The oldest child of seven of Eulon John Smith and Velma Earline Taylor was named Jerry John Smith. Jerry was born, according to his birth certificate, on 28 Jun 1939 in Smith Co. MS.  I have tried to get some details about his childhood from his brother, Larry, but have been unable to tie him down long enough to get anything.  However, he did have other siblings of which I have been able to get some valuable information out of.  Jerry’s siblings in order of age are:  Larry C. Smith (b. 1942), Linda E. Smith (b. 1946), Perry Smith (b. 1947 / d. 1947), Carey T. Smith (b. 1949), Virginia E. Smith (b. 1951 / d. 1996), and V. Darlene Smith (b. 1957).


First let’s get an idea of the times Jerry grew up in.  Although the great depression was said be over around 1938, the effects still remained in poorer portions of the states, such as Mississippi.  The south was still predominantly an agricultural area, meaning most people lived or worked on a farm or made a living indirectly from farming such as supply stores.  Although slavery was abolished in the 1860s with President Lincoln, the southern states (and in many parts still to this day) were still full of resent being forced to give up a portion of their way of life.  Prior to the 1860s, the south was a wealthy area due to farming and agriculture, yet perpetuated with slavery.  With the cost of the civil war, the loss of their cheap labor supply, and the effects of the great depression, the hundred years between 1860 and 1960 had developed in the southern culture distaste for outside intervention.  As most could do nothing about it, the hatred was diverted to those who also could do nothing about it, the black race (descendants of the slaves).  The black race was considered inferior to that of the white race and caused much tension in the south, which unfortunately still exists today.  

So Jerry was born into an environment of little money, little means, and cultural detestation.  Not to say that his family was that way.  Eulon and Velma may not have had money, but they had means to feed their family by working in the fields, cotton or vegetables.  And although differences existed between cultures in the world, Velma would have no tolerance for racism in her house.  Based on stories from Jerry’s younger brothers and sisters, it is quite fair to say that Jerry was brought up learning respect, religion, and family values.  Of all the stories I have been told, lacking physical assets was a good thing.  This promoted a close, dependable, and happy family.  This very much included Jerry.  In the words of Jerry’s youngest sister, Darlene, “When he came to the house everyone always wound up dancing!”


However, Jerry did have a mean streak.  As all boys do, they fight with their brothers.  Jerry’s younger brother, Larry, did divulge one short story.  Larry said that Jerry was always starting fights with him.  Apparently, Jerry was especially fond of surprise attacks and would jump out from behind things and starting hitting Larry for no reason.  Larry finally had enough, got Eulon’s rifle and shot Jerry in the thigh.  Larry said the rifle was heavy, and he lifted it as high as he could before shooting.  At that moment he was very angry with Jerry, and Larry said he didn’t feel bad about shooting Jerry until he saw how upset his mother was.  Jerry was 16 and I believe Larry was 12.  Jerry’s later wife said he told her that getting shot felt like he was stabbed by something very hot. (I suppose it would!) 

The first official record we have other than possibly a birth certificate is Jerry’s discharge papers from the US Air force.  The Korean War was over in 1953, but in 1956 US Troops were still being sent over seas (although the war in Vietnam had not officially started).  At 17, Jerry was at an age where he could actually see there was a huge world out there and was able to do something about it.  Coming from a poor family, the best way out to see the world was to join the military.  And that is just what Jerry did.  It could have been a ploy to help curb his wild side or adventurous nature, but who knows.  His uncle, Claude Taylor, was a Sgt. Major in the Army and could get him recruited easily.  According to his discharge papers, Jerry joined the Air Force on 13 Jul 1956 as an airman basic in Jackson, Mississippi.  Again, before we go too far, this discharge paper tells us some invaluable information about Jerry.  Let’s look at his personal data.  It tells us his full name (Jerry John  Smith), his service number (AF14617948), his date of current rank (8 May 1958) which was Airman or one stripe, military department (Air Force REG AF), place of Birth (Trenton, MS), date of birth (28 Jun 1939).  It tells us that he was a white male with brown hair and blue eyes.  It says he was 6’3” tall and weighed about 170 lbs.  It confirms he was a US citizen, not married, and graduated high school.  Wow, if I could only get this information on everyone in my genealogy.  Next it also tells us he was a blood type “A pos” and his SSN# (not shown here on purpose).  

Then we notice his service data.  He was enlisted, meaning not an officer, for 4 years after being recruited in 1956.  Jerry was listed at the time of entry into the service as living in Burns, Smith Co. MS.  He was listed with net time in service of only 2 years and 20 days – we will get to that in just a minute.  Of these two years he was shown as attending training in Warren AFB, Wyoming from Sep 1956 till Dec 1956 as a Communication Specialist.  After training he was apparently sent overseas for a period of one year and seven months.  After some research, it appears he was stationed in Morocco for this time period.  

I have found out that Jerry was not alone in the military.  He also had his first cousin, Clyde Mitchell Boykin, stationed in Morocco with him, although not at the same station.  Mitchell is the son of Robert Boykin and Mattie Taylor.  Mattie was the sister of Jerry’s mother, Velma.  Mitchell was married to Ms. Alice Boykin.  They were stationed in Marrakech, Morocco while Jerry was stationed near Casablanca, Morocco.  This information has come from Alice.  She is still alive and she has replied to a letter I wrote her.  She had a couple of stories to tell about Jerry while in Africa.

