I'm going to post something meaningful about the family history as soon as the storm of data flying at me from the Mississippi State Archives, interviews with old-timers and local historians, snippets from the living family members, criminal court minutes, obituaries, articles, deductions and inferences all settles into its proper place. Beyond a bare chronology for Elma that includes delivering five children by five different men and losing two tragically and untimely, and beyond getting the point that Prohibition and the dawn of the Jazz Age turned a respectable, religious family inside out, I don't really have a narrative yet. My brain orders chaos quite nicely if I go away for a while and leave it alone. When I come back, I find nice patterns, or at least stacks of information organized by category.
I'll take the time out to record a few disjointed observations about this place, i.e., the Mississippi Pine Belt, including Hattiesburg, aka the Hub City. First, I have to acknowledge the truth of some stereotypes: the place is hyper-churchy and dismayingly right-wing (I was told that the Bay Area has a bad reputation, you know, for being so liberal, but, well, we're not all so bad, really); many, many fat -- not just overweight or plump or sporting forgivable middle-aged avoir du poids, but FAAAT -- people trundle the earth here; every courthouse has a statue of a Confederate soldier out front.
But the surprises are more interesting, and they include seemingly better race relations than in California, i.e., better in that there are meaningful relationships between blacks and whites. I'm staying on the University of Southern Mississippi campus, and I see black and white students intermingle far more than I've ever seen on any UC campus, or at Bryn Mawr for that matter. Black and white kids walk with, chat with, kid and banter together regularly, routinely, constantly. It's humdrum. They share lingo, churchiness, exaggerated politeness, Southern-ness. They have almost everything in common -- I'm the outsider. The same easy black-white collegiality is evident at restaurants and other business establishments. I've even seen a few multiracial couples, as well as white folks who evidently had adopted black children. I'm told that both are trends and becoming more common. Hattiesburg is mostly white but has a black mayor and various black officials. I'm not feeling anything like the racial tension that no one likes to acknowledge permeates daily life in the San Francisco Bay Area, maybe because we have nothing to compare it with.
Other revelations: the earthy, rootsy, neo-Hippie elements in Hattiesburg and Jackson (cool music stores, restaurant/music venues, health food stores, book stores); the mini-Met museum in Laurel; the lack of hellfire at the Baptist church service I attended on Sunday with my cousin; the fact that Ed Payne's ancestors started a progressive/populist newspaper in Jones County (in the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries?) and became Universalists. More to come I imagine -- I've only been here two weeks.
Oh, and in the spirit of the place I've discovered McDonalds' milkshakes are awful, but Dairy Queen's are perfect.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Bizarre synchronicity in two seemingly unrelated deaths
Ed Payne's wizardry continues. In an email message from him I received today -- excerpted below -- he describes the coincident circumstances of the unrelated deaths, years apart, of, respectively, a daughter and her likely father. The daughter was my father's half-sister, Shirley, the fourth of Elma Rose McLemore's five children. Shirley was killed by a drunk driver while she was getting off a school bus when she was eight years old. The father was presumptively Shirley's, one of Elma's five baby daddies.
From Ed's message:
"[F]ound an article describing the accident that took the life of Elma's daughter, Shirley Moore. And this is where it gets weird. Shirley was killed by a drunk driver on December 17, 1937, as your father noted in his chronology. I decided while I was at it to look for a grave inscription for David W. Holmes, the lawyer / county attorney who your father's chronology suggests might have been Shirley's father. His grave was listed in "Forrest County Tombstones" so I looked for a newspaper obituary. I missed it the first time because it wasn't in the back pages; it was a big story on the front page. The newspaper reported that Hattiesburg mayor David W. Holmes died when his car was involved in a head on collision with another vehicle containing "six drunken negroes." The date Mayor Holmes died was December 17, 1950--13 years to the day after the death of Shirley Moore."
