The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1921-11-29
SHAMEFUL AFFAIR
IN GRADY COUNTY
PARTY OF HOODLUMS BURN
PREACHERS TENT, AND
DROVE HIM AND WIFE OFF.
SPEND NIGHT in THE BIG ROAD
Mob Followed Behind Them and Fir
ed Their Guns People of Communi-
ty Are Indignant, and Several Ar
rests Have Been Made.

CAMILLA, CAD. A. Waters, a
Holiness preacher, together with his
family, were attacked Tuesday night
by mob of some twelve or fifteen
men. who routed them out of their
sleeping tent and forced them to leave
and then set fire to the sleeping tent
and the gospel tent, destroying both
together with most OF the preacher s
belongings According to information
received here the mob arrived some
time after midnight and began firing
shots over the sleeping tent of the
family. Waters was ordered to get out
with his family and to get into his car
and leave towards cambridge. The
family was hardly given time to dress
and as they hurriedly bundled such
OF their things as they could get hold
of into the car and started off some
thing broke about the car. The mob
then forced the preacher and his wife
to get out and push their car off down
the road about quarter OF mile,
several members Of the mob following
along behind them and shooting over
them occasionally. The men then re-
turned to the tent and saw to it that
everything was destroyed.
Mrs. Waters Shot.
Mrs. Waters was struck in the arm
BY several bird shot and one Of the
children was hit with one or two bird
shot, otherwise the family suffered no
injury at the hands of the mob. The
preacher and his family was forced to
spend the night in their car on the
road and were found about daylight
by officers from Camilla and Cairo
who had been summoned.
The gospel tent was situated near
Brinkley's store at the point where
the Hawthorne Trail crosses the coun-
ty line road and was just over the line
in Grady county.
Sheriff Grow and County Policeman
Gee responded to call from Pelham
and arrived at the scene of the burn
ing before the fire had completely died
out. They were met by officers from
Grady county and an immediate in
Ivestgation was started which resulted
in the arrest of five men on the charge
OF participating in e1he mob, These
were J. B. Cocker, J. F. Taylor, Joe
Cooper and Will Dekle, of Grady
county, and Joe Tatum, OF Mitchell
county. These parties were taken to
Cairo, where it is reported a commit
ment trial has been held, the result or
which has not been learned here. 1t IS
reported that the preacher positively
identified Cocker and Cooper as being
members of the party
People Are Indignant
The affair has aroused the people
of Mitchell and Grady county and It
is asserted that every effort will be
made to bring the guilty parties to an
account. The officers of this county are
cooperating with the officers OF Grady
county in every way possible in an
effort to learn who the members OF
the mob were.
Waters, while considered by some
people as a sort OF crank, was preach
ing nothing that was calculated to
disturb or annoy law-abiding people,
and it is said that his vigorous attacks
upon the violation OF the prohibition
law and the drinking of stump whisky
was the thing that got him IN bad
with certain element who are sup
posed to have resorted to the attack
in order to get rid OF HIM