52 Ancestors - PROUD: A Mother's Pride

I grew up knowing that my parents were proud of me. I never heard them say, “We are SO proud of you, darling daughter” but I knew it. I felt it. Proof is in the things they saved from my childhood: a silly handprint on a paper plate; a 4^th grade history assignment answering questions about Sir Walter Raleigh; a homemade valentine card. When my mother and I were both teaching English, she asked to use my poetry unit.

Mary Morrison Slade
great-grandmother

That is why I was shocked to hear that my great-grandmother (my paternal grandfather’s mother) was not proud of her children. What a sad statement.

I can understand her disappointment in three of her sons Fred, Lester, and Richard – a.k.a. Buck. Fred and Lester had several run-ins with the law and even served time for running bootleg whiskey across the state line from North Carolina to Virginia during Prohibition. As head of the “bootleg syndicate,” as the newspaper called it, Fred was also found guilty of tax evasion and was duly punished.

A good 10 or more years younger than his brothers, Buck was probably not involved in bootlegging. If he was, his name was never mentioned in the newspaper. But he was no saint.

In 1935 Buck gave his mother another crime to worry about. Buck and his friend Lloyd Martin stole a car. For some unstated reason, they entered the backyard of Mrs. Gladys Wilkins which led to a confrontation with some men checking them out. Buck and Lloyd left but returned only to be met by the police who ordered them to leave.

What did Buck and Lloyd do? They fired 5 gunshots into the house, at least one of which went into a young boy’s bedroom. They also shot the windshield out of a patrol car during the high-speed chase through the city which ensued when the policeman called for back-up.

Then just like a scene in a cop show on television, Buck and Lloyd lost control of the stolen car and drove into a ditch. They fled but were quickly apprehended.

Buck and his pal were charged with grand larceny for stealing a car and felonious shooting into the Wilkins’ residence.

from Virginian-Pilot

20 Aug 1935

These reports in the newspaper are difficult for me to comprehend because when I knew the Slade brothers, they were big, lovable men. All were married, had good jobs, and were loved by their children, their sisters, their in-laws. Even today family members share stories about them and laugh about some of the funny things they did. There must have been some good in them that their mother missed. 

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Partners in Crime

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt features a pretty snappy bar well-stocked with spirits, seltzer bottles, and a variety of cocktail glasses. It looks like the kind of place where many of my family - both living and dead - would have spent a pleasant hour or four.

You might say that my family has had a long love affair with alcohol, both legal and illegal. According to family legend, my father’s maternal grandfather John Fleming Walsh was a descendant of the Walsh family that produced some brand of Irish whiskey. However, I cannot find any connection. During the Civil War my great-great grandfather James Franklin Jollett produced spirits and paid taxes on it. At the tail end of Prohibition, my paternal grandfather Fred and his younger brother Lester got themselves into trouble over it.

Yes, trouble. BIG trouble.

Lester was arrested for bootlegging in 1929, but in 1930 he was cleared after claiming to have been just an innocent passenger in the car when arresting officers raided the still near Blackwater Swamp in Southampton County. But how innocent could he have been? Lester bore a purple scar on his face, the unfortunate result of an encounter with an exploding still.

Brothers Busted!

Lester might have gotten by with it once, but in 1936 he was not so lucky. He and big brother Fred were among the 23 arrested for bootlegging. It was front page news. Headlines and lead paragraphs were peppered with descriptions of the “rum ring” and “bootleg syndicate” as well as claims of a “liquor conspiracy.”

The indictment charged the 23 with operating distilleries in North Carolina, possession and transportation of liquor to Virginia going back at least to 1933.

 

from Virginian Pilot 9 Jun 1936
Newspapers.com

Of the 23, only 12 including Fred and Lester went to trial. Six were not apprehended. One pleaded “nolo contendere” (accepting conviction but not pleading guilty). Four pleaded guilty and turned State’s evidence.

Witnesses Paint an Ugly Picture

One of the key witnesses for the Government was Preston Sawyer. He told the jury that his partners included Fred Slade, Lester Slade, Lloyd Sundiez, and Millard Warren. In describing this “syndicate,” Sawyer said that they had formed the group to prevent price-cutting in the bootleg business. They were headquartered in several places in Portsmouth including a gasoline station and a couple houses.

from Virginian Pilot 9 Jun 1936
Newspapers.com

Several witnesses confirmed that the liquor was bought at $5-$7 per 5-gallon jug and then sold at $9. An occasional retail sale sometimes brought in a higher amount.

Another important witness was George Roundtree who was then serving time in the Atlanta penitentiary for bootlegging. He testified that he had to quit the business because the “Portsmouth syndicate” (aka Fred, Lester, and Millard Warren) had threatened to put him in jail unless he purchased from them. 

from Virginian Pilot 10 Jun 1936
Newspapers.com

Good grief, Granddaddy!

Case Goes to the Jury

The judge set 4 of the 12 free. The jury was left to decide the fate of the remaining 8, including Fred and Lester. On June 13, 1936, the headline read “Jury Hangs.”  The judge ordered a mistrial with instructions to try the case again. If the case actually went to trial, it must have been ho-hum news because there is no follow-up in newspapers available online.

HOWEVER, a week later my granddaddy and his “partner in crime” Millard Warren were sentenced to 18 months in the Atlanta federal prison for violation of the internal revenue laws on untaxed liquor. Alumni of the Atlanta penitentiary include Al Capone and other Mafia figures, fraudsters Carlo Ponzi and Frank Abagnale (portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie Catch Me If You Can), and actor Woody Harrelson’s father who murdered a federal judge. Yep, Granddaddy was in fine company.

Does He Look Like a Criminal to You?

 

I have tried to make sense of all this, this other side of the sweet man I called Granddaddy. The man I knew was a generous and kind gentleman. He was always in a good mood, ever cheerful and positive. He carted my granny and her sisters to the grocery store without complaint. Part of me looks at the times - the Depression. It is easy to blame the economic struggles he must have faced, but really, that is no excuse. I just have to accept that sometimes good people do bad things.

It’s Sepia Saturday! Cheers!

Wendy

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.