Thursday, June 6, 2019

1933 practical joke in rural Alabama was so epic that the State Attorney General got involved

Thomas E. Knight Jr.

Eighty-six years ago Conecuh County was struck by a series of practical jokes so epic that the Attorney General of Alabama had to get involved.

It all began on May 3, 1933 when “distressing happenings” began to occur at Owassa as residents of that area began to hear something at night that “roared like a lion.” This awful roaring sound kept farmers awake and caused them to lose “considerable” time from their crops.

Mothers were afraid to let their children play outside and for 10 days women were on the verge of nervous breakdowns. Parties of men even banded together and tried to hunt down the “lion,” but they were unable to find the creature.

During this fearful time at Owassa, a young man was escorting his girlfriend home from church one Sunday night and as they walked down the dark, deserted country road to her home, the “lion” roared from a tree branch over the road. The young man “without a great deal of ceremony” took off running and left his young girlfriend “to the mercy of the beast.”

One citizen finally had enough and put pen to paper to write Thomas E. Knight Jr., who was the Attorney General of Alabama from 1931 to 1935. The letter-writer, described as a “young man,” said that six men and boys were responsible for the “lion” and were making the dreadful noise with what’s known as a dumb bull. Their dumb bull was made out of a nail keg, partly covered with a goatskin, with a wax cord attached, that when pulled, caused it to roar like a lion.

The unnamed letter-writer told Knight, who was a native of Greensboro, that he had the names of the parties involved and asked Knight what he needed to do about it. Knight referred the letter-writer to Hugh M. Caffey Jr., who was the Circuit Solicitor of the 21st Judicial Circuit in Brewton. Caffey, who practiced law in Brewton for 34 years before passing away in 1953, launched an immediate investigation. A short time later, he reported his official findings to Knight.

“The greatest injury done was to the feelings of the complainant who was escorting his girl home from preaching one Sunday night when the ‘lion’ roared from a branch overhead,” Caffey said in his letter to Knight. “The complainant, without a great deal of ceremony, reached for his hat and left the young lady to the mercy of the beast. Naturally, he has not received many compliments in this vicinity for bravery.”

All of this was big news in Conecuh County and there was a front-page story about it in the June 1, 1933 edition of The Evergreen Courant. Under the headline, “Conecuh’s ‘Lion’ Stilled; Swains Recapture Dignity,” it was reported that “the ‘roar of the lion’ has been stilled in Conecuh County, and it appears now that swains can walk their girls ‘home from preaching’ without suffering loss of their dignity.”

“Swain” is a word that’s not used very much today, and I’ll be the first to admit that I had to look it up. According to the dictionary, there are a couple of definitions. “Swain” is defined as a “young lover or suitor,” but it means “a country youth.”

In the end, there is little doubt that this incident was one of the most unusual in the county’s history, especially when it comes to practical jokes. It would be interesting to know more about who was involved. I suspect that most of the men involved have long since passed on, but it’s possible that some of the “dumb bull boys” are still around. If anyone has more information about this incident, please let me know.

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