Showing posts with label Chattooga County -Georgia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chattooga County -Georgia. Show all posts

Monday, January 24, 2022

D. C. Sutton Found Guilty of Bigamy. Penitentiary.

Two articles describe the bigamy trial and outcome of D. C. Sutton, of Summerville, Chattooga County, Georgia. The first one says he was sentenced to four years. The second one apparently is correct: two years, six months. In later stories (1880) he was pardoned and released after two years in prison (six months short of his full sentence). The trial took place in Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia.

D. C. Sutton Found Guilty of Bigamy, November 1978:

Article

The wife here is called Miss Nina Young. Contradictory evidence; each party had witnesses. D. C. Sutton was found guilty, sentenced to four years in the penitentiary.

[Source]: D. C. Sutton (untitled) in The Summerville Gazette (Summerville, Chattooga, Georgia) 1874-1889, 28 November 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86053145/1878-11-28/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_574x817_from_864,1718_to_1559,2707/
(accessed 23 January 2022).
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This story says the sentence was two years and six months.

Article

[Source]: D.C. Sutton (untitled) in The Field and Fireside (Marietta, Cobb, Georgia) 1877-18??, 28 November 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053962/1878-11-28/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_562x817_from_271,5504_to_1037,6617/
(accessed 23 January 2022).

D. C. Sutton is Captured and Returned to Jail, 1878

D. C. Sutton Captured

[Quoted from The Field and Fireside, October 1878]:

"D. C. Sutton has been captured and returned to this place, and now has plenty of leisure to ruminate upon the chances of another escape."

Article

[Reference]: D. C. Sutton (untitled item) in The Field and Fireside (Marietta, Cobb, Georgia) 1877-18??, 03 October 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053962/1878-10-03/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_578x817_from_325,4282_to_1072,5337/
(accessed 23 January 2022).

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The capture (above) occurred in Alabama, near Mr. Shamblin's.

Article

[Reference]: Sutton (untitled) in The Summerville Gazette (Summerville, Chattooga, Georgia) 1874-1889, 03 October 1878, page 3 (digital image 3).
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86053145/1878-10-03/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_574x817_from_230,3712_to_943,4727/
(accessed 23 January 2022). 

D. C. Sutton Escapes from Jail, 1878

D. C. Sutton Escapes, September 1878

D. C. Sutton, charged with bigamy, and several other prisoners, escape from jail by sawing through the bars.

Article

[Reference]: D. C. Sutton in untitled, The Field and Fireside (Marietta, Cobb, Georgia) 1877-18??, 12 September 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053962/1878-09-12/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_574x817_from_935,2191_to_2409,4288/
(accessed 23 January 2022).

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Another article about the escape, this one with a description of D. C. Sutton:

Article

[Extract]: 

Age: 45 years
5'9"
125 lbs.
Heavy beard on face (sandy color)
Small, black eyes
(Clothing described)

Escapee is from Chattooga County, formerly of Walker County

[Reference]: D. C. Sutton in Columbus Daily Enquirer-Sun (Columbus, Muscogee, Georgia) 1877-1886, 12 September 12, 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn84024798/1878-09-12/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_592x817_from_17,3706_to_755,4725/
(accessed 23 January 2022).

Public Notice Shaming D. C. Sutton, Summerville, Georgia, 1878

A public notice appears in The Summerville Gazette in 1878, concerning "the revolting offense committed by Mr. D. C. Sutton, a citizen of this place, involving the ruin of his sister-in-law..." The piece asks for patience, sympathy, and prayers for his wife ("a lady of refinement and culture") and his innocent children.

There are no details as to the ruin of his sister-in-law. It might have involved his bail-jumping, rather than anything else, but that is just my speculation. The sympathy for his wife and family has to do with a bigamy case. 

D. C. Sutton was a prominent citizen of Walker County Georgia, with a wife, Drucilla, and a number of children, the eldest born about 1858. In 1878, a woman in Atlanta accused him of bigamy. He had gone by the name of A.D. Sutton. Under that name, he married Georgia Cornelia "Nina" Young in Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia, in 1875, and moved her to Chattanooga, Tennessee, later deserting her. She received word that he had been murdered at Sand Mountain, Alabama, but later discovered him living in Walker or Chattooga County, Georgia. Around that time, he had moved his first wife and family from Walker County to Summerville, Chattooga County, Georgia, and ran display ads there for his services as an attorney.

Cobb County, Georgia, prosecuted him on the bigamy charge and won. D. C. Sutton spent the next two years in prison at Cedartown, Polk County, Georgia.

Public Notice

[Reference]: D. C. Sutton in a notice "To The Public,"
The Summerville Gazette (Summerville, Ga.) 1874-1889, 25 July 1878, page 2 (digital image 2), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86053145/1878-07-25/ed-1/seq-2/print/image_578x817_from_2949,364_to_3937,1760/
(accessed 22 January 2022).

