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The water back of this Xantahala River dam, at the Black Place (near the
present home of Mr. and Mrs. Carl S. Slagle),. was used to wash logs down the
river. The river was piled full of logs and the water released suddenly, thus pro
viding a large enough stream to float the logs down to the desired point. Miss
Lassie Kelly, owner of the photo, places its date at about 1904.
Macon Has Had Noted Murders,
But Only One Tried, Convicted
Here Kept His Date With Death
By J. P. BRADY
Only one man tried, convicted,
and sentenced in the courts of
this county has ever been exe
cuted.
He was Curtis Shedd, who died
in the gas chamber in Raleigh
in 1951 for the strangulation slay
ing of two Walhalla, S. C., girls
? and Shedd was convicted by a
jury brought here from Jackson
County.
In Macon County's century and
a quarter history, only two other
crimes, committed in this county, 1
resulted in the killers' receiving i
death sentences.
This county isn't a haven for
first degree murderers, and the
scales of justice are probably as
evenly balanced here as anywhere !
. . . but the records speak for [
themselves.
Both of the other crimes hap
pened in Macon, but the trial ;
of one was moved out of the i
county because of public feeling.
The killer in the other case was
tried in Macon, by a Macon jury
, . . twice . .? . and was twice
sentenced to die . . . but managed
to elude the executioner at the
last minute.
In present-day mystery novel
language, one case might have
been tagged, "The Case of the
Heel-less Shoe", but in 1872 it
was known as the State vs. Hen
derson.
The other case, which inciden
tally was one of the most sen
sational trials in the annals of
North Carolina crime, could have
been known as, "Lady Luck and
I". However, it was known as the
State vs. Jerry Dalton.
Year Is 1872
For the first case, a shift back
through the years is in order. It
Is the year 1872, to be exact.
According to reports, one Bay
less Henderson, a tramp from
Tennessee, was door-to-dooring his
way around this county, begging
hand-outs.
Making his rounds through this
section he just happened to over
hear someone remark that Nim
rod S. Jarrett, a well-known far
mer, had a large sum of money
on his person. Rumor further de
clared that Mr. Jarrett would
have the money on his pe/son
when he made his weekly trip
to Franklin from his- home, which
was about one half mile below
the old Lunsford place, on Nan
tahala.
This presented an opportunity
for a new lease on financial life
for the tramp, so he decided to
relieve Mr. Jarrett's person of the
large roll.
Thus it was on this bright Sun
day morn. September 15, that
Mr. Jarrett saddled his horse,
mounted, and rode the animal
down the road in the direction
of Franklin.
Jarrett Dismounts
Some distance below his home
he met Henderson, got off his
horse and walked down the road
? way. probably passing the time
of day with the tramp.
Bayless, probably thinking up
a good excuse, dropped a few
paces behind, took out a pistol,
and shot the unsuspecting Mr.
Jarrett through the, back of the
head.
Now for the money! Rifling
Mr. Jarrett's pockets, the tramp
discovered the rumor about the
large amount of money was just
Timor. He found only a few dol
ors and a watch and chain.
Suddenly he was starWed by the
sound of approaching hoof -beats;
he stuffed the money and watch
in his pocket, dived Into the un
derbrush, waded the Nantahala
river, and hid, meanwhile hiding
the watch.
It was Mrs. Jarrett . . . riding
to overtake her husband and ride i
with him as far as their daugh
ter's home at the old Munday
place.
Finding her husband dead, she
quickly spread the alarm and a
crowd soon gathered at the scene
of the killing to seach for the
killer.
Just One Clue
The only clue as to who shot
Mr. Jarrett was a footprint near
the body ... a print showing
the murderer had no heel on his
shoe.
Searchers quickly fanned out
through the thick underbrush to
look for the owner of the heelless
shoe, not knowing that the wily
tramp had executed a brazen long
shot.
He had come out of hiding and
joined the search party! .
An hour or so, and much brush
beating later, someone just hap
pened to notice that Henderson
had no heel on his shoe. law
officers made no move to arrest
him and acted as though he were
not under suspicion.
Thinking that his bluff had
worked, the tramp went to the
spot where he had hidden the
watch ? and the trap sprang shut.
Public sentiment and loose
talk about long lengths of manila
rope moved the actual trial to
Webster, in Jackson county, where
Bayless Henderson was convicted ;
and hanged.
Had Record
The other case, and it was tried
in this county ? twice, as a matter
of record ? involved a man by the
name of Jerry Dalton. who, if
court records are any indication,
was what today would be called
tough. Records show that Dalton,
usually in company of some of
his cronies, appeared in court to
answer charges ranging from
carrying a concealed weapon to
petty larceny.
November 10, 1918 saw a new
entry added to his record . . .
murder.
Oldtimers. who remember the
case and the man well, say Dalton
was loitering on one end of the
Aquone bridge, which is now , a
long with the community of the
same name, under the water's
of the Nantahala lake. He hailed
| a car being driven by Merrill ,
| Angel, who was taking a young
| woman isaid to be Dalton's lady
'friend) by the name of Maude I
i Williams Grant, a divorcee, for
. a ride.
