Dr. Sam Lemon recounts Alexander McClay Williams case
MEDIA » Dr. Sam Lemon is absolutely certain Alexander McClay Williams was not guilty of murder — a horrific crime of which he was charged, convicted and executed. He was 16 and, in 1931, the youngest person to die in the electric chair in Pennsylvania.
Williams had been sent to Glen Mills School for Boys, then less a school and more a prison. In October 1930, the body of Vida Robare, a matron, was found dead with multiple stab wounds from an ice pick, as well as other injuries. The identification of Williams was, in essence, against all odds and with no evidence — only three separate confessions obtained under unknown circumstances.
Lemon, a lifelong Media resident, is just as certain the case would not be handled in the same fashion as it was in a “racially charged” environment of the time. If nothing more, Lemon said the psychologists he consulted in the course of his research believed Williams “didn’t have the heart or mind of a killer.”
“With such a crime as this today, there would have been more substantial representation, and a more in depth biopsychological-social evaluation,” said Lemon.
The legal representation Williams had is the source of Lemon’s unrelenting interest since he was about 10. This is where he began his talk at Media Fellowship House Sunday, the anniversary of Alexander’s birthday. Lemon updated the audience of more than 50 people fascinated by the 87-yearold case.
“I remember two specific things my grandmother shared with me. One was a one-page article in the (then) ‘Chester Times’ about the case. The other was that her grandmother was a ‘breeding woman’ on a plantation. I was too young to completely then,” he said.
Lemon called his ancestry “the voyage of my family from slavery to seven generations living in Media.” His first book, “Go Stand Upon the Rock,” is a slightly fictionalized account of the flight from the South. But his allegiance to this legacy clearly led to the Williams case. His great-grandfather, William H. Ridley, Esq., was the sole defense team. The loss, against considerable odds (and one might surmise impropriety) created unwarranted criticism in the African-American community. If only a part of his purpose, Lemon desired understand restoring full honor to his ancestor.
“Even as a child, I asked myself, ‘Why would a boy do something like this?’ Years later, I read the 300-page trial transcript and had a eureka moment. (Alexander) happened to be convenient,” Lemon said. “This is not an isolated case. People understand this is not ancient history.”
The facts and exhaustive analysis make up his book, “The Case that Shocked the Country: The unquiet deaths of Vida Robare and Alexander McClay Williams — the youngest person in Pennsylvania to die in the electric chair — for a crime he did not commit.”
It would be impossible to summarize here the time and effort Lemon put into his investigation; the details are on the pages.
“I wanted to write it as a serious research project, like my doctoral dissertation,” he said.
Lemon has been passionate about the case, the boy and the family. Nearing completion of his presentation, Lemon showed a picture of the now-abandoned Green Lawn Cemetery. The “lawn” is scattered with headstones, but the specific location of Williams’ grave is unknown. Lemon said he was unsuccessful gaining access to the cemetery record, making him suspicious of motives and operation.
“I’ve carried this story around for a long time, and shed a lot of tears,” he said. “You get attached to these people.”
That attachment and other emotions have had rewards. “Miss” Susie Williams Carter is the last surviving sibling of Alexander from a family of 11 children. She attended the talk with her daughter and granddaughter who said the story was not told within the family. Miss Susie, as she is called, said she thought of the pain her mother went through. Sadly, noting a child should not die before a parent, Miss Susie recently lost her son, Walker Carter, as he worked on restoring electric lines for the power company.
“There is no way we could have ever known what took place without this research. It’s wonderful we have the internet and all the sophistication of finding this information,” she said.
Lemon had noted technology as a key asset to his work. “It’s amazing what you can find online,” he said, showing a slide of Williams’ death certificate that had clearly been altered to show he was 18 when he was only 16.
In May, Delaware County Court partially expunged the case, but Lemon requested the trial record be retained for future purpose.
“My goal is to get this before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and have the conviction vacated,” he said. “The evidence is all there.”
If Lemon’s audience was any indication, he may have the legal help he will need. Various individuals involved in justice organizations from local colleges were there taking notes.