Sandra Helen Langford

Sandra Helen Langford, daughter of Vernere C. Langford and Beatrice Johnson, was born in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia on March 16, 1944. She was the 5th child of 11—Barbara Anne Langford, Vernon Eugene Langford, James Stewart Langford, Vivien Lee Langford, Sandra Helen Langford, Bonnie Sue Langford, Brenda Elizabeth Langford, Francis Lanell Langford, Sherry Delores Langford, Larry Kenneth Langford, and Patricia Langford. Sandra is my 4th cousin 1x removed with our nearest common relatives being Charles L. Lankford and Miss Moore, my 4th great grandparents.

When Sandra was seven months old, she contracted laryngotracheobronchitis, an “inflammation and obstruction of the larynx, trachea, and major bronchi of children” according to The Free Dictionary. We know it as croup. She was taken from her home on Eastland Road in southeast Atlanta to Grady Hospital in downtown Atlanta. Sandra died there 24 hours later, on October 24, 1944. She was buried at Hillcrest Cemetery in East Point, Fulton County, Georgia the next day following a funeral service officiated by Rev. W. A. Duncan.

References

• FUNERAL NOTICES - LANGFORD, Sandra Helen, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, October 25, 1944.
• Larry Kenneth Langford obituary, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, March 26, 1963.
• Laryngotracheobronchitis, The Free Dictionary; https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/laryngotracheobronchitis. 
• MORTUARY - SANDRA HELEN LANGFORD, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, October 25, 1944.
• Personal memories and photos provided by Vernon Langford.
• Sandra Helen Langford, Certificate of Death no. 21739, Georgia Department of Public Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
• U.S. Federal Census, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, 1950. 

West Virginia Chapter of the IATSE

The photos I share here are part of Uncle Ralph Murphy’s slide collection given to my husband by his Aunt Jean in 2012. The collection consists of 15 boxes of slides (thousands) taken by Uncle Ralph, spanning the years 1947 to 1984. Many are scenic shots from their travels across the United States, some are family members, and others friends and co-workers. I converted the majority of the slides to digital several years ago and have been enjoying them ever since.

In this case, these photos show the start of a new chapter of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada. This chapter was most likely formed in Clarksburg, West Virginia in the late 1940s or early 1950s. Uncle Ralph was a projectionist at Warner’s Skyline Drive-In Theater in Clarksburg and may have worked with some of these men there.  

I don’t know who any of these men are but perhaps someone will stumble upon this blog post and recognize a family member.

UPDATE on 2/17/24: Looking back at the original box of slides, I discovered that this is the formation of the IATSE Local Buckhannon in 1951.

If you’d like to see more photos from Uncle Ralph’s collection, click on the links below.

Randall family Christmas dinner

Family gathering in Nutter Fort

One happy young man

The Gregory Sisters

Hidden West Virginia racetrack photos

A boy and his bicycle

The beauty of nature

Ruth Miller

Share your photos and make a difference

Water sports at Tygart Lake 

Nutter Fort, West Virginia Soap Box Derby

Warner’s Skyline Drive-In Theater

Palace Furniture Company and Pepsi-Cola—a colorful combination

Vintage Christmas photos

52 Ancestors – no. 40: Anna B. Church – (week 24) (Anna (Church) and Everett Evans photos only) 

The trial of Becky the slave

This isn’t the first time I’ve blogged about Becky, the slave of my 3rd great grandfather, James Meriweather Lankford. Becky was charged with the murder of her daughter, Violet, by drowning her in the Lankford family well. Actually, three of Becky’s children drowned in the well that day but she was only charged with Violet’s death. If you’d like to read what was reported about the case at the time, click here. 

In this post, I share court records recently found detailing Becky’s case as presented before the Greene County, Georgia Superior Court in September 1860. I didn’t learn anything new other than names of jury members who found her not guilty and sent her back to the Lankford home. I don’t know what happened to Becky after that. My guess is she wasn’t treated well but I hope she eventually found peace. 

Greene Superior Court, September Term 1860.

The State vs. Becky (a Slave).

Murder

Special Presentment.

State of Georgia, Greene County. The Grand Jurors sworn, chosen and selected for the County of Greene, to wit, the undersigned by Presentment in the name and behalf of the citizens of Georgia charge and accuse Becky a negro woman slave, then and there the property of one James M. Lankford of said County, with the offence of Murder. For that the said negro slave Becky in the County aforesaid on the twenty eighth day of March in the year eighteen hundred and sixty with force and arms in and upon a female negro child slave named Violet the property of said James M. Lankford and about one year old did unlawfully, willingly, feloniously and of her malice aforethought make an assault, and did then and there by throwing said negro child into a well on the lot of said James M. Lankford in the town of Penfield in said County, unlawfully, willfully, feloniously and of her malice aforethought her the said negro child did kill and murder. And so the Jurors aforesaid upon their oaths aforesaid do say that the said negro slave Becky on the day and year aforesaid in manner and form aforesaid her the said negro child Violet did unlawfully willfully feloniously and of her malice aforethought, did kill and Murder contrary to the laws of said State the good order peace and dignity thereof.

Greene Superior Court, September Term 1860.

William Moore, Foreman, Archibald H. Perkins, John W. Swan, William R. Wilson, William B. Johnson, David Leslie, Francis Hester, James F. Geer, Thomas B. Wilson, Valentine D. Gresham, Seaborn J. Jerrigan, William Rowland, John Colclough, Augustus B. Sharp, John P. Harris, Thomas J. Allen, Albert King, William O. Cheney, Lorenzo D. Carlton, Peter W. Printup, William A. Corry, George S. Tunnell, Asa Rhodes.

