I grew up here in Murfreesboro and have lived here most of my nearly 57 years on planet Earth. I grew up at a time when folks would leave the doors to their homes unlocked; you would always know if someone was not at home if they propped up their front porch sitting chair against the door leading into their home.

Some of you do not know that I am the namesake of my grandfather, Bill Wilson, my father’s dad. Others get tired of me telling them that my granddaddy was sheriff. However, I always thought it was cool! I thought it would be cool to go back in time to when he was sheriff here in the 1950s and ’60s. It was a simple time back when Rutherford County, especially Murfreesboro, more resembled Mt. Pilot of the Andy Griffith days on TV. Everybody knew everybody: there was a barber, a butcher, a mechanic, the town drunk and a sheriff.

Although in many ways times were simpler, the area still had its share of crime.

I am going to share some stories of those days and you can use your own imagination to compare that era to the fast-paced life we live in today. (Much of this comes from researching The Daily News Journal from the 1950s.) Here goes . . .

Escapee Walks Way Into Jail
(DNJ 3/12/58)

Tom Mays, a county workhouse prisoner, learned yesterday that walking away from a county road gang is no sure way to freedom. His escape had been telephoned to sheriff Bill Wilson who, after attending the funeral of magistrate A.A. Campbell, drove out to Jefferson Pike and there was Mays walking along the highway. He spent about six hours following the banks of the creek and decided he could safely use the highway.

“You’re a mighty hard man to get away from,” Mays told Sheriff Wilson, who took him back to jail.

He will be sentenced for escaping from the road gang. He was serving a sentence for driving while drunk. The circuit court jury is expected to return a decision in a damage suit seeking $395 in damages. The accident occurred in November 1956 and involved a collision of two cars.
___

3 Ohio Youths Nabbed
(DNJ 7/28/58)

Three Ohio juveniles ran into some trouble Sunday. They were picked up by Sheriff Bill Wilson and Deputy Lester Singleton near Christiana, after the sheriff received a call that someone had purloined a tire and wheel from a county car. The three youths were just turning around to leave the area when the sheriff arrived on the scene.

“If we had been one minute earlier or later we’d have missed them,” Sheriff Bill Wilson said today.

They had stolen a 1957 Chevrolet from a used car lot in Dayton, Ohio. The youths, 16 and 17 years of age, will be turned over to the FBI. They are in the county jail. They had several 5-gallon cans in the car which they had used for stealing gas for their three-state joyride.
___

Voodoo Artist Keeps Sheriff Busy “Wiping Out Signs”
(DNJ 7/28/58)

Being sheriff of Rutherford County entails a few more details than are apparent at times, Sheriff Bill Wilson, who is on the last leg of his first term and seeking a second term, reported today.

“Most folks think our work entails just the lawbreakers, but there are times when the call to duty has little to do with arresting offenders,” he said.

“Take Saturday afternoon, for instance. A man came into the office, his arms held akimbo, his eyes rolling and his tongue hanging out. ‘What’s your trouble?’ I asked him, to which he added, ‘I’ve been voodooed.’

“I tried to assure him that he was all right and sent him out to get a cool drink with some soda in it. In a few minutes he was back. He got the cold drink but he couldn’t find the soda, and he was still suffering,” the sheriff said.

“The last time he came back his parents were with him and it took some talking to assure them that he was all right. This same hex artist put the sign on another son in the family, too. If things keep on I may have to bring in that voodoo artist for disturbing the peace,” he added.
___

Parker Bound Over to Court
(DNJ 5/29/58)

Reverend G.W. Parker, ousted minister at the Mount Zion Baptist Church was bound over to the circuit court in general sessions court this morning. His arrest occurred last Sunday morning in the church when deacons called Sheriff Bill Wilson and Judge John Rucker to help them force Parker out of their church.

The congregation-minister hassle has been going on for some weeks, and only a few weeks ago, Reverend Parker was in general sessions court on a warrant signed by a church deacon. Last Sunday he went again to the church after being managed by Judge Rucker to stay away from the church unless the majority of the congregation voted him in as their minister. Parker was again voted out on a second vote of the congregation but he insisted on going back to the church.

“I want it distinctly understood that I will not stand for Parker disturbing this congregation again,” Judge Rucker told Parker’s attorney. Parker was released on his own recognizance.
___

Sheriff Fools ’Leggers, Buys Liquor, Makes Arrests
(DNJ 2/10/57)

Bringing bootleggers to justice has always been a problem with law enforcement officers in this county as well as other parts of the state where the sale of hard liquor is forbidden. Recently, Sheriff Bill Wilson conceived a new idea for working his way into the headquarters of the bootleggers, actually making purchases from those selling liquor and then issuing warrants for their arrest.

The procedure, which consisted of a disguise, not only got Sheriff Wilson into the right places, but resulted in the purchase of liquor in the bringing of three persons to justice. Wilson conceived the idea several weeks ago and actually made the entries and purchases about Jan. 22.

Busy with other duties of the sheriff’s office, the actual arrest had to wait. But Friday night he got down to the real business at hand. Arrested were W.W. Brown, Batey Wade and Callie McLean. All three were charged with selling liquor.

The disguise that got Wilson into the houses consisted of an old patrolman’s hat without braid or emblem, a pair of worn out slippers with one heel missing, a ragged khaki pair of trousers and a shirt of the same nature. Over this Wilson wore an old coat and let his spectacles drop down on his nose. The disguise not only fooled the bootleggers, but as he relates it, “many of my friends and associates didn’t even recognize me,” said Wilson.

Telling the story the sheriff relayed “I wandered into Betty Wade’s Place asking if anyone knew where I could buy some beagle hounds. They didn’t know anything about dogs, but they did offer to sell me some whiskey,” the sheriff said. He made a purchase.

“At Callie McLean’s I asked about whiskey and they gave me my choice of several well-known brands,” Wilson said. Purchases made at the other two places were white corn.

___

As these stories illustrate, even through different generations, the more things change the more they stay the same, and there are consequences in all that we do in life. And there will always be problems concerning voodoo, religion and whiskey.