Sunday Black Sheep: Shipman Jones and Eliza Carrol

Shipman Jones is an enigma. He appears in just a few records and even his "possible" decsendants are a mystery.

The appearance of Shipman Jones begins with the death of a more well-known gentleman in Olde Fayetteville, that of Jordan Howell.

Jordan Howell was my 6th Great Uncle. He was the son of Sarah Winfield and her first husband, Richard Howell. The couple had 4 children: Peter, Jordan, John W. and Charlotte. Jordan was named for his father's brother, and perhaps an even older relative. He was born about 1794 and he and his younger brother, John W. Howell removed from Anson/Stanly County to Cumberland, to the growing business and trade center of Cross Creek, now known as Fayetteville.  He died a still young, but well-established businessman and left a small family. He had married a widow, Mrs. Hannah Handy in 1820. Jordan is shown as a Junior, because his uncle, Jordan Howell, Sr., was still alive. The bondsman for this marriage was William B Hall and the witness, John Armstrong.

Name:	Mrs Hannah Handy
Gender:	Female
Spouse:	Jordan Howell Jr
Spouse Gender:	Male
Bond Date:	26 Jan 1820
Bond #:	000032916
Level Info:	North Carolina Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868
ImageNum:	003309
County:	Cumberland
Record #:	01 133
Bondsman:	Wm. B. Hall
Witness:	John Armstrong

From all appearances, his two daughters, Clarissa and Charlotte, went to live with their Grandmother, Sarah Winfield Howell, because they married men near where their grandparents resided in Stanly County, and not men from the Fayetteville or Coastal area. His only son (to make it to adulthood), Jordan Lafayette Howell, remained as an apprentice to business partner, Paris Tillinghast, and later removed with Tillinghast to Columbus, Georgia.

His widow Hannah remained in Cumberland County and applied and recieved her dower. After the year had passed, she remarried, to the mysterious Shipman Jones. Bondsman was Thomas H Massey and witness, Archibald McLean, Jr.

Name:	Shipman Jones
Gender:	Male
Spouse:	Hannah Howell
Spouse Gender:	Female
Bond Date:	23 Apr 1836
Bond #:	000033211
Level Info:	North Carolina Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868
ImageNum:	003910
County:	Cumberland
Record #:	01 151
Bondsman:	Tho H Massey
Witness:	Archd McLean, Jr

Shipman Jones took advantage of his wife's inheritance and they sold the property for cash.
He is mention in one land record, and one record alone, that one involving the sale of Hannah's property to John W. Howell, brother of Jordan.

Book 41 Page 476 Cumberland County, 1836

"Shipman Jones and wife to John W. Howell.....between Shipman Jones and Hannah Jones his wife, which Hannah being the widow of the late Jordan Howell of Fayetteville, North Carolina....for the sum of $50....south side of Hay Street near the foot of Hay Mount....Brick House....Lot # 4 in the deed from Redfield and Company from Petersburg, Va. , William Moore,trustee, to Able Turner...said Turner...date June 22 1824...conveyed to Jordan Howell and Job Davis as tenants in common...belonged to said Hannah and her present husband aforesaid or to them jointly. ....recorded by Robert Strange."

The marriage lasted no longer than 9 years, because on April 7,1845, Shipman Jones again appears in the marriage records, this time marrying Eliza Carroll. There were several Carroll families in Cumberland County and it is unknown which one Eliza belonged to. Bondsman and Witnesses for this marriage was Amasa Barnhill, D G McRae and J. McLaurin.

Having married in Cumberland County in 1836 and then again in 1845, one would think Shipman Jones would show up as the head of a household in 1840. There are plenty of Joneses in the 1840 census in Cumberland County, but Shipman is not one of them. Nor is he in any of the neighboring county, or in the 1840 census at all. This could mean one of 2 things, either he was not counted at all, which is very possible. He could have been in transit or on the sea, or just missed entirely. Or, he and Hannah could have been members of someone else's household.

It is most likely, however, that Hannah had passed away by 1845, as this is when Shipman Jones married Eliza Carroll.

