Nansemond County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Spivey, Joseph A., 1939 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ J.A. SPIVEY, GROCER, MURDERED BY THIEF Police Seeking Tall, Heavy Man Seen In Store At Factory And Madison HIT WITH HAMMER Body Left Hanging In Ice Box, Wife Arrives Not Knowing Tragedy J.A. Spivey, about 55, grocer, was murdered in his store at the corner of Madison and Factory streets this morning. A man was said to have been seen leaving the grocery store from the back door. The appearance of the person was not disclosed by Police Chief Churn, who is investigating the murder. About 10:30 A. M. The time of the murder was believed to have been between 10:20, when an employee of a nearby factory bought cigars from Mr Spivey and 10:45 a m. when W.L. Parr, Atlantic Coast Line Railway watchman, entered the store and, not seeing the proprietor, looked about. He saw feet extending into the doorway to the storage room at an angle. He looked, saw the gruesome sight and ran to the Butler Paper Box Company where John H. Marshall, propprietor, called Police Headquarters. "Tall, Heavy Man" "A tall, heavy colored man" was in the store at the time Buddy Williams, colored employee, went to the nearby Spivey store to buy a cigar for B.F. Mitchell, white employee of the Butler firm. At is customary, Williams was sent to the store at 10 a.m. to get drinks for factory employees. He went again at 10:20 for Mitchell. He did not know the name of the big man in the store, he said in describing him to police. Mr. Spivey, in contrast, was 5 feet 4 inches in height and weighed approximately 140 pounds. Wife Swooned Police Chief Churn said he and Mrs. Spivey arrived at the store simultaneously. The wife, not knowing her husband had been killed, was making a call on him. When she saw her husband's body she swooned and would have fallen, Churn said, had he not caught her. She has been hysterical since. Mr. and Mrs. Spivey lost their 23-year-old son, Vance, on October 24, when the beverage truck he was driving overturned on the Suffolk-Norfolk highway. Hands Unknown After viewing the body, City Coroner Edward C. Joyner, M.D., made the pronouncement that "Mr. Spivey came to his death at the hands of an unknown." "He had been dead 30 to 40 minutes when examined. Apparently he had been stunned and bled profusely. Death came quickly." The blood-stained hammer was found on the store floor. The body of the murdered merchant was still warm when Police chief Churn and Mrs. Spivey arrived at the store, the officer said. The Spiveys live at 112 North street. The body was moved from the store to the funeral home of I.O. Hill & Co. to await funeral arrangements. Police Busy Chief Churn and several officers were busy this morning interviewing employees at the Butler plant, Mr. Parr and an unidentified Negro woman who was reported to have seen "someone" leave the store by the rear door about the time the murder is believed to have been committed." Churn said robbery was the motive for the killing. It was not learned how much money was taken from the store. ****************************************************************************** CHURN STUDIES FINGERPRINTS FROM HAMMER Woman Witness Tells Of Seeing Man Leave From Back Door WHITE MAN HELD Funeral Rites For Victim Wednesday 3:30; Burial In Cedar Hill Four Negro men and one white man are being held by local authorities for investigation in connection with the brutal murder of J.A. Spivey yesterday at his store on the corner of Madison and Factory streets. In Newport News Fingerprints have been made from the hammer which is the alleged instrument used in killing the elderly merchant. Police Chief H.W. Churn is in Newport News today investigating other angles of the case. Those held for investigation are: Archie Everett, Negro, alias, James Williams, alias, Julius Morris; James Davis, Negro; John Albert Meyers, Negro; Thurman Jordan, Negro; W.H. Barnes, white man. An unidentified Negress who lives nearby the store where Spivey was killed is reported to have said she saw an unknown man enter the rear of the store and leave through the rear a few minutes later, going down Madison street shortly before the news of the murder got out in the neighborhood. Right Man? Chief of Police H.W. Churn, who is in charge of the investigation, said today that he believed the guilty man was included in the round-up of suspects now in jail. He refused to disclose the name of the man. Funeral Wednesday Funeral services for the slain man will be be held at the First Baptist Church tomorrow afternoon at 3 o'clock. The Rev. H.J. Goodwin will conduct the services and burial will follow in Cedar Hill cemetery. Mr. Spivey is survived by his wife, Mrs. Vanlieu Spivey; four sons, J. Vernon, J.T., Victor and Murray Spivey, all of Suffolk; a daughter, Mrs. W.L. Mathews, of Suffolk: a sister, Mrs. H.C. Bunch, of Hobbsville, N.C.; four brothers, W.O. and W.L. Spivey, of Hobbsville; J.B. Spivey, of Corapeake, N.C., and C.C. Spivey, of Portsmouth, and several nieces and nephews. [photo, captioned:] Shown above is a re-enactment of the scenes which he saw upon entering the store of J.A. Spivey, corner of Factory and Madison streets yesterday morning. Chief of Police H.W. Churn, who re-enacted the scene for police assigned with him to the investigation. Looking on is Sergeant John A. Daughtrey. The body of the slain grocer was as Chief Churn is shown, half in and half out of the abandoned ice box in the