  Now Jerry was a country boy who grew up in tough times.  He also was used to freedom and more importantly having family around.  It seems that Jerry wasn’t coping well with out any family around.  One day he decided to visit the closest family he had.  He borrowed a truck belonging to the Air force without anyone knowing he left or borrowed the truck and took off for Ben Guierre Air Force Base near Marrakech, where Mitchell was stationed.  This was a 240 km (100 mile) trip.  Alice wasn’t sure if he got in any trouble for stealing the truck, but she recalled Mitchell telling her that he received a call from the main gate wandering if he knew of a Jerry Smith who was trying to get on base.  Mitchell also told Alice about a trip he took with Jerry once to Casablanca.  Jerry was dating a beautiful girl, according to Mitchell, who happened to be Ms. Casablanca.  Mitchell had met her and her family and they both were invited over for dinner.  Mitchell says that Jerry didn’t behave as a gentleman and actually embarrassed him so much that he didn’t have anything else to do with Jerry again while stationed in Morocco.  

Alice recalls that Jerry was very handsome, but had a mean streak in him.  She described one incident while her and Mitchell were at Grandpa Taylor’s (Velma’s parents) when they were either just married or courting.  Jerry was there and pulled a knife on Grandpa Taylor.  Apparently Grandpa Taylor told him to put it away and he’d better never do that again or he would “take care” of him.  Alice said she had never seen anyone do such a thing and was so surprised because Grandpa Taylor was such a sweet man.  The last thing Alice remembered Mitchell saying about Jerry was a statement he overheard Grandpa Taylor saying that “he [Jerry] would get killed one day with his wild behavior”.  
 

Mitchell also used to tell a story about trouble always finding Jerry.  When Jerry was in Morocco, he gave a piece of jewelry to a young Moroccan woman.  It is not clear exactly how this was an insult, but the young woman’s family became very upset, and a car chase ensued.  Jerry lost control of his vehicle and was seriously injured.  It was reported that he had a scar that was around 2 inches long on his scalp from his injuries.  Mitchell said he thought the piece of jewelry was a necklace.

After some time during his deployment overseas, he realized it was not the holiday he thought it was going to be.  Jerry was still yearning to roam free and do his own thing.  Here he was being told what to do and when to do it.  This just wasn’t going well for Jerry.  He decided he wanted out.  You couldn’t just leave because he would be considered AWOL (Absent with out Leave) and could be put in jail, not to mention how would he get back home from Africa?  They would not let him out voluntarily as he signed a 4 year contract.  So he tried to get the Air Force to kick him out.  This was the beginning of Jerry becoming a real rebel, not just wild; a rebel to the system he was growing up in.  Don’t think he was alone in this thinking, just a few years later the whole nation was at odds with one another during the Vietnam War.  So what did Jerry do?  He became inventive.  This has always been the Smith Motto for as far back as I can see:  Adapt, Overcome, Improvise!  He would do things like wait for roll call and be the last person out in line.  Now that doesn’t sound so bad, but Jerry wouldn’t just show up for roll call late, he would come dressed in his “Speedos” or underwear.  Obviously this did not go over well for military discipline although probably great for morale.  A few more inventive actions and Jerry got what he wanted, a discharge.  One of those inventive actions that led to this discharge was when a Moroccan man who was working at the Air Force base drove in to town in a Jeep to pick up Jerry and Mitchell with the intentions of bringing them back to base.  However, Jerry was not ready to go back, so he apparently punched the driver, shoved him out of the Jeep, and drove back to town.  Mitchell said that after this little lapse of good judgment, Jerry was discharged for ineptitude.  Mitchell said Jerry repeatedly got into trouble for insubordination and this incident was the last straw.

 According to the discharge papers, he was released from service on 25 Aug 1958 with an Under Honorable Discharge from the 736th AC & WRON Squadron.  On 3 Jul 1958, he was granted his request for the reason of inaptitude (or not suitable for the position).  He was then sent back to Charleston AFB, in South Carolina and given his official discharge papers in August.  Carey remembers their dad, Eulon, having to go pick Jerry up from the base.  

Jerry was free again and about 19 years old.  What more could a young man want?  He wasn’t as bad kid; he was just one that enjoyed his freedom as we all did growing up.  The first memory from his younger brother, Carey, was Jerry carrying him on his shoulders and playing with him in their dad’s new car. What a great memory.  Carey being born in 1949 remembers that their dad had just bought a new car, a 1957 Chevy.  But Jerry was in the military from 1956 to 1958, so the memory had to be between 1958 and 1959 and the car must have been two years old. This would have put Jerry about the age of 20. Carey remembers Jerry coming home one day with someone else driving his car and he was lying across the top holding on to either side.  He was only wearing a bikini bathing suit (Speedo).  He had apparently been swimming and wanted to dry out while coming home.  Crazy stuff we all have done, or at least I have anyway.  Jerry was living life and loving it.  He was enjoying it.  The only problem is hindsight.  We can sit back now as we are older and see how dangerous these types of stunts are, but to a young boy busting out - there was no danger.  This also means that if gone unchecked, more wrong decisions can be made as well.

In Carey’s own words he remembers another story about his brother Jerry:  “When I was 8 to 10 [making Jerry about 20 still] we were swimming down at Strong River, a place where the family had gone for years for 4th of July.  Daddy would get a bag of lemons; I am talking about a grocery bag full.  Stop by the ice plant and get a block of ice.  When we got to the river, he would chop up the ice with an icepick in the #3 washtub, Squeeze all those lemons in there, and fill the tub with river water and of course add sugar.  It was the best lemonade that I can remember.  But when we were swimming, I had an old rubber raft of some sort, I could not swim.  The current took me down the river and all I knew was that they said around the bend was a big drop off. (In my mind it was a waterfall)  I started yelling for someone to help.  Daddy laughed and told me I could swim if I'd try and let me continue to drift.  To me it was like superman what happened next: Jerry swam down the river, faster than the current was carrying me, caught up to the raft, pulled me to the side and put his arm around me and said, ‘I'm here, and it will be alright’.  You know, for me, it always was alright when Jerry was there.”