Name:	Shipman Jones
Gender:	Male
Spouse:	Eliza Carroll
Spouse Gender:	Female
Bond Date:	7 Apr 1845
Bond #:	000033212
Marriage Date:	7 Apr 1845
Level Info:	North Carolina Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868
ImageNum:	001340
County:	Cumberland
Record #:	01 151
Bondsman:	Amosa Barnhill; D G McRae
Witness:	J McLaurin
Performed By:	D G McRae

Marrying in 1845, it would make sense that the couple would appear in the 1850 census, unless dead. Which Shipman Jones appears to have been before 1840, but not too long prior. He left no will or estate record. But appearing in the 1850 is Eliza Jones, widow, with three young boys, living with an "Agnesy" Carroll, maybe her mother.

Name:	Eliza Jones
Age:	21
Birth Year:	abt 1829
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1850:	Western Division, Cumberland, North Carolina, USA
Gender:	Female
Family Number:	862
Household Members:	Name Age Algethy Carrell 44 Eliza Jones 21 David Jones 6 William H Jones 3 Walter Jones 0

In the 1860 census, Eliza is still living in a household with "Alge", and has given birth to 3 daughters, only son Billy (William H) is still in the household.

Name:	Eliza Jones
Age:	23
Birth Year:	abt 1837
Gender:	Female
Birth Place:	North Carolina
Home in 1860:	Cumberland, Cumberland, North Carolina
Post Office:	Fayetteville
Family Number:	528
Value of real estate:	View image
Household Members:	Name Age Eliza Jones 23 Billy Carroll 10 Mary Carroll 8 Alice Carroll 6 Ann E Carroll 3 Alge Carroll 40

 1870 was the last year that Eliza shows up in the census, this time with 3 of her 4 daughters. The family lived in Rockfish.

Name:	Eliza Carroll [Eliza McAlister]
Age in 1870:	40
Birth Year:	abt 1830
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1870:	Rockfish, Cumberland, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Post Office:	Fayetteville
Value of real estate:	View image
Household Members:	Name Age Eliza Carroll 40 Mary Carroll 18 Ann Eliza Carroll 12 Rhoda Carroll 5/12

Rockfish was located on the western border of Cumberland County, and now transfers over into Hoke County.



It was named for Rockfish Creek, which is a contributery to the Cape Fear River.




While Eliza maintains the Jones name in 1850 and 1860, by 1870, she has reverted back to Carroll. Her children's marriage licenses ensure that this is the same Eliza and there is a bit of a twist to this family that sets them apart in this time and era.

While the older woman, "Algathy" and Eliza, are both counted as white in the census records, the children of Eliza Carroll Jones are not.

As you can see on the above map, Rockfish Creek from old Robeson County. This part of Robeson would become Hoke County. Robeson County is also known for one type of peoples, the Lumbee tribe.

While searching through Eliza Carroll Jones's neighborhood in the 1860 census, looking to see if her sons had been "bound out", as was the custom in those days for the children of widowed or unmarried mothers, I noticed an unusual thing about her neighborhood, something I had only saw in the 1850 census of  Wolf Pit in Richmond County, North Carolina. About half of the population of the area was labeled as "Mulatto".

"Triple Mixtures" (Caucasian-Indian-Negro) in Robeson County, North Carolina, from from Arthur Estabrook's scrapbook of field photographs (2)




The 1850 and 1860 censuses were taken prior to the Civil War. Prior to the Civil War, most people of color were enslaved and were not listed in the census records with persons of European heritage. There were a few, "Free People of Color" listed here and there. Freed persons of African Heritage. There were also a number of true 'mulattoes', persons of mixed heritage who were born free. Some were former slaves freed by their owners. Others were persons born to previously freed mothers. Others were born to Caucasian mothers, but had fathers who were of color.

But these individuals were not great in number, and scattered. There were no large communities of them, simply a few random families.

In my previous research of WolfPit Township in Richmond County, a few years ago, wherein over half of the population were labeled as "Mulatto", I discovered that this group had been identified as "Croatan" Indians, who had came to the community to work in the turpentine industry. Census takers had no label for Native Americans at the time. Individuals were either Black or White, and those who did not fit in either of those, who appeared "Brown", where given the designation of Mulatto.

The Croatan are who we now know as "Lumbee Indians". They were discovered in the 1730's living along what is now known as the Lumber River, and was at that time called Drowning Creek. They were using English farming and building methods and some of the members of the tribe were of obvious Caucasian and Native American heritage, described as "Mixt" and having gray eyes or lighter than typical hair. Over time, this tribe fluidly intermarried with other members of the encroaching community, including both persons of European and African decent. One of the most well known Lumbee, Henry Berry Lowery, is said to have married a woman of African decent. The Lumbee are today referred to as "Triracial Isolates", or persons of multiple races who took up in various spots along the East Coast and Southeast, sharing many of the same surnames.