D. C. Sutton, Attorney at Law, Summerville, Georgia

D. C. Sutton placed display ads under "County Directory: Professional Cards," advertising his services as Attorney at Law in Summerville, Chattooga, Georgia, at his permanent address. The ads ran for over a month. Ironically, at the same time, he was accused of bigamy. In 1878, Cobb County, Georgia, prosecuted him on the bigamy charge. He was found guilty and spent the next two years in prison in Cedartown, Polk County, Georgia.

Here is a reference to one of the display ads:

[Reference]: Sutton ad, The Summerville Gazette (Summerville, Chattooga, Georgia) 1874-1889, 14 March 1878, page 3 (digital image 3), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn86053145/1878-03-14/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_574x817_from_2882,932_to_3573,1916/
  (accessed 23 January 2022).
   

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Clayton Smallwood of Co. F, 4th Georgia Cavalry

 News Item from Fricksgap Column in Walker County Messenger, 1891

"Clayton Smallwood and I were  members of Company F. Fourth Ga. Cavalry. He was captured in the first of the New Hope fighting and went to prison and never returned."

[Column signed]: "A. F. S."

[Source]: Clayton Smallwood (mentioned), A.F.S., "Fricksgap" (column), Walker County Messenger (LaFayette, Walker, Georgia) 187?-current, 29 January  1891, page 4 (digital image 4), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053488/1891-01-29/ed-1/seq-4/print/image_551x817_from_1027,4156_to_1975,5562/
(accessed 18 January 2022).
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Not sure if this is relevant, but the above item identifies Clayton Smallwood as a member of Co. F, Fourth Georgia Cavalry. I looked up the Fourth Georgia Cavalry and found this reference, giving a brief history of the 4th Georgia regiment:

Caption Clinch's Regiment, The 4th Georgia Volunteer Cavalry, "The Wiregrass Fourth," Provisional Army of the Confederate States.

http://www.glynngen.com/military/civilwar/4thGA/DLClinch.htm


Death of Elizabeth 'Mrs. James' Smallwood

Quotes from "Trion Gleanings," Walker County Messenger

[03 May 1900, page 4]:
"Mrs. Smallwood wife of James Smallwood died at this place Sunday about noon. She had an attack of pneumonia, so I learn."
  "April 30.  N. H. Coker." 

[Source]: Mrs. Smallwood (death of) in "Trion Gleanings," Walker County Messenger (LaFayette, Walker, Georgia) 187?-current, Thursday, 03 May 1900, page 4 (digital image 4), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia. Clipping: 
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053488/1900-05-03/ed-1/seq-4/print/image_554x817_from_258,3946_to_915,4914/
 (accessed 18 January 2022).
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[10 May 1900, page 1]:
"Mrs. Dollie Wade, who was Miss Dollie Williams, has been at Trion a few days. She came up to be present at the funeral of her sister, Mrs. Lizzie Smallwood who died last week. Mrs. Wade says she had not been here in twenty years. What a difference there is in the appearance of the place between then and now. Mrs. Wade lives in Chattanooga." 

[Source]:  Lizzie Smallwood (death of) in "Trion Gleanings," Walker County Messenger (LaFayette, Walker, Georgia) 187?-current, Thursday, 10 May 1900, page 1 (digital image 1), Georgia Historic Newspapers, Georgia Public Library Service, University System of Georgia. Clipping: 
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053488/1900-05-10/ed-1/seq-1/print/image_540x817_from_2638,1729_to_3281,2701/
 (accessed 18 January 2022).
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Genealogy research reference: Newspaper extracts on Smallwood and related families of Trion, Chattooga, Georgia.

Sunday, January 16, 2022

Obituary of Elizabeth (Williams) Smallwood

Obituary of Mrs. Elizabeth (Williams) Smallwood


Publication: Walker County Messenger
Publication Place: LaFayette, Walker, Georgia
Publication Date: 12 July 1900
Page: 6
Headline: "In Memory: of Mrs. Elizabeth Smallwood"

Name of Deceased: Mrs. Elizabeth Smallwood
Maiden Surname: Williams
Birth: 27 September 1859
Death: 29 April 1900
Place of Death: Trion, Chattooga, Georgia
Husband (Survivor): James Smallwood
Marriage: 16 February 1879
Offspring: Seven children, five surviving
Religious Affiliation: Christian

The writer of the obituary cites various Bible verses and seems to mention that he had been the one who Baptized the couple. There is a short poem and a name, Favil Hall (unclear whether that is the name of the obituary writer, the poet, or both).

[Source]: "In Memory: of Mrs. Elizabeth Smallwood," Walker County Messenger (LaFayette, Walker, Georgia), 12 July 1900, page 6 (digital image 6), Georgia Historic Newspapers Georgia Public Library Service University System of Georgia.
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053488/1900-07-12/ed-1/seq-6/print/image_558x817_from_773,296_to_3213,3864/
 (accessed 16 January 2022).