From Ed's message:
"[F]ound an article describing the accident that took the life of Elma's daughter, Shirley Moore. And this is where it gets weird. Shirley was killed by a drunk driver on December 17, 1937, as your father noted in his chronology. I decided while I was at it to look for a grave inscription for David W. Holmes, the lawyer / county attorney who your father's chronology suggests might have been Shirley's father. His grave was listed in "Forrest County Tombstones" so I looked for a newspaper obituary. I missed it the first time because it wasn't in the back pages; it was a big story on the front page. The newspaper reported that Hattiesburg mayor David W. Holmes died when his car was involved in a head on collision with another vehicle containing "six drunken negroes." The date Mayor Holmes died was December 17, 1950--13 years to the day after the death of Shirley Moore."
Thursday, September 17, 2009
January 27, 1944 letter from Jimmie French Moore to his mother, Elma Rose McLemore Dearman
Dear Mother,
Received the telegram Boy was I worried I came back from the Show and in Runs a Boy and Tell me I have a Telegram I didn't know what to think. I haven't heard from any one else. They told us to have our Bags ready at 7:30 tomorrow don't know where we are going Probable [sic] to another unit for training to wait for our Ship. we may go to new orleans or Texas or California after it or it may be in Boston or new york. If I find out it is in new orleans I will let you know and you all can come to N.O. to see me. I like the Ships like we go on. they have Some thing on them that Really take care of Sub!!!!! I wish you could See them. Did Rudis get the Pictures of the Ships I Sent. or at Least I think I Sent them I address [sic] them and dont know what I did with them. "I was not drinking." we really have good chow up here Better even than Pensacola. I haven't Been up town yet and don't intend to go. I may go to the Hospital for a while up here with my ____ [ears?] I had the Doc. look them over there aren't Bothering me But just to make sure he Says Come Back one day next week it will keep me over here a little Longer but I can't help it. Do you ever See Wilma? She told me you Said, I Said Something about her it is a mix up Somewhere why can't you two get along I heard Some thing about you if it it [is] true you have Broken your word to me and I would hate to know you hadn't changed after all well will close & wait for ___ ____ So write Soon
Love
Jimmie
(Emphasis mine.)
Received the telegram Boy was I worried I came back from the Show and in Runs a Boy and Tell me I have a Telegram I didn't know what to think. I haven't heard from any one else. They told us to have our Bags ready at 7:30 tomorrow don't know where we are going Probable [sic] to another unit for training to wait for our Ship. we may go to new orleans or Texas or California after it or it may be in Boston or new york. If I find out it is in new orleans I will let you know and you all can come to N.O. to see me. I like the Ships like we go on. they have Some thing on them that Really take care of Sub!!!!! I wish you could See them. Did Rudis get the Pictures of the Ships I Sent. or at Least I think I Sent them I address [sic] them and dont know what I did with them. "I was not drinking." we really have good chow up here Better even than Pensacola. I haven't Been up town yet and don't intend to go. I may go to the Hospital for a while up here with my ____ [ears?] I had the Doc. look them over there aren't Bothering me But just to make sure he Says Come Back one day next week it will keep me over here a little Longer but I can't help it. Do you ever See Wilma? She told me you Said, I Said Something about her it is a mix up Somewhere why can't you two get along I heard Some thing about you if it it [is] true you have Broken your word to me and I would hate to know you hadn't changed after all well will close & wait for ___ ____ So write Soon
Love
Jimmie
(Emphasis mine.)
Figuring out Elma: key perspective from Ed Payne
From an email received from Ed Payne on September 15, 2009:
"But what struck me after we parted yesterday was what my aunt has emphasizing to me. When I asked about who had the (black) Chatmon family band play at their houses, she pushed me to understand the generational divide in the 1920s. The generation born ca 1865 ~ 1895 clung to more strict codes of conduct. Yes, there might be frolics on Saturday night, but generally life was hard and grim and people stoic in the face of it. There was a huge change after WWI. The war supercharged the economy and there was a sense of breaking off old chains. Automobiles, illicit booze, and jazz were to that generation what birth control pills, illicit drugs, and rock and roll were to mine. Think of how many parents in the 1960s with conventional values gave birth to children who dealt drugs (= moonshining) and otherwise turned respectability on its head. And, yes, both the impact of the jazz generation and the rock generation filtered down even into Mississippi. The jazz generation the impact may have even more direct for the McLemore children because New Orleans, epicenter of jazz and easy morals, was close by and the Piney Woods had not entirely shed its rough and tumble timber boom rawness."
