Documented within the pages of this book are accounts of the outlaws, lawmen, and unusual characters who existed in the area known today as the state of Georgia in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. They came from all walks of life and their experiences are unique in the history of the state:
Virginia Hill & Mobster "Bugsy" Siegel - Though gentle and kind to friends and family, life was less than rewarding to the attractive young lady from Cobb County, Georgia, who grew up to become the "kept woman" of Chicago mobsters. After living a life of high - but non-violent - crime, Virginia Hill ultimately died a lonely death far from her Georgia home, and later was immortalized upon the silver screen in her life with notorious mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel.
Jacob Pettyjohn & Murder in Forsyth County - Though he sought a normal, law-abiding life, Jacob Pettyjohn's world became nightmarish in 1859, when events quite nearly conspired to end his life. At the somewhat young age of 42, he was convicted of murder for little more than his inability to render assistance to a victim in need. After winning a "Stay of Execution," Mr. Pettyjohn did not linger in north Georgia's Forsyth County hoping for a reversed judgment, but instead, struck out for Texas, where many of his descendants still live today.
Frontier Fighters From Yesteryear - If one passes through Polk County today, the name "Prior" can still occasionally be seen on street signage and in property descriptions. The once-prominent family was composed of hard-working, honest, and law-abiding citizens who farmed the land and became prosperous in the days prior to the U.S. Civil War. During and after this conflict, when a criminal element threatened the lives and livelihoods of the Prior family, the outlaws quickly discovered they had erred in acquiring the Priors as adversaries.
The Murder of Cherokee Chief James Vann II - On a cold winter night in 1809, at an isolated tavern located on the old Federal Road at what today would be the approximate county line between Forsyth and Cherokee counties in north Georgia, an important headman of the Cherokee Nation was brutally murdered. The identity of the assailant of Chief James Clement Vann II was never learned, nor was the reason for the murder. Though he was buried and his grave clearly marked a short distance away in Blackburn Cemetery, the location of his interment has been strangely lost through time.
The Vanished Confederate Treasury Gold - During the dark closing days of the U.S. Civil War, casks of gold and silver coins comprising the Confederate Treasury and the assets of several Virginia banks - a glittering hoard worth untold millions of dollars today - were spirited across the Carolinas and into northeast Georgia in a last-ditch effort to avoid their confiscation by Federal authorities. Portions of these funds ultimately seemed to disappear in the confusion of a mass exodus; other portions were stolen and scattered near and far over the northeast Georgia hills by midnight thieves who escaped into the wilderness.
The Robbery of the Bank of Lumpkin County - It is but a footnote in history today, but back in the early 1900s, a group of bandits attempted to rob the Bank of Lumpkin County in Dahlonega, Georgia, on a cold dark winter night, and met a hail of gunfire when their actions were discovered. The ensuing blazing street-fight on the old town square rivaled a scene right out of the old West and ultimately resulted in the capture of the criminals.
These accounts, along with 27 additional articles and 194 captivating period photos await the readers of this fascinating book.