Beatrice Snipes is pictured with her child born in prison just after she received a life sentence for killing a Columbia policeman.
Columbia is indeed famously hot, and, while researching this 80-year-old photograph, I was struck by Columbia’s famously hot history. It’s impossible to look at the image and not wonder about the “thousand words” behind the story. The challenging eyes glaring at the camera seem menacing until a glance downward reveals the tender touch of a new mother.
Fortunately, when this picture was donated to the Walker Local History Room at the Richland County Public Library, attached was the yellowed, crumpled remains of a newspaper article that provided the name of someone who was killed. That was all we needed to recreate the story.
On another hot South Carolina afternoon in July 1932, Fort Mill police officer Elliott Harris stopped a car speeding north through Fort Mill. With the end of Prohibition still a year and a half away, Officer Harris thoroughly checked the car for any liquor that might be crossing the state line. Finding none, he charged the driver, Clyde Snipes, with speeding and discovered Snipes did not a have driver’s license.
Clyde and Beatrice Snipes, Columbia mill workers, were traveling through Fort Mill on their way to relocate from Columbia to Danville, Va. Beatrice, after making her way through the Columbia court system on a disorderly conduct charge, had been told her $10 fine would be suspended if she would leave town. Both Clyde and Beatrice were familiar with the Columbia police court, and the city had decided the Snipes were not worth any more trouble.
A brutal heat wave had just lifted from the southern U.S., and the temperature drop was probably just the right impetus to encourage the Snipes to leave Columbia that July 17. Considering their strained relationship with the Columbia Police Department, they were probably not pleased to be stopped by the law on their way out of the state.
The next five minutes after Officer Harris discovered that Clyde did not have a driver’s license can only be told from Beatrice’s viewpoint, but the events changed the lives of many people. Beatrice, feeling threatened by Officer Harris, grabbed his gun and shot him four times. A bullet to the head was probably the killing shot.
Tragically, Officer Harris was married and the father of four. He was also survived by his parents and 10 siblings. Another death resulted from the incident when Lewis Potts hurried on his motorcycle to inform the new Harris widow of the tragedy and crashed in route.
Soon after the shooting, Beatrice and Clyde were arrested and brought to Columbia to await their trials. The December trial became a media extravaganza when it was discovered that Beatrice was pregnant with the couple’s second child. Facing a possible death penalty, Beatrice became a national sensation. When found guilty, she was the first woman in South Carolina history sentenced to die in the electric chair. Photography studio’s like Sargeant’s, which took this picture, published several pictures of Beatrice Snipes during the trial.
After receiving telegrams and petitions from around the country asking for clemency, Governor Blackwood yielded to the pleas and announced he was commuting her death sentence to life. On January 17, 1933, one week after receiving her life sentence, Beatrice gave birth to a baby girl in the Columbia Penitentiary.
The Snipes family, of course, was in ruin, too. Clyde Snipes was sentenced to several months for stealing Officer Harris’s car after the shooting. According to newspaper articles, there was talk of the oldest son being adopted by a family member. The last article found about the case was in The State newspaper February 19, 1933. The article mentioned the possibility of parole for Beatrice, and baby Frances Joan was still with her in prison.
Thanks to Walker Local History, patrons bring us these finds we can rediscover and share Columbia’s Famously Hot history. If you are interested in more local history follow us on Facebook. We have a page called Richland County Genealogy and History. This gift included more images we are researching and will share on Facebook.
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