Wake County Farmer Shoots Wife: A Murder/Suicide in New Light

My family tree is full of nuts. Just like most family trees. But I've been struck by how many of my family members have either been killed, killed others, or committed suicide in the early part of the 1900s.  From gambling, drinking, and jealousy - these stories really underscore the power of alcohol and the tragedy behind guns. Nothing has really changed in that regard, right?

The sad story of a murder and a suicide ensues.

Charles "Charlie" Eaton DAVIS was the fourth child of my great great grandparents, John Ruffin DAVIS and wife Lucinda DAVIS. (Yes, a DAVIS married a DAVIS...happens all the time.) 

Charlie was born 27 June 1870, the first child born to John Ruffin and Lucinda since the civil war ended, although he was their third child. I strongly suspect Charlie was the child of a civil war veteran but I'm having trouble pinning that one down.

When he was 26 years old, Charlie married Sophronia Lillian O'NEAL on 27 Dec 1896. Known as "Lillian" or "Lilli", she was the daughter of Albert Dawson "Doss" O'NEAL and wife Sarah Washington MANGUM. She was a well respected young woman and often referred to as "cultured". I can only imagine what passed for "culture" in rough and tumble New Light in the early 1900s.

Lillian's brother, William Niles O'NEAL, was a prominent moonshiner in the area and had even been referred at times as "King of the Harricanes", which is what the geographic area around New Light, NC was called. The Harricanes even have their own Facebook page: Land of Wild Weather, Creeks, Springs, Rocks, Secrets, Moonshine, Self-Reliance

Charlie and Lillian settled on a 100 acre farm which Charlie purchased J. K. RAY for $1000.00 on 8 Dec 1903.  It bordered land currently owned by Lillian's father, Doss O'NEAL, to the south. It was land formerly owned by Doss but sold to J.K. RAY who later sold it to Charlie.

Charlie and Lillian had 6 children on this farm:

1. Jesse Eaton DAVIS, born 02 Oct 1897 and died 17 Jul 1987. He shows as the informant on his mother's death certificate at just 23 years old. Jesse Eaton married Minnie E DAVIS about 3 years later on 19 Aug 1923.

2. Charles Allen DAVIS, born 09 May 1899 and died 06 Jan 1956. He was just 21 years old when his mother was shot. He married Nellie Ethel POWELL about a year later. 

3. Mariette DAVIS was born 12 May 1901 and died 21 Jun 1983. She would have been 19 when her father shot her mother. She married Gordan SHERRON 23 Dec 1923.

4. Maona Suphronia (assume this was Meona Sophronia) DAVIS was born 02 Jul 1903 and died 02 Sep 1975. She was just 17 when her mother died at her father's hand. She married Wiley Addison POWELL a year later on 27 Dec 1921. 

5. Five years after Maona, Leon DAVIS was born 29 Jan 1907 and died on 23 Mar 1908 at just over a year old. This was the child reported as deceased on the 1910 census when Charlie and Lillian said they had 4 living out of 5 children born.

6. Ten years after her brother Leon died, Pattie Lou DAVIS was born 01 Jun 1916 and would have been just 4 years old when her mother died. Pattie married Raymond S KEITH 14 Oct 1937 and died 18 Sep 2000.

Charlie's brother, Sidney Irwin DAVIS, was my great grandfather. Sid has a few colorful stories of his own, but none as harrowing as his brother's sad tale.

I've heard that Charlie spent some time in Dorthea Dix hospital in Raleigh NC for "mental issues", but I've found no proof. It's possible he was hospitalized for alcoholism, although alcoholism was reportedly rampant in the family at the time and I've heard of no other family members being hospitalized for it.  

In the pre-dawn hours of 1 Dec 1920, Charlie shot his wife Lillian 3 or 4 times through the head with a large caliber gun while she slept. He was drunk. Very drunk. All of the children were in the house at the time of the shooting.