Angel stopped the car. Jerry
stepped up, poked a gun through
the window and fired. The hyster
ical Miss Grant tried to get out
of the car and run; another shot
I from Dalton's gun. and both An
l gel and Miss Grant were dead,
almost before the smoke cleared.
Cites Jealousy
Alex Moore, then sheriff of
Macon County, today says that
jealousy and drinking caused all ;
of Dalton's misfortunes.
Anyway, the double slayer was i
apprehended immediately, jailed,
and a few days later stood before
the Judge presiding over the No
vember term of superior court and
heard . . . "the jurors for the
State upon their oath do present
. . "An indictment for murder'
. . . the murder of Maude Grant.
Strangely enough, the charge a
gainst Dalton for the murder of
Merrill Angel is still in the records
and has never been tried.
Dalton informed the court he
was unable to employ counsel.
: ;
Correction
Mrs. Zeb Cansler wrote the arti- i
cle, "Tells of First Trip to Frank
lin", that appears on page 12-C.
Her name as author was inad
vertently omitted.
so attorney? R. Dean Sisk and
P S. Johnston were appointed
by the court to handle Jerry's
defense.
Joined By Lady Luck
Then Lady Luck took up com
pany with Dalton. He was bed
ridden with influenza and his
trial was continued to the next
term of court. He was placed in
the Buncombe county jail for safe
seeping.
The Buncombe lockup became
lis home until the August (1919)
,erm of superior court convened
n Macon County. For the second
,ime he appeared in the court
?oom, listened as the prosecution
Handed him a murderer, and this
ime heard the judge pronounce
ientence: "... be sent to the State
>rison in Raleigh, where said war
len of said prison is directed to
ake your body on said date, be
,ween the hours of 10 a.m. and j
\ p.m., to the common place of
;xecution in said prison and there
;ause a current of electricity of
sufficient voltage and intensity to
pass through your body to pro
duce death, and that the applica
tion of such electricity be repeat
ed until you be dead, and may the
Lord have mercy on your soul."
rhe date of execution was set for
October 10, 1919.
Discouraging, to say the least,
for Jerry, but his almost super
natural relationship with Lady
Luck asserted itself again. His
lawyers won an appeal to the
supreme court of the state, and
he was granted a new trial, be
cause of certain irregularities in
the first one.
Again Convicted
His case again was brought up
in the Macon County courtroom,
the prosecution starting from
scratch; and Jerry Dalton was,
for the second time, convictcd
by a Macon County jury, at the
1920 August term of court. Pen
alty? san.3 as before . . . death
in the electric chair.
Another appeal to the high
court by his lawyers and Jerry
was remanded to the Buncombe
jail, a place he had become famil
iar with by this time, to await
an answer on the appeal.
Now Jerry either became bored
with being cooped up, or he de
cided to heed the advice of Gree- '
ley about going West, for he broke
out of jail and disappeared. Luck
still rode with Jerry Dalton.
In 1922 he was picked up by
police in San Diego, Calif. Sher
iff Moore and the late J. S. I
(Jule) Robinson (Sheriff Moore
said Oov. Morrison appointed Mr.
Robinson to accompany him on
the? western jaunt) boarded a
train for the ---t. to get the
elusive, and by this time widely
known, Jerry Dalton.
'I Knew Jerry'
Sheriff Moore said this week
that the San Diego officers were j
surprised when he refused to use
handcuffs on Jerry.
"I knew Jerry," he said, "and ;
I didn't see any reason to hand- i
cuff him. He wouldn't have tried
to run away from me."
He added, however, that small
cuffs linking his and Jerry's
wrists, were used during the night,
purely as a precautionary mea
sure.
So Sheriff Moore brought Day
ton back to the North Carolina j
prison supposedly to await exe
cution.
However, Lady Luck had both
hands on the electric chair switch,
and on her companion. Jerry got
a commutation of his sentence
from death to life imprisonment.
Still later it was changed to 30
years.
After serving part of the sen
tence, Jerry Dalton was paroled.
Those who remember Dr. Frank T. Smith's Drug Store, in the days when it
was in the Johnston Building (where West's Florist is now) remember it best
not for its drugs, but for its home-made ice cream. In this picture, made about
1903, Larry Waldroop is at leftand Dan Ravenel, here as a timber dealer, is
standing in the doorway to the staifs. The other two shown could not be iden
fied. Note the kerosene oil street lamp on the post. (Photo loaned by Miss
Lassie Kelly).
Here's an old view of Franklin's Main Street. Mrs. Zeb Cansler, who loaned the picture, does not know
the time. Her photo is on a postcard made bv Frank T. Smith, but there is no date.
This shows Franklin's Main Street in the hang ago. The exact date of the photo (loaned by Mrs. Mary
Lyle Waldroop) is not known. The picture is facing west (arrow points to .courthouse). Note the umbrel
la-ed buggy in the left foreground.
This is a 1900 view of downtown Franklin, with Trimont in
the background. To the right of the courthouse is the Green
Trotter store. Note the roof skylight for the upstairs photographic
studio. The two-story home at the right is the Trotter residence;
to its left is the Wiley Zachary home. In the background, left to
right, the Presbyterian church (directly in front of Trimont), the
Masonic Hall, and the Franklin Terrace. (Photo loaned by Miss
Lassie Kelly).