Albert Boyatt
Albert Boyatt (1876-1950) was a Scott County man involved in the Jerome Boyatt tragedy in 1933. He was the uncle of Jerome Boyatt.
Biography
Born May 9, 1877 (or May 10, 1876; the 1877 date is listed on his headstone, while the 1876 date is listed on his death certificate), in the No Business area of what is now the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, Albert Boyatt was the son of Jordan Thomas Boyatt (1828-1900) and Mary Ann Slaven (1847-1925). His paternal grandfather, Thomas Boyatt, was the first settler of Foster Crossroads near Oneida. His mother’s paternal grandfather, Richard Harve Slaven, was the first settler of the Big South Fork region.
Albert Boyatt was the younger brother of Ransom Boyatt. Other siblings included Joel Boyatt (born 1870), George Newton Boyatt (1874-1941), Melvina Boyatt (born 1874), Ollie Boyatt (1876-1910), Alford Boyatt (1878-1910), Bertha Boyatt (1880-1904), Florence Boyatt (1882-1969), Sebert Boyatt (born 1883), Una Boyatt Pugh (1884-1968), Ella “Nellie” Boyatt Kidd (1886-1954), and Daisy Boyatt (1888-1910).
Jordan Boyatt was first married to Elizabeth Buttram. His children with her, Albert’s half-siblings, included William Boyatt (1845-1930), Mehala Ann Boyatt King (1851-1887), and Arminda Boyatt Simpson (1855-1907).
Albert appears to have had a daughter named Maggie Boyatt, born about 1903. It is not clear who her mother was. Albert was living with his parents and youngest siblings in 1900, boarding in the home of Isaac Blevins in 1910, and living with his mother and daughter in 1920. He lived alone in 1930.
Albert later married Bettie Smith (1894-1984) between 1930 and 1940. She had four children: Letha, Rosa, Hattie, and Millie. Her first husband, Preston Smith, died in 1931. She was the daughter of John J. “Hawk” Smith (1866-1949) and Polly Ann Blevins (1868-1942).
Albert Boyatt served in the Spanish-American War as part of the 4th Regiment of the Tennessee Volunteers Infantry from July 18, 1898, to May 6, 1899.
The Jerome Boyatt tragedy
On Friday, April 21, 1933, Albert Boyatt got into a fight with his nephew, 22-year-old Jerome Boyatt, at a Stearns Coal & Lumber Co. logging camp near Rock Creek in eastern Pickett County, near the Scott County line.
The fight was said to have been over bootleg liquor, which both Albert and Jerome were known to deal in.
The Chattanooga Daily Times reported on April 22, 1933, that “Jerome Boyatt is said to have beaten his uncle, Albert Boyatt, almost to death during a quarrel…”
The superintendent of the logging camp held the men in a railroad car — along with Jerome Boyatt’s brother and Walter Crabtree — and phoned for law enforcement. Some reports indicated that he told Pickett County Sheriff George Winningham that there had been a murder.
Winningham arrived on scene a short time later with two of his deputies, including his son, Floyd Winningham, and Brahm Garrett.
When the lawmen arrived on scene, shots were fired by both parties, although it has always been disputed who fired first. Jerome Boyatt killed Floyd Winningham instantly, striking him in the face, and shot George Winningham in the stomach. The elder Winningham died the next day at a Nashville hospital.
Jerome Boyatt fled the scene, triggering a large-scale manhunt led by another of George Winningham’s sons, Willie Winningham, who served as the sheriff of Clinton County, Ky. With emotions running high in Pickett County, where George Winningham was said to have been the most popular sheriff in the county’s history, Jerome Boyatt’s parents and siblings were arrested and taken to Byrdstown, Tenn.
Days later, Boyatt’s father, Ransom Boyatt, was released from jail to tend to the family farm at No Business. Some also said that he had promised lawmen he would convince Jerome to turn himself in. Ranse Boyatt was later found dead at his home by concerned neighbors. An inquest ruled that the cause of death was homicide. However, no one was ever charged.
The death of his father convinced Jerome Boyatt to give himself up. He was jailed at the old Scott County Jail in Huntsville. However, on June 9, 1933, an armed mob kidnapped Boyatt and another accused murderer, Harvey Winchester. Their tortured and bullet-riddled bodies were discovered near U.S. Highway 27 in Helenwood the following day.
Willie Winningham was regarded as the most likely perpetrator of the mob, though many suspected the involvement of Scott Countians, as well. No one was ever charged.
See Also: The Jerome Boyatt Lynching
Death
Albert Boyatt died on Feb. 11, 1950, of natural causes. His death certificate listed the cause of death as “some heart ailment.” He was buried at Hazel Valley Memorial Cemetery, where his wife would also be buried many years later.
What became of Boyatt’s daughter, Maggie, is unclear. She lived with her grandmother, Mary Slaven Boyatt, in 1910. In 1920, her father also lived in the household. However, she had disappeared from the public record by the 1930 census, possibly dying. Albert Boyatt’s obituary in 1950 did not list her as a survivor.