An article in Raleigh's News and Observer on 30 Nov 1920 reads:

"Davis, who owns the most pretentious home in New Light township and has always been a highly respected citizen of his community, was carried to the Wake County jail yesterday morning in a drinken stupor, from which he did not begin to arouse until 6 o'clock yesterday evening and from which he had not fully recovered at a late hour last night. Mrs. Davis, a woman of some culture, was before her marriage a Miss O'Neal and was the sister of W. Niles O'Neal another prominent New Light farmer. She had spent all of her life in the community in which she died. There has been no suggestion of justification for her husband's act."

Oddly enough, Charlie was not the only Wake County farmer to shoot his wife that day. Sam P SHADRACK who lived near Charlie and Lillian, also shot his wife. Both men were incarcerated in the Wake County jail at the same time without bond. Both shootings were blamed on alcohol.

Lillian Davis O'Neal Death Certificate

Once Charlie roused from his binge, he was visited by his brother James Medicus "Med" DAVIS. Charlie didn't understand why he was in jail and was completely distraught when Med explained the circumstances. I'm told Med carried a great deal of guilt at the result of his revelation to Charlie. I bet.

The reason for Med's guilt? His brother committed suicide after learning he had shot his wife. Charlie hung himself with a bed sheet in the Wake County jail, two days after the death of his wife. His children lost both parents within a 48 hour period; their mother to domestic violence and their father to suicide.

Charles Eaton Davis Death Certificate

Charlie died without a will despite being a prosperous land owner. Probate was filed in Wake County NC on 3 Dec 1920 by his oldest son, Jesse.  His estate was valued at about $1500.00. Jesse E, Charles Allen, Maynetta, Patti, Mayamin (Maona?), and Una DAVIS were listed as entitled as heirs. Jesse, as estate administrator was granted a bond of $3000.

Both Charlie and Lillian, along with their infant son Leon, are buried in the Davis Family Cemetery at 7000 Hinton Road, Wake Forest, NC. The cemetery is located in a wooded area at the end of Hinton Road and is not well-maintained. There are only the three graves. 

Truly, a sad resting place for victims of a sad and tragic story.

New Light

My family has a rich and long history in the New Light area of northern Wake County, NC.  New Light is Wake County's northern most township and is just a hop, skip, and jump to Granville County. 

Many of my Allen and Ray family members are from New Light. It is an area that was long known for it's moonshiners and is now just a few miles from Raleigh city limits. My great grand parents Eugene Allen and Elizabeth Ray lived and are buried at New Light, as are a multitude of other related family members.

The area grew to have a mysterious nature and natives nurtured the "stay out" attitude. They did not like outsiders and they especially didn't like "revenuers" as moonshining was a powerful economic force.  

Elizabeth Murray's book on Wake County says "...the New Light (now Baptist) church in northern Wake County, was organized in 1775 and is repeatedly referred to in court records as "New Light Meeting House". It's name derives from a mid-eighteenth-century movement, away from established churches, by people who were called "New Lights". Subsequently in New Light Township(earlier, "District") in which the church is located took its name from the religious group, as had a creek in the same area."

From research and conversation, I've gleaned that New Light was named for the rebellious Baptist/Moravian "common man" Christians who migrated to the area in the mid-1700s. Check out what Charles Woodmason had to say about the "New Light Infestations".  Woodmason rebuked locals for "spitting tobacco, leaving the service during Prayer, whispering during the sermon, and not controlling unruly children."

Wake County Townships

Today, New Light is rural yet new subdivisions are popping up at an alarming rate. It has a population of about 7600 souls and covers about 50 square miles. It sits right on the Wake/Granville county lines on Falls Lake. It's a beautiful area and I frequently enjoy Sunday afternoon drives in the area checking out cemeteries and thinking about my family's connection with the land. 

Allen H. Ray, 1859 - 1936, Wake County, NC

My 2nd great grandfather on my maternal side, Allen H. RAY was born on 11 Nov 1859 in Johnston County, North Carolina, as the fifth child of James A. RAY and Martha Sarah (Sallie) GREEN. I'm curious to know how be got from Johnston County to the north end of Wake County in New Light, NC.