"But what struck me after we parted yesterday was what my aunt has emphasizing to me. When I asked about who had the (black) Chatmon family band play at their houses, she pushed me to understand the generational divide in the 1920s. The generation born ca 1865 ~ 1895 clung to more strict codes of conduct. Yes, there might be frolics on Saturday night, but generally life was hard and grim and people stoic in the face of it. There was a huge change after WWI. The war supercharged the economy and there was a sense of breaking off old chains. Automobiles, illicit booze, and jazz were to that generation what birth control pills, illicit drugs, and rock and roll were to mine. Think of how many parents in the 1960s with conventional values gave birth to children who dealt drugs (= moonshining) and otherwise turned respectability on its head. And, yes, both the impact of the jazz generation and the rock generation filtered down even into Mississippi. The jazz generation the impact may have even more direct for the McLemore children because New Orleans, epicenter of jazz and easy morals, was close by and the Piney Woods had not entirely shed its rough and tumble timber boom rawness."
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Part 1: Elma Rose McLemore chronology (courtesy of Rudy H. Leverett, Wilma Moore Dyar and supporting documentation)
Background:
1830s -- John McLemore emigrates to the Piney Woods from South Carolina. He builds a log cabin along what is now Hwy. 11 in what became Eastabuchie, Mississippi, more or less on the border of Jones and Forrest counties. Our family calls this property the "Old Place."
October 5, 1963 -- Major Amos McLemore, John McLemore's son, is murdered by Confederate deserter Newt Knight while McLemore is back in Jones County from the front in order to collect Confederate deserters. Maj. McLemore's widow (and cousin), Rosa Lavinia McLemore, is left to raise 5 children under age 12 on her own during the remainder of the Civil War and Reconstruction. She never remarries. Her eldest son, John C. McLemore, dies unmarried at age 34 on April 3, 1888. His grave marker reads "How many hopes lie bured here."
Elma Rose McLemore
September 18, 1907. Born to Walter Scott "Bud" McLemore (son of Maj. Amos McLemore) and Mary Etta Lee McLemore on the "Old Place." Youngest of eight children.
December 27, 1923. Described as a "pretty" blonde with a bob, Elma elopes with J.D. (Jefferson Donald) Moore in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Walter Scott, her father, swears out a warrant for J.D. Moore's arrest for alleged abduction. Law enforcement in four states becomes involved, and the matter makes local front-page headlines for two days. One or two of Elma's brothers depart for Baton Rouge upon learning the couple is there. Family members later said that Elma wasn't in love with J.D. and had eloped with him to make J.D.'s brother Walter jealous after Walter dropped her. Elma leaves Moore about six weeks later and ultimately divorces him.
October 5, 1924. Gives birth to Wilma Jefferson Moore.
1925. Is seeing J. Emmett Bethea, a pharmacist in Hattiesburg. Bethea is 12 years older than Elma. He lives with his parents and grown siblings, and his family is reasonably well to do.
June 7, 1926. Gives birth to Jimmie French Moore, idolized by his siblings. Jimmie enters the U.S. Navy at age 15. Presumably while in the military, he is diagnosed with what was then called manic depression and receives electroconvulsive therapy. While in the military he tries to persuade his mother to live a respectable life, offering to buy her a house if she does. In 1948, he buys her a house at 606 N. 25th Avenue in Hattiesburg. He commits suicide on April 29, 1950 after being put off a train for drunkenness in Trinidad, Colorado. He had just been accepted to medical school.
February 1, 1927. Marries William Wallace.
February 16, 1927. Walter Scott "Bud" McLemore, Elma's father and Major Amos McLemore's son, dies at age 54.
November 26, 1927. Gives birth to Harold Hugh Wallace. By no later than May 1928 William Wallace has deserted Elma, who has taken up with D.W. Holmes, a Hattiesburg lawyer who later becomes the Forrest County Attorney.
