By JOY MARTER TIPPIT
Special to The Sun-Sentinel
Lovejoy Boteler was the speaker at the Feb. 20 Yalobusha County Historical Society Meeting. He is the author of “Crooked Snake: The Life and Crimes of Albert Lepard.”
Lovejoy read a chapter from the book that talked about the two escaped convicts, Albert Lepard and John Willis Parker, kidnapping him while he was driving a tractor on the family farm, Riverdale Farms.
I held my breath as Lovejoy read. After hearing his speech, I ordered his book from Amazon.com. I had to read this book.
First ,Lovejoy talked about his connections to Yalobusha County and Grenada. The farm Lovejoy grew up on was in Yalobusha County before 1870. However, Grenada was portioned out of Yalobusha County.
His grandmother was born in Water Valley and his mother was born in Oakland. Every year, Lovejoy’s mother and his siblings made trips to Oakland to visit with the Mardars and the Newburgers.
Lovejoy’s dad was in the legislature, and so was Mr. Walter Moore. Walt Moore and Lovejoy rode horses when his family visited Oakland. Joe Bailey from Coffeeville farmed the Boteler’s cotton land, and the Boteler family were friends with the Bailey family.
Lovejoy told the historical group about the hot, dusty June day he was kidnapped by escaped convicts while he was driving a tractor on the family farm. The interesting background of the escaped convicts is told in other chapters of the book.
Lovejoy had just graduated from high school. The two escaped prisoners saw Lovejoy before he saw them. Lovejoy said he stopped his tractor and they ordered him to get into his dad’s truck, and the two men crawled into the truck and stuck a gun in his ribs.
Lovejoy told the escapees that the only money he had was in the glove compartment. He told them about the $30 left over from the sale of a bull when Lepard mentioned robbing Geeslin’s Store at Geeslin Corner. Lovejoy knew Mr. Geeslin and wanted no harm to come to him. The men took the $30 and filled the truck with gas before traveling Interstate 55 to Memphis.
Order “Crooked Snake: The Life and Crimes of Albert Lepard,” from Amazon.com. You will not regret buying it.
