Thomas Woolfolk

Case overview

Thomas Woolfolk was executed by hanging in Perry, Georgia, on October 29, 1890.

Timeline

• June 18, 1860 — Thomas George Woolfolk was born in the Woolfolk family farmhouse west of Macon, in Bibb County; he was the third child and only son of Richard F. Woolfolk and Susan Moore Woolfolk.
• 1860–1867 — Woolfolk resided in Athens, being raised in the care and custody of his deceased mother’s sister, aunt Fannie Moore Crane.
• 1866 — Woolfolk’s father remarried.
• 1867 — After his father’s remarriage, Woolfolk moved back to live with his father and new stepmother in the Woolfolk family farmhouse in Bibb County.
• June 1887 — Woolfolk paid the last of his visits to Athens, staying with his Aunt Fannie; his bizarre, insane behavior attracted attention.
• Aug. 6, 1887 — Nine persons were slain with an ax in the Woolfolk family farmhouse near Macon; the only inhabitant of the house not slain was Thomas Woolfolk.
• Aug. 7, 1887 — The nine victims were buried in two rows in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon.
• Sometime during this day — The Woolfolk farmhouse well was dragged by the sheriff, and a bloody shirt and a pair of drawers belonging to Thomas Woolfolk were found.
• December 1887 — Woolfolk was indicted on nine counts of murder; he went on trial for the murder of his father in Macon in the Superior Court of Bibb County.
• February 10, 1888 — After 12 minutes of deliberation, Woolfolk was found guilty by the trial jury and sentenced to death.
• February 11, 1889 — The Georgia Supreme Court reversed Woolfolk’s murder conviction and death sentence, citing (1) inadmissible incriminating evidence and (2) spectators shouting “Hang him! Hang him! Hang him!” during the prosecutor’s closing arguments while the trial judge did nothing.
• June 3, 1889 — Woolfolk’s retrial for the murder of his father began in the Superior Court of Houston County in Perry.
• June 25, 1889 — After 45 minutes of deliberation, the trial jury convicted Woolfolk of murder and he was again sentenced to death.
• July 28, 1890 — The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Woolfolk’s murder conviction and death sentence.
• October 3 — The place where Woolfolk was hanged was visited.
• October 29, 1890 — At 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Woolfolk was hanged in front of a crowd of 10,000 spectators in Perry; the same day his body was buried in Orange Hill Cemetery in Hawkinsville in Pulaski County.
• 1909 — After being vacant for years, in 1909 the Woolfolk murder house became for a short while the headquarters of the Macon Auto Club; thereafter the house became vacant again and appears to have burned at some later time.
• April 16, 1964 — E. Merton Coulter visited the site of the ruins of the Woolfolk murder house and found only ruins.
• 1990–1994 — Published articles erroneously stated that no remains of the Woolfolk murder house were extant.
• February 10, 1996 — Donald E. Wilkes, Jr. and Ed Green, Jr. examined, photographed, and described the ruins of the Woolfolk murder house.

The offence

On the morning of Saturday, Aug. 6, 1887, nine persons were slain at the Woolfolk plantation home near Macon in Bibb County. All nine victims were killed by being struck in the head or upper body with a short-handled ax that belonged to Thomas Woolfolk and was found in one of the rooms.

The victims were:

• Richard F. Woolfolk, 54
• Mattie H. Woolfolk, 41
• Richard F. Woolfolk Jr., 20
• Pearl, 17
• Annie, 10
• Rosebud, 7
• Charlie, 5
• baby Mattie, 18 months old
• Temperance West, 84 (a relative of Mrs. Woolfolk from Americus who had been visiting for several days)

All the victims were found dead in bed, except the two sons who were lying on the floor of their parents’ bedroom, and 10-year Annie, who was kneeling in front of an open window after having tried unsuccessfully to flee her killer.

The room where the victims lay contained brain tissue, blood, and gore spread across the beds, walls, and ceiling, with pools of blood on the floor.

Background

Thomas Woolfolk (pronounced Wool-fork) was born in Bibb County near Macon on the eve of the Civil War on June 18, 1860.

His parents were Richard F. and Susan M. Woolfolk. Richard had met Susan at the University of Georgia while Richard had been a student, and they married in Athens in 1852, two years before Richard graduated. Richard’s first wife was Susan M. Woolfolk.

Shortly after Thomas Woolfolk’s birth, his mother died. He was sent to stay with his aunt, Fannie Moore, his mother’s sister. Fannie later married Athens architect John Ross Crane.

Thomas Woolfolk lived with his aunt in Athens for the first seven years of his life, from 1860 to 1867, in a house at 716 Prince Avenue. The house was later torn down many years afterward for a medical arts building parking lot.

