"Little Charlie", youngest son of CAPT. RICHARD F. WOOLFOLK , a Confederate War Veteran, was a farmer who was listed with his family in the June 1880 US Census and his second wife, Mattie E. Howard Woolfolk. His father Capt. Woolfolk graduated from University of Georgia in 1854 and also married his first wife Susan A. Moore (daughter of Thomas Moore, Superintendent of Georgia Factory in Athens) the same year. During the Civil War, Captain Woolfolk moved his wife and three small children from East Macon to Athens to live with his wife's family. He was a Captain in the Company A Ross Battalion. He was married to Susan A Moore until her death in June 1865 (with whom he had Florida 'Flo' in 1855; Lillie in 1857 and Thomas 'Tom' in 1860). He then married his second wife Matte E. Howard who was a graduate of Monroe Female College in Forsyth, Georgia and who's father was Benjamin Howard (born in 1811 and died April 4, 1890 and is buried in an unmarked grave in Bolingbroke, Georgia), and her brothers were Charles H. Howard who died April 14, 1928 and John D. Howard who died in 1939, (both are buried near each other in Rose Hill Cememtery in Macon), all from Howard's District. They married in 1867 (with whom he had Richard F., Jr. in 1867; Pearl in 1870; Annie in 1877; Rosebud in 1880; Charlie in 1882 and little Mattie in 1865). Sadly, he, his wife, her great Aunt Temperance West and 6 of his children (including little Charlie), were axed to death in their home on the morning of August 6, 1887. According to the account of Tom, the eldest son, whom walked in just after the murders, a man carrying an ax left on foot out the back of the house. Tom then ran to neighbors for assistance, but was later accused of the murders, tried several times, and found guilty and hung October 29, 1890, still proclaiming his undying innocense. There have been two books written about the murders, Shadow Chasers : The Woolfolk Tragedy Revisited by Carolyn Deloach in 2000 and The Woolfolk Tragedy: The Murders, the Trials, the Hanging & Now Finally, the Truth! by Carolyn Deloach in 1996.
The author uncovered much undiscovered evidence and was able to conclude that the actual murderer was Simon Cooper, a hired hand of the family. After Cooper's death, a diary was found that he had written, notating the Woolfolk murders just as Tom had stated. He had also written a statement, "Tom Woolfolk was mighty slick, but I fixed him. I would have killed him with the rest of the d*** family, but he was not at home."
The author uncovered much undiscovered evidence and was able to conclude that the actual murderer was Simon Cooper, a hired hand of the family. After Cooper's death, a diary was found that he had written, notating the Woolfolk murders just as Tom had stated. He had also written a statement, "Tom Woolfolk was mighty slick, but I fixed him. I would have killed him with the rest of the d*** family, but he was not at home."
"Little Charlie", youngest son of CAPT. RICHARD F. WOOLFOLK , a Confederate War Veteran, was a farmer who was listed with his family in the June 1880 US Census and his second wife, Mattie E. Howard Woolfolk. His father Capt. Woolfolk graduated from University of Georgia in 1854 and also married his first wife Susan A. Moore (daughter of Thomas Moore, Superintendent of Georgia Factory in Athens) the same year. During the Civil War, Captain Woolfolk moved his wife and three small children from East Macon to Athens to live with his wife's family. He was a Captain in the Company A Ross Battalion. He was married to Susan A Moore until her death in June 1865 (with whom he had Florida 'Flo' in 1855; Lillie in 1857 and Thomas 'Tom' in 1860). He then married his second wife Matte E. Howard who was a graduate of Monroe Female College in Forsyth, Georgia and who's father was Benjamin Howard (born in 1811 and died April 4, 1890 and is buried in an unmarked grave in Bolingbroke, Georgia), and her brothers were Charles H. Howard who died April 14, 1928 and John D. Howard who died in 1939, (both are buried near each other in Rose Hill Cememtery in Macon), all from Howard's District. They married in 1867 (with whom he had Richard F., Jr. in 1867; Pearl in 1870; Annie in 1877; Rosebud in 1880; Charlie in 1882 and little Mattie in 1865). Sadly, he, his wife, her great Aunt Temperance West and 6 of his children (including little Charlie), were axed to death in their home on the morning of August 6, 1887. According to the account of Tom, the eldest son, whom walked in just after the murders, a man carrying an ax left on foot out the back of the house. Tom then ran to neighbors for assistance, but was later accused of the murders, tried several times, and found guilty and hung October 29, 1890, still proclaiming his undying innocense. There have been two books written about the murders, Shadow Chasers : The Woolfolk Tragedy Revisited by Carolyn Deloach in 2000 and The Woolfolk Tragedy: The Murders, the Trials, the Hanging & Now Finally, the Truth! by Carolyn Deloach in 1996.
The author uncovered much undiscovered evidence and was able to conclude that the actual murderer was Simon Cooper, a hired hand of the family. After Cooper's death, a diary was found that he had written, notating the Woolfolk murders just as Tom had stated. He had also written a statement, "Tom Woolfolk was mighty slick, but I fixed him. I would have killed him with the rest of the d*** family, but he was not at home."
The author uncovered much undiscovered evidence and was able to conclude that the actual murderer was Simon Cooper, a hired hand of the family. After Cooper's death, a diary was found that he had written, notating the Woolfolk murders just as Tom had stated. He had also written a statement, "Tom Woolfolk was mighty slick, but I fixed him. I would have killed him with the rest of the d*** family, but he was not at home."
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