He had at least six siblings:

1. Sadus/Sardi
2. John
3. Wesley G
4. James Wiley
5. William Aaron
6. Sarah A.

When he was 26, Allen married Martha Hawkins PEARCE,daughter of George Wesley PEARCE and Elizabeth Caroline PERRY, on 03 Dec 1885 in Wake County, North Carolina. Their first child, Elizabeth, was born about a year later.

Allen shows up on all the right census records:

• 1860: North Western District, Wake County, age 9 months.
• 1870: New Light, NC at age 10 
• 1880: New Light, NC at age 20. He was still single and living with his parents.  
• 1890:  Census burned. Bummer.
• 1900:  New Light, NC at age 40. This time he shows up with a wife and kids.  
• 1910: New Light, NC at age 50. 
• 1920: Apparently the family moved on down the road to Brassfield in Granville County, NC. He was 62. 
• 1930: He had moved back to New Light, age 70. 

Allen H. RAY and Martha Hawkins PEARCE had five children:

1. Elizabeth RAY, born  24 Dec 1886 in Wake County. She died on 18 Apr 1928 in New Light at age 40 in childbirth. She married Eugene Narron ALLEN on 02 Jul 1904 in Wake County. These were my great grandparents. 
2. Mary Frances RAY born 13 May 1889 in Wake County. She died 14 Dec 1939 in Youngsville, Franklin County, NC. She married Johnnie O'NEAL in 1908 at her father's home.
3. James Arthur RAY born 11 Oct 1893 in Wake County. He died on 22 Jan 1957 in Wake County.
4. Arthur I RAY born about 1895 in Granville County. He died on 22 Jan 1957 in Wake County.
5. Loretta Jessie RAY born on 30 May 1907 in Wake County. She died on 07 Feb 1992 in Wake County at the age of 84. She married William Graham O'NEAL on 11 Jan 1926. 

Grandpa Allen worked all his life as a farmer. He probably spent a life time farming someone else's land however, I can't find any record that he ever owned land in Granville or Wake County.

Allen died on 26 Oct 1936 in New Light at the age of 76 of heart failure. His wife was 64 when Allen died. She lived another 17 years without him.

Allen is buried in the Smith-Perry Cemetery (also called the Smith Family Cemetery) in Wake Forest, NC. It is located at the corner of Purnell Road (SR 1909) and Hinton Road (SR 1916).  His son James and wife Beulah are also buried there with their son Woodrow, who died in infancy in 1918. 

Eugene Narron ALLEN and Elizabeth RAY

Eugene Narron ALLEN and Elizabeth RAY were married on July 2, 1904 in Wake County, NC.  He was 24, she was 17.  He was called Bud and she Sissy by their families. Their first child, my grandfather Atlas ALLEN, was born 11 months later. 

Sissy continued having children on a fairly regular basis about every 2 or 3 years until her last child was born in 1928 for a total of 8 children. There would have likely been more children, but Sissy died in childbirth with Marvin Eugene ALLEN.

I imagine Bud and Sissy had a tough life. Both were from poor farming families. To make ends meet, Bud was quite active in the moonshine business, a common endeavor at the time in Wake and Granville County, NC. He served some time in jail and on a road crew - on a couple of occasions - leaving his wife at home with the children for long periods. When he wasn't in jail or running moonshine, Bud was a sharecropper farming cotton.

They lived in the New Light area of Wake County, NC which is in the far northern part of the county near the Granville County line.

They were married by WH CHAPPEL, Justice of the Peace at the home of Al WILSON. Al also served as a witness along with HF CHAPPEL and JW PERRY. 

Eugene Narron ALLEN Gravestone

Eugene N. Allen, 1880 - 1938
In Loving Memory

Eugene Narron ALLEN - my great grandfather - was born, lived, and died in Wake County, North Carolina.  He must have been a real rough and tumble fellow. 

His official occupation was farmer, but his unofficial occupation (and likely the real source of his income) was moonshiner. His son, Atlas, "ran" his father's moonshine, which means he sold and delivered from the trunk of his Buick. My mother was also pressed into service from time to time making deliveries - way before she was really old enough to drive. 

