Chattahoochee Brick Company convict flyers

Collection

Collection number: ahc.MSS666f

Scope and Content

This collection includes two convict flyers. Dated January 20, 1888, the first one offers a total reward of $450 for the return of two convicts and two mules to the Chattahoochee Brick Company in Atlanta, Georgia. The convicts of the Georgia Penitentiary escaped from the Chattahoochee Brick Company’s camp on the Chattanooga, Rome & Columbus (C. R. & C.) Railroad on January 19, 1888. Julius K. Ward, of Floyd County, had been sentenced to seven years for voluntary manslaughter, and his fellow escapee, William Henderson, of Clay County, had been sentenced to ten years for intent to murder. The Chattahoochee Brick Company offered $200 for each man, and $25 for each mule.

The second convict flyer, dated March 7, 1888, offers $50 each for the return of five escaped convicts, also from the Georgia Penitentiary. The five men escaped from the camp on the C. R. & C. Railroad. Their crimes ranging from cattle stealing and burglary to murder, they included: Mack Holloway, Chatham County; Alphens Martin, Liberty County; Calvin Lockett, Macon County; Sandy Polite, Fulton County, and Hugh Conley, Rockdale County.

In addition to the convicts’ names, crimes, and county of residence, the flyers provide ages and physical descriptions of the convicts, including height, weight, race, and distinguishing characteristics. There is no explanation for the disparity in the rewards offered for the two groups of escaped convicts.

Dates

1888

Creator

Chattahoochee Brick Company (Atlanta, Ga.) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. All requests to publish, quote, or reproduce must be submitted through the Kenan Research Center.

Administrative/Biographical History

James W. English, J. W. Murphy, and Benjamin G. Lockett founded the Chattahoochee Brick Company in 1878 as B. G. Lockett & Company. In 1885, the corporation was renamed the Chattahoochee Brick Company, with James W. English and W. B. Lowe as the sole owners. James W. English served as president until 1925.

The Brick Company’s financial success in its early years was largely due to its use of the convict lease system, which allowed individuals or companies to pay the state of Georgia for unfree workers. Although the language of the act provided for the humane and proper treatment of the convicts, the reality often differed. In 1978, General Shale Products Corporation purchased the Chattahoochee Brick Company, ending a century of private ownership.