Covington, Ga., April 5—The jury to try John S. Williams on a charge of murder of one of the 11 of his negro farm hands, alleged to have been slain to hid peonage, was completed here late today. It is composed of seven farmers, two merchants, a clerk, a barber and a druggist, as follows:
T.L. Hill, farmer; G.W. Gober, farmer; Robert Stanton, farmer; W.A. Pate, merchant; Charles A. Cason, farmer; W.C. Moore, farmer; T.R. Starr, farmer; Byron Thacker, grocery clerk; F.G. Crowley, merchant; J.T. Dennard, farmer; J.E. Rawlins, barber; Reginald Robinson, druggist.
After selection of the jury court was suspended until tomorrow morning.
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Covington, Ga., April 5—Motion for postponement of the trial of John S. Williams, Jasper County farmer, for murder on the ground of insufficient time to prepare his defense, today was overruled by Judge John B. Hutcheson in Newton County superior court.
Green Johnson, leading counsel for Williams, demanded the names of the groups of citizens hwo had employed W.M. Howard of Atlanta to aid the state and E. Marvin Underwood of Atlanta to represent Manning and a brief recess was taken in order that the state might obtain the names.
It was held that a jury should not be selected until the “volunteer prosecutors” were known because of the possibility of a juror being a relative of any of them.
Howard, on reconvening of court, said Governor Dorsey told him that the Rev. C.B. Wilmer and the Rev. M. Ashby Jones, pastors, had authorized him to employ Howard, the state having no funds to pay for such extra counsel.
Underwood said W. Woods White, on behalf of a group of “citizens at large,” had employed him. He was asked if any of the citizens were members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and replied “not so far as I know.” He was unable to reach White on the telephone during the recess and did not get the full list of contributors to the fund but named some of them.
Selection of a jury began with both sides accepting T.L. Hill, a farmer, the second man who was examined. G.W. Gober, also a farmer, was the only other juror selected out of the first panel of 12.
Two other jurors had been accepted before noon adjournment, Robert Stanton, farmer, and W.A. Pate, merchant of Oxford, Ga.
Williams was charged in the confession of his negro farm boss, Clyde Manning, with having caused the murder of 11 of his negro farm hands to prevent evidence against him for alleged peonage. An augmented force of 16 deputies had been mobilized to preserve order in the court and arrangements made for a capacity crowd.
More than a score of witnesses were understood to have been summoned by the state, by whom it expects to support Manning’s story of the killings. Selection of a jury from the 100 veniremen summoned by Judge John B. Hutcheson, presiding, was expected to occupy most of the first day’s session. Assisting Solicitor General A.M. Brand in the prosecution are W.M. Howard, former representative from the eighth congressional district of Georgia, and Graham Wri9ght, assistant state’s attorney general. Williams will be defended by Green F. Johnson, a prominent attorney of Monticello, Ga.
The trial brought hundreds of persons in from surrounding counties.
Indications were that both sides would make a hard fight from start to finish. The fact that Williams is charged with having brought three negroes into Newton County and had them drowned and that he does not go to trial in his home county was expected to make it easier to select a jury.
Clyde Manning, who, for 14 years, worked on the Williams’ plantation and who, according to state officials, confessed that he took part in the killings on orders from Williams, was expected to be the chief reliance of the prosecution, and it was planned that, on completion of Williams’ trial, Manning should face a jury.
The prosecution summoned a score of other witnesses in an effort to fasten the guilt upon Williams. Counsel for the defense declined to say how many witnesses they would use and did not call on Sheriff Johnson to subpoena any.
Williams was brought here from Atlanta early today but Manning was not brought with him.
On convening the court, Judge John B. Hutcheson announced to the crowd of spectators that “the slightest manifestation of approval or disapproval would be severely dealt with by the court and, if necessary, the court room would be cleared of all persons who are not necessary to the trial.”
Swearing in of the panels from which the jury is to be selected then was begun.
When the case was formally called, Green Johnson, chief counsel for Williams, announced the defense was not ready, claiming he had not had time to prepare evidence and proceeded to explain his position to the court.
From the front page of The Charlotte News, April 5, 1921
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