The Acreman Family Murder

 

 

         On May 14, 1906, in the Allentown community, William Glenn Acreman, his wife, and seven children were murdered, and their home burned down over their lifeless bodies.  No one was ever punished for the crime.

   

             On that morning, a neighbor, living about a quarter a mile away, looked toward the Acreman place, but did not see the house.  He contacted other neighbors, and a group of them found the Acreman house in smoldering ruins.  Upon closer investigation, they found the burned bodies of the family.  One member of the group went to a nearby turpentine camp, and called the Sheriff's office in Milton.

 

            Judge Rhoda, Sheriff David Mitchell, Dr. H.E. Eldridge, and several others, hurried to the Acreman home.

            Upon arrival, the ruins were still smoking. A stiff northwest wind was blowing, and cinders were found a half of a mile away from the scene. It is believed that the house the Acreman’s were murdered in was located on present day State Highway 87, where it is joined by Sonny Dozier Rd. Nothing remains today, but that site is approximately 10 miles north of downtown Milton, and that was the description in contemporary news accounts.

 

             W. G. Acreman was the son of Zebulon Rudolph Acreman, and was most likely born in 1869 in Lowndes County, Alabama. He had eight brothers, and one sister. He was described as being a peaceful, pious, and harmless man with no enemies.

 

             In 1902, the Acreman's were living in Mobile, Alabama near the corner of Selma, and Marine Streets. Described as being in desperate circumstance, they were helped by their church. Mr. Acreman was remembered there as a peaceful, harmless man who was very religious, and a bit eccentric. He had no known enemies.

 Apparently, they left Mobile, and settled in Opp, Alabama for about a year, and sometime in 1903, moved to the area where they eventually died. Acreman had been married at least three times. One marriage record has been found. He married Timathea Nippee, or Nipper, in Escambia Co., Alabama on 5 Feb 1893. He was also married to Mary Simmons of Brewton, Alabama. His last wife was Amanda Sorrells who died that night with her newborn baby. Amanda was most likely the daughter of David W. Sorrells who lived in Pine Level, a community near Jay, Florida, a few miles from the Acreman home. Acreman had a daughter that survived. She was from his marriage with Mary Simmons, and was staying with an Aunt in Selma, Alabama.

 

The Crime Scene

 

            Acreman was working as a sharecropper, and the family was desperately poor. The house they resided in was described as a two-room “L” shaped house with two doors in front, one each opening into each room. Directly opposite were two doors going to the back porch. The house had numerous windows, and the front of the house faced north. Acreman, and one son shared a bed in the southeast corner of the east room. His wife, and 3-day-old infant slept in a bed in the same room, directly opposite. Three boys slept together in the southeast corner of the west room, and directly opposite of them was the bed of two daughters, the oldest being around 14. 

            In the ruins of the house, Acreman was found near the sill of the door leading from his room to the back porch. A gun was found by his side. His skull was crushed, and upon examination a large blood clot was found at the base of his skull leading authorities to believe he was killed before the fire. His body, as all the others, was burned very badly. His wife and infant baby were found on the front porch, and it was believed they were killed outside. The condition of her skull indicated she was killed before the fire. The boys, and the younger of the two girls were apparently either killed in bed since their remains were found where their beds were located. The oldest girl was found just inside the door leading to the front porch.

 

             There was a subscription in Milton, and Bagdad to raise money for a reward for information. An amount of $1500 was quickly raised, but there were no immediate developments in the case. The list of contributors reads like a Who’s Who of Milton in 1906:

           

H.S. Laird - $50, Prosecuting Attorney

David Mitchell - $100, County Sheriff

Balentine & Whitley - $50, Manufacturer, Naval Stores

Franklin S. Gay - $25, Turpentine Camp Operator

John T. Salter - $10, Railroad Carpenter

Charles E. Elliott - $100, farmer

E. M. Gainer - $50, possibly Ella Gainer, wife of Jim,

W. F. Harrison - $25

C. D. Bass - $5, Day Laborer, in 1900.

D. P. Johnson & Son - $25

Robert C. Fleming - $5, mill worker

R. E. Peterson - $5, fisherman

Howard Jernigan - $10, 1900 he was a census enumerator

Fisher & Hamilton - $50

Fisher & Co. - $50

G. L. Abbott - $5

Thomas W. Jones - $10, mercantile store

J. A. Allison - $5, keeper of Poor House

J. B. Ellis - $10, farmer

Howard S. Bates - $5, dry goods, (1910)