February 23, 1929. Gives birth to Shirley Irene Wallace. Shirley is killed by a drunk driver at the Old Place on December 17, 1937. The driver is sent to the penitentiary. Elma eventually signs a petition for the driver's pardon and release.
May 12, 1933. Marries Rudis Henry Liverett in Petal, Mississippi. Liverett deserts Elma after sixteen days of life together at the Old Place. Wilma Jefferson Moore's recollection of that event: "I was also there the night 'he' skipped out. She kept sobbing, she was hysterical -- she fainted several times. That night lives in my memory! The hallway was filled with people -- several holding kerosene lamps. My uncles (Mother's brothers) getting their guns together. They went out after him -- they were going to kill him. His family had gotten him out of town. They soon moved away. My Aunt Inez (wife of Amos, Mother's brother) always took charge if anyone in the family was hurt or sick because she had the 'big' doctor book and was very smart. She was bathing Mother's face and bringing her around when she would just faint away. Someone stood by her holding a lamp. Everyone was out in the hall -- all members of the family, children and adults. I recognized that my mother was hurt beyond repair. I learned to hate that night. I was nine years old."
1830s -- John McLemore emigrates to the Piney Woods from South Carolina. He builds a log cabin along what is now Hwy. 11 in what became Eastabuchie, Mississippi, more or less on the border of Jones and Forrest counties. Our family calls this property the "Old Place."
October 5, 1963 -- Major Amos McLemore, John McLemore's son, is murdered by Confederate deserter Newt Knight while McLemore is back in Jones County from the front in order to collect Confederate deserters. Maj. McLemore's widow (and cousin), Rosa Lavinia McLemore, is left to raise 5 children under age 12 on her own during the remainder of the Civil War and Reconstruction. She never remarries. Her eldest son, John C. McLemore, dies unmarried at age 34 on April 3, 1888. His grave marker reads "How many hopes lie bured here."
Elma Rose McLemore
September 18, 1907. Born to Walter Scott "Bud" McLemore (son of Maj. Amos McLemore) and Mary Etta Lee McLemore on the "Old Place." Youngest of eight children.
December 27, 1923. Described as a "pretty" blonde with a bob, Elma elopes with J.D. (Jefferson Donald) Moore in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Walter Scott, her father, swears out a warrant for J.D. Moore's arrest for alleged abduction. Law enforcement in four states becomes involved, and the matter makes local front-page headlines for two days. One or two of Elma's brothers depart for Baton Rouge upon learning the couple is there. Family members later said that Elma wasn't in love with J.D. and had eloped with him to make J.D.'s brother Walter jealous after Walter dropped her. Elma leaves Moore about six weeks later and ultimately divorces him.
October 5, 1924. Gives birth to Wilma Jefferson Moore.
1925. Is seeing J. Emmett Bethea, a pharmacist in Hattiesburg. Bethea is 12 years older than Elma. He lives with his parents and grown siblings, and his family is reasonably well to do.
June 7, 1926. Gives birth to Jimmie French Moore, idolized by his siblings. Jimmie enters the U.S. Navy at age 15. Presumably while in the military, he is diagnosed with what was then called manic depression and receives electroconvulsive therapy. While in the military he tries to persuade his mother to live a respectable life, offering to buy her a house if she does. In 1948, he buys her a house at 606 N. 25th Avenue in Hattiesburg. He commits suicide on April 29, 1950 after being put off a train for drunkenness in Trinidad, Colorado. He had just been accepted to medical school.
February 1, 1927. Marries William Wallace.
February 16, 1927. Walter Scott "Bud" McLemore, Elma's father and Major Amos McLemore's son, dies at age 54.
November 26, 1927. Gives birth to Harold Hugh Wallace. By no later than May 1928 William Wallace has deserted Elma, who has taken up with D.W. Holmes, a Hattiesburg lawyer who later becomes the Forrest County Attorney.
February 23, 1929. Gives birth to Shirley Irene Wallace. Shirley is killed by a drunk driver at the Old Place on December 17, 1937. The driver is sent to the penitentiary. Elma eventually signs a petition for the driver's pardon and release.
