Information gathered from family stories, relatives, newspapers and Detective magazines, Libraries and Court Houses. Genealogy: Abe Baxter was my gr gr grandpapa's gr nephew. (My great grandpapa J. W. Baxter, Escatawpa, Alabama, Washington County. We are always interested in any information to add to our story. Corrections are always accepted. I was sending this story to the "Black Sheet List" and thought I would share it with others who might have heard about the story thru the years. ABE BAXTER--Washington County, Alabama. This will be an ongoing story as my daughter and I and several relatives look into the details of it. This story made the crime magazines of the day. Seventy years later the people of Washington County Alabama are still well familiar with the story. I will go ahead and print the basics based on what we know and have heard. Abe Baxter is a distant cousin of mine. Abe lived in the community of Epworth Alabama in Washington County. Washington County is about 40 miles from Mobile and is on the border of Mississippi and Alabama. Abe was a barber and owned a shop just down the road in Fruitdale, Alabama. He also drove a school bus, that is why I included a picture of Fruitdale High School, We are pretty sure it was on his rounds. Abe was married and had four children. He seemed to be well liked by the community. Most of it anyway. in 1932 Abe along with his nephew Gene Mizell, left and spent two weeks in Arkansas. The plan was Abe was moving but his family was not. Story goes Abe was leaving his family for his teenage mistress. Abe had been warned about his improper behavior with this girl. On the night of his leaving town, Abe, along with Gene Mizelle met with some friends for one last deer hunt or card game. We have heard two versions of this. The men were Joe Scumro, Wash Daily, who was Abe's Brother in law, his wife's brother, actually. Also included were Wes Berry,who was the young girls daddy, and a man named (K)Nollie Mizell. Abe had sold his barber shop and school bus and was carrying the money to start a new life in Arkansas. The men met up with Abe and Gene on the road that runs from Vinegar Bend to Deer Park. Daily, the Brother in law asked Abe for some money and at first Abe did not want to give it to him, saying he needed it to start his new life. He grudgingly decided to loan Daily a small amount. Gene, the nephew, was ordered by Scumro to shoot Abe. Gene did this, but did not kill Abe. Abe was then beaten to death. The body was moved to a barn or shed like structure on some land owned by a man of the name of Strimmich who just happened to be Gene's step Dad, and left there. Scumro returned days later to check on things and saw that someone was attracted to the building because of the large amount of Buzzards that were hanging around. Scumro saw that the person did not see Abe and quickly gathered the others to tell them they had to move and get rid of the body in another way. The body was then moved to an area known as the cross roads very close to the Mississippi state line. It was then decided that the body would be boiled down. Abe was then cut up and boiled, his bones wrapped in some kind of cloth tied into a sack and hung from a tree limb. We have not found this in any written or official form, but the word from relatives and other locals familiar with the story has been that Abe smelled so good while cooking that several of the men had to taste him! Most of the men involved, had motives or reasons for their participation in Abe's murder. Gene seemed to love his Uncle so his was probably fear of the other men, Scumro especially. Scumro probably was in it for the money. Berry was probably not pleased with Abe's relationship with his teenaged daughter and Daily was probably upset for his Sister. We think Nollie might have just been at the wrong place at the wrong time. Abe's disappearance was not a major concern since it was known he was leaving town. After a while, maybe close to a year, Gene cracked and let it slip that Abe was guarding the crossing. This was revealed at a party attended by several young people. One young man decided to go and check the crossing and found Abe's bones scattered on the ground, the sack had dry rotted. Abe was positively identified by a steel pin in his leg. Gene Mizell served no time for his participation in this crime. Neither did Nollie Mizell. Scumro,Daily and Berry served prison terms at Kilby prison. Not very long terms either! For many years Abe's bones remained in the Police Department in Chatham, Alabama. In around 1942 Abe was finally laid to rest in the Cemetery at Epworth Church. <http://www.angelfire.com/weird2/georgia/ofs/abe1.jpg> 5. Voncile BAXTER There are errors in the following. I left the errors in, because this was the original way it was written. I wanted to keep it as near as I could the way it was pass down. Sandra maiden name Waldrop Great great grandpapa- J. W. Baxter Children: James Monroe Baxter, Lucy Baxter Long, Clarenda Baxter Long, Elizabeth Baxter Platt and Sarah Baxter Waldrop J. W. Baxter's brother.....William Nobel Baxter his son William Nobel Baxter, Jr, his son William Able Baxter.