A man took some liquor, a father-in-law was inclined to meddle, a woman got excited and screamed, a young boy, scared half out of his wits, grabbed a club and beat the man to death. A wife is now in trouble, her husband dead at the hands of her brother, two children are orphans; an aged mother is in deep distress, while her 16-year-old son is behind bars, awaiting trial for the slaying of his sister’s husband.
All this constitutes the chief topic of conversation that stirs that little town of Winfall in Perquimans County, where young Raymond Jordan inflicted blows on the head of his brother-in-law, George W. Moore Saturday morning, that resulted in Moore’s death at the Elizabeth City hospital Monday.
The beating took place in front of the store of A. White, while Moore was giving his father-in-law a shaking-up. Moore had accused Mrs. Jordan of meddling with his and Mrs. Moore’s affairs. Mrs. Moore’s brother Raymond thought Moore was killing his father. Raymond is just a big overgrown boy, he was excited, and scared out of his wits when a woman screamed that his father was being killed. He grabbed a club, struck the man on the back of his head. Moore reeled and fell back wards as the club descended on is left forehead. As he fell to the ground, two lighter blows struck him. He never regained consciousness.
Mr. Moore, who was employed as a railway engineer in Maryland, had come to his home in Chapanoke unexpectedly, Friday night, to spend the weekend with his family. He learned that his wife had gone to her father’s at Winfall, taking the two small children. He drove down to Winfall to bring them home.
When he arrived at the home of his father-in-law, he was drinking, it is said, and his wife told him that she didn’t want to awaken her sleeping children and go back home late at night. She said she was afraid to drive with her husband at night as he might run into something and hurt everybody in the car.
Moore, who is described by all who know him as a good man and a model husband, but somewhat noisy when drinking, then accused his father-in-law of persuading his wife to remain. Words followed, the older man brandished a shotgun, and finally Moore left.
On Saturday morning, Moore came back to Winfall to get his wife and children, and met Mr. Jordan in front of White’ store. There were several eye-witnesses to the meeting, including D. C. Proctor, J. C. Simpson, J. H. Baker, Joe Overman, A. White and W. G. Hollowell.
The eye-witnesses declared that Mr. Jordan was looked on by his neighbors more or less as a busybody, and as his previous meddling with his daughter’s affairs was generally known and talked about, it was with considerable amusement that they observed the encounter with the son-in-law. Moore was a large man, fully twice as large as his father-in-law. He grabbed the older man, telling him he was of a mind to beat him up.
A White, owner of the store, walked up, as the crowd gathered around, and laid his hand on Moore’s shoulder. “Don’t hurt the old man,” he pleaded.
“I’m not going to hurt him,” he is quoted as having replied. “I’m just going to teach him to quit meddling.” And he pushed him to the ground, as a grown-up would push a child, and held him there.
Struck Without Warning
Mr. Jordan, who is 59 and of slight build, put up a yell. Women up the street got excited; one woman yelled to the Jordan household nearby that Mr. Jordan was being killed. Young Raymond Jordan, excited, ran down the street with a piece of two by four lumber in his hand, and without a word struck Moore from behind. Moore never knew what struck him, he had no warning; no one had time to interfere.
Young Jordan was arrested but was released under bond of $1,000 pending the outcome of his victim’s injuries. He was taken back to jail Monday afternoon when word of the death of Mr. Moore was received by Sheriff Wright of Perquimans.
The Jordan boy, who will be 17 years old in February 1927, is a husky, overgrown chap, weighing 175 pounds or more. He is shy, inclined to keep to himself, makes few acquaintances, has no girl friends, and doesn’t mingle with young people. He was taken out of school two years ago when he showed symptoms of kidney trouble, but since that time has been in fair health and able to work steadily as a mechanic. He has developed himself into a good mechanic, and tho only 16 years old, has built his own shop, and developed a profitable business making cabinets, window screens, mending bicycles or anything else for the neighbors. Occasionally, he has worked in Elizabeth City and Hertford. He is said to have had no former trouble with his brother-in-law, although a row frequently occurred between his father and Mr. Moore.
The Dead Man Was Popular
Mr. Moore was highly regarded by is neighbors. He was not a fighting man, but was noisy when drinking and somewhat included to braggadocio and horseplay. He was a good provider, had a splendid income, was devoted to his family and a good neighbor, so people at Winfall say, and also his neighbors at Chapanoke, where his family has lived for a year or more. He became acquainted with Miss Grizzel Jordan thru a correspondence bureau, they met in Norfolk, and were married and lived several years in Detroit. They bought the Old Towe Mansion near Chapanoke about a year ago, and planned to rebuild it.
In August, he joined the Oak Grove Methodist Church at Chapanoke, and had been a regular attendant at Sunday school when at home. His work as a rrailroad engineer kept him from home most of the time.
The funeral services were conducted at Oak Grove Methodist Church by Rev. J. T. Stanford, the family pastor. Besides his wife, he is survived by two boys, C???, 7, and Cedric aged ??, and his mother who lives at his ?? in Chatham, Virginia, and the following brothers and sisters, Miss ?? Moore, Miss Sallie Moore, and Mrs. Janie Adkins of Chatham, Va.; and ?? Moore of High Point, Mr. Dove of Rice, Va., and ?? of Baltimore.
George W. Moore—Here is a photo of George Moore of Chapanoke, who died of injuries inflicted by his brother-in-law, Raymond Jordan at Winfall Saturday. The picture was made a few years ago while the Moores were living in Detroit. At the time of his death, he was a heavier man than he appears in the photo.
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn83025812/1926-10-08/ed-1/seq-1/
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