Is Latin phrase in TKAM a hidden reference to Capote's 'In Cold Blood'?

An in-depth reading of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” often results in hidden surprises and sometimes leads down deep rabbit holes.

My favorite part of the book is the section that details the climactic events on Halloween 1935. Many readers will remember that Jem and Scout have to walk to the school that night because Scout had to be in a school play. We come to learn that the name of that play is “Maycomb County Ad Astra Per Aspera.”

We learn the name of the play that night when the play’s author, Mrs. Grace Merriweather, announces this from a lectern, situated beside the Maycomb County High School band. After she announces the play’s title, a bass drum is struck, prompting her to continue. “That means,” said Mrs. Merriweather, translating for the rustic elements, “from the mud to the stars.”

Merriweather may have been a little off because various sources give different translations of the Latin phrase “Ad Astra per Aspera.” Most translate it as meaning “Through hardships to the stars.” Other sources say it means “To the stars through difficulties” or “A rough road leads to the stars.”

Here’s where it gets really interesting. “Ad Astra per Aspera” is the official state motto of Kansas. Many Harper Lee fans will remember that Lee traveled to Kansas with Truman Capote to help him research his famous nonfiction novel, “In Cold Blood,” which was about the 1959 Clutter family murders in Holcombe, Kansas.

Was the addition of “Ad Astra per Aspera” in “To Kill a Mockingbird” a nod to Capote and “In Cold Blood”? A close look at the time line of the publication of both books may give us a clue.

Sources say that Lee delivered the original, unpolished manuscript for what would become “To Kill a Mockingbird” to literary agent Maurice Crain in the spring of 1957. The now-defunct publishing house of J.B. Lippincott Co. eventually bought the manuscript, which was not suitable for publication at that point. Over the course of the next two years, Lee worked with editor Tay Hohoff, producing multiple drafts of the novel until they arrived at the version that was published on July 11, 1960.

About seven months prior to that, two ex-cons named Perry Smith and Richard Hickock murdered four members of the wealthy Clutter family on Nov. 15, 1959. When Lee’s childhood friend Truman Capote learned of the killings, he developed a morbid fascination for the case and decided to write about it. Before the final version of “To Kill a Mockingbird” was produced, Lee accompanied Capote to Kansas in late 1959 and helped Capote interview a wide variety of people associated with the crime, producing thousands of pages of notes that would form the basis for Capote’s book.

Even though Capote’s book wouldn’t be published until Jan. 17, 1966 (nine months after Smith and Hickock were executed), it is possible that Lee took note of the Kansas state motto during her time there and decided to insert it into the final draft of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The only way to be sure would be to examine the early drafts of “To Kill a Mockingbird” to see if she included the Latin phrase before her trip to Kansas. Whether or not these early drafts of “To Kill a Mockingbird” still exist out there in the world somewhere is a question that remains to be answered.

A mystery lingering at Uriah: What rests in the Devil's Soup Bowl?

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The story below, which was titled “A mystery lingering at Uriah: What rests in the Devil’s Soup Bowl?,” was written by Anna Thibodeaux and was originally published in the May 23, 1991 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

Historian George Singleton inspects mysterious Devil's Soup Bowl near Uriah.

Resting atop a hill in a sedate, wooded area near Uriah, a mystery lingers, hidden in the landscape and minds of those who have chanced upon the “Devil’s Soup Bowl.”

The tale behind it is extraordinary, like so many other scary tales that have been told by campfires. Many who knew about the soup bowl have died, but this haunting story returns again and again in area folklore. The pool’s calm surface has kept area historian and ghost hunter George Singleton delving in the mystery for nearly 25 years.

“There are legends about certain lights that have been seen in the vicinity,” Singleton says. “Located on a plateau, supporting wildlife and fish living in it, there is something there that leaves the ordinary.”

Dusting off a tale

Is this an actual phenomenon or a dusty tale?

Singleton offers down-to-earth facts to support a heavenly theory. He suggests the mysterious pool is what remains of a crater left by a meteorite that landed, possibly before settlers knew of Uriah or Monroe County. If this is a meteorite crater, it hardly compares with those that scorched miles of trees in Siberia, or another that left a mile-wide crater and petrified forest in Arizona. Still, the Devil’s Soup Bowl continues to captivate a curious community.

Visiting the site both day and night turned up little for Singleton, while area residents have told him they’ve seen a halo hovering over the pool at times. He believes low-level radiation still remaining in the crater may be behind compass needles spinning wildly and interference with video equipment (the interference stopped when these objects were away from the site).

More of what Singleton calls his “amateur research” has revealed there may be a large metal deposit beneath the water (typically, the molten remains of a meteor). As he drew his metal detector nearer the pool, it released “ear-piercing sounds,” he said.

Questions about the pool’s water source may provide clues as to how the pool earned its name.

Singleton believes those who have seen the location named it the Devil’s Soup Bowl because it has no visible inlet or outlet. The fresh water sustains fish, turtles and other assorted wildlife. The pool, which is shaped like a bowl or can, is another telltale sign of a meteorite crater.

A northeasterly path

The pool measures 125 feet across and is estimated at 75 feet deep, according to Singleton. The pool is on private property, and a Journal reporter had to obtain permission to visit the site. Judging by the pool’s dimensions and a large pile of dirt, the shooting star took a fiery northeasterly path when it landed.