rear of the little grocery. (Photo by Traylor). ****************************************************************************** Release Three Men After Questioning In Spivey Murder CHURN TAKING FINGERPRINTS FOR FBI STUDY Two Negroes, Everett And Miles, Still Held In Jail NO CHARGES Victim Is Buried This Afternoon At Cedar Hill Cemetery No new developments were announced today by police officials investigating the hammer slaying of James [sic; Joseph] A. Spivey. Mr. Spivey was killed Monday morning in his plant area grocery store around 10:30. Two Negroes, Archie Everett and John Albert Miles, are being held for further investigation at the County Jail. Three others, a white man and two Negroes, were released yesterday afternoon after questioning. Everett, who has aliases of James Williams and Julius Morris, was arrested by Sergeant Eugene Walls, Patrolman H.P. Murphy and City Sergeant Wallis Walton. Miles was arrested by Sergeant John A. Daughtrey, Patrolmen Judson Johnson and E.L. Bunn. To FBI Lab Chief of Police H.W. Churn was in Washington today conferring with authorities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in connection with the case. Last night, Chief Churn put emphasis on the fact that no charges had been placed on either of the two men and that they were merely being held for further investigation. He did not state whether either of the men answered to the description of the man seen entering and leaving the rear of the building shortly before the murder as described by a Negro woman to police officials. The Negro is reported to have said she saw an unknown man enter and leave the building going on down Madison Street only a short time before the news of the brutal slaying spread over the suburan neighborhood. Funeral Today Funeral services for Mr. Spivey were held this afternoon at 3 o'clock at the First Baptist Church with the pastor, the Rev. H.J. Goodwin, conducting the services. The church choir sang several selections. Burial was in Cedar Hill cemetery. Active pallbearers were: G.T. Williams, Irwin White, T.E. Ward, D.L. Parr, Frank Mitchell, A.D. Ward, Leonard Spivey and Alvah Blanchard. Friends of the family acted at honorary pallbearers. The floral tributes were numerous and beautiful. ****************************************************************************** Negro Youth Confesses Having Part In Brutal Murder Of J. A. Spivey John Albert Miles Admits To Police Being In Grocery Store On Factory Street When Hammer Murder Was Committed; Blames Pal John Albert Miles, 21-year-old Negro, who has been held in the county jail since December 18 as a suspect of the murder of J.A. Spivey, 55, grocer, signed his second confession this morning that he was implicated in the murder. Miles described the crime to Chief of Police H.W. Churn admitting he had a part in the brutal murder. In his confession Miles said he and Edward Rodwell, another Negro who is being held in the Portsmouth jail, went to the grocery store and murdered Spivey. Miles in his confession stated Rodwell struck the fatal blow which brought instant death to Mr. Spivey. Rodwell, he said, robbed the stricken man and escaped through the front door with Miles leaving through the back way. Rodwell was arrested in December by local police and was taken to the Portsmouth jail where he has been kept ever since. No charges had been preferred against the Negro up to date, but it was thought that a murder charge would be placed by police against him sometime this week. Miles is scheduled to go on trial for his life in the Suffolk Circuit Court Wednesday. It is likely, however, that the case will be continued until the next term of court. At this term of court Rodwell will probably be indicted for the murder and he along with Miles will be tried in the near future. Members of the local police department were in Portsmouth this afternoon questioning Rodwell. Mr. Spivey was murdered at his store on the corner of Madison and Factory streets around 10:30 o'clock December 11. He was beaten to death, it appeared, from the blows of a hammer which was found on the floor. Miles was ordered held for the grand jury on February 9 when a little 9-year -old Negro boy stood up in Police Court and told Judge E. Roland Custis that he was in the store when the merchant was killed and pointed to John Albert Miles as the man who did it. Joseph Anderson SPIVEY, Suffolk merchant, b. 20 Apr 1884, Chowan Co., NC, murdered 11 Dec 1939, in store, Madison & Factory Sts., interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery (Block P, Lot 18*), Suffolk, 13 Dec 1939, "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 17, No. 223, Mon., Dec. 11, 1939, p. 1; "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 17, No. 224, Tues., Dec. 12, 1939, p. 1; "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 17, No. 225, Wed., Dec. 13, 1939, p. 1; "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 18, No. 13, Mon., Apr. 29, 1940, p. 1 *Additional information: Added to the Cedar Hill list, an extension of the Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/cemeteries/cedar_m.txt A photo of his gravestone - added by Steve Poole - is posted with Find a Grave Memorial #96244528, which gives Section [Block] J. D.Cert. 26652 (Suffolk #328) gives his mother as Penineah BERRY. His parents, Jacob Thomas & Pennina (BERRYMAN) SPIVEY, are buried in the Jacob T. Spivey family cemetery, Gates Co., NC. Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/obits/s110j7ob.txt