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And Type the TITLE of YOUR WORK in All Caps “AN EVIL DAY IN GEORGIA”: THE EXECUTIONS OF CLIFFORD THOMPSON AND JAMES HUGH MOSS AND THE DEATH PENALTY IN GEORGIA, 1926-1928 by ROBERT NEIL SMITH (Under the Direction of Professor James Cobb) ABSTRACT This dissertation follows a homicide case committed in Georgia in 1927 from the crime to the executions of those convicted of the crime almost a year later. Along the way, the narrative highlights a number of issues impacting the death penalty process many of which are still relevant in the modern era of Capital Punishment in the United States of America. Moreover, the case in question illustrates a range of themes prevalent in post-Progressive Georgia and brings them together to create a broader narrative. Thus, issues of race, class, and gender emerge from what was supposed to be a neutral process. This dissertation demonstrates that Capital Punishment cannot be administered in an untainted fashion, but its finality demands that it must be. INDEX WORDS: Crime and Punishment, Death Penalty, Miscarriage of Justice, Criminal justice in Georgia, 1920s, Race, Gender, Class, Electric Chair. “AN EVIL DAY IN GEORGIA”: THE EXECUTIONS OF CLIFFORD THOMPSON AND JAMES HUGH MOSS AND THE DEATH PENALTY IN GEORGIA, 1926-1928 by ROBERT NEIL SMITH MA (Hons), The University of Edinburgh, Scotland, 1996 M.A., The University of Georgia, 1998 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2011 © 2011 Robert Neil Smith All Rights Reserved “AN EVIL DAY IN GEORGIA”: THE EXECUTIONS OF CLIFFORD THOMPSON AND JAMES HUGH MOSS AND THE DEATH PENALTY IN GEORGIA, 1926-1928 by ROBERT NEIL SMITH Major Professor: James Cobb Committee: Diane Batts-Morrow Robert A. Pratt Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2011 iv DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my father Robert Roach Smith and my mother Christina Smith v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation was completed in two stages separated by a period of medical issues and personal loss. Without the loving support of my wife and best friend Carolanne, the project might never have been started let alone finished; her patience is extraordinary, her love infinite. Professor Jim Cobb at the University of Georgia encouraged me to complete this project when I was at a crossroads. He has shepherded me through the final stages with his usual rapier insight and positive interventions. The finished product is significantly better for his involvement. Professor Diane Batts-Morrow generously gave of her time to be on my committee. Her rigorous evaluations of the work in progress and demanding questions solidified many areas of the argument. Professor Robert Pratt offered his hand at a critical time and has been a consistent supporter of this project. I was proud to have him on my committee and consider him a mentor and friend. Two local historians in Murray County and Etowah, Tim Howard and Linda Caldwell, assisted me immeasurably in finding my way beneath the gentle southern veneer of their respective communities. Much of the detective work that went into researching this project was a result of their efforts and prompting. All the conclusions contained herein are mine alone, but Tim and Linda were extraordinarily supportive in helping me reach them. Finally, my mother and father opened up a life of history for me from an early age and I cannot begin to imagine where I would have ended up without their constant love and support. My only wish is that they could know the depths of my gratitude for their sacrifices upon which my life is based. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii FRONTISPIECE .......................................................................................................................... viii Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 - The Road to Nowhere .................................................................................................18 Chapter 2 - Land Where We’ll Never Grow Old ...........................................................................48 Chapter 3 - Chasing Shadows ........................................................................................................63 Chapter 4 - The Accused ................................................................................................................81 Chapter 5 – The End of the Road .................................................................................................100 Chapter 6 - Redemption Man .......................................................................................................148 Chapter 7 - Payment to the Law ..................................................................................................178 Chapter 8 - “Pretty by Ordinary Standards” ................................................................................201 Chapter 9 – The New Woman .....................................................................................................220 Chapter 10 – Retribution ..............................................................................................................242 Chapter 11 – Justice Denied ........................................................................................................271 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................280 vii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: The Osborn Home and Store c1927. The man with his back to the camera is believed to be Deputy-sheriff Jim Butler and the woman Sadie Osborn ........................................................ 55 Figure 2: Eula Mae Elrod c1920 ................................................................................................... 84 Figure 3: Eula Mae Elrod’s arrest photograph .............................................................................. 86 Figure 4: James Hugh Moss and Clifford Thompson in Chatsworth Jail. This picture of Moss led to his execution ................................................................................................................. 90 Figure 5: Eula Mae’s “dimples”. Evidence of guilt? ................................................................. 210 Figure 6: Eula Mae Thompson 18 July 1928 .............................................................................. 222 Figure 7: Eula Mae receives her fashionable “bob” ................................................................... 224 Figure 8: The “elegant” Eula Mae Thompson ............................................................................ 225 Figure 9: Eula Mae’s visitors ...................................................................................................... 226 Figure 10: Eulae Mae “provides solace” for Clifford’s mother .................................................. 226 viii FRONTISPIECE Pity1 She asked me twice Didn’t I kill the Catfish Before I took the pliers And stripped his hide. I said no, You’d have to break his neck, I, now uneasy, Blood bright on my fingers Saw her wince, The whiskered fish Twisting. Looks like torture that way, She said, And I said look If you ask that question It leads to another. This is the way it’s done. 1 William Mills, “Pity” in Ben Forkner and Patrick Samway eds., A Modern Southern Reader: Major Stories, Drama, Poetry, Essays, Interviews, and Reminiscences from the Twentieth Century South (Atlanta, GA: Peachtree Publishers Ltd.,1986), 296. 1 Introduction On the night of 5 August 1927 someone knocked on Coleman Osborn‟s porch just south of the town of Chatsworth Georgia, asking for service at Osborn‟s nearby store. Thirty minutes later shots rang out and Osborn lay dead. His assailant escaped on foot then presumably by car. Men from all around gathered at the site over the next couple of hours, collecting evidence but also trampling around the crime scene. The identity of the murderer appeared to be a total mystery but within a few days Chatsworth police took into custody two men, one Black and one white, and one woman, the wife of the white man. The two men were tried quickly and convicted; the judge sentenced them to death. The following February, the third trial took place and the woman was also sentenced to death. The case travelled through the Appeals courts and ended up on the Governor‟s desk. He affirmed the death sentences on the two men and they were electrocuted in Milledgeville Georgia on 3 August 1928. The Governor ultimately ordered a reprieve for the white woman, however, and sent her to the State penitentiary to serve a life sentence. Other than the involvement of a white woman, the Osborn case is a seemingly routine story of murder in the Deep South. But as with so much of southern history, appearances can be deceiving – the killing of Coleman Osborn unleashed a horrifying tale of justice gone horribly awry. The evidence brought to court by a zealous policeman and local prosecutor was unsatisfactory at best and some of it likely fabricated. The trials were held in a hostile climate and those of the two men were perfunctory
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