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16 • SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 2009
COURTHOUSE MEMORIES • THE SEA COAST ECHO
Old memories are new again
BY ELLIS C. CUEVAS Publisher Emeritus
Back in the days when I was a student at St. Stanislaus Day School on Bookter Street, across from the L&N Depot, I can remember a man who always wore a black hat and black suit. To us his name was 'Hangman' Johnson.
Apparently he never owned a vehicle - he walked wherever he went and lived in the vicinity of the school, so we saw him frequently. If Mr. Johnson was walking down a street, we kids would always cross to the other side.
In the jail located behind the Hancock County Courthouse, there was a place installed for hangings. The rumor was that Mr. Johnson's job was to hang people.
When I was a youngster, the Hancock County Courthouse was one of three massive structures on Main Street. The other two were Hancock Bank and the Masonic Temple.
The Hancock County Courthouse was the center of activity on Main Street - all county related business took place there. Since the jail was behind the courthouse, the
Ellis C. Cuevas
sheriff & tax collectors office - which was combined at the time - was in the courthouse too.
The most talked about jury trials I can recall hearing about were the three trials for Cowboy Dale Morris in the mid-1950's. At that time I was in the Army, so I was not in town for the big trials that had national coverage.
Even with the courtroom being at its original size, the Dale Morris trials had crowds so great they flowed down the front and back stairs out the doorways with folks trying to
• See MEMORIES Page 20
PUm Darrin “Bo”
mm
HANCOCK COUNTY SUPERVISOR DISTRICT 5
(228) 216-9926
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