Thirty-five-year-old Pennsylvania native Elmer Raines arrived at the Virginia Penitentiary on 14 July 1909.  Raines was convicted of forgery in the Roanoke Corporation Court and sentenced to four years in prison.  At the time of his incarceration, Raines had two known aliases:  Henry Fairfax and Frank Fairfax.  Penitentiary officials also learned of a new one:  William H. Reynolds.  On 2 February 1911, Penitentiary Superintendent J.B. Wood received a letter from a Mrs. William H. Reynolds of Macon, Georgia, inquiring if her husband, Elmer Raines, would be paroled in July.  “I have tried to be patient,” Mrs. Reynolds wrote, “and sometimes think I can not get along alone and make a living[,] however I have been very successful so far.”  By June 1911, Mrs. Reynolds’ fortunes had changed.  “[K]indly do all you can to get [Raines] pardoned in July,” she wrote Wood, “for I need his protection more than I can tell you.”  The Virginia Penitentiary Board of Directors paroled Raines on 15 July 1911.

Two days after his release, Raines wrote Wood informing him that he found employment in the barber shop of the Guerrant Hotel in Richmond.  “Saturday [15 July 1911] was the happiest day of my life,” he wrote Wood, “[and] I really believe that Mrs. Reynolds is happier today than I ever saw her before.”  The letter was signed William H. Reynolds (Raines).  Wood replied on 21 July 1911.  “It is a source of pleasure to me to know,” Wood wrote, “that those who have ever of necessity had to stop at my hotel, leave with a kindly feeling towards the proprietor.”  Reynolds fortune changed by August.  “I had to give up the shop at the Guerrant Hotel, as it was not paying me,” he wrote Wood on 7 August 1911.  “I got duply [sic] in debt so I decided to give it up before I got in the hole further.”

Raines/Reynolds returned to the Penitentiary on 1 November 1911 under the name of Charles H. Kimball (No. 10455).  Kimball was convicted of forgery in the Norfolk City Corporation Court and sentenced to two years in the Penitentiary.  He also had to serve the remainder of his sentence from his previous conviction under the name of Raines.  There was no parole or second chance in Kimball’s future.  He was transferred to the Penitentiary State Farm in Goochland County where he died on 17 January 1915 from grippe and mitral regurgitation.

-Roger Christman, Senior State Records Archivist

Forty-two-year-old Joe Perry of Buchanan County arrived at the Virginia Penitentiary on 30 August 1906 to begin serving a ten-year sentence for second degree murder.  He was a model prisoner and did not violate any rules during his incarceration.  In May 1909, Perry found a repeating shotgun which one of the guards had left in a common area of the penitentiary and returned it to prison officials.  On 14 December 1910, this incident, along with Perry’s good conduct and clemency petitions submitted by Buchanan County citizens, led Governor William Hodges Mann to commute his sentence to eight years.  This made Perry parole eligible.  Five days later the Virginia Penitentiary Board of Directors granted it without requiring Perry to secure employment.

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Upon his return home to Council, Virginia, Perry wrote Superintendent J.B. Wood on 14 January 1911 to thank him.  “I feel that I owe you so many thanks for the kind treatment I received from you and your officials during my time there,” wrote Perry.  “I can’t find words sufficient to express them.”  Perry stated that he had a good job with the Clinchfield Coal Company.   “[N]o matter where I may be,” Perry concluded, “you have my best wishes and will also ask that you give all the guards my best wishes.”  Wood replied two days later.  “You conducted yourself while here as a true man ought to,” Wood wrote.  You “gave good service and [were] a respectful and obedient servant to those in authority over you” and upon your discharge received “the good will and best wishes of every man who has anything to do with the management of the prison.”  Wood wished Perry the best and added “that you may be guided by the hand of an All Wise Providence who never deserts those who look to [H]im for help when they need it.”

In a 23 March 1911 letter, Perry thanks Wood for his comments on his conduct while at the Penitentiary.  “While there,” he wrote, “I certainly did try to be a true and obedient man, and it gives me much pleasure to show your letters to my many friends.”  Perry added that he “was rewarded by the kindness of those who had the power over me.”  Perry expressed his desire to have his citizenship rights restored.  Perry ended his letter by asking Wood to “give my love to all the officers and best wishes for you.”  In his 31 March 1911 response, Wood updated Perry on the latest news from the Penitentiary, noting how little had changed since Perry’s release.  “Everything is going along as usual,” wrote Wood, with “few changes made where you used to hang out.”  Wood noted “Dr. Sam Smith wants to know how your leg is getting.  He is still giving bread pills and castor oil, salts and hot water at the Hospital.”  In other gossip Wood noted that “Old man Price and [John] Orrel are still well enough to get their regular doses of toddy every day.  Dutch Mullens is still watching the gate, and Hennings is picking grass in the back yard for his chickens.”  Wood also advised Perry to wait at least a year before applying to have his citizen rights restored.  Perry took his advice and his rights were restored on 16 May 1917 by Governor Henry Carter Stuart.

I attempted to learn what became of Perry after his parole.  Federal Census records and a family tree on ancestry.com while not definitive provide some clues.  Perry married Matilda Catherine Combs (1861-1924)  in 1895.  The couple had four children:  William Cecil (Willie) Perry (1897-1976), Fred Perry (1898-1983), Robert E. Perry (1900-1962), and Beecher Perry (1903-1966).  There is a Joe Perry in the 1930 census living as a boarder in Cabell County, West Virginia.  By 1940 Perry still resided in Cabell County but was married to Annie, a woman 30 years younger.  I was unable to learn when or where Perry died.

Next week:  Elmer Raines, 8824

-Roger Christman, Senior State Records Archivist

On 16 August 1912, 17-year-old Virginia Christian was electrocuted at the Virginia Penitentiary for the 18 March 1912 murder of Ida Belote, her white employer. Today, she remains the only woman to be executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia since the General Assembly centralized executions at the Virginia State Penitentiary in 1908. That historic distinction may be about to change. Barring any intervention by the judicial system or Governor Robert McDonnell, Teresa Lewis will be executed on 23 September 2010 at the Greensville Correctional Center for her role in the murder of her husband, Julian Lewis. Lewis’s pending execution has sparked renewed interest in the Christian case.

The Library of Virginia has a variety of documents concerning Virginia Christian’s execution. Rather than summarizing the case, I will let a representative sample of 51 documents tell the story from all sides: Christian’s family and her attorneys, Belote’s family, the prosecutor, and Governor William Hodges Mann. These documents were drawn from various State Records collections including:  Virginia Dept. of Corrections, State Penitentiary; Secretary of the Commonwealth, Executive Papers; and Records of Governor William Mann. Each image caption includes the citation of the document. The records of the Virginia State Penitentiary Collection, 1796-1991 (Accession 41558) are now open to researchers.

Readers interested in exploring how the Christian case was covered in the media should consult the Library of Virginia’s extensive newspaper collection. Click here for a select list of newspaper articles on the case. Derryn Moten’s 1998 dissertation, “A Gruesome Warning to Black Girls:  The August 16, 1912 Execution of Virginia Christian,” is a comprehensive history of the case. The Library has a copy on microfilm (Film 1497) that is available for in-library use only.  An article in the 15 September 2010 issue of Style Weekly, “Blood Sisters” by Melissa Scott Sinclair, explores the similaries between the Christian and Lewis cases.

-Roger Christman, Senior State Records Archivist
Original post edited for clarity

For more information on Ida V. Belote see Souls of the Departed:  Ida V. Belote

Transcription of George Fields Letter

Transcription of J. Thomas Newsome Letter

Transcription of Charlotte Christian Letter

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