Cohen Bros. - $50, General Merchant

Milton Drug Co. - $25

Dr. C. B. McKinnon - $25

Frank E. Dey - $10, jewelry shop

M. N. Fisher, Sr. - $5, night watchman

I. M. Josephson - $5, dry good merchant

A. Moneyway - $5

D. T. Williams & Co. - $25

Lawrence Brown - $5

Dr. W. A. Mills - $10

The Milton Index - $10, Local Newspaper

H. C. Monroe - $5

W. W. Allen - $25

Lewis P. Golson - $50, Clerk

P. T. Macarthy - $10

D. B. Whitmire - $25, tax collector

Willis W. Harrison - $10, hatter

J. C. Gay - $10

Walter Rivenbark - $10, turpentine laborer

Allen & Allen - $25

E. P. Holley - $25, County Judge

E. L. Daniel - $25

R. M. Jernigan - $5

Lewis M. Rhoda - $5, Judge

Chaffin & Co. - $50

J. C. Day - $10

W. A. Waller - $10

R. C. Helms - $25

Morris Littles - $25

D. F. Johnson - $50

J. A. Bryant - $50

Charley H. Simpson - $25, farmer

Dr. H. E. Eldridge - $25

C. P. Jernigan - $10, butcher

J. E. Spencer - $10

Alexander H. Allen - $20, farmer

 

From Bagdad:

 

Stearns-Culver Lumber Co. - $100

B. Greenwood - $10

Asbery P. Hardy - $25, retail merchant

Bagdad Manufacturing Co. - $75

Steward Bros. - $25

Dr. B. H. Alles - $10

A.    Nicholson - $5

Capt. John Rourke - $5, sawmill owner, Confederate vet.

Aycock & Co. - $10

R. E. Barnes - $5

 

In 1906, crime investigation was extremely primitive. There were no trained investigators in Milton, no idea about forensics, or crime scene preservation, so a reward fund would be raised, and private investigators would arrive with hopes to solve the case, and collect the reward. Eventually the reward fund reached around $2300 including $500 from the State. This was how big, headline making crimes were investigated in those days. Private Investigators, some real, some no more than con men seeking to bilk communities out of their reward money, would seek out these opportunities. The Acreman crime brought a man named Ralph Clifford Beagle, claiming to be an investigator. All that I can find out about him is that he was born, and raised in Saginaw, Michigan, and in the 1900 census he is staying in a hotel on Ship Street in St. Joseph, in Berrien County, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan with his occupation listed as a travelling salesman.

 

 

              Beagle claimed he was a detective, and apparently did work hard to solve the case. About a year after the murder, Beagle physically took part in getting warrants, and making two arrests with help from local police.

 

 In Gonzales, Florida, William C. Smith, (I believe this was actually a man named Kitchen Willie Smith., or William K. Smith. I found him buried in Monroeville, Alabama with his wife, Eliza Jessalena Smith who died on 14 April 1907.) was arrested and brought to Milton. He was living in Allentown at the time of the murders, and when his wife died in 1907, he took her remains, and his six children to Monroeville, Alabama. Some articles suggested that he confessed, but if so, his confession must not have been believable.

 

              In Samson, Alabama, located in Geneva County, and not far from Opp, detectives arrested Joe Stanley. Stanley must have had a fearsome reputation, because the detectives employed some subterfuge to get the drop on him.  They visited his farm asking if he had any tacks, they could use to put up a sign with. When Stanley turned to get some one of the detectives got the drop on him, and he was arrested at gunpoint.  After the warrant was read to him, Stanley asked if he could get some clothes from a trunk. The detectives refused, but opened the trunk themselves, and found no clothes, but did find two pistols there.  Stanley also attempted to get his hands on a shotgun, with no success.  Stanley had a wife and two children, and refused to waive extradition to Florida. After the right paperwork was obtained, he was removed to Santa Rosa County, Florida.  