Jerry still lived at home and was a huge positive influence on his brothers and sisters.  He loved them and they loved him back.  Eulon and Velma still trusted him to look after his siblings while they were out at times.   So don’t get any idea he was a bad apple.  Yet some poor decisions made began to catch up with him.  Jerry had been caught up in the wrong crowd and began doing things that should not have been done.  He was caught a few times breaking and entering and some other misdemeanors, all the while creating a reputation for himself with the authorities.  This reputation kept him on the run many times as to not get caught or ensnare his family.  Jerry during this time also apparently became very engrossed with a young lady by the name of Ruth Wallace.  Not much is known about Ruth other than she was under 18 years of age.  I have no copy of a marriage certificate, yet I have documentation from a later relation that helps prove her existence and marriage.  Jerry was eventually caught by the authorities about August 1959, placed in the Rankin Co. jail system and was shortly after sent to the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, Mississippi.  His sentence was for 7 years and 5 years with possibility of parole after roughly 1/3 of the sentence was carried out for breaking and entering and grand larceny.  The latter is the overriding factor during this time to his placement in the state penitentiary even though he was not yet 21 years of age; whereas today, the laws have been changed and he would not have been placed in such a place.  Due to the fact that Jerry was sent to prison and the fact that Ruth was under 18, Ruth had the marriage annulled on 28 Sep 1959.  


But before we get too far, let’s look at the legal situation and the penitentiary for a moment.  The Mississippi Legislature met in June of 1964.  There were 37 bills presented to be considered to become law for all Mississippians.  Among these 37 were several anti-civil rights bills of racial character.  In the end only 10 were passed.  But I want you to see just 13 of these proposals to get a feel for the political mentality of the day.  Below is a summary of those I want you to see:

A.  Bill authorizing special deputy sheriffs in all counties.  At this point there were no deputies.  The sheriff was the sole authority, honest or not.  No one could contest him.  This did NOT pass, unfortunately.  

B.  Curfew Law – a bill allowing authorities to restrict freedom of movement to individuals or groups without formally declaring martial law.  This would in effect give the local authorities more power to control the public; sounds like communism (yet most likely aimed at punishing the local minority – Blacks).  This bill was PASSED.

C.  Bill to permit segregation of public schools by sexes – this was mainly proposed in the event that Mississippi schools were forced by the federal government to integrate.  This bill did NOT pass.

D.  Bill to allow state support of private schools – this was proposed to avoid integration.  If integration was forced federally, the state was preparing to shut down all public schools and fund private schools.  These guys were serious about segregation.  This bill did NOT pass.

E.  Bills to revoke the charter and accreditation of Tougaloo College – The white Mississippians resented the civil rights activities going on, especially at the mainly black college of Tougaloo.   In retaliation, the college was proposed to be closed.  This bill did NOT pass.

F.  Bill to prohibit “enticement” of a child to violate the laws of the state – this was attempting to keep the minors from participating in civil rights activities by punishing those who advocated them.  If a white person was sympathizing with the civil rights causes, excuses would be manufactured that the children were being enticed by said person to violate laws.  This bill did NOT pass.

G.  Bill for treating juveniles arrested as adults – This too was used against civil rights activists.  However this bill did NOT pass.

H.  Bill to pay the costs of county registrars and circuit clerks convicted under the 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights act – This was to allow the state to cover the costs of those who refused Federal court orders to record or count the black population in the registers as equals with whites.  Can you believe the type of bills being brought to the table?  This bill did NOT pass.

I.  Bill to reduce the amount of Blacks on Mississippi Jury Lists – the bill was to change the qualifications of a jury member.  This bill did NOT pass.

J.  Bills to provide sterilization for parents of illegitimate children – if parents gave birth to their second illegitimate child, they were given the choice of 3-5 years on the state penitentiary or sexual sterilization.  This bill was PASSED; however, not before the sterilization comments were deleted and the crime reduced to a misdemeanour.  

K.  Bill to sterilize those convicted of a third felony – Who is to say their children will be criminals?  Mississippi sure was backwards thinking in 1964.  This bill did NOT pass.

L.  Bills to allow arrested Civil Rights workers to be transferred to Parchman Penitentiary – supposedly for the event that local jails were crowed or inadequate.  We will see a bit about Parchman soon and show how excessive this was.  This bill was PASSED.  

M.  Bill to Reform Parchman Penitentiary – they were still using the whip or lash to punish prisoners.  They approved the reform but left the lashing in place and then place the prison directly under the control of the Governor.  This way if there was any misdealing, they could point the finger at the Governor.    The bill PASSED but wasn’t enacted until 1972.

Can you see the mentality of the local and state governments?  These guys had power and didn’t know how or what to do with it.  They were just creating proposals to fit their emotions.  It is no wonder Mississippi got a bad name in the 60s as a backwards state.  So let’s see a bit on how the state ran its prison.  

Built in 1901, the Mississippi State Penitentiary, otherwise known as the Parchman Farm, is the oldest and only MAXIMUM security prison in the state.  The farm consists of about 18,000 acres of land for farming by the 4,840 possible all male inmates mostly sentenced to death.  The inmates were to work the farms to support themselves and sell the rest to pay for cost of running the facility or they worked in manufacturing workshops for the same purpose.  In the 1960s, the facility was also used to house the arrested civil rights activists.  In 1970 a civil rights lawyer began to take statements from inmates totalling 50 pages of details of murders, rapes, beatings, and other abuses suffered by inmates.  Yet an overhaul did not take place until 1972.  This prison was one of the most feared places in the state and was mentioned in many “Blues” songs.  William Faulkner dubbed the prison as “Destination Doom”.  Others even commented that it was the closest thing to slavery that still exists since the civil war.

