This Date in Fayette County History: The Execution of James Collett

On this date in 1945, the final chapter in a Fayette County tragedy was written at the Ohio Penitentiary when James Collett was executed in the electric chair for murdering three members of his family.

The story begins on the farm belonging to Collett's brother-in-law, Elmer McCoy, located north of Washington Court House on the Lewis Road.  On Thanksgiving eve, 1943, Collett shot his brother-in-law in a dispute over money and then also killed McCoy's wife, Forrest and their daughter, Mildred, most likely to cover up the crime.  The bodies were discovered the next day by a neighbor.

Collett's trial began in February 1944 and lasted about one month.  The jury found him guilty on all three counts of first degree murder.  And the judge, my grandfather Harry Rankin, pronouced the death sentence.  Collett was to be executed July 26th of that same year.  Through several failed appeals, including a last minute appeal to Governor Frank Lausche, Collett maintined his innocence.  He was the 243rd person to die in the electric chair which came to be known as "Old Sparky" on Friday, April 20th at approximately 8 p.m.

Eyewitnesses including Sheriff W.H. Icenhower, the man who arrested Collett.  Also present were Police Chief D.V. Long and Sheriff Orland Hays, who succeeded Icenhower.  Their accounts, as reported in the Columbus Dispatch the next day, contained gruesome details of smoke and hissing coming from the body as "1800 volts of electricity coursed through Collett's body." 

The editorial page of the Dispatch that day said, "Justice was done in one of the most reprehensible crimes in the state's history."

Glimpses of World War II Florida

I’ve been immersed in learning about World War II from my father-in-law’s perspective for the past three years. 

Jay, a B-25 bomber pilot who served in the South Pacific during the last year of the War, has been dictating his memories of those times and I have been editing them into a book.  More than any big overview of the War, I have enjoyed the little details he’s told me about:  like the fact that the nickname for corned beef in tin cans was “bully beef” and how he and his squadron buddies became sick of eating it.  And when the war was over, many servicemen, including my father-in-law, went to a base in Miami Beach to be reassigned or separated from their military duties.

Then, just this week, I came across three letters that my grandmother, Maude Rankin, wrote to my grandfather, Harry, during the winter of 1943.  They were tucked inside a dark brown folder with the return address of “Clerk of Courts, Fayette County, Washington C.H., - Ohio;” not unusual as my grandfather was judge of the Common Pleas court at that time. 

Maude was staying at the Hotel Normandy Isle on Miami Beach with friends.  My grandfather’s work and his position on the War Bond committee in Fayette County prevented him from going with her.  The two images above are from the stationery she used.  I love the ‘Old Florida’ style and the various planes including bombers, fighters and tankers. 

She shares her glimpses of World War II with him:

February 13, 1943

 … We see the Goodyear Blimp way out over the ocean patrolling every day up and down.  A few days ago a huge convoy of soldiers and equipment left Key West for Africa.  Someone here in the hotel saw them go.  The Government has taken over Key West and fixed it up, and has made it a port of embarkation.(sic)  The Biltmore hotel over at Coral Gables, remember we went in with the Junks one time? has been made a Gov’t hospital and they are flying the wounded in there from Africa.  The big transport planes come in and land on the golf course.  Each plan has a doctor and 2 or 3 nurses.

February 15, 1943

 … We have a French woman rooming next to us.  She and her husband left Paris when the Germans took over.  She and her husband got separated and didn’t find each other for 3 months and then located each other through newspaper advertisements.  The Germans took everything they had, their home and all, allowed them only what they could carry.  They are in Minnesota now, but she has been having pneumonia and he sent her down here to get well.  She is lonely and enjoys talking to us.

What I love about these letters is that they are an intimate glimpse into those world events through one person’s eyes.  Can you imagine planes landing on the golf course at a luxury resort today?  I try to. 

As with my father-in-law’s memories, I find that sometimes they are more powerful and profound than anything any expert or scholar could tell me.  Perhaps I learn more because these little ‘tidbits’ spur my already strong curiosity on to further research.   I did want to know - just what effect did World War II have on Florida?  

Perhaps the most dramatic impact of the war on Florida was the many military bases established throughout the state.  The tremendous migration of military personnel into the area took place along with civilian workers who came to work in the various camps and bases increasing the population by over 40%.   By 1943 approximately 172 military installations of varying sizes were in existence in Florida, compared to only eight in 1940.   This military expansion set the stage for Florida’s continued growth after the War as a tourist and retirement mecca.