In May of 1927, Eugene was sentenced to 6 months on a road crew (better known as a chain gang) as a result of his illegal activities. Atlas also did a little jail time around 1934 for his part in the family business. 

Eugene lost his wife, Lizzy RAY ALLEN, when she gave birth to their 8th child, Marvin Eugene ALLEN. He was left to raise and support 8 children on his own. 

Eugene died at age 58 from heart disease, likely brought on by a lifetime of smoking and hard drinking. If you've ever tasted real moonshine, you know what I mean by HARD drinking! The stuff is truly nasty and burns like the dickens going down. The reason I know this is because my aunt always kept a mason jar - complete with rusty lid -  of it under her kitchen sink, and us kids would get a little taste at Christmastime. Family values in the south can be a little twisted, huh?

Eugene is buried at New Light Baptist Church in the northernmost part of Wake County. His wife Lizzy is buried next to him. 

Allan RAY and Martha Hawkings PEARCE

Allan RAY and Martha Hawkings PEARCE are my great great grandparents. They lived most of their lives right where their ancestors and descendants lived in New Light, Wake County, NC. Just up the road from me. In fact, Ray Road is just two stoplights away. 

Isn't that a great name?  Hawkings. I'm told her nickname was "Hawk Pearce". You know how some folks are called by their first AND last name as though it were their first name? Hawk Pearce. I have to wonder about that name. Hawkings must have been a family name somewhere along the way, but I haven't figured that out yet.  

A family member commented that she wore a lot of rouge. Most of our family has lily white skin, so I can just imagine what that must have looked like!

Grandma Hawk was just 18 years old when she married Grandpa Allan in December of 1885. At 29 years old, he was an "older man". I've wondered if he was married before her, but I can't find any record of such. 

They raised 5 children including my great grandmother, Elizabeth (Sissy) RAY ALLEN. They had been married for 51 years when Grandpa Allan died in 1936. She died 17 years later in 1953. 

Both passed away from heart issues. Maybe it was all that fatback, fried chicken, and lard biscuits. The standard country southern diet.

My Aunt Mamie

I will never forget her. My Aunt Mamie was my grandfather's sister. She was born on December 11, 1907. My birthday is December 12. She thought it was perfectly wonderful our birthdays were just a day apart. 

Mamie cared for and helped raise her six younger siblings after her mother, Elizabeth RAY ALLEN (Sissy), died in childbirth. I'm sure she did a lot more than "help" raise them - her father was a moonshiner and spent more than a few nights in jail. Mamie was 21 years old when her mother died giving birth to Marvin Eugene ALLEN. 

The family lived in the New Light area of Wake County, NC. That's just north of Raleigh and just south of the Granville County line. 

At some point, probably in the early 1940s, Mamie moved to Raleigh where she took a job in the laundry of Dorthea Dix State Mental Hospital. She and her sister Henrietta walked from Neuse (near the intersection of present day I-540 and US 401) to Dix - approximately 11 miles following the railroad track to work each way. 

Later, she became a very accomplished seamstress working for Caudle's Tailor Shop in downtown Raleigh by day and moonlighting by night to make ends meet. She lived in a small house on Bloodworth Street and then in a two story house on Pace Street, both near downtown Raleigh.

Her father Eugene was living with her in the house on Pace Street when he died. Her brother Bill - who was diabetic and was suffered from mild mental retardation- also lived with her. I never heard him speak but he always had a smile a mile wide.

Aunt Mamie was the hardest working woman I've known. She cared for her father and her siblings all her life. She had a 6th grade education and never married.  She extremely humble and devoted herself to caring for her family. 

Somewhere along the way she learned how to make the MOST FABULOUS 8-layer chocolate cake I've ever tasted. I was not allowed many sweets as a child (perhaps that explains a lot!), but Aunt Mamie would always sit me down at her little kitchen table and put a piece of cake and a big glass of orange juice in front of me as though she thought the juice would negate the cake.

Aunt Mamie died in 1982. She is buried in New Light Baptist Church Cemetery just a few miles from where she was born.