The point here is that Jerry, in a time where politics were more concerned about segregation and race rather than doing what was right, was convicted for stealing yet sent to a maximum security prison run like a slave camp for hardened criminals.  Why would the state of Mississippi put Jerry in a maximum security prison as a minor for lesser crimes than those supposed to be there?  At the time grand larceny was considered very bad.  We already have seen that Jerry didn’t handle authority very well in the military, and then placing him in an institution such as Parchman would not have helped him either, especially spending his 21st birthday in prison.  Jerry then would have had a choice: to either conform to local pressures or to rebel and fight the local pressures.  Looking at myself, I am not sure I would not have taken the same path Jerry did.  I would have fought rather than conform to the demands of the times.  Unfortunately, Jerry’s will to be free was unguided and took him down the wrong path.  

It wasn’t long after that it appears that Velma called her brother, Claude, to see if there was something that could be done to have Jerry released and to inquire upon his general well being.  Now I don’t have the actual letter Uncle Claude wrote, but we have acquired a copy of the reply from the superintendent of the penitentiary.  


Fortunately, Jerry was released from prison early around early 1962, on parole.  But was arrested again in the same year and sent back to Parchman.  But before he was sent back he happened to give his siblings a few memories.  He soon got himself a part time job at a local service station owned by a man named Mr. Byrd.  Carey remembers Jerry coming home one day with a brand new 1963 Convertible Chevy Impala (similar to the picture below).  He was working at a Texaco Station while Carey was working next door at a sporting goods store (Stanley’s in Pearl).  It wasn’t till later that everyone found out that Jerry had taken the car for a test drive and never returned it; thus, the reason he was sent back to prison.   It began to be a thrill for Jerry to try and get away with doing things he knew he wasn’t supposed to do.  Now those of you with kids stop and think for a minute.  I will bet all that I have, every child out there has at least once tried to push the boundaries of the limits; to see just how far they could go without getting in trouble or caught.  The problem was Jerry was young and enjoyed the bad boy look, but really didn’t stop to consider the consequences as he was old enough to pay the price.
 
Carey remembers that he and Jerry were at their Grandpa Smith’s house (Vander Smith) visiting while their mom and dad were visiting Uncle Claude (Velma’s Brother).  Some how Jerry got word that the Sheriff was coming, so Jerry and Carey both jumped into the 1963 Chevy and headed to Uncle Claude’s to drop Carey off.  It had been raining and Jerry cut through some of the back roads.  One of the roads became really narrow as they drove up hill in a hurry.  The car began to slide over the edge in the mud.  Jerry assured Carey that everything would be alright if he would just drive for him.  He showed Carey how to do the necessary things (keep in mind Carey in 1963 is only 14 years old) and then he walked around to the edge of the hill and as Carey moved the car forward, Jerry pushed it back onto the road.  Jerry walked it all the way up the hill.  Carey said it was all very exciting; his big brother trusting and showing him how to drive.  

Darlene had the same type of memories:  “We were on a road close to Uncle Claude's house and he was flying.  The car would go over the hills and bounce so high when it landed; scared me to death”.  She also remembers, “We were going to visit Bettie's mother and travelling down the highway.  The police got behind us and tried to pull the car over.  Jerry sped down the road at a very high speed turning down roads trying to elude them.  He parked the car behind a church and the police drove right on by. We went on our way.”

Carey remembers on another day, everyone was at Uncle Claude’s.  Keith McCraw (family friend) and Claude’s son, James, wanted to take a ride in Jerry’s 1963 Chevy.  All four of them loaded up and took off; literally spinning wheels and rocks flying.  The road was a narrow dirt road but they were going as fast as they could.  For some reason, Carey remembers, just after they passed the Cohay Creek Bridge, Jerry had to go back (Carey seems to remember that it may have been because a car coming looked suspicious).  As they were flying down the road, he slammed on the brakes, turned the car around in a swirling cloud of dust and hurling gravel; all while accelerating.  They were going so fast that the momentum took the back tires right to the edge of the wooden bridge.  Then the tires caught hold and they went even faster back to the house.  Jerry dropped them off and was gone.  To a child who loved his brother, Carey just knew Jerry could keep his adrenalin up.  Carey didn’t see him as a criminal but as a big brother.  Carey, my dad, had this last thing to say to me: “While in my mind I know he was a common criminal, yet in my heart he was my Big brother, my hero; and I shall always love him for what he was to me.  When you were born, I named you after my hero.  The man you were named after loved children, would rescue the helpless, give the shirt off his back to his family, and I always believed that he would die to protect us.  Remember This!”