In the 1860 census of Rockfish Township in Cumberland County, the following is a list of Eliza Carroll Jones's immediate neighbors.

House 510: 45 year old  "Wiat" Davis, Pilot, and 40 year old Nancy J Davis, Seamstress with two young girls, probably daughters, all labeled "Mulatto".

Hosuse 511: Miles Baker, age 46, Farmer, White. Also in the household, Nancy Lomack, 40, washerwoman, Mulatto and the following, all mulatto, probably members of her family; Lizzie Brooks, 19, John W. Lomack, 5, Mary J Brooks, 10 months old. The first two are probably her children, Lizzie married or widowed and the baby, Lizzie's daughter.

House 512:The family of 40 year old Duncan Johnson and Celia Johnson, 35, Farmers, and White.

House 513 Daniel Webb, 25, Drayman, Mulatto, Jane 24 and 3 young children, all Mulatto.

House 514 Isaac Manuel, a 37 year old farmhand, Mulatto, with 4 children, probably a widower.

House 515 Mary C. Campbell, 30, a seamstress, with Sarah A. Campbell, a Washerwoman, age26, probably sisters, with two babies ages 1 and 11 months old, all Mulattos.

House 516 William Powell, 34, Farmer, white and family.

House 517 Mary Powell, 68, Farmer with her probable children, Eliza 46, seamstress, Mary 32, David 28, Miller, all white.

House 518 Eliza Webb, 25, Washerwoman, Mulatto, with 3 young children.

House 519 Brtion Johnson 58, Farmer, and family, white.

House - same property  James M. Johnson, 25, Boatman, Nancy, 19, probably his bride. white.

House 520 Moses Lewis, 37 and family, Overseer, white

House 521 Kinian Deal, 50, Farmer, White, Dorcas Deal, 46, probably wife, and 5 children.

House 522 Alexander McCaskill, 48, Saddler, Helen 40, and 6 children, all Mulatto

House 523 Eliza Jones, 23, white, with Billy 10, Mary 8, Alice 6, Ann Eliza 3, all Mulatto and then Alge, 40, white

House 524 Cath Campbell, 40, female,  white, no profession

House 525 David Mitchell, 60,  black, farmhand (free man before the Civil War).

House 526 Jerre Boon, 30, and family, farmhands, all mulatto

House 527 John Artis, 60, farmhand, and family, all mulatto

House 528 George H. Makepeace, 30, and family, a Mechanic from Massachusetts, white.

And the pattern follows, including a 16 year old, Joseph Carroll, mulatto, working for a Mr. Evans, white, possibly her son "David Joseph" from the 1850 census, and one being his middle name.

This tells me, the real fathers of Eliza's children may have been Lumbee, and that Shipman Jones may not have died just prior to 1860, as the census might suggest on first glance, with a son being born in 1860, but may have divorced her, due to seeing that her children were obviously not his.

Another family I have been researching had such a thing happen. that of George Washington Nash, of upper Anson County. He was the son of Nancy Nash and Benjamin Hudson, of just across the Rocky River from Stanly County. He was married twice, the second and third times successfully, however, his first marraige, to a woman named Mary. He sued Mary for divorce in Stanly County Superior Court, as she had ran off with another man, and he also mentioned that she had given birth to a mulatto child not long after their marriage.

Upon the birth of the first son, Shipman Jones, or whatever other name he may have went by, (he could have been John Shipman Jones or James Shipman Jones or Charles Shipman Jones and people knew him as "Shipman".), may have left the cheating Eliza, divorced her, and took off for somewhere he could not be embarrassed by his wife's actions.

Eliza's children, when adults, named their prospective fathers in their own legal documents.

Her son William H. "Billy" Carroll, names his father as Ezekial Webb, Ezekial Webb appears as a free man of color, and married, in the 1850 and 1860 census records of Cumberland County.


