Murder At Green Springs

Books in the Park 2009

2009-09-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Murder At Green Springs will be one of the books featured at "Books in the Park" hosted by Barnes & Noble in Norfolk, VA on September 27th. I will be signing copies from noon until 4 p.m. Ya'll come!
Technorati Tags:books in the park, book signing, Barnes & Noble, Norfolk, murder, green springs

Sambo Johnson Dies

2008-11-10T17:50:00.000-08:00

Albert G. "Sambo" Johnson was a unique individual who knew no strangers, and all who met him regarded him as friend. Everyone in Louisa County knew Sambo. We shared a keen interest in Green Springs history, the Victor Hall murder in particular. Sambo and his wife Sally were always the perfect hosts. The hours we spent in their den discussing history with his dog "Toby" at our feet and his forefather General William Mahone's sword above his hearth are precious memories indeed. Such rich moments in life are rare. My eyes tear up thinking about how blessed I was to know this gentleman. Sambo encouraged me to write about the Hall Case and his generosity in time and sharing information made the book possible. As credited in print, history owes Sambo Johnson and his family a debt of thanks. He left this world November 4th, 2008, Election Day, a most ironic and fitting time for this seasoned politician.
Technorati Tags:Albert G. Johnson, Sambo Johnson, Louisa County, William Mahone, Green Springs, Election Day
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Yet Another Historian Examines Sensationalism in Virginia!

2008-06-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

The Body in the Reservoir by Michael Trotti is the new, definitive work on newspaper sensationalism in Virginia. Trotti documents the escalation of sensational reporting from Virginia's colonial era into the twentieth century. He summarizes all of the major murder sensations: Phillips, Cluverius, McCue, Beattie, etc. All that is, but the last great one: the Hall Case, only recently revealed in Murder At Green Springs. Trotti's text was, no doubt, completed before then.
Technorati Tags:The Body in the Reservoir, Michael Trotti, Trotti, Cluverius, McCue, Beattie, newspaper sensation, newspaper sensationalism, Virginia
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Southern Honor and Chivalry

2008-04-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

Murder, Honor and Law by Richard Hamm is the definitive work on Southern honor and its influences on the legal and cultural sociologies of the Old South in general and Virginia specifically. Hamm's four case studies of Virginia murder trials show "Southern honor" as a critical factor in courtrooms until it gradually became a non issue.

In the Old South, personal honor demanded the satisfaction of a duel. Hamm shows it was also a time when honor justified premeditated murder as a Virginia jury acquitted a man who killed in defense of a lady's reputation. Things changed by the early twentieth century when juries no longer weighted honor as a factor in decisions.

Hamm reaches as late as 1935 to substantiate his point. However, the unjust conviction and imprisonment of Elizabeth Hall had already date stamped 1914 on the death certificates of both honor and chivalry in Virginia.

Technorati Tags:Murder, Honor, Law, Chivalry, Richard Hamm, Old South, Gone With the Wind
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Habitat for Humanity and More!

2008-02-01T09:32:00.000-08:00

Morgan James Publishing donates one percent of its revenues from Murder At Green Springs to Habitat for Humanity as attested by the logo on the back cover. Moreover, the author designates all of his profits to Operation Smile and other worthwhile causes.
http://www.habitat.org/
http://www.operationsmile.org/
Technorati Tags:Morgan James Publishing, Habitat for Humanity, Operation Smile
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Thoughts On The Death Penalty

2008-01-30T03:19:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth Hall, an innocent woman, was tried for her life. Three men voted for death by electrocution. The story should make anyone rethink their position on the death penalty. I did. If media, politics and public opinion can overwhelm legal safe guards, then the system cannot be trusted with a life. Think of it! Media, politics and public opinion were the same agents that crucified Christ!
For more about the death penalty, visit:
http://www.vadp.org/
http://www.aclu.org/capital/index.html
http://www.deathpenalty.org/
Technorati Tags:death penalty, capital punishment, injustice, unjust conviction
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The Uncanny Parallels with the Leo Frank Case

2008-01-28T05:47:00.000-08:00

One year before the Hall Case, a Georgia jury convicted Leo Frank of murder. In both instances an innocent party was convicted through dubious investigations; skewed evidence; perjured prosecution witnesses; betrayal by the accused's own Pinkerton detective; introduction of alleged, uncharged crimes; and public opinion polarized by hostile newspapers. For more on Frank see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Frank
http://www.crimelibrary.com/classics/frank/
Technorati Tags:Leo Frank, Pinkerton, detective, detectives
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The Detectives

2007-08-16T05:59:00.000-07:00

In 1914, state and federal agencies relied on private firms for special police work. The Pinkerton National Detective Agency and the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency were the two main contractors in Virginia. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway had their own detectives as did the Virginia State Bureau of Insurance. Since Victor Hall was station master and express agent, his murder invoked railroad and state jurisdictions. On poor advice, Mrs. Hall hired her own Pinkerton man. The astounding array of investigators working in a politically pressurized atmosphere conferred with each other and reached consensus.

Detectives misinterpreted the wound described in the coroner’s report, assumed the victim was shot in bed and, thus, fingered Mrs. Hall. They then justified subterfuge to convict; after all, “everyone knew she did it.”
Technorati Tags:Pinkerton National Detective Agency, Baldwin-Felts, Chesapeake and Ohio, Virginia State Bureau of Insurance, detectives, railroad detectives
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Green Springs Depot

2007-08-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

The little flag stop with the pleasant name was the most notorious site in Louisa County. In the thirteen years prior to the Hall Case, it was the site of multiple murders, a smallpox epidemic, deaths from other illnesses and a state Supreme Court case. In 1913, the depot consisted of a railway station, two stores, two residences and a broom factory. By mid 1914, all but the Hall store/residence had been destroyed by arsons. Most trouble occurred specifically at Hall’s store, and its private cemetery held only victims of sicknesses and murder. The Hall shooting was the third sensation at that store to make statewide headlines!
Technorati Tags:Green Springs, Virginia State Supreme Court, Hall Case
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Rediscovery of the Hall Case

2007-08-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

McCue, Beattie, Allen and Hall were the four sensational murder trials in Virginia in the decade before the First World War. Books were written about the three men, but the record of Mrs. Hall was swept under a rug. Even the transcript was discarded contrary to law. And no wonder, the Commonwealth of Virginia had allowed public opinion to convict an innocent widow.

The family sought to hide the shame from the next generation. Their secret was safe until a slip of the tongue in 1982. For the next eighteen years, I listened to discoveries gleaned from old Times-Dispatch issues and declarations that "Grandma Hall could not have done it, but even if she did, she must have had good reason." Yeah. Right. So I dismissed the Hall murder as just a curiousity in the in-laws' closet.

In 2001, I viewed Mrs. Hall's parole. A multitude of letters from prominent people urged her release, even a petition from the state legislature. Yes! The woman had been framed!

How could this have happened? Indeed, politics and yellow journalism were key factors. But there was never a place like Green Springs Depot!
Technorati Tags:Samuel McCue, Henry Beattie, Floyd Allen, Claude Allen, Times-Dispatch, Green Springs, Green Springs Depot
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