Chambers County AlArchives History .....Chambers Murders ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ron Williams hopewellroad@yahoo.com July 18, 2004, 9:26 pm The Chambers Murders The murders of Jefferson Chambers, 73, and his daughter, Nella Jean, 46, in mid-December of 1959, shocked the Valley, and brought an end to an innocence that the towns had previously enjoyed. On Sunday, December 13, 1959, Nella Jean Chambers did not show up to teach her Sunday School class at Hopewell Methodist Church. This was unusual, but the members of the class were not worried. They took advantage of her unexpected absence to take up money for her Christmas present. Later that morning, no doubt, they opened their hymn books to sing Christmas carols: Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men, and perhaps as they read the announcements they mentioned the Christmas play practice that was scheduled that evening. Ms. Nella was in charge of the play. That afternoon a young boy walked to the Chambers' home. He wondered if the practice was still on, but as he noticed that the Chambers' car was not in the yard, he assumed, like everyone else, that they had gone on one of their frequent Sunday afternoon drives. He didn't go on to the house. Had the car been in the yard, the boy would have clamored up the front steps and boldly into the house, as he was always welcome, and he would have discovered the ugly truth. Ms. Chambers did not show up for work on Monday morning at Fairfax Mill, and her father did not drive up to the mill to let her boss know that she was not going to be there, as was his custom. When it was noted that her car had been parked in front of the Fairfax Drug Store for two days, her boss drove out to her home to see what was the matter. He found a loaf of bread tucked inside the screen door, the key still in the lock, and Jefferson Chambers dead on the kitchen floor. "The Chambers' had always seemed unlikely as murder victims," wrote columnist Albert Edwards. "The elderly Chambers, a respected farmer, enjoyed talking with friends, meeting at the country store near his home for talks about about local and state affairs. History of the county and Alabama probably also crept into the conversation for one friend said that he enjoyed studying the past as much as did his daughter." "Their is no doubt, however, about Miss Chambers' love for history," continued Edwards. "An active member of the Chattahoochee Valley Historical Society, she and her father compiled the material for Chambers County Cemeteries, which was to be one of the first publications of the local historical group." Miss Chambers was found dead in her bedroom. Don Brown, columnist, wrote, " She apparently was surprised in her room. Authorities said she was raped on her large feather bed and choked with facial tissue and her pajama pants knotted around her neck. She was then beaten over the head and placed in a red chair facing her fireplace." It is believed that they had been killed on Saturday night, December 12. That day they had driven out to Salem to deliver a Christmas present and they arrived home late. It is unknown if the killers were already hiding in the house or if they broke in later. The Chambers enjoyed a light supper, and Mr. Chambers went out back of the house, while his daughter prepared for bed. It is unclear if the the father was murdered first or if the crime was already underway in Miss Chambers' bedroom when the criminals heard the elder Chambers enter the kitchen. Some believe that at this time the man or men left the bedroom, stabbed the father in the stomach and bludgeoned him with an axe kept near the stove. While this was happening, it is believed that his daughter made an unsuccessful attempt to flee as her shoes were on the wrong feet when her body was found. A few days later, the Chambers were at rest in Hopewell Cemetery, oblivious to the furor that their deaths had caused. Doors that had previously been kept unlocked were now bolted shut. Guns were kept easily at hand, and many feared travel after dark. Hopewell Church offered $100.00 for a reward. The local paper did the same, bringing the total amount offered to nearly $3,000.00. No one knows what the motive behind such a vicious crime would be. The Chambers' had recently sold $10,000.00 worth of pulpwood off their land, but that money was deposited in the bank at West Point. The soiled condition of Miss Chambers clothes, however, led some to believe that the murderer was probably a pulpwood worker. Almost immediately one man disappeared. His abandoned car was found near Osanippa Creek in Cussetta, and his body was found snagged on a limb in the creek on January, 16, 1960, just over a month after the murders. No one was ever charged with the crime. It is believed that someone who knew the Chambers' habits was involved. It was possibly someone who knew that if the car was not in the yard on Sunday and Monday that it would be at least 2 days before the crime was discovered. It was vowed that the front porch light of the Chambers' home would burn until the killer was found. Many rode by at night to see the light burning on the old, creaking, wooden house, the same house that Jefferson Chambers had been born in. The house where he and his daughter met their deaths. Today, the house is gone. If it were possible that front porch light would have been burning now for 44 years. The crime remains unsolved. Two graves at Hopewell Cemetery leave a question in the passerby's mind: What happened on December 12, 1959? Additional Comments: This article appeared in the Valley Times News in May, 2004, in a column by Ron Williams called "Past Times". File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/chambers/history/other/gms51chambers.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb