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| 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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