Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-12-12
ROBBERY Of GRAVES
Of NEGROES ALARMS
RELATIVES Of DEAD

Negroes who have recently buried
relatives in Southview cemetery
were clamoring Saturday afternoon
for the privilege of opening their
graves to ascertain if their caskets
had been stolen by S. f. Ware, ne
gro undertaken, and Claude Maddox
and Thurman Jones, negro grave
diggers, who are in Jail on Il charge
Of stealing two caskets Friday night.
L. G. Watts, secretary of the COM
pany that owns the cemetery, said
the privilege would be granted them
if they would pay the wages Of the
grave-diggers to do the work. lndl'
cations were that wholesale open
ing of graves would be in progress
Monday.
Negro prisoners quartered with
Maddox and Jones in the colored
wing of the Jail were also clamoring
but not for the privilege of open
ing graves. They were clamoring
for Sheriff Lowry to take these two
negroes out of their midst.
"Dese here niggers got grave dirt
on 'em" they howled. eve wants
'em outa here
If Maddox and Jones were afflict-
ed with leprosy and their fellow
prisoners knew it, their ostracism
would not be more complete. There
is evidently something in the nature
of grave dirt on a Negroes hands
and clothing that makes other ne
groes wish to keep away from him.
Though Ware, the undertaken, in
dignantly protested his innocence of
the charge of robbing graves to get
caskets to use again in the under
taking business, the two grave dig
gers seemed inclined to make a clean
breast.
Jones, in fact, was rather lcqua
cious in his discussion of the bust
ness. He accused Ware of coercing
him into it because he was once in
Jail and Ware obtained his release.
Didn't Work Friday Nights
They never worked on Friday
nights, he said, until last Friday
night, when Ware insisted that he
was obliged to have a couple Of
caskets before they became earth
stained. One contained a negro who
had been buried Friday and the
other a negro who had been buried
day or two before.
They would go into the grave,
remove the lid fro mthe box, re-
move the casket from the box. re-
move the body from the casket, re-
| turn the body to the box, return the
| lid, and haul off the casket to
| Wares place of business, to be sold
again, Jones asserted.
Ware endeaVored to make light
of the story of the grave diggers
| by claiming earth stains would ruin
a casket in a few hours. 1t would
not be possible, he declared, to re-
move these stains well enough to
make a casket disable.
In this connection, however,
County Officers Jordan, Jackson and
Baker, who made the arrests, said
they had feund in Wares place of
| business several baskets visibly
earthstained, which evidently had
| not been fut through the cleaning
| process.
| Ware is secretary of the Atlanta
Burial association (colored), and is
quite we'll known in the undertaking
profession IF his race. His col
leagues expressed outrage and dis
guest that a member of their race
and profession would defile a grave
and rob the dead. David T. How
ard, colored, president of the assO-
citation, said the association would
| give whole hearted assistance to the
authorities in prosecuting the case.
He said he had gone to see the two
baskets captured by the county po-
lice-when Ware, Jones and Mad
doX were driving out of the ceme-
tery-and positively identified them
as caskets he had sold within the
past few days.
Detectives Given Tip
The county officers got their tip
from City Detectives Sturdivant
and Campbell. Negroes had gone to