character of the criminal made it a re-
markahle case. for such utter. Stolid indif-
ference as Mrs. Mobiles showed, such an
insensibility to the terrible nature of her
edge apparently of right or wrong, has
never been witnessed in the annals of crime
I'm Georgia
At the trial of the case which occurred
a few weeks after the murder a verdict
of guilty" was brought in without amy
recommendation to the mercy of the court
and Mrs. Mobiles and Gus Families were
sentenced to be hanged August l6, 1895.
Dalton was successful in proving an alibi
was acquitted and Immediately left the
state. Debby Mobiles was acquitted Mary
Families was sentenced to life imprison-
ment, and it IS one of the peculiarities of
the case that she is the only one of the
five implicated who has as yet paid any
penalty for the crime. she having been at
work in the coal mines since her SEN
tcnce.
preached a new factor appeared upon the
scene. From all over the state there
came n mighty voice of Protest from the
women that such horror as the hang
ing of 4 woman should hot be allowed in
Georgia. These women handed themselves
in a united effort to save Mrs Mobiles,
and pledged themselves 10 be responsible
for all the expenses Subsequent events
sympathy were the extent OF the capital
that appeared. For nineteen months the
legal struggle continued and that without
even the formality of n trial. At the first
and only trial Mrs Mobiles ever had. the
plea of lunacy was not offered at all.
From the time that Attorneys w. c.
Glenn and Marion Harris presented the
petition for trial to Judge Smith in Au-
gust 1895. until the mandate from Wash
ington put upon Judge Smith the necessity
for resentencing the prisoner there has
parallel In the legal history of the state.
'rhe case has been heard in the United
States supreme court, the supreme court
of Georgia. the superior court, the federal
district court, the ordinary office. the sher-