May 12, 1933. Marries Rudis Henry Liverett in Petal, Mississippi. Liverett deserts Elma after sixteen days of life together at the Old Place. Wilma Jefferson Moore's recollection of that event: "I was also there the night 'he' skipped out. She kept sobbing, she was hysterical -- she fainted several times. That night lives in my memory! The hallway was filled with people -- several holding kerosene lamps. My uncles (Mother's brothers) getting their guns together. They went out after him -- they were going to kill him. His family had gotten him out of town. They soon moved away. My Aunt Inez (wife of Amos, Mother's brother) always took charge if anyone in the family was hurt or sick because she had the 'big' doctor book and was very smart. She was bathing Mother's face and bringing her around when she would just faint away. Someone stood by her holding a lamp. Everyone was out in the hall -- all members of the family, children and adults. I recognized that my mother was hurt beyond repair. I learned to hate that night. I was nine years old."
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
2nd 1923 front-page article re my grandmother's "kidnap"
Hattiesburg American, December 29, 1923
RUNAWAY BOY AND GIRL REPORTED IN BATON ROUGE, WED
______________
Pretty 16-Year-Old Ella [Elma] McLemore and J.D. Moore Missing From Hattiesburg Since Sunday Night, Said to Have Been in Louisiana Capital -- Brothers of Elopers Rush to Investigate -- Warrant for Lad's Arrest On Kidnapping Charge, Still Held by Forrest Officials
______________
MARRIAGE MAY BE ANNULLED BY FATHER, GIRL UNDER AGE
______________
The parents of Miss [Elma] McLemore, pretty 16-year-old bobbed-haired blond, who disappeared so mysteriously from in front of the Methodist Hospital in this city last Sunday night, this afternoon are awaiting confirmation of the reports coming from Baton Rouge, La, earlier in the day, that the girl had become the wife of J.D. Moore, with whom she is alleged to have eloped.
Reports from the Louisiana capital state that the youthful pair were married on Christmas Day.
A married sister of Miss McLemore, resident in Baton Rouge, has not yet been heard from.
Walter Moore, elder brother of J.D. Moore, whom W.S. McLemore has charged with kidnaping, and a brother of the girl, left for Baton Rouge last night to investigate the reports coming from there that the couple had been seen earlier in the week.
Neither Mr. McLemore nor Sheriff Edmonson, who has a warrant sworn out against Moore, has heard from Baton Rouge officially during the day.
The disappearance of the youthful pair has created great excitement throughout South Mississippi, and in certain sections of three other states. Charging young Moore with forcibly carrying away his 16-year-old daughter against her will, Mr. McLemore set in motion the wheels of the departments of justice of four states, with a view of apprehending the couple, returning his daughter to her home near Eastabuchie, and of prosecuting the lad.
Reported in Baton Rouge
The following dispatches came over the Associated Press wires to The Hattiesburg American this afternoon.
Baton Rouge, La, Dec. 29 -- J.D. Moore, of Hattiesburg, and Miss [Elma] McLemore, are here and are married, according to the police. An investigation is being made.
While officials of four states were searching for J.D. Moore, 18, and Miss [Elma] McLemore, 16, of Petal, Miss., who mysteriously disappeared from their home Sunday, the pair slipped quietly into Baton Rouge, stayed a day or two with a married sister of the girl, and, according to the police, left last night for Hammond.
Meanwhile the father of the girl has sworn out a warrant for the arrest of young Moore on a charge of abduction. It is said that the young couple were married before reaching Baton Rouge.
Today information was received that two brothers of the girl had left for Baton Rouge. The sheriff and police of Baton Rouge were notified, as the exact intentions of the brothers were not announced.
_______________
Miss McLemore, a mere child, light complexioned, light bobbed hair, wore a gray suit and a blue sweater when her mother and sister saw her for the last time in an automobile in front of the hospital in this city. As described in The American yesterday, the mother and a sister had entered the hospital to visit a patient, when the sister returned to the waiting automobile, to find Miss [Elma] McLemore in tears. She refused to be comforted, and a young Moore declined to give the reason for his companion's crying. The sister returned to the hospital to make a report to the mother, and when the pair returned, the automobile had disappeared.
