Mrs. Joshua B. (Mary Belle Savage) Crawford and Her Granddaughter, Viola Bennett
I copied this picture from an Atlanta, Georgia newspaper dated 13 July 1913. Joshua B. Crawford, born 12 Oct 1832, a widower, whose first wife was Nancy Prater, met Mary Belle when he stayed awhile in her boarding house in St. Augustine, Florida, and eventually proposed marriage, because he said, he couldn't live without her cooking. They married in his Atlanta home on 2 March, 1919, but unfortunately he died 27 days later. This picture was taken of Mary Belle and her granddaughter, Viola, during a news interview on the date given, after Mary Belle had been charged with the poisoning murder of her husband, by his relatives. She had been arrested, stayed overnight in jail (the Tower), and was released on bail. Two years later she was exonerated of the criminal charges, because 1) the doctor who had been attending Mr. Crawford, continued to insist that it was he who administered morphium to her husband, as was common for doctors in those days, to alleviate his suffering while he was suffering from pneumonia, and 2) the other outrageous charges brought against her were successfully refuted.
Date & Place:
at Atlanta newspaper in Fulton County, Georgia
