From Days Gone By Sept. 17, 1926

 September 17, 1926.

    A deplorable killing occurred Wednesday afternoon in the eastern part of the county, about a half mile west of Powell's Chapel at a 75 foot bridge across Smith Branch on a road leading to Davis bridge. Clifton Powell was shot through the heart with a 38 Special, 6 inch S. & W. pistol.

    Sidney Lamp, about 22, a son of Mr. B. J. Lamp, Sr., was charged after an inquest by Coroner Loring R. Clayton. Lamp is unmarried. Powell had a wife and two children. He was 29 and his parents are dead.

    It is said the men came up to the bridge from opposite direction traveling in buggies. The shooting took place close to the butment of the bridge. Also, there were two eye witnesses to the killing, John Veal and Walter Lamp, a brother of Sidney.

    Mr. A. S. Norris said he was called by Ben Lamp to come to the scene and came at once. Tracks of Powell's mule and buggy led about 500 yards or more to where the mule was grazing. The dead man was lying in the foot of the buggy with his head hanging out. Mr. Norris said he had some cotton pickers about 75 yards from the buggy and he called to C. J. Watson and John B. Price to come help take the body out of the buggy and lay it on the ground to wait for the Coroner.

    Mr. Norris called for the Sheriff and Coroner and they came quickly to hold the inquest. On the jury was H. B. Bray, Fluker Tarbutton, O. A. Kennedy, Jr., F. J. Pritchard, W. S. Pool and James Harrison. The witnesses were A. S. Norris, J. N. Powell, Walter Lamp, John B. Price, B. A. Lamp, John Veal and a couple more.

    Thursday some other evidence came concerning the range of the bullet and Judge Camp ordered an autopsy done by Dr. S. M. Johnson, county physician. Afterwards Powell was buried at Oaky Grove. The autopsy revealed the bullet pierced the heart going straight through and downward. Late Friday a warrant charging John Veal with murder and Sheriff Claxton went to the scene of the homicide where Veal and some friends were, and was arrested.

    A negro man named Culver died in the Peggy Snell mill race some time Friday afternoon when he dived off the embankment into the hole, his head hitting some timbers hidden beneath the water. Two negro men were hauling water from the mill race to the saw mill of Mr. Joe Brantley some little distance away and on this trip Culver decided to cool off by jumping in. The other man watched him go in, come back out and dive again, he only saw him again one time before he went down to stay. A search was started but it would be Saturday before he was found by using a long stretch of wire fence as a net, they dragged him out and found bad wounds on his head and face. He was taken home to Sparta for burial.

    Miss Eleanor Stanley, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Vivian L. Stanley, wed Mr. H. R. Hodges of Greenville, S. C. Col. E. L. Stephens of Dublin and Col. H. T. Hicks of Wrightsville formed a law practice in Wrightsville.