In 1866, Thomas Woolfolk’s father remarried. Thomas Woolfolk left Athens to live with his father and new stepmother, Mattie H. Woolfolk, at the plantation home near Macon. Thomas Woolfolk never liked his stepmother and did not care for six children born as a result of his father’s remarriage.

His last trips to Athens were in March and June 1887 when he visited his aunt Fannie. On both occasions he behaved bizarrely: his talk was incoherent, he was insanely suspicious, he paced the floor, and he carried a pistol. It was clear to his aunt that his mental condition had deteriorated and that he was “crazy”.

Investigation

After the killings on Aug. 6, 1887, Thomas Woolfolk was the only inhabitant of the home not slain. At daybreak he sought help from neighbors, claiming that his father’s family had been murdered and that he had escaped death only by jumping out a window and fleeing.

He returned to the house before others arrived, confirmed that everyone was dead, and said that he heard the unknown killers exit the back way and slam the fence gate behind them. He washed himself and flung his blood-spattered clothing down the well.

Within hours, several thousand people rushed to the home and a coroner’s inquest was held on the spot.

Suspicion quickly focused on Thomas Woolfolk based on several circumstances:

• He admitted that the bloody footprints in the murder room were his.
• He had specks of blood in his ears.
• There was a bloody handprint on his leg.
• He behaved oddly, showing no emotion about the tragedy and appearing more apprehensive than grief-stricken.
• His explanation for how he alone had survived seemed unlikely.

There was no evidence of forced entry or theft. The coroner’s jury concluded that Thomas Woolfolk was the murderer.

Even before the verdict was rendered, the sheriff conveyed him to jail hurriedly and quietly to prevent the angry crowd from lynching him.

The horrible murders were widely publicized in local and national press and made the first page of the New York Times. The crime received extensive lurid characterizations in the press, including being called “the bloodiest, blackest, chapter in Georgia criminal history,” “the most shocking murder ever committed in Georgia,” “one of the most heinous crimes committed in this or any other state,” a crime “without parallel in the criminal history of the South if not the world,” “the bloodiest tragedy in the annals of crime,” and “the most ferocious and harrowing crime ever recorded in the annals of civilization.”

Thomas Woolfolk was described in the press as “the most brutal murderer that ever figured in the annals of our state,” “the most notorious criminal of modern times,” and as “the greatest monster of the age ... the cruelest and [most] bloodthirsty brute on record.” He was often referred to as “Bloody Woolfolk.”

Arrest

Thomas Woolfolk was arrested and taken to the county jail in Macon after the inquest.

Trial

First trial

Thomas Woolfolk was brought to trial in the Superior Court of Bibb County in December 1887 on a charge of murder.

He had an attorney, John C. Rutherford, described as a dedicated lawyer who worked without being paid and did everything possible for his client. In 1890 it was stated that Rutherford died of exhaustion shortly after Thomas Woolfolk’s execution.

In the 19th century, Georgia criminal defendants were not allowed to testify under oath but were permitted to make an unsworn statement to the jury. Thomas Woolfolk made an unsworn statement completely denying the crime. No insanity defense was interposed.

The case was based on circumstantial evidence, but it was described as strong. The jury convicted Thomas Woolfolk of murder in the death of his father, 54-year old Richard Woolfolk, and sentenced him to hang.

Because courtroom spectators had shouted “Hang him! Hang him!” during the prosecutor’s closing arguments, the Georgia Supreme Court ordered a new trial, with the reversal explained on February 11, 1889.

February 10, 1888: After 12 minutes of deliberation, Thomas Woolfolk was found guilty by the trial jury and sentenced to death.

Indictment detail: Thomas Woolfolk was indicted on nine counts of murder.

Second trial

After the reversal, Thomas Woolfolk was retried. Due to community hostility, he was granted a change of venue.

June 3, 1889: The retrial began in the Superior Court of Houston County in Perry.

June 25, 1889: After 45 minutes of deliberation, the trial jury convicted Thomas Woolfolk of murder and sentenced him to die again.

The retrial took almost the entire month of June 1889. It was stated that Rutherford’s closing arguments to the jury took 13 hours, as did the closing arguments of the prosecution, and that the jury’s deliberation took less than 15 minutes.

An opposing attorney in Macon was named: John Hardeman.

The Georgia Supreme Court later affirmed the sentence.

Sentencing

On February 10, 1888, Thomas Woolfolk was sentenced to die by hanging.

On June 25, 1889, the jury again convicted him of murder and again sentenced him to die.

On July 28, 1890, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the conviction and death sentence.

Appeals

The Georgia Supreme Court reversed the conviction and death sentence on February 11, 1889, stating two reasons:

1. The trial court had allowed the introduction of certain inadmissible incriminating evidence.
2. Certain courtroom spectators, referring to Thomas Woolfolk, had angrily cried out, “Hang him! Hang him! Hang him!” during the prosecutor’s closing arguments, and the trial judge had done nothing.

