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80 pages

English

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Murder, Mayhem and Whitecapping is set in northwest Georgia 1894. It is the story of two men who were attacked by a group of whitecappers, men sworn by a blood oath to protect moonshiners, remove immoral people from their communities, but most of all to protect their own. The area of northwest Georgia had a membership of 800-1000 men. Henry Worley, a whitecapper himself, turns on his brotherhood, and manages to survive the hangman's noose but a week later is shot and killed by men he once called friends. A few months later, William Roper, who has been turning in moonshiners for a profit, finds himself a target as well. He is attacked in the middle of the night by whitecappers, who shoot him and leave him for dead in an abandoned copper pit. After six days, he is rescued from the pit and eventually testifies in federal court against his attackers. The federal government would eventually charge 30+ men, many of them prominent individuals in the county, with conspiracy. These two trials, as well as subsequent pleas, would eventually lead to the demise of the whitecappers in northwest Georgia. The trials would be covered extensively by The Atlanta Constitution. It along with federal court transcripts, essays on moonshining and whitecapping, and other historical references, serve as sources for this historical, nonfiction book.

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19th Century

Historical

HISTORY

Histoire

United States

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Publié par	Outskirts Press
Date de parution	26 avril 2023
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781977264138
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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Murder, Mayhem and Whitecapping The Fall of the Northwest Georgia Whitecappers All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2023 Jodi McDaniel Lowery v2.0
The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.
This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Outskirts Press, Inc. http://www.outskirtspress.com
ISBN: 978-1-9772-6413-8
Cover Photo © 2023 www.gettyimages.com . All rights reserved - used with permission.
Outskirts Press and the "OP" logo are trademarks belonging to Outskirts Press, Inc.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
T ABLE OF C ONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Sources
A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As another book comes to an end, I think of all the people who helped me along the way to create the perfect story.
Thank you, Judy Alred, for always polishing my work and never using a red pen. I would never sound as good on paper without you. I cherish your friendship and for being a mentor to me during my teaching years.
Thank you, Tim Howard, for always helping me connect the dots with people, places, and things. Your knowledge of our county and its history is priceless.
Thank you, to my readers; it means so much even to be considered an author. Your encouragement always seems to come at just the right moments.
Thank you to all the people who were willing to share their family trees with me. Who knew we all had such a rich and diverse history in Murray County?
Thank you to my husband, Dale; he is my encourager and always tells me to follow my dreams. I love you more.
Book Dedication
To my husband, Dale, my children Andrew and Lauren, my grandchildren, Lucas, Elise, Aedyn, Ross and Thomas
I love you all! You encourage me to be my best self and I am forever grateful for your love and support!!
I NTRODUCTION
When I sit down to start writing a book, many factors come into play. First, I think about the subject matter and whether it would be offensive to some but not others. Second, I consider the person or persons I am writing about and the family members that could be affected by being part of a book. Third, I also try to determine if there is enough research material available that a topic could be thoroughly covered in a book. All three of these factors were at the forefront with this one before the first word was written on the page.
Initially, my research consisted of a few articles I had found about the Roper incident through some Murray County archival material. When the search continued online, I found that the Atlanta Constitution had covered both Roper’s assault and the death of Henry Worley extensively, sometimes making front-page news. The articles would take up whole columns and, a couple of times, even the entire front page of the paper. The newspaper from that time was much larger than our current hometown newspaper. The page itself was 18 inches wide and 24 inches tall compared to our present paper, which is 12 inches wide and 23 inches tall. The Atlanta Constitution was a daily newspaper that contained ten pages of information and was divided into as many as five to eight columns. So, in perspective, that was a large amount of coverage for our small county.
When people talk about the Klan and what it stands for, most, if not all, the people I know will find their actions deplorable. Some people want to choose to ignore it, while others wish it had never happened at all. In the case of the Georgia whitecappers, what they represented was somewhat different from their predecessors. Their purpose was not racially motivated but rather one of protecting moonshiners from the government and protecting their neighbors from those degenerates who preyed on their families.
