Mr. and Mrs. Clinton Melton killed in Gkendora

Deloris Melton Gresham of Sunflower County, Mississippi, still recalls being trapped inside her mother's car as it sank to the bottom of a murky bayou near Glendora. She was just a toddler and a relative, fortunately driving by, saved her life and that of her baby brother's. But her mother, Beulah, was drowned; she was a pretty woman, known for being bright and outspoken. People who knew her mother, tell Gresham she reminds them very much of her.Her mother's death occurred on or around Dec. 21, 1955, one week before the murder trial of the person who had killed her father, Clinton Melton, earlier on Dec. 3. Officially her mother's death was blamed on faulty driving, Gresham said. 'Later, a relative told me that was not true, that everyone knew she was run off the road.'[i]

Kimbell Loses Bid for Freedom on Bond

Sumner, Miss. (AP) 'Dec. 28, 1955 ' Elmer Kimbell today lost his bid for freedom on bond while awaiting grand jury action on a charge of murdering a Negro man.

Three justices of the peace held a preliminary hearing for the white gin operator and refused bond. Officers returned Kimbell to jail to await action of the grand jury which meets next March.The hearing was held in the little courthouse where the sensational Emmett Till trial was held. Bond usually is refused in cases where a person is accused of a crime which carries a possible death sentence upon conviction.

Kimbell is charged with murder in the shotgun slaying of Clinton Melton, Negro service station attendant at nearby Glendora and father of four children. The accused man testified he fired in self-defense after someone shot at him three times. Kimbell said he didn't know who fired until he returned the fire and killed Melton.

Lee McGarrh, Melton's employer, testified that Kimbell fired without provocation, and Melton was unarmed. He said Kimbell became angry at the Negro during an argument over gasoline for Kimbell's car. McGarrh said Kimbell declared he was going home for his gun and [sic] kill Melton.

 

Mississippi Man Acquitted In Shotgun Slaying Of Negro

Sumner, Miss. (AP) ' Elmer Otis Kimbell was acquitted of murder late yesterday in the shotgun slaying of a 33-year-old Negro.

'I wasn't sure justice would be done,' said the 35-year-old white Glendora cotton gin operator, 'but I should have known.' A 12-man, all-white jury, made up mostly of farmers, deliberated more than four hours before freeing Kimbell.

Two witnesses testified they saw Kimbell blast Clinton Melton three times with a shotgun Dec. 3 at a Glendora service station. Witnesses said the shooting was an aftermath of an argument between Kimbell and Melton over gasoline to be put into Kimbell's car. Kimbell testified that Melton cursed him during the argument.

Defense Atty. J.W. Kellum said Kimbell fired the fatal shots in self-defense. Kimbell said three shots were fired at him before he opened fire, one wounding him in the shoulder. He showed a scar and brought in a doctor who verified the gunshot wound.

But neither Lee McGarrh, white owner of the service station, not George Woodson, Negro, who said he witnessed the slaying, said they saw or heard Melton fire. No weapon was found on Melton's body or in his car.

The trial took place in the same courtroom where half-brothers J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant were found innocent six months ago of the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till, Chicago Negro. Kellum was one of five defense attorneys in the Till case.

Shortly after the slaying, the Glendora Lion's Club passed a resolution unanimously the 'the regrettable tragedy'which claimed the life of one of the finest members of the Negro race in this community.' Members of the club contributed about $400 to aid Melton's widow and their five children. Last week Mrs. Melton was killed and two of her children slightly injured when she drove off a country road and turned over into a bayou near her home. Relatives said she was learning to drive.

 

Melton was killed in Glendora, only a few miles from where Emmett Till's body had been dumped into the Tallahatchie River four months earlier. Kimbell had only been living in Glendora for a short time, as manager of a local cotton gin, and had an account at the station. Kimbell was driving a car he had borrowed by J.W. Milam, one of the two men accused and acquitted of killing Till, she said. Others have told Melton's daughter their version of what took place.

'When Kimbell drove up to the station, my father's boss told him to go out and fill up his car. But when he was done filling the car, Kimbell went into a rage and said he only wanted $1 of gas, and that he was going to go home and get his gun to shoot him. The gas station owner tried to talk him down, but couldn't. He told him my father was a good negro and that he did not deserve to be hurt. He really pleaded with Kimbell.

'As soon as Kimbell left, his boss told him that he had better leave, fast. But his car was out of gas and he had to fill it first. Kimbell came right back and began shooting at my father. Another man was in his car with him, and yelled for him not to shoot. He jumped out of the car and ran into the station to hide.'[ii]

When he was arrested, Kimbell had claimed Melton shot at him first. McGarrh denied this, adding that Melton did not have a gun at any time during the quarrel. Gresham adds that a bullet hole was found in the windshield of her father's parked car.

The Melton family was well known in Glendora. Clinton Melton had lived there all his life. According to Myrlie Evers, 'For once, white people spoke out against the killing of a negro. The local Lions Club adopted a resolution branding the murder 'an outrage.' Medgar's investigation turned up the fact that the club had given the widow twenty-six dollars.

'A local white minister gave her sixty dollars. Mrs. Melton, fearful that justice would not be done if the NAACP interested itself in the case, told Medgar she didn't want the organization to become involved. Her wishes were respected.'[iii] Other news articles said the community had pledged to build the family a house and provide an annual income, but $86 was all that was provided, in the end. Deloris Melton Gresham and her siblings were taken in by relatives, and continued to live in Glendora.

An angry Hodding Carter reacted to the murder, comparing it to the Till case in a Delta-Times editorial:

Last fall, in the glare of world-wide publicity, Mississippi gave a sorry demonstration of an inadequate legal system that produced such flimsy evidence and presented an attitude of so little concern that even the people most convinced that two half brothers were guilty of murdering [Emmett Till], had to admit that the case was not proved.

 

Three months later a close friend of one of the defendants in the Till trial was implicated in another slaying of a Negro. From accounts presented by witnesses other than the killer, it was an even more senseless slaying.

 

The negro was no out-of-state smart alec. He was home-grown and 'highly respected' according to a resolution ' by the Glendora Lions Club. There was no question of an insult to Southern womanhood. There was only a argument about ' gasoline. There was no pressure by the NAACP, 'credited' with the outcome of the Till trial. There were no flashbulbs popping, no television cameras, no reporters from all over the world milling around'very little about the trial compared to the attention the Till case drew.

 

And the matter was quickly handled, the evidence was presented, and the witnesses were called. It was the word of three men, one white and two Negro, against the accused. Only the accused said that 'somebody, I don't know who' shot at him from out of the darkness before he blasted Clinton Melton to death. His own wife's testimony conflicted with his. But the jury believed him, or indicated they did.

 

So another 'not guilty' verdict was written at Sumner this week. And it served to cement the opinion of the world that no matter how strong the evidence no how flagrant is the apparent crime, a white man cannot be convicted in Mississippi for killing a Negro.[iv]

 

Gresham keeps a picture of her mother; they almost look like twins. She has been told by relatives that she and her mother have personalities much aliked. While she has never owned a picture of her father, she wishes she could have known him better. Gresham would also like to know who ran her mother off the road on that frightening day.