New-York tribune., 1921-03-28
Slain Poems
Forced to Die
Own Graves
Icout'uusd srsm page su.,


Williams on the head with an AZ
Manning said in his confession that he
stuffed the body into the hole and ther
packed the earth down tight and GOV.
cred IT with few inches Of soil.
tody No. was that of John Green
wnicn was found short distance from
the body No. l.. Green was sent n
bring in COWS that were in the ravine
Mannlng's confession said. Manninp
was waiting nearby and when he had .
chance he fe1lcd. Green with his nv
Sreens body was buried within thirty
rect or that of No. /. He met death o.,
sunday, March 6, it is said.
Willie Givens, referred to a. No 9
at the inquest, was sent to the countr,
store, some distance from the Williams
home. ''i'"'"S
To reach the store he had to follow
a a pain through a ravine Charley
Snshoim. negro, was the one named
as having killed Givens. Chisholm is
sa,u 10 nave struck him over tho head
with an axe. This body was buried near
the other two. This kil1inp also ;s
sald to have occurred on Sunday
March 6.
Search Other Plantation
Four miles across the country the
Jury travelled to the Campbell pianta-
tlon, also operated and owned by John
', illiams. lt was here that the body OF
NO; a. Fletcher Smith, was found.
Smith had been sent to dig we'll
1t proved to be his grave. When No
mad dug deep enough so that his head
Just protruded over the TOP Mannins
stepped from his hiding place and
struck Smith over the head with an
ak. eManning then jammed the BODY
down INTO the we'll and packed the
earth about it, covering it with a foot
of dirt.
The jury 3as next taken across a
l00-acrc field, in the centre of which
they found the shallow grave in which
was the body of big john" No. 5 in
the coroner's investigation. There was
no mark to tell where this grave was
located until Manning on Saturday
took county officers to the scene. The
field had been planted in corn and
some of it was growing. big John"
according to Manning, was sent to the
hcid to do some blowing and when he
refused to work Manning confessed
that he shot him.
Body No. 6, investigated by the jury.
was that of Charley Chisholm, the last
htiiSu- aitu tiiC SlAlH 10 DC lOu0Q. In1S
had been taken from the Alcovy River.
near Waters Bridge, on Saturday. He
is said to have been killed three days
after No. z and No 8. Little Bit"
and John Brown were chained together
and dropped over the bridge into forty
feet Of water.
jury duplicates Planter
The coroncr's jury verdict in the
case of No. l. John Williams, was that
Williams met death at the hands of
Manning. The plantation owner, John
5. Williams, is implicated by the jury's
verdict. The same verdict was re-
turned in the case of No. 2, Johnny
Green.
In the case Of No. 8, Willie Givens,
the jury held that Chisholm did the
killing. In Nos a and 5, Fletcher
Smith and "Big john" Manning again
was held responsible.
In the case of Nos and s, "Little
Bit" and John Brown, the jury held
that the negroes, Manning, Chisholm
and John S. Williams, the plantation
owner, were responsible.
The verdict for No. 6, Charley CHS
holm, read:
"We, the jury, find that Charley
Chisholm met his death at the hands
of Clyde Manning and John S. Will
liams."
Williams came from near Forsyth, in
Monroe County, twenty-seven years
ago. He married Miss Lane, of Jas
per County, a membe: of one of the
most prominent families of this sec