The 1909 Buckingham Murders: Part XII

Bolton’s Dream Revisited

Testimony in the case against Dallas Wright for the murder of the Stewart brothers continued and, on September 8, 1909, The Times-Dispatch reported that merchant George E. Bolton once again graphically recounted the visionary dream he had on the night of the crime:

I had a dream, he said, on the night the Stuarts were burned. I awakened about 2 o’clock in the morning very much excited. I had dreamed I saw four or five men go into a log house. Then I heard them rumbling and scuffling, then I dreamed I heard a shotgun fired and saw one man fall.

I saw three men scuffling. Two of them threw the other down and cut his head off with an axe. Then I saw the men pass out of the house and separate in the woods. The next day I heard of the murder of the Stuarts. I noticed my dream fitted very well with what had been done. . . .

Richard Perkins had an axe in his hand, and I also recognized Dallas Wright as one of the men. I told the dream to my home people. I did not tell the names of those I saw in the dream. I got up about 3 o’clock in the morning and saw a light in the direction of the Stuart home and I could see the light till daybreak.

Jack L. Lee, counsel for the defense, then suggested that witnesses Willie Jackson and Aylett Johnson had based their testimony on Bolton’s dream, making their testimony completely unreliable.

On September 9, 1909, the Alexandria Gazette reported that, after five days, the jury “failed to agree” in the trial of Dallas Wright though ten members were in favor of conviction. Additionally, the newspaper noted that it had been shown in court that the reward for information pertaining to the murder which was now set at $800 (the reward of $500 offered by the Governor had been increased by the Buckingham County Board of Supervisors which offered $100 for each perpetrator identified) might be “a possible cause” for witnesses to turn a dream into “alleged facts.”

As the autumn of 1909 approached, Edward Jones awaited his sentence and Dallas Wright awaited a new trial as a result of a “hung jury.” Richard Perkins was yet to be tried.

Coming Next: One Year Later

Need to catch up on The 1909 Buckingham Murders? Part I: June 1, 2015