“My thoughts are that possible the meteor burned or near burned out when it hit the earth,” he said. “The bottom is hard, as though it was a concrete bottom.”

Foliage grows up to the water’s edge and stops, Singleton observed, adding that it is peculiar that the pool is on top of a hill, not in a swampy area as one might expect.

“The water level fluctuates somewhat due to rainfall, but I do not know of anyone who has seen it go dry,” said Singleton. “To my knowledge, no one knows of the Devil’s Soup Bowl going dry.”

Singleton once took a small aluminum boat into the pond and dropped a brass weight tied to nylon cord into the water.

“We could hear the brass hitting the rocklike bottom,” he said. “which in my opinion is the meteorite that made the hole.”

The bottom appears to be smooth and solid, unbroken, he says. There are no rocks nearby to indicate that the hard top layer may be stone. The pool walls seem to give way to a vertical 75-foot drop.

Many unknowns

“The people who knew the story are now deceased, and a lot of the folklore from the early settlers has been forgotten,” he said. The area is still sparsely populated, and few people are left who know about it. He doesn’t believe there is a monster hiding in the dark depths of the pool, but he cautions there are many unknowns.

Aside from the obvious dangers of snakes and a possible undertow in the pool, Singleton warns that little is known about the location. He speculates that the radiation is too little to interfere with aircraft flying overhead or to endanger those who visit the site, but he emphasizes that nothing has been determined about what substance makes up the pool bottom.

Without hard proof such as seismographic readings to determine the pool’s actual depth or a sample of the substance on the bottom, the Devil’s Soup Bowl may keep its mystery and intrigue. Until then, Singleton will continue his research, driven by a desire to wade in mysterious waters.

“Strangely enough, I would like to know what it’s all about. But we might have become too factual in our desire to solve everything, and maybe we should leave a few things to wonder about,” he says. “There are things that man will never know, and that were not intended for man to solve. It creates a desire to know more.”

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, was bitten at least twice by venomous snakes, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)

 

100-year-old news highlights from The Wilcox Progressive Era in Camden, Alabama

Today marks the first Wednesday of the month, so it’s time to take another trip back down memory lane for a look at some of the interesting things that happened in Wilcox County a century ago, way back in September 1924.

In the Sept. 4, 1924 edition of The Wilcox Progressive Era, editor Stanley Clifford Godbold reported that “Oak Hill defeated Camden last Thursday by a score of 10 to 3. Dunnam pitched the first five innings for Camden, allowing two runs in the first and eight in the fifth, the Camden infield made several errors in the fifth and this, combined with several hits, accounted for the eight runs. Joe Bonner pitched the last four innings and his fast ball was too much for the visitors, not allowing a safe hit.”

Elsewhere in that week’s paper, it was reported that the “Franklin K. Beck Camp of Confederate Veterans met at the courthouse in Camden Aug. 30, 1924. Col. John S. Hunter was elected commander of the camp and delegates named to attend the reunion in Mobile Oct. 22-23.”

In the Sept. 11, 1924 edition of The Progressive Era, it was reported that “the 15^th annual session of the Wilcox County High School, and the 75^th session of the school conducted in this historic building, opened Monday, Sept. 8, with interesting exercises attended by a large number of patrons and friends of the school. Talks were made by W.J. Jones, County Superintendent of Education, E.W. Berry, S.C. Godbold and Prof. W.V. Luckie, principal of the school. The devotional was led by Rev. J.O. Wilson of the Methodist church.”

Also that week, readers learned that “Prof. W.V. Luckie gave an instructive talk to the teachers of Wilcox County at the high school on Saturday. He explained the course of study as mapped out by the state board of education, explaining the work of the junior high school and other important educational matters.”

In the Sept. 18, 1924 edition of the newspaper, it was reported that “Mr. Hunter Farish will spend the winter at Harvard, taking a post-graduate course.”

Readers that week also learned that “Miss Armantine Pritchett, youngest daughter of Mr. D.S. Pritchett, and Mr. Wilbur Zinnaman Ellis will be married at the residence of her father on Sat., Sept. 27. The wedding will be very quiet, owing to the recent sad bereavement in the brides’ family, only relatives and a few close friends being present. Miss Armantine is a lovely young woman, of the blonde type and has endeared herself to a large circle of friends, who regret that her marriage will take her to Andalusia to live.”

In the Sept. 25, 1924 edition of the newspaper, under the headline, “PLACING OF 1812 MARKER,” that “Mrs. Wells Thompson, nee Carrie Tait, of Houston, Texas, a member of Capt. James Asbury Tait Chapter, National Society of Daughters of 1812, has requested Mrs. Samford C. McMurphy, a former state historian of all Daughters of 1812, to place a marker at the grave of her grandfather, Capt. James Asbury Tait. This interesting event will take place at the Tait family burying ground near Coy, Oct. 4, at 11 a.m. The relatives and public are cordially invited to attend.”

Well, I guess that’s all that space will allow for this month. On the first Wednesday of next month, I plan to take a look at the events of October 1924 in Wilcox County. Until then, if you get the urge to research the county’s past yourself, take advantage of the Alabama Department of Archives and History’s excellent selection of old newspapers on microfilm and other resources. Their friendly staff will be more than happy to get you started.