Book Description

From a former Maryland attorney comes the true crime story of accused murderer Orphan Jones—a case mired in the racism and politics of 1930s America. Euel Lee, alias Orphan Jones, was an African American accused of murdering his white employer and family over a single dollar. The tumultuous events and cast of characters surrounding the racially charged crime garnered national media attention and changed the course of Maryland history. With exacting research, former Maryland State’s Attorney Joseph E. Moore reconstructs the murders, the ensuing roller coast of a trial, and the eventual conviction and execution of Orphan Jones. Moore details all of this in the context of Jim Crow politics and American society during the Great Depression in this gripping true crime account. “The Euel Lee case as explored by Joe Moore is more than good, readable, local history. It is about the stresses and strains in American society in the Depression, from the radicalism of a young Communist lawyer to the conscious efforts of a rural community to contain violence, confront or at least deal with their prejudices and see that justice was served for a senseless murder in their midst. Moore sets a high standard of factual accountability and entertaining narrative based upon oral history and archival research. General readers and scholars alike will not be disappointed.” —Edward C. Papenfuse, PhD, Maryland State Archivist and Commissioner of Land Patents