Murder in the Peach State [Hardcover]

Bruce L. Jordan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0966076834 | ISBN-13: 978-0966076837 | Publication Date: November 2000

Murder in the Peach State explores the true stories of the greed, lust and hatred that led to some of Georgia's darkest hours of the twentieth century.

In 1913, when lust killed Mary Phagan, and hatred Leo Frank, the rest of the nation questioned Georgia's stature as a civilized region.

When John Williams killed 11 black men in 1921 in Jasper County to hide the fact that he was keeping slaves on his farm well after the Civil War, his motive was greed but the nation cried bigotry. Once again the South was labeled socially less developed.

More than two decades later someone killed four blacks on Moore's Ford Road in Walton County. The motive once again appeared to be hatred. No matter the motive the crimes hurt the image of the state as the rest of the nation questioned why a World War II hero had been lynched on one of Georgia's dirt roads. Some lawmen struggled to end the violence while others conspired to create it.

Halfway through the century, bootleggers killed the prosecutor of Jackson County with a dynamite bomb, and an evil restaurant owner in Macon poisoned those who interfered with her passions and greed. Lust and greed continued to emerge as motives which darkened the proud communities in the South. Murder seemed inevitable even in the best of towns.

As the century neared closure, someone prowled the streets of Columbus strangling ederly women of the neighborhood of Wynnton. The killer's motives -- unclear. In 1991 the power of greed is graphically displayed when one friend decapitates another for the love of money in Griffin.

Murder in the Peach State, with eerie detail, will walk you through the best and worst of people in Georgia making history through murder and mayhem.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...I found it almost impossible to begin one of these stories and lay it aside before finishing it..." -- Dr. Ferrol A. Sams, Jr. M.D., Author of Run With the Horsemen and The Whisper of the River

"This book is a collection of great crime stories, some familiar and others not so well known. All are...compelling..." -- Jim Minter, Author and former editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

About the Author

Bruce L. Jordan, also the author of Death Unexpected, is a 20 year veteran with the Fayette County Sheriff's Department. He holds the rank of major and has been the chief investigator for more than a decade.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Midtown Pub Corp (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966076834
• ISBN-13: 978-0966076837
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #814,328 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Murder In The Peach State, December 2, 2000

By 

Anne B. Jones (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder in the Peach State (Hardcover)

The topic is murder. the cases are real. Murder In The Peach State is an excellently crafted anthology of Georgia homicides. Beginning with Leo Frank, author, Bruce jordan explores eight infamous examples of evil intent. Cases include "The Death Farm: Jasper County", "The Murder of Henry Heinz", The Moores Ford Lynching", "The Black Widow of Macon", "The Old Man And His Money: The Murder of Floyd 'Fuzzy' Hoard", "The Columbus Stocking Strangler", and "Murder On Troublesome Creek". Meticulously researched and well-written, the volume reveals little known details of each investigation. The accused and their victims come to life as the author portrays their personalities and motives. Bruce Jordan is a 21 year veteran detective who heads the Criminal Investigations Division for the Fayette County Sheriff's Department. He is also the author of Death Unexpected, a story of solved and unsolved murders in Fayette County. Reviewer-Anne Jones

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I know I'll read it again., December 28, 2000

By 

"125846" (Atlanta, Georgia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder in the Peach State (Hardcover)

This is one of those books which I would think of later and then realize, with disappointment, that I had already finished the book. I'll let a little time pass and then read it again. Although I was familiar with some of the stories, I found some interesting items in each of the stories that I didn't know before.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moore's Ford Lynchings, September 16, 2001

By 

Samuel J. Hardman (North Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder in the Peach State (Hardcover)

Bruce L. Jordan's "Murder In The Peach State" is a compelling work and, quite rare in such works, important. This is the first published book, I think, to document something of the Moore's Ford lynchings of 25 July 1946 in Walton County, Georgia. Four adult African-Americans and an unborn child were lynched at Moore's Ford that day. They were Roger and Dorothy Malcolm and George and Mae Dorsey. Dorothy was said to have been seven months pregnant at the time. The victims were not merely shot dead. According to the coroner's report, the bodies were mutilated by over sixty bullets being fired into them. Mr. Jordan has rightly mentioned Eugene Talmadge and the racial tensions excited by him toward African-Americans during 1946. That Eugene Talmadge was in large measure responsible for the lynchings at Moore's Ford is documented by his words and actions during his 1946 campaign for governor. Mr. Jordan's record of George Dorsey's splendid military service during World War II is touching and appropriate. However, it is Mr. Jordan's useful additions to the general knowledge of the Moore's Ford lynchings which make his work important. It was not widely known that Roger Malcolm was not immediately charged with the stabbing of Barney Hester. According to Mr. Jordan's account, Roger Malcolm ran back to his home after the fight with Hester. Later that night he was dragged into his yard and there beaten by a group of about ten men. It would appear that it was only at this point that Sheriff E. S. Gordon was notified. He arrested Roger Malcolm for the stabbing of Barney Hester. A second attempt on Roger Malcolm's life, according to Mr. Jordan, took place on 15 July 1946, when a mob came to the jail and demanded that Sheriff E. S. Gordon release Malcolm to them. Gordon refused to do so, and somehow convinced the mob to leave. The information which Johnnie Burdette gave to officials of the NAACP, placing Deputy Sheriff Lewis Howard at Moore's Ford shortly before the lynchings took place, and the fact that there were no records in the sheriff's office showing that Loy Harrison had indeed paid the six-hundred-dollar bond for Roger Malcolm's release from jail, is highly important. Little by little the parts of the complex Moore's Ford puzzle are finding their rightly place. Mr. Jordan's book is helpful. Mr. Jordan's work has also touched the well-known Clinton Adams story. Alas, what Clinton Adams has said would now appears to be quite untrue. During his interview with the FBI, Adams stated that he and Emerson Elder Farmer were at Moore's Ford during the afternoon of 25 July 1946 and saw the lynchings take place. Adams then went on to tell the FBI that his close friend, Emerson Elder Farmer, was never interviewed by the FBI. Emerson Elder Farmer, aged 12, was indeed interviewed by Special Agents of the FBI on 28 July 1946, and he also testified before the grand jury in Athens, Georgia, concerning what he saw during the afternoon of the lynchings. Among other things, Emerson Elder Farmer stated that he was on the front porch of his home just above Moore's Ford when the death convoy of five cars passed with the victims. Shortly, he heard many shots. Importantly, Emerson Elder Farmer yet has three close relations in life who were with him at his home that day. All three have confirmed that Emerson Elder Farmer was at home when the lynchings took place and have stated that Clinton Adams was not at Moore's Ford on 25 July 1946. Further, in his statements to the FBI, Adams says that shortly after the lynchings he was told to keep quiet about what he had seen by Deputy Sheriff Lewis Howard and Doc Sorrells, clearly indicating that they were then the Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff of Walton County, Georgia; however, this was not the case. Sheriff E. S. Gordon was in office until his death in June 1948, a year and eleven months after the lynchings. Only then did Lewis Howard become the sheriff of Walton County. Again, "Murder In The Peach State" is an important work.