A Peculiar Tribe of People: Murder and Madness in the Heart of Georgia
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On May 12, 1960, as John F. Kennedy campaigned for the presidency, Chester Burge—slumlord, liquor runner, and the black sheep of the proud (and wealthy) Dunlap family of Macon, Georgia—lay in a hospital bed, recovering from surgery. He listened to the radio as the news reported that his wife had just been murdered. Police soon ruled out robbery as a motive, and suspicion centered upon the Ku Klux Klan, which two weeks earlier had descended upon his house to protest his renting of homes in white neighborhoods to black families. Then, on June 1, Chester was charged with the murder, and when the trial finally began, the sweet Southern town of Macon witnessed a story of epic proportions—a tale of white-columned mansions, an insane asylum, real people as “Southern grotesque” as the characters of Flannery O’Connor, and a volatile mix of taboo interracial relationships and homosexuality. “This story, with its nexus of lust, race, and class set among the columned mansions of cotton-town segregation, oozes all that fertilizes Southern Gothicka, including a bestiality anecdote; a sabbatical at the State Insane Asylum; ‘Baby Frances,’ the ‘Fat Lady’ circus performer who weighed 826 pounds; the obligatory cameo by the Ku Klux Klan; and a string of mysterious deaths, ending with the spectacular immolation of Chester Burge himself.” —11th Hour magazine Publishers Weekly The 1960 murder of the wife of a Macon, Ga., slumlord eager to climb the social ladder propels Hutto's real-life Southern gothic tale. Despite being a distant relation to one of the city's most prosperous families, Chester Burge was never socially accepted despite his wealth, flashy cars, and bejeweled wife, Mary, because his money came from "slimy" operations, from liquor running to housing scams. Burge also had a proclivity for men. On May 12, 1960, Mary's strangled body was discovered in her bedroom and even though Burge was hospitalized after surgery, and thus apparently unable to have committed the murder, he was eventually arrested and tried not only for Mary's murder but also for committing sodomy with his black chauffeur. Hutto (Their Gilded Cage) goes into great detail describing Burge's twisted family history--particularly how it intersected with prominent Macon families, many of whom the author interviewed--and the explosive court battle over Mary's murder. For those seeking closure, Hutto leaves readers with too many unanswered questions, but the story and its eccentric cast make this solid book worth the read. 16 b&w photos. (Nov.)
