Parents of Martinsville 7 Find no Cause for Celebrating on July 4th, p.3
Dublin Core
Title
Parents of Martinsville 7 Find no Cause for Celebrating on July 4th, p.3
Subject
"Martinsville, Va.- It was the 4th of July but the parents of seven condemned Martinsville boys were too grief stricken to celebrate.
For them in their wooded hollow on the fringe of this little textile mill and furniture factory, it was more like Valley Forge during the winter 1777
As the Capital Press Club Committee members approached this isolated community,trudging along a narrow path on foot for an interview with the parents of the boys who face the electric chair for alleged rape, all was quiet.
Reads Son’s letters
Mrs. Jennie Taylor, 60-year-old mother of John C. Taylor, sat on the steps of her small cottage, reading and re-reading her letters from her boy, who is sentenced to die on August 4.
When she noticed strangers approaching, she hastily dried her eyes on her sackcloth apron and invited us in.
“When have you been to Richmond to see your boy?” she was asked.
“Easter was the last time I saw him,” she replied sadly. “But I plan to go up there Sunday, if I can scrape together enough to pay for my share of the ride.”
On Independence Day, this little aging woman felt very despondent and downcast. Her your youngest child, the one on whom she counted for support, had been in jail for a year-and-a-half and was going to die within a month if Governor John Battle didn’t commute his sentence
“Heap of Trouble”
A half mile across the woods lived the parents of four of the other boys. We found Booker T. Millner’s parents and three of his sisters gathered on the divan in their little modest living room, looking at pictures of him.
“He wanted to get into the Army,” his 46-year old father, James Millner, said. “But they turned him down on the physical. Now he’s in a heap of trouble.”
However, Mrs.Millner still had hope that her son would not die as she explained how the white lady she cooks for and a lot of her friends have been trying to help. “They had even written the governor,” she exclaimed. But up to the 4th when people everywhere except in Martinsville were celebrating, they had heard no encouraging word.
The Haristons
The Haristons, parents of 20-year old Frank Haristons, Jr., were sitting on the porch of their comfortable little home. “We haven’t got any spirit to do anything today,” said Mrs.Hariston, while her two comely daughters stared off into space
Across the road, Frank’s 104-year old grandmother strained to hear a good word about her favorite grandson as we explained that the NAACP attorney, Martin A. Martin, had filed a petition for clemency for the seven boys.
We don’t think she heard us, but perhaps it’s a sixth sense, she seemed to have understood that there was small hope for her Frank, who along with three others is scheduled to be executed on July 28
The two brothers involved in the case- Howard and James Hariston, 20 and 21, had lived with an aunt, Mrs. Irene Hodge, who took them in 15 years ago when their mother died. We found her sitting on a bench in front of her ramshackle house for which she pays $7 a month rent.
Stopped School to Work
“Maybe if I had had a little more to give them so that they could have gone further in school, “this wouldn’t have happened.” she explained. “But you know, I’m just a cook and don’t make much. The boys stopped school in the fourth grade to help me keep things going.”The people in the heart of town, who weren’t celebrating either, told us that the whole town-- white and colored--sympathized with the boys. They thought the punishment was considerably greater than the crime, and they believed that the governor was going to commute the sentences
Convicted of Rape
It was on the evening of January 8, 1949, that the seven boys are alleged to have raped Mrs. Ruby Floyd, a 32-year old white woman, who sells second hand clothes, after she met them on the railroad track not far from their homes. She is reported to have said to them. “You are good looking boys,” and suggested that she needed money to pay her clothing account.
The boys were arrested, tried and convicted in May of 1949. Last March, the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia upheld the verdict, and on May 19, the U.S Supreme Court refused to review the case on a writ certiorari.
Now only Governor Battle stands between the seven boys and the electric chair.
So, the 4th came and went, but Martinsville was too sad to celebrate."
For them in their wooded hollow on the fringe of this little textile mill and furniture factory, it was more like Valley Forge during the winter 1777
As the Capital Press Club Committee members approached this isolated community,trudging along a narrow path on foot for an interview with the parents of the boys who face the electric chair for alleged rape, all was quiet.
Reads Son’s letters
Mrs. Jennie Taylor, 60-year-old mother of John C. Taylor, sat on the steps of her small cottage, reading and re-reading her letters from her boy, who is sentenced to die on August 4.
When she noticed strangers approaching, she hastily dried her eyes on her sackcloth apron and invited us in.
“When have you been to Richmond to see your boy?” she was asked.
“Easter was the last time I saw him,” she replied sadly. “But I plan to go up there Sunday, if I can scrape together enough to pay for my share of the ride.”
On Independence Day, this little aging woman felt very despondent and downcast. Her your youngest child, the one on whom she counted for support, had been in jail for a year-and-a-half and was going to die within a month if Governor John Battle didn’t commute his sentence
“Heap of Trouble”
A half mile across the woods lived the parents of four of the other boys. We found Booker T. Millner’s parents and three of his sisters gathered on the divan in their little modest living room, looking at pictures of him.
“He wanted to get into the Army,” his 46-year old father, James Millner, said. “But they turned him down on the physical. Now he’s in a heap of trouble.”
However, Mrs.Millner still had hope that her son would not die as she explained how the white lady she cooks for and a lot of her friends have been trying to help. “They had even written the governor,” she exclaimed. But up to the 4th when people everywhere except in Martinsville were celebrating, they had heard no encouraging word.
The Haristons
The Haristons, parents of 20-year old Frank Haristons, Jr., were sitting on the porch of their comfortable little home. “We haven’t got any spirit to do anything today,” said Mrs.Hariston, while her two comely daughters stared off into space
Across the road, Frank’s 104-year old grandmother strained to hear a good word about her favorite grandson as we explained that the NAACP attorney, Martin A. Martin, had filed a petition for clemency for the seven boys.
We don’t think she heard us, but perhaps it’s a sixth sense, she seemed to have understood that there was small hope for her Frank, who along with three others is scheduled to be executed on July 28
The two brothers involved in the case- Howard and James Hariston, 20 and 21, had lived with an aunt, Mrs. Irene Hodge, who took them in 15 years ago when their mother died. We found her sitting on a bench in front of her ramshackle house for which she pays $7 a month rent.
Stopped School to Work
“Maybe if I had had a little more to give them so that they could have gone further in school, “this wouldn’t have happened.” she explained. “But you know, I’m just a cook and don’t make much. The boys stopped school in the fourth grade to help me keep things going.”The people in the heart of town, who weren’t celebrating either, told us that the whole town-- white and colored--sympathized with the boys. They thought the punishment was considerably greater than the crime, and they believed that the governor was going to commute the sentences
Convicted of Rape
It was on the evening of January 8, 1949, that the seven boys are alleged to have raped Mrs. Ruby Floyd, a 32-year old white woman, who sells second hand clothes, after she met them on the railroad track not far from their homes. She is reported to have said to them. “You are good looking boys,” and suggested that she needed money to pay her clothing account.
The boys were arrested, tried and convicted in May of 1949. Last March, the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia upheld the verdict, and on May 19, the U.S Supreme Court refused to review the case on a writ certiorari.
Now only Governor Battle stands between the seven boys and the electric chair.
So, the 4th came and went, but Martinsville was too sad to celebrate."
Creator
N/A
Publisher
Chicago Defender
Date
1950-7-15
Collection
Citation
N/A, “Parents of Martinsville 7 Find no Cause for Celebrating on July 4th, p.3,” African American Fourth of July, accessed April 28, 2024, https://africanamerican4th.omeka.net/items/show/377.