Blind Obedience: A True Story of Family Loyalty and Murder in South Georgia

by Bill Boyd

When three teenage boys stood accused of killing two children in another family in 1905, the three were charged with murder and two faced the hangman's noose. But was it really murder? A judge said no, that the boys had simply obeyed their father's instructions. They were guilty, he said, "only of blind obedience."

The trials of Joe Rawlins—a popular, well-to-do South Georgia farmer, a Baptist preacher and father of five—and his sones ended a bitter feud that lasted for more than twenty years. Joe Rawlins and W. L. Carter argued over property rights, stray livestock, fishing rights, even each other's character. Rawlins moved twice and each time he thought he had seen the last of his archenemy. But each time, Carter showed up and bought land bordering Rawlins' farm. Was it a coincidence or was Rawlins being pursued? As the acrimony peaked, Rawlins tried to kill Carter, but failed. Then he hired an assassin and sent his own sons to wipe out the entire Carter family. But the only victims of the attempt were two teenage Carter children.

The trials that followed brought a festival atmosphere to Valdosta, Georgia. Excursion trains ferried several thousand people to town for the trial. Joe Rawlins became one of the most quoted condemned men in Georgia history, and the demand for accounts of the trial and subsequent appeals turned the twice-a-week Valdosta Times into a daily newspaper.

Blind Obedience tells how the testimony of Alf Moore, an African-American man, was critical to putting a white man on the gallows, possibly the first time a black man's testimony was taken so seriously. The book also documents a series of appeals by Macon attorney John Randolph Cooper that delayed the hanging of Rawlins for sixteen months, a respite that was unheard of at the time. Even today, the Rawlins case is remembered as the most famous murder case in the history of Lowndes County, as well as one of the most notorious in Southern history.

239 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

Retired Macon Telegraph columnist Bill Boyd led a nomadic existence for the first 38 years of his life, first as the son of an Oklahoma sharecropper and then as a member of the United States Marine Corps.

Reviews

[Jim Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never read a nonfiction book where I was so closely acquainted with the characters. In this case, the Carters are longtime neighbors and family friends--although I only know them through descendants two generations removed. Nevertheless, I have family pictures with one of the principals who was very young and in the house when the attack occurred that left several dead. My hat is off to Bill Boyd. He took a story of legendary proportions and created a very accessible, well-written page turner. His research and the way he connects everything is just wonderful. The two principals were both villainous in my eyes, and yet, there's something compelling about them as well--a sad what might have been if things had sorted them out well. The only thing I found hard to square was the young Joe Rawlins with the old Joe Rawlins. He was portrayed as so warm and caring as a young boy and young man--and then so heartless by the story's end. I could sense the evolution of his heart, but all in all, it didn't square up with me. That said, this is a wonderful book--about a tale that has been handed down through generations. Oddly enough, one of Mr. Carter's great-granddaughters actually rekindled my interest in finding the book and learning more about the story. I knew it was a sensational story in South Georgia, but never realized the degree of national notoriety it achieved.

[Ladawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is, believe it or not, from my family line. The wife of Rawlins is indeed a blood relative. My mom happened across it a couple months ago. I've heard that it isn't a happy read but is a page turner nonetheless. Yes, I believe we all have skeletons in the closet somewhere from past generations. I'm excited to read it

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tragic story but well written. Bill Boyd (http://www.macon.com/2010/03/10/10534...) did an excellent job, this is just enough folksy, gossipy, and engrossing to be a good read.

[Debbie Wooten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool! True story of murder in south Georgia, and I know people who are related.

[Misty Lynn Ussery Rawlins Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Rawlins is my Grate Grandaddy I'm the Grand Daughter of Lottie Belle Ussery Rawlins. Daughter of Raymond Johnnie Ussery Rawlins.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! I can't believe how a father would let his children suffer.