Carey remembers that Jerry, just before he was sent back to prison, apparently met a girl named Scarlet McBride from Goodman, MS.  She had a baby named Belinda, yet the whole family is certain that the baby was not Jerry’s as it was too old to be his.  She is mentioned in a letter he writes to his mother and that is the last we here of her.  He wrote nothing of Ruth.  I cannot tell you if Scarlet and Jerry were actually married or just friends for there is no record of their marriage, friendship, or anything other than his letter alluding to her.  The letter to his mother reads as follows:  

Dear Mother,

Hope this finds all well at home.  I am doing just fine.  Got your letter and package.  Sure was glad to get it.  Thanks a lot.  Mother, I sure hope you’ll come tomorrow.  This place is running me crazy by the day.  I sure hope I don’t have to stay her much longer.  Mother, I think for $500 you could get me out of here.  I don’t care what it cost; just get me out of here.  I promise to pay every penny of it back if I have to work for ever who you get it from the rest of my life.  Mother, all I want is to be out with Scarlett and you’ll.  I would do anything to get out of here.  Mother, get in touch with the FBI and tell them I would very much like to talk with them.  I think maybe I can get a little help out of them.  Hope so anyway.  I wrote Larry last week.  Scarlett was supposed to write you for me.  Well can’t think of much to write, so will close.  Hoping to see you tomorrow.  If not, be sure to come next Sunday.  Tell Claude and Mitchell “hello”.  You’ll come please.

Love
Jerry

You will have to look over the hand writing.  I am late getting this wrote.  Bye.

Mother, I need a can of black shoe polish and shoe laces for my low-quarters.  I would like to have a pair of those rubber slides like on the back.

The back of the letter looks like this below.  I tried to clean it up the best I could; although the hand writing is still unreadable.

 


Jerry was released from prison again on parole some time in early 1964.  Jerry was in and out of the house according to his siblings.  Many parts of his life are and will remain a mystery.  But I guess that adds to the attractiveness of learning who he really was.  It is believed he travelled all around the states.  But when he came home it was a happy time for the whole family.  For a man to be able to bring happiness into a house just by walking in tells me he was a great person who loved his family.  He would have had a wonderful character and would have been the life of the party.  He obviously got the same love in return.  Oh, that I could have known him if only for a little while.

While living at home he met Ms. Bettie Berneice Heidelberg, some short time after his release, in 1964.  Jerry was just outside at the counter of a small hamburger shop in Pearl, MS which was situated within a small triangular shaped shopping center of which also included a laundry mat.  Incidentally, the building is now just an empty slab of concrete.  Bettie and her older sister, Savader, were living together just three blocks away and used the laundry mat to wash their clothes.  As Bettie and Savader were leaving the laundry mat they had to walk by the hamburger shop and there they noticed Jerry standing outside.  Now Bettie was wearing curlers, a scarf, peddle pushers and no makeup but didn’t let that stop her from making a comment as they passed by.  The girls walked home, but then a knock came on the door.  Jerry had walked or followed rather, the girls back to their apartment.  He knocked on the door and asked if Bettie wanted to go get a Coke?  Savader quickly blamed Bettie and said, “He only followed us because you flirted with him!”  Bettie replied, “I did not!”  Savader again replied, “You did to.  You said, ‘Hey Good lookin’ when you walked passed him.” Bettie laughed as said that she never thought anything would come of it.  

But for the next few months Jerry and Bettie dated and had becoming an item.  They eventually grew so close that Bettie fell pregnant around January 1965.  Jerry and Bettie decided to “tie the knot” on 1 Mar 1965.  In order for him to legally marry Bettie, he had to have been divorced (if married at all) to Ms. Scarlett McBride.  Bettie had some troubles after her and Jerry split up getting benefits from the government.  The trouble came with the providing of proof that Jerry was not officially married to Ruth Wallace; there was never any mention of a Scarlet.  Those rough boys always attract the good looking women.  See the photo and marriage license below.



Jerry and Bettie soon moved in together along with another couple to share expenses.  It seemed like Jerry was beginning to take on some responsibility and settle down.  But something was not right.  Maybe Jerry didn’t want the responsibility of a family, maybe he couldn’t stop his wayward ways, or just maybe he knew all the above and felt it wasn’t right or fair to raise a family under the conditions he was living.  He had done things prior to Bettie that could not be undone.  No one really knows.  I choose to believe the latter, but what ever the case, after three months of marriage he left Bettie and their child to be, Angela.  The reason I believe the latter was I feel that he knew that the authorities were getting close to catching him and he did what he thought was best at the time to protect them just as he had done for his immediate family earlier, for in September 1965, he was apprehended and taken back to Parchman for the remainder of his original sentence.  

Jerry spent another believed 8 months at Parchman, but was released again we believe in May of 1966.  By this time he was a bit stir crazy from confinement and took advantage of his freedom.  He popped in a few times at home to see his folks but for the most part is appears that Jerry was drifting between Amarillo, TX and Rankin Co. MS for the next several months.  

Dad remembers one such time when Jerry returned home.  Jerry was in the bathroom at their house in Canton, MS and told Carey to come in and listen to a song.  Jerry called it his song.  Dad says it still haunts him when he hears the song titled, “We’ll sing in the sunshine”.  Dad says one line says, “We’ll sing in the sunshine, we’ll laugh every day – We’ll sing in the sunshine, then I’ll be on my way”.  Dad says that in a way this was him.  But just to back this up, we found a song written by Jerry.  This song would exemplify the upbringing he was given and some of how he was thinking.  It goes as follows:






Mattie Smith, Jerry’s aunt, passed this on to Angela who has passed it on to me.  He wrote the song in 1966, I assume while he was in prison the second time.  It was as if Jerry knew something was going to happen or he wanted something to happen for future events began to unfold justifying these thoughts.  Jerry was being pulled in several directions as a young man and became very confused.  He on one side was given although tough but happy up bringing being taught values such as respect and love of family and God.  Yet on the other side, he was tempted with the sweet taste of the fruits of freedom and the world which eventually will sour.  Every one of us has faced such dilemmas and most often have yielded to the temptations.  I, myself, only began to really grow after the age of 30; therefore, I can put myself in his shoes and see that I too was confused at this age.  Yet we all deal with these issues in different ways and who is to say one way is better than another.  I am not attempting to condone his actions, but trying to say I do understand.  This is why the following will be hard to write, but I will do it as it was part of his life, good or bad, and with as much sensitivity as I can do it.