Leaving no trace, the disappearance caused worry to the girl's parents, and the following day a warrant was sworn out at the sheriff's office, at the request of Mr. McLemore. The authorities of four states were asked to engage in the hunt.
That a kidnaping had occurred was doubted by close friends of Miss McLemore and of Moore. Both had been companions for some time, and, it is said, had planned marriage. Because of the girl's youthful age, however, the parents would not consent to this, and instructions were given the marriage license clerk at the Forrest county court house to refuse to issue a license to the pair, should they apply.
If the marriage ceremony was performed either in Mississippi or Louisiana, it is likely that it will be annulled by the courts, as Miss McLemore is still two years under the legal age whereby a license may be obtained without the parents' or guardian's consent.
RUNAWAY BOY AND GIRL REPORTED IN BATON ROUGE, WED
______________
Pretty 16-Year-Old Ella [Elma] McLemore and J.D. Moore Missing From Hattiesburg Since Sunday Night, Said to Have Been in Louisiana Capital -- Brothers of Elopers Rush to Investigate -- Warrant for Lad's Arrest On Kidnapping Charge, Still Held by Forrest Officials
______________
MARRIAGE MAY BE ANNULLED BY FATHER, GIRL UNDER AGE
______________
The parents of Miss [Elma] McLemore, pretty 16-year-old bobbed-haired blond, who disappeared so mysteriously from in front of the Methodist Hospital in this city last Sunday night, this afternoon are awaiting confirmation of the reports coming from Baton Rouge, La, earlier in the day, that the girl had become the wife of J.D. Moore, with whom she is alleged to have eloped.
Reports from the Louisiana capital state that the youthful pair were married on Christmas Day.
A married sister of Miss McLemore, resident in Baton Rouge, has not yet been heard from.
Walter Moore, elder brother of J.D. Moore, whom W.S. McLemore has charged with kidnaping, and a brother of the girl, left for Baton Rouge last night to investigate the reports coming from there that the couple had been seen earlier in the week.
Neither Mr. McLemore nor Sheriff Edmonson, who has a warrant sworn out against Moore, has heard from Baton Rouge officially during the day.
The disappearance of the youthful pair has created great excitement throughout South Mississippi, and in certain sections of three other states. Charging young Moore with forcibly carrying away his 16-year-old daughter against her will, Mr. McLemore set in motion the wheels of the departments of justice of four states, with a view of apprehending the couple, returning his daughter to her home near Eastabuchie, and of prosecuting the lad.
Reported in Baton Rouge
The following dispatches came over the Associated Press wires to The Hattiesburg American this afternoon.
Baton Rouge, La, Dec. 29 -- J.D. Moore, of Hattiesburg, and Miss [Elma] McLemore, are here and are married, according to the police. An investigation is being made.
While officials of four states were searching for J.D. Moore, 18, and Miss [Elma] McLemore, 16, of Petal, Miss., who mysteriously disappeared from their home Sunday, the pair slipped quietly into Baton Rouge, stayed a day or two with a married sister of the girl, and, according to the police, left last night for Hammond.
Meanwhile the father of the girl has sworn out a warrant for the arrest of young Moore on a charge of abduction. It is said that the young couple were married before reaching Baton Rouge.
Today information was received that two brothers of the girl had left for Baton Rouge. The sheriff and police of Baton Rouge were notified, as the exact intentions of the brothers were not announced.
_______________
Miss McLemore, a mere child, light complexioned, light bobbed hair, wore a gray suit and a blue sweater when her mother and sister saw her for the last time in an automobile in front of the hospital in this city. As described in The American yesterday, the mother and a sister had entered the hospital to visit a patient, when the sister returned to the waiting automobile, to find Miss [Elma] McLemore in tears. She refused to be comforted, and a young Moore declined to give the reason for his companion's crying. The sister returned to the hospital to make a report to the mother, and when the pair returned, the automobile had disappeared.
Leaving no trace, the disappearance caused worry to the girl's parents, and the following day a warrant was sworn out at the sheriff's office, at the request of Mr. McLemore. The authorities of four states were asked to engage in the hunt.
