Episode 193 Atlanta's Black Week - The Force Family Murders

In February 1893, Atlanta endured a week of financial scandal, suicide and shocking violence that newspapers would later remember as Black Week. The darkest chapter unfolded inside the home of one of the city's most respected families, where two sisters were murdered and a third calmly confessed. Through contemporary accounts and Julia Force's own writings, this episode explores one of Georgia's most haunting nineteenth-century murder cases and the mystery that still surrounds it. Join the Community on Patreon: Want more Southern Mysteries? You can hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries 🎧 Explore More Southern Mysteries Visit SouthernMysteries.com for more episodes and source lists. 📱 Follow on Social Media: Facebook: Southern Mysteries Podcast Instagram: @southernmysteries Email: [email protected]  Episode Sources Langley, Lee. Inside Scenes of Atlanta's Black Week: A Series of Social Sensations and a Carnival of Crimes. Atlanta: Franklin Printing and Publishing Company, 1893. "A Carnival of Crime." The True Citizen (Waynesboro, Georgia), March 4, 1893. "The Trial of Julia Force." The True Citizen (Waynesboro, Georgia), July 1, 1893. "Miss Julia Force Indicted." The Weekly Banner (Athens, Georgia), March 14, 1893. "Julia Force Declared Insane." The Hartwell Sun (Hartwell, Georgia), July 7, 1893. "Julia Force Sent to the State Sanitarium." The Union Recorder (Milledgeville, Georgia), July 11, 1893. "Thomas Cobb Jackson's Suicide." The Montgomery Monitor (Mount Vernon, Georgia), March 2, 1893. "Force, Wholesale and Retail Dealer in Boots and Shoes." The Daily Intelligencer (Atlanta, Georgia), Dec. 22, 1865. "Bankruptcy Notice of Benjamin W. Force." The Daily Opinion (Atlanta, Georgia), Oct. 24, 1867. The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia), coverage of the Lewis Redwine scandal and Atlanta's Black Week, 1893-1894. The Atlanta Journal (Atlanta, Georgia), coverage of the Force murders and trial, 1893. Georgia Historic Newspapers, Digital Library of Georgia. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu New Georgia Encyclopedia. "Fulton County." https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org New Georgia Encyclopedia. "Henry W. Grady." https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org Your Peachy Past. https://peachypast.blogspot.com Find a Grave. "Julia H. Force." https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144555327/julia-h-force Friends of Memory Hill Cemetery. https://friendsofcems.org Episode Music Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.