1850

Name:	Ezekiel Webb
Age:	26
Birth Year:	abt 1824
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1850:	Fayetteville, Cumberland, North Carolina, USA
Race:	Black
Gender:	Male
Family Number:	303
Household Members:	Name Age Ezekiel Webb 26 Nancy Webb 36 Weston R G Webb 0

1860

Name:	Ezekiel Webb
Age:	34
Birth Year:	abt 1826
Gender:	Male
Race:	Mulatto (Black)
Birth Place:	North Carolina
Home in 1860:	Western Division, Cumberland, North Carolina
Post Office:	Fayetteville
Family Number:	434
Value of real estate:	View image
Household Members:	Name Age Ezekiel Webb 34 Nancy Webb 44 Western Webb 10 Mary Webb 7 Dillah Webb 6

He had an older wife, Nancy, and at least 3 children. His son Weston R. G. Webb would move to New York as he grew up, and Ezekial, himself, would move to Raleigh. 

The daughters of Eliza Carroll Jones name their father as Robert Mallet. Robert Mallet had likely been a slave. He does not appear in any census prior to the Civil War, but he does appear in the Freedman's Bank Records. 

Name: Robert Mallett

Age: 60

Birth Year: abt 1820

Birthplace: North Carolina

Home in 1880: Rockfish, Cumberland, North Carolina

Race: Black

Gender: Male

Relation to Head of House: Self (Head)

Marital Status: Single

Father's Birthplace: North Carolina

Mother's Birthplace: North Carolina

Neighbors: View others on page

Occupation: Laborer

Cannot read/write:

Eliza Carroll was the daughter (as far as I know) of Phillip Carroll and Algea Willis Carroll. Algea, was, I believe, the daughter of Algernon Willis, son of Benjamin Willis. 

Name:	Philip Carroll
Gender:	Male
Marriage Date:	7 Sep 1823
Marriage Place:	Cumberland, North Carolina, USA
Spouse:	Alge Willis
Spouse Gender:	Female
Event Type:	Marriage

 They were married in Cumberland County in 1823 and divorced in 1837, in Cumberland County. I am sure there is an interesting story behind the divorce of Phillilp and Algea. Perhaps Phillip was not Eliza's actual father. I am curious to find out the background on that. 

Fayetteville Weekly Observer
(Fayetteville, North Carolina)26 Jul 1837, Wed • Page 3

The Children of Eliza Carroll Jones were: 

1844 - David Joseph Carroll - married Harriett Pepper on May 9, 1867

           Children: Ellen, Albert, Augustus "Gus" John, Joseph, David and Edd. 

           Son Gus appeared in the papers several times due to his "Blind Tiger" or 

           Illegal Alcohol operations. 

1847 - William H. "Billy" Carroll- married Jennette Bryant on December 23, 1863.

             At least one son, Arthur B. Bryant, possibly a daughter, Susan. 

1849- Walter Carroll - 

1850- Mary Jane Carroll - married James John McCallister- about 9 children: Austin, Samuel, James, Lucy, Emaline, William H., Florie, Mamie, Simeon.

1854- Alice Carroll - married Charles Murphy in 1873

1858- Ann Eliza Carroll - married George Henry Murphy in 1874. Eleven children

1869 -  Rhoda Carroll McAllister - proves to be the daughter of Mary by a Warren Carver, raised by Eliza as her own. Married James Floyd Young in 1891. 

To prove my theory that the fathers of Eliza Carroll's children were probably members of the Croatan or Lumbee tribe, the death records of Rhoda Carroll McAllister Young's give her race as "Indian". 

Name:	Rhoda Young
Race:	Indian (Native American)
Age:	64
Date of Birth:	1870
Date of Death:	22 Sep 1934
Death County:	Cumberland
Death State:	North Carolina
Source Vendor:	NC State Archives. North Carolina Deaths, 1908-67

The Runaway

The Enterprise
6 October 1898 • Page 3


Algie Foy Aldridge was the youngest son of Caleb Hampton Aldridge, the eldest son of Henry Garner Aldridge and Priscilla Murray Aldridge. When "Hamp", as he was better known, posted this ad in the Stanly County, North Carolina newspaper "The Enterprise", Algie Foy would have been 17 years old. He was born on August 4, 1881 and must have inherited that "mean streak" that ran through the Murray line and into the Aldridge line through his grandmother Priscilla. While some Murray descendants did not seem to inherit this unlucky trait, several in any given generation seem to have suffered from it.

Algie's discontent seemed to show at an early age.