After the retrial, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the conviction and death sentence on July 28, 1890.

Outcome

Thomas Woolfolk was executed by hanging in Perry on October 29, 1890.

He was hanged at 1:30 p.m. in front of a crowd of 10,000 spectators.

After his execution, the same day his body was buried in Orange Hill Cemetery in Hawkinsville in Pulaski County.

It was stated that, while on the scaffold, Thomas Woolfolk affirmed his innocence, disappointing the crowd that had hoped for a last-minute confession.

The account described the hanging as gruesome and painful: the fall through the trapdoor did not break his neck and it took 15 minutes for him to choke to death at the end of the rope.

Aftermath

The place of execution in Perry was described as the usual place of public execution at the time, a natural valley where Big Indian Creek joined the Fanny Gresham Branch, about a quarter mile west of the Houston County Courthouse. It was noted that the Dr. A. C. Hendrick Memorial Bridge later spanned the valley, and that many people passed over the bridge without awareness of the hangings that used to occur there.

Visitation and remains related to the Woolfolk murders were described later:

• Graves of the nine victims were described as being in two rows in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, with each of the nine graves topped by a rectangular brick tomb flush with the earth and showing signs of exposure to the elements.
• Thomas Woolfolk was described as being buried near one of his older sisters in Orange Hill Cemetery in Hawkinsville; his tombstone was described as almost illegible and repaired after being vandalized.
• In April 16, 1964, E. Merton Coulter visited the site of the ruins of the Woolfolk murder house and found “two large piles of brick and stones, marking the chimney places; a depression, appearing to have been the cellar; a well nearly filled up near a cedar tree; some shrubbery; and a large holly tree, marking the site where Susan M. Woolfolk, Richard's first wife, was buried.”
• By the early 1990s, years after Coulter’s death, scholars studying the case believed that all remains of the murder house had vanished; a possibility was suggested that the site lay beneath waters of a man-made reservoir.
• Twice in August 1990 and October 1990, it was stated that attempts were made to locate the site, including that on the second attempt the investigator was taken to a wooded area near State Road 74 by a descendant of the Woolfolk victims who offered to point out the general location; the investigator spent several hours walking and clambering through wooded terrain and failed to find signs of the murder house, leading to an article claiming the remains had vanished forever into the “bosom of the earth.”
• It was later stated that the remains still existed and that on Saturday, February 10, 1996, the investigator visited the ruins of the murder house, accompanied by Mr. Ed Green, Jr., and found that since Coulter’s visit 32 years earlier, the site remained recognizable but that the ruins had deteriorated with woods and vegetation erasing traces of the murder house.

People involved

Defendant

• Thomas Woolfolk (Thomas George Woolfolk; pronounced Wool-fork)

Victims

• Richard F. Woolfolk, 54
• Mattie H. Woolfolk, 41
• Richard F. Woolfolk Jr., 20
• Pearl, 17
• Annie, 10
• Rosebud, 7
• Charlie, 5
• Baby Mattie, 18 months old
• Temperance West, 84 (relative of Mrs. Woolfolk from Americus)

Family relationships and associates

• Susan M. Woolfolk (Richard’s first wife; mother of Thomas Woolfolk)
• Fannie Moore Crane (aunt of Thomas Woolfolk)
• John Ross Crane (later husband of Fannie Moore; Athens architect)
• Mattie H. Woolfolk (Thomas Woolfolk’s stepmother)
• Americus was named as Temperance West’s origin.

Legal counsel

• John C. Rutherford (defence counsel; described as an Athens lawyer)
• John Hardeman (Macon attorney; described as opposing Rutherford)

Later researchers mentioned

• E. Merton Coulter (University of Georgia history professor)
• Donald E. Wilkes, Jr. (UGA law professor)
• Ed Green, Jr. (crime history expert)

Other details

• The murders were described as occurring just west of Macon, in Bibb County.
• The murders were described as occurring near Lake Tobesofkee in western Bibb County.
• The ax belonged to Thomas Woolfolk and was found in one of the rooms.
• It was stated that witnesses said they saw Thomas Woolfolk making baskets with the ax the previous day.
• After the murders, there was no evidence of forced entry or theft.
• The farmhouse was described as being on an 867-acre plantation and being in rural Bibb County, several miles west of Macon and several hundred yards south of what was then the Thomaston Road (also called State Road 74).
• It was stated that the farmhouse appears to have been unoccupied for a time and then sold.
• The New York Times was named as having put the murders on the first page.
• The narrative later referenced comparisons to other cases, including the mass slaying of six members of the Alday family in Seminole County in 1973, with similarities described as including that initial conviction and death sentence were set aside on appeal and that the accuseds received a change of venue at the retrial.