Jerry, at the age of 27, died a young man, just months after he wrote his song and listened to songs with Carey.  Jerry died on 2 January 1967 in Rankin Co. Mississippi.  The hard part is the circumstances that surround his death.  I believe we have established that Jerry was not the model citizen, yet nor am I for that matter.  Jerry from the time he was released from prison till his death was confused.  He drifted back and forth from Texas to Colorado to Mississippi.  Exactly one month before his death he sent a post card to his mother letting her know he was ok.  He sent it from Colorado before Christmas.  I have only shown the back of the card here to show his hand writing and to show one more thing.  No matter where Jerry was at, no matter what he was doing, no matter what he had done, he always in one form or another managed to stay in touch with his family.  Just a quick note is all it would have took to put a smile on his mother’s face.  He did this.  He did this well.  This is just one of the lessons we can learn from Jerry.  However, he was probably hanging out with the wrong crowd again and became lost (but he always knew where home was).  It appears that he also met up with another lady, this one from Amarillo, TX by the name of Irene McCarty.  On the day in question, he and Irene drove a 1956 Plymouth with Texas plates near a local store in Brandon, MS.  Irene remained in the car while Jerry walked up to the store.  

Let’s stop and analyse the situation at this point.  Why did Jerry park the car so far away from the store?  It appears that he was attempting to hide the car’s identity.  Why would he do this?  The first assumption was that he was up to no good, which given some of Jerry’s history was probably true.  But he had a heart as well.  He protected the lady in his car from any potential harm by keeping her away from what ever he was about to do.  

Why did he choose this particular store?  First of all, this store was run by a black man named Isidore “Boy” Stringer.  Mr. Stringer and his son both operated the store selling what every convenience store would sell plus some extra items.  Although it was illegal, those extra items sold were bootleg liquor or “moonshine”.  Everyone knew about it, yet no one would or could do anything about it.  Why was this?  Remember the history of the times we gave at the beginning.  This was 1967.  The racial issues still existed.  The politicians were oblivious to the real world issues.  The law was able to operate practically unchecked due to the lack of checks and balances.  Just as it was unofficial yet widely known that Mr. Stringer sold moonshine, it was also unofficial and widely known who it was that Mr. Stringer sold the moonshine for; the local sheriff, J.B. Torrence - the same system that went virtually unchecked; the same system that could exert undo pressures on a black family in Mississippi in the 1960s without any repercussions; and soon the same system that would be investigating the crime.  Second of all, this store although in the country and away from the main stream of traffic would have, over a weekend (Sat & Sun) and especially over a New Years weekend, sold huge amounts of moonshine; thus, a nice pile of cash.   Remember 2 January 1967 was a Monday just after new years.

I have no motive for what Jerry was doing there or why he picked this particular store.  I am only making assumptions based on the facts I have been given.  I could assume that Jerry foolishly only considered taking the money as we have shown without considering all those who would be affected by this, namely the sheriff.  I could assume that Jerry knew about the Sheriff and was attempting to take the moonshine money to get back at Sheriff Torrence for some past injustice knowing that if he got away with the money, he couldn’t get in trouble for stealing the ill gotten money.  I could assume many things, but the truth of the matter is I don’t know.  What I do know (based on hindsight) is Jerry parked his car with his lady down the road to avoid any detection and made the decision to rob the store of its money, ill gotten or not.  Trust me, Jerry was doing the wrong thing and should have considered things a lot better, such as he had never done anything like this before and such as the reluctance of the store keeper to give up ill gotten means.  If Mr. Stringer would make a deal with the devil, he would surely not give up what was getting out of the deal without a fight.  

