The Racial Murder in FiftySix Texas in 1952

The Racial Murder in FiftySix Texas in 1952The year was 1952 in Fiftysix, Texas, there was a brutal murder of Mary, an African American eleven-year-old girl she was asphyxiated.

The sheriff, Charles T. Ware, is an upstanding and well-respected man and is his family. He was bound and determined to solve what might be the grisliest case of his career.

Another hot and dry day has begun in the small town of Fiftysix an out-of-the-way place in central Texas.

It hasn’t rained in a few weeks and everything was drying up. It, of course, was summertime and the schools were out. And the kids were outside playing his daughter included. Her best friend Mary was there playing with her. They were the same age and had the same classes together. Mary was a very polite girl and her family was all hard-working people.

Sheriff Ware headed out the door to get his day going. He spoke to the girls as he was getting into his patrol car, “You girls have fun and don’t get overheated”. They said that they wouldn’t as they waved bye to him. When sheriff Ware got to his office he got behind his desk and sat down in his chair. He got out a cigarette and he drew a match along the arm of the chair where the varnish was worn off to light it.

He had some paperwork to do and then some errands to run. As the day turned to evening he headed home from the sheriff’s office. He got a call on the radio 10-30 which is a call that there has been a homicide. As he responded he was trying to think of when the last homicide happened in this small town.

He couldn’t recall another murder ever happening. When he got to the scene he was met by one of his deputies that had found the body. He was physically shaken by what he saw. The deputy said it was a little local African-American girl and the sheriff instantly thought of Mary.

When he got to where the body was he was taken back by the sight of the little girl. The sheriff started crying and saying, “Why? Why? Why did this have to happen?” The sheriff was trembling and still sobbing when the coroner got there.

The coroner pronounced Mary dead. The sheriff had the burdensome job of delivering the news of Mary’s death to her parents. As he pulled up he saw her little brothers were still outside playing and he couldn’t face them.

He knocked on the door and Mary’s mother came to the door. She said, “Evening sheriff.” She could see the mournful look on his face. He said, “can I come inside?” She moved aside and let him in.

The sheriff said, “I need to tell you and your husband some horrendous news. Can you ask the kids to go outside, please?” She told the kids to go outside and when they were all out she said, “What is it, sheriff?” “Is it about my Mary?”

The sheriff shook his head yes. She broke down crying and her husband came to her side and led her to the chair to sit down. The sheriff was sobbing as well. He finally found enough strength to say, “This is not easy and it hurts me almost as much as it, will you. I loved that little girl as if she was my own.”

Mary’s father said, “What happened to Mary, sheriff?” The sheriff said, “That she was found murdered alongside the road leading to the park.” Stay tuned

© 2017 Paul Cox All Rights Reserved

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