 

              There was a hearing scheduled for May 15, 1907 in Judge Rhoda’s courtroom, and it was postponed when state witnesses could not be located, and a stenographer was not available.  I found another article that claimed the prosecutor, and judge were under death threats, and did not show up for court.  Regardless, two days later there was a brief hearing, and both suspects were released. The case is officially unsolved.

 

              When Stanley was arrested, the Troy (Ala) Messenger published an article that mostly reported the same information as the other papers, but they added that, “Stanley has been under suspicion as he is said to have had trouble with the murdered man.”   No other references to this “trouble” could be found.  When the Acreman’s moved from Mobile to Opp, did Mr. Acreman have some kind of run-in with Stanley? I got a message over a year ago, stating that the farm Acreman was working was owned by the Stanley family of the Opp area.

 

            There are many articles, in southern Alabama newspapers about confrontations with the law by Joe Stanley. It’s not possible to know if there were multiple Joe Stanley’s living in the area during the same time frame.  There was an article added to Joe Stanley’s Find A Grave memorial that told the story of Jocephus Stanley’s death on March 8, 1928.  I pretty sure this is the same Joe Stanley that had been arrested in the Acreman murders.  Stanley was a policeman in Phenix City, Alabama, which is just across the Chattahoochee river from Columbus, Georgia.  In the middle of the river on an island that is sometimes claimed by both Alabama, and Georgia, Stanley was shot during a confrontation with a gang of gamblers, and bootleggers that based themselves in the “no man’s land”.  Stanley was attempting to arrest a George Chambers who was a customer of James Jennette.  Stanley had been informed of some threats directed at him and went to ask Jennette about it.  During the confrontation, Jennette pulled a pistol and fired three shots. Two missed, but the third hit Stanley in the stomach. Another officer hit Jennette in the head, and at the same time Stanley backed off a few feet, and fired one time, hitting Jennette in the body.  They were loaded in the same car and taken to the hospital, where both died. His body was brought back to Opp where he was buried.

            William K. Smith, or Kitchen Willie Smith died in 1916, and is buried with his wife in Monroeville, Alabama.

            Ralph Clifford, (R.C.) Beagle died in Pensacola of Tuberculosis on 12 July 1907, and his body was escorted by his sister back to Michigan and buried at the Brady Hill Cemetery in Saginaw. 

 

              The Acreman family is interred in one mass grave in the Jay Cemetery.  The grave is next to Amanda’s parents, and an older brother.  Their headstone has the quote: 

 

“No pain, no grief, not anxious fear can reach our loved ones sleeping here.”

 

 

Afterword

 

            There is a very well written book by Bill James, and his daughter, Rachel, titled: The Man from The Train, The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery.

 

            It is the story of a long series of Axe murders across the country that occurred from 1898 through 1912.  The Acreman murders near Allentown, fit right into this narrative.  Even setting the fire after the killing was part of the killer’s technique.  He quite possible killed over 100 people in this manner and rarely left any survivor.

 

             The Villisca Iowa killing of the Moore family is also part of this story.  He makes a rather compelling case, due to the similarities among these many, many murders.  The fires, proximity to rail road tracks, covering the face of some of the victims, and many more examples.

 

             The suspect was a German immigrant named Paul Mueller who killed his first victim in Brookfield, Mass.  Many of his murders occurred in rural areas close to logging which is probably how he supported himself.  He never robbed his victims, usually leaving valuables in plain sight.

 

            It is a very compelling case study.  Were the Acreman’s killed in a random manner by a psychopath riding the rails? It is hard for me to believe that Stanley, and Smith could have done something like this. I don’t think it would have been the only case of this type in the area, if that was the case. Likely, we will never know for sure.

___________________________________________________________________________________

 I found the Jail Docket for the arrests of Joe Stanley, and Wm Smith where they were logged into the Santa Rosa Co., jail after they were brought to Milton.

You can see Beagle's name listed as the one making the arrest, and where Stanley was brought from Geneva, Co., Alabama. This was for the Justice of the Peace. The next two are for a "Commissioner's Court."