September Term 1860.

The Honorable Superior Court met pursuant to Adjournment.

Present.

His Honor Iverson L. Harris, Judge

Thursday, September 13, 1860.

The State vs. Becky (a Slave)

Murder.

The Defendant waives a copy of the judgement and list of witnesses before arraignment and agrees to go to trial on the Presentment.

September Term 1860.

Geo. O. Dawson, Defts Atty

The Defendant formally arraigned and pleads not Guilty.

September Term 1860.

Wm. A. Lofton, Sol. Genl.

The State vs. Becky (a Slave).

Murder

Jury Sworn

1. Joel J. Ruark 

2. Osborn Orear

3. James B. Dunn

4. Benjamin Jean

5. George N. Boswell

6. John C. Merritt

7. Archibald D. Brooks

8. Peter R. Brooks

9. John A. Cartwright

10. Augustus L. Kimbrough

11. William J. Mapp

We the Jury find the Prisoner not Guilty. W. J. Mapp, Foreman.

Whereupon, it is ordered by the Court that the Prisoner be discharged. September Term 1860.

Iverson Louis Harris, Judge of the Supr. Court 

Greene County, Georgia Superior Court Records for Becky's case (click to enlarge)

New addition to post after preparing to publish: One hundred years later, the press was still reporting on this event. I discovered an article in late September published by the Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus, Georgia on April 2, 1960:

A Century Ago in The Enquirer: Devilish Act of a Negro Woman. We learned through a gentleman from Penfield on yesterday, that a negro woman belonging to James Lankford, of that place, becoming tired of life, threw three of her children into a well, said to be 65 feet in depth, and then jumped in herself.

 Curt” Lankford went down after them, and found the woman still living and not seriously injured, when he reached her, she attempted to drown him, and was only by main force that he subdued her and brought her up; the children were all dead.

She is confined in jail, and will no doubt be hung as a murderess.

 She assigned as a reason for the rash and inhuman act, that she wished to die, and didn’t want to leave any of her children behind.

This article provided one piece of new information—that James’ brother Curtis was the one who jumped in the well. I had assumed it was James. We know from previous articles and now definitely from the above court records, that Becky was found not guilty. 

Reference

• A Century Ago in The Enquirer, Devilish Act of a Negro Woman, Ledger-Enquirer, Columbus, Georgia, April 2, 1960.
• Greene, Georgia, United States Records, images, FamilySearch; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3M5-2S3N-2: September 4, 2022, image 1 of 338; Georgia. Superior Court (Greene County).

Caroline B. Hobbs Lankford—new death information

One of my brick walls has been the burial location of my 3rd great grandparents, James Meriweather Lankford and his wife Caroline B. (Hobbs) Lankford. I know a lot about their lives, but not that piece of information. Recently, while scrolling through the Family Search web site of unindexed images, I came across a record that provides a clue, in this case for Caroline. I knew she died on January 8, 1906 in Baldwin County, Georgia thanks to an Application for Pension Due to a Deceased Pensioner filed on February 14, 1906 in Greene County, Georgia by her son James C. Lankford. James declared that Caroline was on the Widow’s Indigent Pension Roll of Greene County at the time of her death and that an unpaid pension of $60 was due to her at that time. I’ve often wondered why her death occurred in Baldwin County vs. Greene County since she spent her entire life in Greene County. 

This new record is an Indigent Widows Roll for Greene County. You can see Caroline listed on the third line on the first page. 

Indigent Widows Roll, page 1 (click to enlarge)

On page two, Caroline is the line that begins with “6 mos State Militia” and at the end of that line, it reads asylum > Dead. 

Indigent Widows Roll, page 2 (click to enlarge)

I hadn’t thought about why Caroline would have been in Baldwin County but when I googled “asylum” and “Baldwin County,” the first hit was Abandoned Georgia Asylum Has Hopes for the Future which tells the story of Central State Hospital in Milledgeville. Growing up in Atlanta, when you heard “Milledgeville,” your first thought was “insane asylum.” You didn’t even think about it being a city. 

Central State Hospital ca. 1937, public domain (see references for citation).

So, what I learn from this is that Caroline may have been suffering from mental illness at the time of her death. The website goes on say there are three cemeteries on the grounds with many people buried in unmarked graves or marked with just a number. Is this where Caroline is buried? I’m thinking it’s a good possibility. I found images of Central State Hospital burials on the Family Search site but don’t find Caroline listed. My hope is that someday the patient records will be released so I can find out for sure.

References

• Gomez, Kelly, Abandoned Georgia Asylum Has Hopes for the Future, Antebellum, Georgia, Hospitals & Asylums, The Forgotten South, National Register Historic Sites; https://theforgottensouth.com/central-state-hospital-milledgeville-georgia/. 
• Greene, Government Pension Records 1861–1864, Military Records 1861–1864, Public Records 1856–1896.
• Historic American Buildings Survey L. D. Andrew, Photograph Jan. 3, 1937 VIEW OF FRONT - Milledgeville State Hospital, Central Building, Milledgeville, Baldwin County, GA, see page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Historic_American_Buildings_Survey_L._D._Andrew,_Photograph_Jan._3,_1937_VIEW_OF_FRONT_-_Milledgeville_State_Hospital,_Central_Building,_Milledgeville,_Baldwin_County,_GA_HABS_GA,5-MILG,9-1.tif.
• Milledgeville. Cemetery Records 1880–1951, Family Search; https://www.familysearch.org/records/images/image-details?page=3&place=392367&rmsId=TH-909-87768-35170-71&imageIndex=5&singleView=true.