I wondered about his name, "Algie Foy", where did that moniker come from. I think Algie might have been short for "Algernon" and Foy just a trend, as I've seen many "Roy's" and even "Hoy", "Loy", "Doy",and "Coy" being popular names and middle names, for males of his generation. But he was not named for any apparent ancestor. His mother was Elizabeth "Bettie" Floyd  McSwain Aldridge, who had first married John Calloway McSwain, who perished in the Civil War. Hamp Aldridge was her brother-in-law and when her sister Sophia Floyd Aldridge passed away after bearing Hamp only one child, George Gilliam Aldridge, Bettie and Hamp married. Bettie brought a child of her own, Martha Ella McSwain, who would have a daughter by her step-father at the age of 18, and the family would survive this atrocity and remain intact.

That is how powerful a man Hamp Aldridge was in the community. He had a tendency to do whatever he pleased and get by with it. Hamp carried the Murray mean streak. It may have been this trait that drove his son away from him at the age of 17, and Hamp wanted to make sure the boy had no support in his quest for freedom.

Algie must have returned home the prodigal son because he turns up in the 1900 census in his father's house, although the census taker made meatloaf with it.

Name:	Alpha Auldredz [Alpha Aldridge]  [Alpha Auldredg]
Age:	18
Birth Date:	Aug 1880
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1900:	Tyson, Stanly, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Son
Marital Status:	Single
Father's Name:	Hamp Auldredz
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's name:	Elisabeth Auldredz
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Occupation:	View on Image
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Hamp Auldredz 57 Elisabeth Auldredz 59 Nannie Auldredz 28 Alpha Auldredz 18 Saly E Auldredz 12 Lenorio Auldredz 8 Lena Auldredz 3 Inese Auldredz 26

Hamp "Auldredz" is Caleb Hampton Aldridge, followed by Elizabeth, his wife. Nannie was actually "Fannie", who never married and passed away in 1915. "Alpha" is actually Algie Foy, "Saly E" is younger sister Sarah Elizabeth. "Inese" is Inez "Nezzie" McSwain, Hamp's daughter with his step-daughter Ella, and "Lenoiro" and "Lena" were her daughters Lenora and Lina.

Algie did not remain in his father's home long, however. He removed to Cabarrus County, and probably began his lifelong career in the textile industry working in the Cannon mills or similar ones located throughout Concord and nearby Kannapolis. There he met his wife and future victim, Cora Murphy.

Cora Murphy North Carolina, Marriages, 1759-1979

marriage: 25 November 1903 Cabarrus County, North Carolina

father: James Murphey mother: Maggie Murphey spouse: A. F. Aldridge other: C. H. Aldridge, Bettie Aldridge

And I did not mean "victim" in any sense but literally.

Algie and Cora, his Irish bride, show up in the City Directory of Columbia, South Carolina in 1909. He is a Mill Operator.

Algie Foy's Draft Papers describe him  as being of Medium height and build with blue eyes and gray hair. 

Algie's wife Cora was the daughter of James A. and Margaret A. Porter Murphy. Her father was born in Ireland and her mother in North Carolina. Her father, James Alexander Murphy was one of those grand old patriarchs of the 19th century who outlived several wives and was fathering children well into his sunset years. Born in 1816, he died in 1906 in Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina. In the 1910 census, Algie and Cora are shown living in the household of her widowed mother and a number of her siblings, including youngest brother, Emmett.

Name:	Cora Aldrich
Age in 1910:	28
Birth Year:	abt 1882
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1910:	Columbia Ward 5, Richland, South Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Daughter
Marital Status:	Married
Spouse's Name:	Algie Aldrich
Father's Birthplace:	Ireland
Mother's name:	Margaret Murphy
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Margaret Murphy 58 Mary Murphy 23 Maggie Murphy 21 Algie Aldrich 28 Cora Aldrich 28 Emil Murphy 14

The Columbia City Directory traces their movements and Algie's career changes through the next decade. Algie's name is seen variously as "Alpha", "Alva", "Alfie", "Ollie", and "Algie". It may have been a derivative of the proper name "Alva", which was used randomly in and around Stanly County where he was born.

In 1909, they had been living at 901 9th Street, which was her parents address.
By 1911, the couple had moved to 209 Assembly Street and Algie was a Motorman for the Railway.
1912 - "Alger F." and Cora Aldridge had moved to 890 Lower Street and he was still employed at the same occupation.
1913 - They had moved to 222 Sumter Street and Algie was back to being a Mill Operator.

