The Famous Forbes Case of Buckingham County: Part XXXVIII

More Trials to Come

The August 3, 1904 edition of The Times-Dispatch featured yet another front page story bringing their readers up to date on the Wooldridge-Forbes arson case. Cliff Wooldridge was back in the Buckingham county jail and likely to remain there until the 1^st of September when an application for bail could be made again. Judge Hundley started for his home in Farmville but, intercepted at New Store, returned to Buckingham Courthouse to hear Congressman Flood’s application for bail, which was postponed when Flood decided he was not ready to present the case to the judge. It was reported by jail authorities that Wooldridge and Forbes were “greatly depressed, and have little to say to those who are allowed in to see them. Neither of them have had an appetite since the trial.”

The case of Charlie Forbes was set for the October term of the Buckingham Court. The Forbes family had employed John W. Lee and his partner, Mr. V. E. Howard, both of Lynchburg, along with Judge J. M. Crute, of Farmville. Again the prosecution would be conducted by Commonwealth’s Attorney Edmund W. Hubard and Aubrey E. Strode, of Lynchburg.

The newspaper recapitulated the story of Charlie Forbes’ disappearance and his arrest, at the point of a pistol, by Edloe Spencer on a Norfolk and Western train between Prospect and Farmville. Charlie stated to Spencer that he had boarded the train in Cincinnati; however, the article revealed that, “His ticket showed that he got on at Prospect. Spencer stated on the stand that Charlie Forbes showed no emotion when asked about his father but only cursed and swore.”

Again the newspaper emphasized the mystery of this unusual case:

The Commonwealth has insisted all through that Charlie Forbes and Wooldridge were confederates in the crime, and that the Wooldridge case was tried along with much evidence that also involved Forbes. Surely the case is a mysterious one and unless the vast majority of the people throughout this section are mistaken, the October trials will result in the bringing out of the most damaging evidence against both the accused parties.

Coming Next: The Case against Dan Wooldridge

Need to catch up? Click here for The Famous Forbes Case of Buckingham County: Part I