Jerry not only decided to deprive the store of its money but he decided to bring along a little help in the form of a .38 caliber revolver.  This decision to bring some help would prove costly.  I remember dad always telling me as I grew up that if I ever pulled out a weapon, gun, knife or fist, to remember that there was always some one out there who could make me eat it.  I see where he learned this from.  We are going to go step by step here, so bear with me.  This may sound very biased against the reporters and the local law enforcement, but I will try to explain why I feel this way – due the inconsistencies in the data reported and the uncanny consistencies between to different articles.  According to the accounts of the newspapers (Clarion Ledger and Daily News) the following events occurred:  “Smith had entered the rural store and robbed Stringer of $31, then ordered Stringer at gunpoint to go outside with him”.  First of all, Jerry never left the property for reasons we will show later, this entails that it was an attempted robbery and not a full robbery as reported.  Next we have already shown that the store would have had more than $31 and everyone would have known about it.  My personal belief at this stage is that Sheriff Torrence only reported to the media what money Stinger probably had in the till to hide the fact that there may have been money elsewhere on the property.  Now Jerry may have made some bad decisions in his day, but he was very clever.  It stands to reason that Jerry brought the .38 revolver knowing that Stringer would be reluctant to part with the “moonshine cash” and was ordering Stringer to take him to the hiding spot (not to kidnap him); but while he was there why not take the money in the till as well.  Jerry was no murderer or low life as the media and Torrence tried to make him out to be, he was just a thief.  Ask your self one question.  If you were going to force someone into a vehicle as reported in the articles wouldn’t you try to make that process as quick and easy as possible?  So why did Jerry park his car so far away: to allow any passer by see him holding a gun at the store keeper as the walked or to protect the person inside?  The article says the next events were as follows:  “’When Smith turned his eyes for a minute’, Torrence says, ‘Stringer took [Jerry’s] gun away from him and shot him twice.’”  Ouch.  This can’t be right.  As a matter of fact we know it wasn’t right.  First, both articles say the EXACT same thing – word for word.  Now how uncanny is this that two different people working for two different papers write about the same story with the exact same words; unless, they were told exactly what to write.  Who would argue with the Sheriff?  Next, we have the death certificate.  It clearly states as shown above that Jerry had “Gun shots wounds to head and chest”.  Ok, this sounds fair, but one newspaper article reports “at least two bullet wounds to the head”.  So was it the head or the chest, or both?  Next to back this line of thinking up, Velma after the fact was given the very jacket Jerry was wearing at the time of the shooting.  Carey says, “Mama kept Jerry’s jacket that he was wearing on the back porch of the house in Canton until her death in 1975.  I don’t know what happened to it after that.  I can tell you he was shot more than twice.  The story that almost sent me out of my mind was that they shot him with a rifle and then they emptied Jerry’s gun into him.”  The jacket is proof that he was shot more than twice.  Just one more thing, there are reports from family members that went to the funeral that they could tell that Jerry had at least two shots in the head when he was out for viewing.  My belief or theory is that while Jerry was attempting to persuade Mr. Stringer to show him the money, Mr. Stringer’s son stumbled in with a rifle.  This would have startled Jerry and had to have turned around to see what or who it was.  Jerry saw the rifle threw down the gun and ran.  He was shot with the rifle running out the door.  The son seeing Jerry with a gun at his father would have shot at Jerry for sure.  As Jerry would have been incapacitated, the Father would have grabbed Jerry’s gun.  This in itself would have been plausible or credible.  But the articles both go on to say, “Torrence said Smith was still alive but unconscious when he arrived but died before the ambulance reached the scene”.  If Jerry was still alive then the rifle shot didn’t kill him.  What did?  We know he had more than the two shots reported.  We know from the death certificate and the article that two shots were in the head.  How could a man be shot with a rifle in the head and still be alive.  He couldn’t, thus that rifle shot would not have been in the head.  That means that the gun Jerry had would have been used.  Well that is what the Sheriff said, that Jerry was “overpowered” and shot with his own gun.  But they reported only two shots.  One of the two shots could not have been to the head.  My point here is that once Stringer had Jerry down and was back in control, he used Jerry’s gun on him when he didn’t have to.  He used excessive force and killed him.  Jerry could possibly still be alive today.  But I don’t believe Stringer was acting all by himself.

Now Torrence is no dummy either.  If Stringer and Torrence were partners before, Stringer was sure to call Torrence quickly once in control.  Torrence sent his deputy first to the scene.   I suspect to set an example but to also cover any story, Torrence told Stringer while still in the office to make sure Jerry didn’t talk ever again.  I also believe that Torrence did notice the car parked down the road as he responded to a call for assistance just as he reported it.  I also believe he called the highway patrol to investigate.  But that is as far as I will go.  I believe Torrence knew before he arrived Jerry was not in a vehicle but would not have got to the store without one; thus, he knew he had a car stashed some where.  I feel he drove and found the car and then called the highway patrol to investigate a suspicious car to build credibility to his own story he was making up as he went.  This would support his claims as he told the newspapers and filed his reports.  There is no one to dispute the claims if Jerry is dead.  The girl found in the car would not be a credible witness as she was not present but would add to the demise of Jerry.  Just how nice was it for Torrence to find out later that Jerry had a record with the highway patrol, if he had not already checked on it before he reached the store.  I would not even put it past him to go all the way out to the store and do the dirty deeds himself.  He had the motive, the opportunity, and the means.  He was in control.  The badge he wore carried the respect and fear.  

Next we have the article telling us that Torrence reported, “A coroner’s jury was empanelled by Justice of the Peace G.E. Westbrook, composed of Bill Phillips, Don Bray, Bill Townsend, Jiggs Purvis, Chief Deputy Sheriff A.B. Martin and Torrence.  The jury returned a verdict of “Justifiable Homicide.”  Wait a minute.  Within a matter of minutes, before the media were even able to arrive, Torrence was able to assemble a local J.P (Westbrook), some local residents (friends – one probably the coroner), his own deputy, along with himself and called it a Coroner’s Jury.  He was able to investigate and pass judgement that quickly with no questions asked?    What government do you know today that could act that quickly?  Oh, that’s right, this was not today but back in 1967; in backwoods Mississippi, where the politicians don’t know what is going on, where the local law enforcement is left to their own device, where illegal actions take place such as bootlegging, extortion via racism, and the like. That’s right; remember that Mr. Stringer is a black man in a country that hates blacks.  If a black man shot a white man, no matter how bad the white man was or what he did to the black man, in 1967 what do you think would have happened to the black man?  Any body see the movie by John Grisham “A Time to Kill”?   Any body ever see the movie “Mississippi Burning”?  The black man always got in trouble.  Mr. Stringer here didn’t get in trouble.  He was judged by the Coroner’s jury that is was “Justifiable Homicide”.  I wonder how that happened and why?  One word, Torrence.  Torrence had a considerable investment in Stringer.  He had a good thing going.  He wasn’t about to let that go away.  He protected his investment.  I hope I am explaining myself here.  

