Side by Side: Moonshine and Murder in Mississippi

By T.J. Ray

A ghastly murder, Jim Crow justice, and the gallows tree.

When two federal marshals rode up to Will Mathis' rural house outside of Oxford, Mississippi, in 1901 to arrest him for counterfeiting and distilling, they had no idea what was waiting for them. Mathis and African American servant Orlando Lester shot the marshals, chopped up their bodies, and burned Mathis' house to the ground with the bodies inside. Mathis and Lester were sentenced to hang. Nationwide media coverage of the grisly case led more than 7,000 people to descend on Oxford to witness the hanging of a black man and a white man side by side. Briskly paced and meticulously researched, this tale that captured the public imagination is brought back to life in riveting detail.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1455621838
• ISBN13: 9781455621835
• Release Date: February 2016
• Publisher: Pelican Publishing Company
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A true, complex, and well told double murder of two US marshals

In 1901, two US marshals ride horseback south of Oxford, Mississippi to arrest a local counterfeiter and moonshiner they know well… And with whom they enjoy a relatively cordial relationship. Given the lateness of their arrival, the subject of the arrest warrant suggests the marshals stay overnight, proposing they all ride back to Oxford the following morning. The Marshall’s agree and spend the remainder of the evening eating and drinking with the subject and his family before bedding down in a spare shed room of their hosts. Overnight, something goes terribly wrong. The excellent narrative by retired English professor T J Ray, explores the motives and the actions of 5 qualified murder suspects, the court dramas that ensue and the ultimate outcome for each suspect. This is a true and complex story, well researched and well told.