Bio

Thomas George Woolfolk was born on June 18, 1860, in Bibb County, Georgia, near Macon. He was the third child and the only son of Richard F. Woolfolk and Susan Moore Woolfolk. His father was a farmer, and the family lived on a cotton plantation. Sadly, Susan died shortly after Tom was born. This left him in the care of his aunt, Fannie Moore Crane, who was his mother's sister.

Tom spent the first seven years of his life with his aunt in Athens. During this time, he developed a close bond with her. Fannie lived in a house on Prince Avenue, but it no longer exists today, as the site is now occupied by a medical arts building. As a child, Tom experienced the upheaval caused by the Civil War and the Reconstruction era, which affected the entire country.

In 1866, when Tom was about six years old, his father remarried. Soon after, Tom moved back to live with Richard and his new stepmother, Mattie H. Woolfolk, at the family plantation near Macon. This move was not easy for him; he had a difficult relationship with his stepmother and became known for being quarrelsome.

In the months leading up to the tragic events of August 1887, Tom visited his aunt in Athens multiple times. During these visits, he acted strangely, talking incoherently and appearing paranoid. Those around him noted his behavioral changes. It was clear to his aunt that he was not well, and she worried about his mental state.

Little else is documented about his early life. Most details come from his time spent with his aunt and the environment in Athens during and after the Civil War. Tom Woolfolk's early years set the stage for significant events to come, but details about his childhood remain sparse.

Murder Story

On the morning of August 6, 1887, a terrible event occurred at the Woolfolk plantation home near Macon, Georgia. Nine members of the Woolfolk family were found murdered. The victims included Richard F. Woolfolk, 54; his wife, Mattie, 41; their six children ages 20, 17, 10, 7, 5, and 18 months; and 84-year-old Temperance West, a relative visiting from Americus.

The murders were committed with a short-handled ax that belonged to Thomas Woolfolk, who was 27 at the time. He claimed that he had escaped from intruders who broke into the home. He ran to a neighbor's house to raise the alarm about the murders. When authorities arrived at the scene, they discovered the grisly details of the crime. All victims had been struck in the head or upper body.

Evidence quickly turned towards Thomas Woolfolk. Bloody footprints in the home matched his shoes, and there was blood on his clothing. He was arrested and taken into custody on the same day. An inquest was conducted, and many people expressed suspicion about his story.

Thomas faced his first trial in December 1887. The evidence against him was largely circumstantial, but after a brief deliberation, he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. His conviction was overturned in February 1889 due to errors in the trial, and a retrial was ordered.

In June 1889, Thomas was retried in Perry, Georgia. Again, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. After several appeals and a change of venue, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed his sentence. Thomas Woolfolk was executed by hanging on October 29, 1890, in front of a large crowd. His final words were an assertion of innocence, but he did not confess.

The case remains one of the most notorious mass murders in Georgia history.