This was a very lawless time in history, especially in Murray County, Georgia. It seemed this vigilante mentality had somewhat taken over our hardworking way of life. The results were almost like a row of dominos. One vicious attack would take place, and soon thereafter, another even more brutal incident would follow. The local law seemed to be powerless in being able to control the actions of these renegades. No one wanted to take a stand for justice and see these men paid for their actions.
It was not until the horrible assault on William Roper and the unmerciful death of Henry Worley that people decided enough was enough. William Roper had been willing to stand up to his attackers, and the federal government followed through with prosecuting as many whitecappers as they could.
I felt that it was necessary to name the people involved in whitecapping so that people would have a clear understanding of what was happening and to whom. However, I chose not to mention any relatives extending from these individuals, for that is their own story to tell.
I do not condone the actions of any of these men, but I do commend Henry Worley and William Roper for standing up to the men in their secret brotherhood when it mattered the most. In one of my favorite books, a wise professor said to his student, "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just a much to stand up to our friends."
Thank you for following me on this journey.
P ROLOGUE
In the early morning of April 19, 1894, Henry Worley was unmercifully gunned down while plowing his fields. He had already escaped once from the powerful clutches of the whitecappers just a few days prior when he managed to escape a hangman’s noose. This time, the sound of gunfire echoed off the side of Fort Mountain as multiple bullets ripped through his body. The source of those bullets were men who had once called Henry a friend but now considered him a traitor.
Just a few months later, a similar fate awaited young William Roper as he was also attacked in the middle of the night by a group of hooded men. The whitepapers took him up into the Cohutta Mountains, shot him several times, and pushed him into a pit. This time, however, someone survived to tell the tale.
Federal indictments and the brave testimony of William Roper would act as catalysts to bring down the powerful whitecappers of Murray County, Georgia. First, however, to understand what led to these treacherous attacks, one must learn how these powerful men came to prominence.
C HAPTER O NE
S PRING P LACE , G EORGIA
Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the early 1800s was a fast-growing town called Spring Place, a name which was derived from the many springs in the surrounding area. It was in the county of Murray, which the land lottery had created in 1832. This particular lottery was an event where parcels of land within the state were sold to farmers who met specific criteria and would cultivate this land.
There were six criteria to be met to participate in the land lottery. The first was being a bachelor 18 years or older. Second, a soldier who had fought in the Indian War and resided in Georgia before or after the war could qualify. Next, any woman who became a widow after losing her spouse in battle. Also, an entire family could participate in one of two ways: having one or two minor orphans where both parents were deceased or a family of orphans where the father was dead, but the mother was alive. Finally, an invalid veteran from the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812 could also have a draw in the lottery.
The portion of Georgia where Murray County would be created was considered the gold lottery area and consisted of 40-acre parcels of land. However, by the time the 1832 lottery occurred, the promise of gold on these pieces of property had significantly declined. Historians have said that this land had been taken from the Muscogee and Cherokee Indians. At this time, people in positions of power wanted the state primarily owned by white people. In 1834, a state law was enacted that a Cherokee could lose his land if he broke any state law.
The most well-known Cherokee Indian from the area before Murray’s creation was Chief James Vann, who previously owned an enormous empire spanning some 1,000 acres. Vann had lost his land that same year when Georgia guards evicted him for violating a state law that whites could not work for Indians. The violation occurred because he had employed a white man as an overseer on his property. The estate known as Diamond Hill sat atop a hill overlooking Spring Place.
Spring Place had its first post office in 1826 and became the county seat in 1834. It was incorporated as a city in 1885 and boasted two schools, three churches, and many houses around the heart of town. In 1886, the county was voted a dry county, as well as neighboring Whitfield County to the west.
Several industries came and went in the Spring Place area. In 1885, at least two companies came to the area to mine silver from the Cohutta mountains. One newspaper reported that silver had been found on land belonging to Jesse Jackson and his wife, Gid. During this period, there were talks about bringing the railroad through the area, but that idea never came to fruition. When it did occur in the early 1900s, the formation o