That a kidnaping had occurred was doubted by close friends of Miss McLemore and of Moore. Both had been companions for some time, and, it is said, had planned marriage. Because of the girl's youthful age, however, the parents would not consent to this, and instructions were given the marriage license clerk at the Forrest county court house to refuse to issue a license to the pair, should they apply.
If the marriage ceremony was performed either in Mississippi or Louisiana, it is likely that it will be annulled by the courts, as Miss McLemore is still two years under the legal age whereby a license may be obtained without the parents' or guardian's consent.
Monday, September 14, 2009
From front page 1923 newspaper article about the "kidnap" of my grandmother at age 16
Hattiesburg American, December 28, 1923:
EASTABUCHIE GIRL BELIEVED KIDNAPPED; PETAL BOY SOUGHT
__________
16-Year-Old Ella [Elma] McLemore Disappears From In Front of Methodist Hospital, While Authorities of Four States Search for J.D. Moore, Two Years Her Senior -- Father Swears Out Warrant for Abduction
__________
RUMOR COUPLE WAS IN BATON ROUGE
__________
Wanted on a charge of kidnaping a 16-year-old girl on Monday night, the police and county authorities of four states today are searching for J.D. Moore, 18 years old, who resides near Petal, a short distance from Hattiesburg.
Missing from her home at Eastabuchie is Miss [Elma] McLemore, 16 years old, who is believed to be in young Moore's company.
The police and county authorities of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee, have been given a description of the youthful pair, and have been asked to apprehend either or both of them. Moore is wanted on the charge of abduction, a warrant having been sworn out for his arrest, and placed in the hands of Sheriff W.M. Edmondson of Forrest county.
The greatest mystery surrounds the disappearance of the pair.
On Sunday night -- the day before Christmas Eve -- young Moore drove to the Methodist Hospital in this city with Mrs. W.S. McLemore, the mother, Miss [Elma] McLemore, and a second sister, to visit a patient there. Miss [Elma] McLemore remained in the motor car with Moore, while the mother and the sister entered the institution.
GIRL FOUND CRYING
The mother remained longer in the institution than the daughter. The younger girl, returning to the car, according to the reports filed with the sheriff's office, found her sister in tears. She refused to answer any question as to the cause, and the male companion was equally as mute.
The sister returned to the Methodist Hospital to make a report to the mother. The pair immediately left for the street where the automobile had been stopped, but both the motor car and the occupants had disappeared.
EASTABUCHIE GIRL BELIEVED KIDNAPPED; PETAL BOY SOUGHT
__________
16-Year-Old Ella [Elma] McLemore Disappears From In Front of Methodist Hospital, While Authorities of Four States Search for J.D. Moore, Two Years Her Senior -- Father Swears Out Warrant for Abduction
__________
RUMOR COUPLE WAS IN BATON ROUGE
__________
Wanted on a charge of kidnaping a 16-year-old girl on Monday night, the police and county authorities of four states today are searching for J.D. Moore, 18 years old, who resides near Petal, a short distance from Hattiesburg.
Missing from her home at Eastabuchie is Miss [Elma] McLemore, 16 years old, who is believed to be in young Moore's company.
The police and county authorities of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee, have been given a description of the youthful pair, and have been asked to apprehend either or both of them. Moore is wanted on the charge of abduction, a warrant having been sworn out for his arrest, and placed in the hands of Sheriff W.M. Edmondson of Forrest county.
The greatest mystery surrounds the disappearance of the pair.
On Sunday night -- the day before Christmas Eve -- young Moore drove to the Methodist Hospital in this city with Mrs. W.S. McLemore, the mother, Miss [Elma] McLemore, and a second sister, to visit a patient there. Miss [Elma] McLemore remained in the motor car with Moore, while the mother and the sister entered the institution.
GIRL FOUND CRYING
The mother remained longer in the institution than the daughter. The younger girl, returning to the car, according to the reports filed with the sheriff's office, found her sister in tears. She refused to answer any question as to the cause, and the male companion was equally as mute.
The sister returned to the Methodist Hospital to make a report to the mother. The pair immediately left for the street where the automobile had been stopped, but both the motor car and the occupants had disappeared.
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