Julia died 30 March 1916, still an inmate of the Georgia State Sanitarium. An obituary:
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Georgia
27 April 1916
(Viewed online at GenealogyBank.)
JULIA FORCE IS DEAD
State Stirred by Crime for Which She Was Convicted.
Atlanta, Ga. -- News was received in Atlanta Wednesday of the death of Julia Force, at the state sanitarium at Milledgeville. She was the central figure in a tragedy that stirred the entire state in 1893, when she killed her mother [sic] and two sisters following family quarrels. She was judged insane.
News was also received that she had been buried in the city cemetery there in the lot of a former matron of the hospital. [End]
Julia was indeed buried in the same lot of a former matron of the hospital, Mrs. Johnanna Mitchell Darnell. The cemetery is Memory Hill in Milledgeville, GA. Mrs. Darnell also happened to be the granddaughter of a former Georgia Governor, David Brydie Mitchell. Johnanna and Julia are buried in the governor's lot. The former governor died in 1837. I wonder if he could ever have imagined a "murderess" would be interred less than six feet from his remains almost 80 years after his death.
Some additional notes:
Central State Hospital (the name it is currently known by) in Milledgeville, Georgia was founded in 1842. It is still active and a well-known facility to this day.
Julia's sisters, brothers, and parents were all laid to rest in Oakland Cemetery of Atlanta. Julia's mother died in 1900, her brother Albert died in 1917, and her brother George died in 1921.
2 comments:
Loved this series - especially the surprise ending!
Thanks, Apple! I was fascinated with the story.
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