Joshua Crook, 63, Changes Court Record to Give Himself Interest in Property, Feb. 8, 1924

Joshua Crook, 63, after one of the hardest fought cases lately tried in Union county, was convicted of changing a court record of the Superior court and sentenced to one year on the chain gang. Judge Shaw said he never heard of a similar case in his life. Mr. Crook’s attorneys made a record appeal, and the defendant is continued under bond pending outcome.

The case was unique. The changing of the word “No” to the word “yes” on the court record was all that was done, but this changed the title to 50 acres of land and the change would give Mr. Crook a one-third interest in the tract, whereas if the original word had stood, he would have had no interest.

From the front page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Friday, February 8, 1924