Abraham and Janie Boatman

Case summary

Incident

On Oct. 24, 1940, Dora Roberts wrote to the Department of Justice (DOJ) asking for assistance in the deaths of Janie and Abraham Boatman, her sister and brother-in-law. The Boatmans died in a vehicular accident after their wagon was struck by a truck driven by James R. Whiteley. Roberts noted that because the Boatmans were Black, the Highway Patrol never investigated the matter and that Whiteley, a white man from Hitchita, Oklahoma, remained free.

According to local newspapers, on the night of Sept. 23, 1940, Abraham Boatman and his wife, Janie, were driving in their wagon east on U.S. Highway 266 near Hoffman, Oklahoma, a rural area. Local newspapers reported that two unidentified individuals were also in the wagon. Around 7 p.m., Whiteley, who was driving a light truck, crashed into the back of the Boatmans’ wagon.

Abraham Boatman died on the way to the hospital. According to his death certificate, he died from a fractured skull and compression of the brain.

Janie Boatman was taken to the segregated hospital in Okmulgee with a fractured skull. She died three days later on Sept. 26 from her injuries.

Oklahoma highway patrolmen Howard Eden and Johnny Hayes, both white, investigated the crash that night. Eden told the Okmulgee Daily Times that the Boatmans’ wagon was traveling with no lights, which was against the law. According to newspaper articles, Whiteley was not arrested.

Aftermath

Abraham and Janie Boatman were buried on Oct. 6, 1940 at Hawkins Cemetery in Hoffman, Oklahoma.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Hugh A. Fisher responded to Roberts’ letter noting a lack of jurisdiction in the incident. He wrote: “This Department would like to be of service to you but the matters you complain of have been left, by the Constitution, to be handled under the police power of several states. Therefore, this Department cannot interfere.”

In April 1943, Dora Roberts, acting as administrator of her sister’s estate, filed to appoint an administrator for the estate of Whiteley’s late father, W.R. Whiteley. It is unknown how the matter was resolved.

James R. Whiteley died in 1958.

Media Gallery

Case summaries are compiled using government records and archival primary source material. These include, but are not limited to, investigative records, arrest reports, newspaper articles, court filings, census records, birth and death certificates, transcripts, and press releases. In many cases, the records contain contradictory assertions.

In addition to the incident files associated with this case, this summary relied on the following:

Sources

Genealogical Records

• Death Certificates for Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, United States, 1940, Oklahoma Office of Vital Statistics
• Headstone Applications for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1949, United States, 1940
• Marriage Records for Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, United States, 1921
• Population Schedule for Hopkins County, Texas, United States Federal Census, 1900
• Population Schedule for McIntosh County, Oklahoma, United States Federal Census, 1910, 1930
• Population Schedule for Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, United States Federal Census, 1920, 1940, 1950
• WWI Draft Registration Card, Oklahoma, 1917

Newspaper Articles

• “Whiteley Hurt When Tractor Overturns,” Holdenville Daily News (Holdenville, OK), May 20, 1940
• “Henryetta Negro Dies, Wife Injured in Crash,” Muskogee Daily Phoenix and Times-Democrat (Muskogee, OK), September 24, 1940
• “Negro Farmer Dies in Collision,” Okmulgee Daily Times (Okmulgee, OK), September 24, 1940
• “Negro is Killed, Wife Hurt When Truck Hits Wagon,” Henryetta Daily Free-Lance (Henryetta, Oklahoma), September 24, 1940
• “Fatal Accident Reported,” Sapulpa Herald (Sapulpa, OK), September 25, 1940
• “Second Accident Victim Succumbs,” Okmulgee Daily Times (Okmulgee, OK), September 27, 1940
• “Legal Notice of Hearing,” Holdenville Daily News (Holdenville, OK), April 1, 1943