Thurman’s Death Certificate Uncovered

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Logan Banner Tuesday, September 3, 1985

By Dwight Williamson

If you don’t have it on paper, you don’t have it. Just about any government bureaucrat will tell you that.

You may be standing and breathing before one of ’em and if you don’t have a birth certificate, you aren’t officially alive and couldn’t prove it in court.

And, if you don’t have a death certificate, no one could prove you are dead, either. Sometimes the lack of either can cause a person a great deal of grief and financial loss.

In the case of Mamie Thurman, whose death certificate has been hard in turning up, it hasn’t caused much grief, but it has raised a lot of questions, mostly about a cover-up over the location of her burial place, which is yet to be located.

But, at least one part of this mystery came to an end this week when officials at Honaker Funeral Home in Logan turned up with a certified copy of the famous “vixen of Stratton Street’s” death certificate.

We all knew she was dead… but, where was she buried? Why has the grave become so hard to find? Was she murdered mercilessly by someone who may have wanted to keep something secret, or by a lover in a fit of rage, jealous, or by a conspiracy…did she know too much about too many people?

The certificate states plainly that the murdered temptress was buried in 1932 in a cemetery in McConnell. Others are now beginning to verify that fact, some who even helped bury the woman.

Now that the death certificate has been found and new information is coming forth, maybe Mamie Thurman’s brother George Morrison can place a proper marker on her grave.

It was that desire which opened the Pandora’s Box of information about Mamie Thurman some three weeks ago when The Banner began writing about the case. Since then scores of people have contacted The Banner with bits of information about the killing, the funeral, the burial, most of which raises even more questions than answers.

There is no question the murder then as now garnered much interest. It literally held thousands spellbound with its revelations and its consequences for a county in the throes of economic and political change…changes which since have molded a county into what it is today.

What is described then in The Banner as “the most interesting murder trial in the history of the court”, was winding down four days after the actual trial of Clarence Stephenson started and about four months after the gruesome murder of Mrs. Thurman, for which Stephenson was charged.

Testimony had been heard from numerous witnesses, both for the defense and the prosecution. The overflowing crowds which had been present even as far back as the first Magistrate hearings still were packing the Logan courthouse.

Harry Robertson, Stephenson’s “white master” and a prominent politician and banker, as well as a previous suspect in the murder of Mrs. Thurman, was one of the final witnesses re-called to the stand by defense attorney C. C. Chambers. Robertson’s previous statements concerning his illicit affairs with Mamie Thurman had drawn more interest than the death of Mrs. Thurman. Robertson was on the witness stand briefly this final day.

Robertson’s testimony was mostly a repeat of earlier statements he had made. The only interesting part of his final testimony was when Chambers mentioned the list of names of prominent Logan men who allegedly had relations with Mrs. Thurman. In earlier testimony, Robertson said Mrs. Thurman had given him a list of those persons.

The prosecution quickly objected when Chambers asked Robertson about the list. Judge Naaman Jackson sustained the objection and ruled the question be stricken from the official record.

When the testimony and final arguments were over — there were many who thought it would be hours before a decision would be reached. However, 50 minutes later the jury returned with a guilty verdict, with a recommendation of mercy for Stephenson. The verdict carried with it life imprisonment.

Chambers immediately entered a motion for a new trial and a hearing date was set.

During the last few minutes of the trial anonymous notes addressed to prosecutor John (Con) Chafin were found by several women waiting for the return of the jury. The notes said the writer saw the crime committed. Judge Jackson also received a note the day after the trial.

The Banner reported only that prosecutors Emmett Scaggs and Chafin did not think there was “anything to the letters.”

Later, in addressing Stephenson before passing judgement, Judge Jackson said: “I was of the opinion that the jury was warranted in returning the verdict they did. I am still of that opinion. There is no middle ground. I feel the court is not warranted in setting a new date for a trial.”

Before being sentenced, Stephenson said: “I am not guilty. I have no knowledge of the crime I am accused of. I tried to tell the truth. I hope the law won’t stop until they find the guilty parties.”

Judge Jackson replied: “It is a little hard for the court to take the balance of a man’s life when he stands up and says he is an innocent man.” Jackson then passed the mandatory sentence. Stephenson was given 90 days in order to make an appeal to the Supreme Court.

On November 15, pleas from the Logan County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People went out across the country to raise the $600 needed to make the appeal. Fifty-six churches in Logan began taking donations. A countywide mass meeting was conducted at Aracoma High School, with both whites and blacks attending.

The Banner reported: “Throughout the count, into every coal camp, is going the earnest appeal of the committee.”

A ‘tremendous’ crowd gathered at Aracoma High School according to The Banner account The Omar Jug Band, numerous religious singing groups and others participated as funds were secured. There was little money in Logan in 1932, and Negroes had less than anyone. Even after the rally, the financial halfway point had not been reached, and on final rally was scheduled.

Even then the county obviously felt that Stephenson didn’t do it.

But, he went to prison anyway and died there some years later of stomach cancer.

So goes the story of hundreds like him…black, poor, subjugated and in jail for a crime he may not have committed.

The external consciences of the guilty may not rest.

(NEXT Part 15: “I Helped Dig Mamie Thurman Grave At McConnell”; Supreme Court Turns Down Stephenson Appeal).

Dwight Williamson is a former writer for the Logan Banner and a retired magistrate for Logan County.

*Published with the author’s permission.

*Special thanks to Mark Edward Jones for providing a clipping of this article.

Read more about the murder Mamie Thurman.

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