Luther Thompson Story

Story Contributed by, Iris Thompson Fry

It was in the summer of the early 1950's, Luther Thompson was the Mayor, Judge,ect. of Lula, Georgia. Alot of the young boys in Lula liked to sit on the window sills and listen to the trials in the old Lula City Hall. As one of the trials began, Luke as usual used his 45 pistol as a gavel. Harve Gowder was the baliff. Anyone convicted to go to jail was picked up by the Hall County Sheriff's Department. On this particular day, a young boy was charged with killing a man's dog. The man said that he paid $100 for the dog. Luke told the man to sit down. Harve keeping a journal of the proceedings, always licking his pencil before writing. The young boy was called to the stand and was ask to tell the court the whole story. The boy said the dog ran out all the time and had cut up several of his family's cows. He said he had spoken to the man many times and ask him to keep his dog penned. He said the man kept telling him that it wasn't his dog doing the killing of the cows. The boy said that he was getting up one morning to go to school and his mother told him that the same dog was out there again chasing their cows. The boy said that he had enough and grabbed his gun and walked outside and shot the dog. He then through the dog in the back of his truck and went to the man's house and told him that his dog was chasing his cows again. The man said, " I've told you, that ain't my dog." He said his dog was laying inside by the heater. The boy said, " Well in that case I'm going to bury this dog" and pointed to the back of the truck. The man looked in the back and said, " You've killed my dog." Luke told Harve to get out his pencil and write down how many cows were killed. The boy answered, " Two." He then gave him the price of the cows. Luke ask how much the feed cost that he bought for the cows and how much was the vet bill. The baliff wrote down all the prices. The boy sat back down. The man was called to the stand and was asked how much money he had spent to feed his dog. The man said, $150.00. Luke said, " I can clearly see that this young boy killed your dog and that you deserve compensation." He told the baliff to give the man $150.00. Luke told the boy's father to pay the baliff and for him to give it to the man and for the man to sign the papers that he had gotten his money. Luke then ask the baliff how much the total cost was for the cows, damage and all. The baliff said $1,200. The judgement for the boy was $1,200. The man was furious and said, " That ain't my dog." Luke said, " Hell yes it is, you just got paid for it and you are responsible for $1,200 or go to jail." Luke struck the 45 on the table and court was dismissed. Submitted by: Iris Thompson Fry ( daughter of Luther Thompson)