By the time the media arrived, Torrence had the whole thing wrapped up.  He knew Jerry had a record.  He knew Jerry couldn’t talk.  He knew only two people know the truth, He and Stringer.  He had the documented statements of the leaders of the community.  He told the reporters what to say and how to say it.  He told them to make sure they knew Jerry had been to prison.  The titles of both articles are labelled “Ex-Con”.  The public immediately would assume that Jerry deserved what he got, but after reading his story above, do think he deserved it?  I know he didn’t.  They both tried to put in the kidnap thought, although that was only a theory put out by none other than Torrence.  Think about it.  You pick up today’s paper and read that and Ex-Con tried to rob a store and kidnap the clerk but the ex-con got shot and killed in the process isn’t that what you would say?  He deserved it?  When in actuality we don’t know what the circumstances were.  All we know is what we are told – in the papers?

Ok, let’s get off the soap box.  Bettie said that Velma told her Jerry was afraid of going to prison in Texas, which he didn’t want to happen because he knew his family couldn’t come and see him.  Velma thought Jerry wanted to commit a crime in MS that was serious enough to the MS authorities keep him rather than go to Texas.  Jerry’s funeral was at Bethel Baptist Church in Smith Co. MS.  He was buried at Bethel Cemetery.  He now lies beside his father, his mother, and his brother, Perry.  At the time of his death, he was survived by his parents, Eulon and Velma; his siblings, Larry, Linda, Carey, Virginia, and Darlene; and he was survived by his wife and daughter, Bettie and Angela.  Bettie eventually moved on with her life and Angela has done beautifully with hers.  See the 1996 photo of Bettie (in the back), Angela sitting down, and Jerry’s two grandsons, Troy and Houston.  Jerry’s legacy lives on – his family.  I apologize to the readers if some of the things I have written above are offensive or somewhat brutal.  But to get to what I believe is the truth and to do justice to his memory I felt I had to do it, not to prove his innocence, but to prove his worth.  Jerry has taught us many things:  to live life to the fullest, to protect your family at all costs, to never forget where home is, to over come adversity, and to think before you do anything.

Once again using the newspapers but in a different light, Eulon and Velma placed an article in the paper thanking all who cared and came to the funeral.  This article also had Jerry’s song he wrote in it.  It was saved by Eulon’s sister, Mattie, and given to Angela later on.  I will leave you with the article.

Jerry A. Smith
Nephew and Name Sake of Jerry John Smith

Event Date	Age	Event	Source
June 28, 1939	0	Date of Birth	Air Force discharge papers and Death Certificate
July 13, 1956	17	Entered Airforce	Air Force Discharge Papers
August 1956	17	Basic Training at Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX	Photo and statement from both Virginia McFarland or Carey Smith
Sep. – Dec. 1956	17	received training at Warren AFB in Wyoming as Commuication Specialist	Air Force Discharge Papers
1957 – 1958	18	Stationed in Morocco (overseas for 1 yr., 7 mos., no one recalls Jerry being anywhere else overseas other than Morocco)	Statements from Mitchell Boykin, Virginia McFarland, Bettie Smith Horn; time is from discharge papers
August 25, 1958	19	Discharged from Air Force	Air Force Discharge Papers
1959	20	Sentenced to 7 and 5 years in Parchman for breaking and entering and for grand larceny in Rankin County in 1959.	The Clarion-Ledger and The Daily News
September 28, 1959	20	Date of annulment of first marriage  (letter from Social Security Administration dated April 19, 1967, said Jerry was married to Ruth Wallace)	Hand written note by Bettie (Heidelberg) Smith.  The note referred to Book 186, Page 420 found at the Chancery Clerk’s office in Hinds County, Jackson, Mississippi
December 5, 1960	21	Jerry serving sentence in Parchman prison	Letter dated Dec. 5, 1960 from Miss. State Penitentiary to Uncle Claude
1962	22	He was paroled	The Clarion-Ledger and The Daily News - Not sure if the article is saying he was both paroled and arrested in 1962, or if he was simply paroled at some point in time before his arrest in 1962
1962	23	Arrested in 1962 by the Jackson Police Department for auto theft and was returned to prison	The Clarion-Ledger and The Daily News
No date	?	mentions that he wants “to be out with Scarlett” and you all	Letter to mother written while he was in Parchman
1964	25	Jerry released from Parchman prison	Statement by Bettie (Heidelberg) Smith Horn that she met Jerry when he had only been out of prison for a short time – a month or less.
Late 1964	25	Jerry worked at Texaco service station on Hwy. 80 in Pearl, MS (Owned by Mr. Byrd)	Statement by Bettie (Heidelberg) Smith Horn & Carey Smith
Late 1964	25	Met Bettie Heidelberg	Statement by Bettie (Heidelberg) Smith Horn
January 1965	25	Bettie Heidelberg became pregnant	Statement by Bettie (Heidelberg) Smith Horn
March 1, 1965	25	Married Bettie Heidelberg	Marriage license
June 1965	26	Left Bettie Smith	Statement by Bettie (Heidelberg) Smith Horn that Jerry left her about 3 months after they married
Aug. or Sep. 1965	26	Arrested again and placed back in prison	Statement by Bettie Smith Horn that Jerry was put in jail when she was 7 or 8 months pregnant.  (She is not sure if he was put in Parchman or a county or city jail.)
October 24, 1965	26	Daughter by Bettie H. Smith born	Angela Berniece Smith’s birth certificate
No date	27	Released from Prison	Be default - If he sent a post card from Colorado in Dec 1966, logic deduces he had to have been released prior to the trip to Colorado.
December 2, 1966	27	Was in Colorado (postmarked in Watkins, CO 80137 – east of Denver and Aurora)	Postmark on postcard sent to Jerry’s mom
January 2, 1967 (Monday)	27	Died	Death certificate; The Clarion-Ledger dated Wednesday, January 4, 1967