Over the past month I have made two visits to St. Simons Island in hopes of completing research for our next cold case project, Murder in the Rectory, the 1938 shooting of the Rev. Charles Lee, of Christ Church Frederica (see my previous blog item, below, “New Murder, New Blog”).
The first trip was with Stephen Hoffius, my writing partner, and my wife, Sarah Brown, a professional photographer who has been drafted as our videographer. The highlight was an interview with Amy Lotson Mitchell, the “memory keeper” of the island’s African American community, which was facilitated by Mississippi historian Douglas Chambers. Ms. Mitchell had interesting material to add to our account of Reverend Lee’s murder, and to the conviction of George Clayborn, an African American janitor accused of the killing, and the reaction to both in the island’s Black community.
The second trip was a sadder, solo journey I made for the memorial service and interment of Richard “Rick” McBride, who made our involvement in this case possible. Rick, through a mutual acquaintance, Duke University history Professor John Martin, engaged Steve and me to take over Rick’s two-decade mission of clearing George Clayborn’s name. Clayborn was convicted of first-degree murder by an all-white jury and spent more than 20 years on Georgia’s notorious chain gangs. Professor Martin and his brother, whose father Junious was a later rector at Christ Church, grew up in the house where the unsolved murder took place.
My visit was greatly facilitated by longtime Saint Simons resident Christine Harness Glover, and her husband Hunh, who now live in the rectory.
Steve, John and I knew from the outset of our research, two years ago, that Rick was seriously ill with cancer. Yet we had hoped to complete his two-decade crusade to bring justice to this still unsolved case and finish our work in time for Rick to see his story in print. Alas, it was not meant to be. On May 2, 2025, he passed away.
On June 8, about 25 family members and close friends gathered at Village Creek Landing, a lovely venue overlooking St. Simon’s fabled, picturesque marshes. Informally, they shared memories of Rick for several hours and then a smaller group drove to the Christ Church cemetery for the interment of his ashes.
Under drizzling skies and church umbrellas, the Reverend Ashton Williston, the congregation’s associate rector, conducted a brief, graveside service. The mourners were led by Margaret (“Peg”), Rick’s wife of 46 years, daughter Shannon, and Rick’s surviving brother, Neil.
The burial site was within view of the trees known as “the Wesley oaks,” named for the brothers who founded the church and went on to found Methodism. Also nearby are the graves of the Cofer family, several members of whom were linked to the Lee murder at the time of the killing.
Members of Rick’s family, including Tina Harkness, each said a few words about him. Although I am a late-comer and outsider to the McBride family, when they had finished, I spoke briefly about Rick’s commitment to the quest for racial justice in the Lee murder case.
In many Jewish synagogues, before the Kaddish, the prayer for the dead, is recited at the conclusion of services, we pledge to “keep faith with those who sleep in the dust.” Steve, John and I have promised to keep faith with Rick McBride’s crusade for justice on Saint Simons, which we will do.