Old Columbia Library at the corner of Washington and Sumter Streets. 

1915 -  Another move to 638 6th Street and Algie still a Mill Operator.
1916 - This time they were living at 1313 Berkeley Avenue, Mill Operator
1918 - Back to Lower Street, but this time at 819 Lower Street and Algie was now an employee of "Swift and Co."
1920 - They were still at 819 Lower Street, after at least 6 moves in a decade, but Algie had changed jobs again and this time was working for the Union News Company.

A street scene in old Columbia

The 1920 census enumerates the couples two children: Leo and Vermelle. Leo Anthony Aldridge should have been in the 1910 census, being born on Feb. 6, 1908. He was either missed, or living in another household.

Name:	Cara E Aldridge
Age:	37
Birth Year:	abt 1883
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1920:	School District 4, Richland, South Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Wife
Marital Status:	Married
Spouse's Name:	Algie F Aldridge
Father's Birthplace:	Ireland
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Able to Read:	Yes
Able to Write:	Yes
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Algie F Aldridge 37 Cara E Aldridge 37 Leo A Aldridge 11 Vermell Aldridge 7

The next decade would also show the train of instability.

By 1922, the family had moved to 308 Bull Street and Algie was a News Agent.
On 1923, Algie had again became Mill fodder and moved his family to 709 Green Street, which is now only an Oak tree guarding the end of a dead end road.
709 Greene Street.

Five years later, Algie was now employed as a Jitney Driver and had moved to an apartment building on Park Street, a few blocks over and one block off of the former home on Assembly Street.
Park Street Apartments



By 1930, son Leo has moved out and a teenaged Vermelle is only at home.

Name:	Algie F Aldridge
Gender:	Male
Birth Year:	abt 1882
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Race:	White
Home in 1930:	Columbia, Richland, South Carolina
Map of Home:	View Map
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Spouse's Name:	Cara Aldridge
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Occupation: Education: Military service: Rent/home value: Age at first marriage: Parents' birthplace:	View image
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Algie F Aldridge 48 Cara Aldridge 48 Vernelle Aldridge 17

In 1934, Algie and Cora are still at the same location on Park Avenue and Algie is still a driver.

Name:	Algie F Aldridge
Gender:	Male
Residence Year:	1934
Street address:	424 Park
Residence Place:	Columbia, South Carolina
Occupation:	Driver
Spouse:	Cora E Aldridge
Publication Title:	Columbia, South Carolina, City Directory, 1934

The above article is from the May 19, 1938 edition of The Greensboro Record.  The story was reprinted in newspapers far and wide, giving pretty much the same information. North Carolina, South Carolina and even New York newspapers reported the story of the textile worker who openly admitted the murder of his wife after finding a photo of another man in her possession. The readers were shocked. He didn't deny it. He even blamed it on this unnamed other man whom he assumed his wife was interested in. He had been thinking about the murder for three weeks. It was premeditated. The bad Murray blood was running hot in Algie Foy Aldridge.

Thursday, May 19 1938 edition of  the State Times Advocate of  Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 

So what happened next?

Cora did not die immediately, but passed soon after arriving to the hospital.




Her death certificate explains her horrific cause of death with the words "Hacked", "Axe" and "Homocide". In the end she bled to death?

But what of Algie? Did he get his day in court? Did the papers print anything of that?

The amazing answer is "No".

On December 6, 1939,  a year and a half after he murdered his wife Cora on May 18, 1938, Algie Foy Aldridge died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was treated at the South Carolina State Hospital and the doctor notated that he had been under his care since June 8, 1938. Algie had spent about 2 weeks in jail before being declared insane and mentally incapable of standing trial. He spent the remaining year and a half of his life in psychiatric care. Was the cerebral hemorrhage a sign of a brain disorder that may have attributed to his lack of judgement and irrational behavior in the murder of his wife? Possibly. This cause of death shows up in many of the descendants of the Aldridge and Murray families. Is it hereditary? Probably.

There were many stories that began and/or ended in the rolling hills of the Tyson community of Stanly County. Algie Foy Aldridge's story was just one of them.

Name:	Aldridge, Algie Fay
Source:	The State
Date:	12/6/1939
Place:	Columbia