Isaac J. Mayo

Case summary

Incident

On Aug. 24, 1947, at 2:20 a.m., 25-year-old Isaac Mayo’s "mangled body” was found on a railroad track by a train engineer passing on the main line near Norlina, North Carolina.

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad conducted an investigation and reported its findings to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The company’s investigation found that Mayo left the Norlina bus station around 9 p.m. on Aug. 23 with a group: George Green, J.R. Davis, Matthew Ball and Clarence Allgood. The group was drinking and then took Green’s car to the home of Raymond Russell, an alleged bootlegger, to buy wine and gamble. Mayo purchased an additional half gallon of wine and then the group left for Davis’ home where they ate. The group then drove to a nearby sandlot.

Railroad investigators reported that, around midnight, Davis got out of the car, taking Mayo’s purchased wine. Mayo protested, according to railroad investigators. Mayo got out and an argument broke out between the two men. The rest of the group drove off, leaving Mayo and Davis at the sandlot. Davis denied to railroad investigators that he saw Mayo exit the car, contradicting other witnesses. This was the last time Mayo was seen alive.

Railroad investigators reported that also around midnight the same night Davis was seen at Jasper Crossen’s barber shop with the wine. After Davis and Crossen drank the wine, Davis left to go home and Crossen went to bed.

The barber shop, where Crossen also resided, was located about 75 yards from the sandlot where Davis and Mayo were dropped off. Railroad investigators noted to the FBI that the sandlot was bound by Davis’ home on one side and Crossen’s barber shop on the other. The pass track of the railroad, which was off the main rail line, was a few yards beyond a church that also bordered the sandlot. Investigators indicated “that these various points constitute something of a triangle with the sandlot in the center and all being within earshot of one another.”

Mayo’s body was found on the pass railroad track, about 40 yards from where he and Davis got out of the car. Both of Mayo’s feet were cut off at the ankles and “one arm was cut off at the shoulder.” Additionally, there was “a hole the size of a silver dollar in the back of Mayo’s head.”

Aftermath

Edward Petar, Warren County coroner, received a call around 3 a.m. from Norlina Chief of Police Willie N. Carter, who reported the discovery of Mayo’s body a half-hour earlier. After consulting with representatives from the railroad who agreed that Mayo was likely run over by a train, Petar wrote in a Coroner’s Inquest Report that “I was unable to find any evidence of a criminal act” and so did not present the matter to a coroner’s jury. He found that Mayo’s death was accidental and the death certificate listed the cause of death as “struck by train.” Petar agreed to keep the case open in case evidence of foul play surfaced.

Mayo had previously been the primary witness to Henry G. Andrews’ death on June 7, 1947, two months before. Carter, the same man who reported Mayo’s death to Petar, shot and killed Andrews in the back of a police car. Both Mayo and Andrews were in the back of the car after being arrested for alleged drunkenness. On Aug. 18, less than a week before his own death, Mayo had provided a signed eyewitness statement to FBI agents. This account differed from his original statement to the local Legal Committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on June 28, in that the Aug. 18 statement aligned more closely with the police officers’ claims of self-defense. In a July 7 letter to NAACP Special Counsel Thurgood Marshall, Charles W. Williamson, counsel for the North Carolina State Conference of Branches of the NAACP, wrote that he believed Mayo was fearful of speaking the truth and asked for Department of Justice (DOJ) involvement. In his letter, Williamson explained that “we know from his conversations that he has purposely avoided telling the truth, and we know that we are unable to offer him the necessary protection which he deserves.”

The DOJ never investigated Mayo’s death and the FBI obtained information about Mayo only through their investigation of Andrews’ death. In an Oct. 27 report, FBI investigators determined that local law enforcement was not investigating Mayo’s death. Railroad officials continued to follow the incident closely due to concerns of “possible liability” and conducted their own investigation, the only official investigation into the incident.

The FBI spoke with W.E. Davis, the railroad’s assistant supervisor of property protection, about Mayo’s death and the railroad’s investigation. W.E. Davis told FBI agents the company doubted that Mayo was killed accidentally by a train, because there was no blood found at the scene, nor was his body bloody. According to the railroad, there was only one train scheduled at 1:30 a.m. on the pass track between midnight and 2 a.m. Railroad investigators believed there was a possibility the incident was a murder, “although it rather clearly reflects that it was not a grudge affair.” Railroad investigators also stated that “there is no indication that any officers or any member of the family of Henry G. Andrews was involved in the matter.” However, the Rev. James Burchette told the FBI of “rumors” in the Black community that the officers responsible for Andrews’ death “may also have disposed of Mayo in view of the fact that he was a potential witness against them.” The FBI noted that its investigation positioned Mayo as a witness for, and not against, the police officers, based on his Aug. 18 statement. The railroad investigators deemed Davis and Crossen to be their key suspects.

W.E. Davis told FBI investigators “that there was no formal examination made of the body by a doctor” and that no autopsy would be performed unless Mayo’s family filed a claim against the railroad. Williamson stated that he would be willing to represent Mayo’s family in a suit against the railroad if the death was deemed accidental. No lawsuit against the railroad could be found.

Mayo’s death received minimal local coverage. One article in Durham’s The Herald-Sun reported that in addition to Petar, Seaboard Air Line Claim Agent Robert Kirkland and Dr. G.H. Macon of Warrenton investigated the incident. The report noted that the group concluded “Mayo was either asleep on the tracks or was placed there.”

Mayo was buried at White’s Grove Cemetery in Norlina.

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

Archival Sources

• NAACP Records: Legal File; Police Brutality, Andrews, Henry, 1947; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Genealogical Records

• Applications for Headstones For U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941, North Carolina, 1947
• Death Certificate for Warren County, North Carolina, United States, 1947
• Index to Vital Statistics, North Carolina Birth Indexes, Warren County, North Carolina, United States, 1922
• North Carolina Certificate of Birth, Warren County, North Carolina, United States, 1922
• Population Schedule for Warren County, North Carolina, United States Federal Census, 1930
• Population Schedule for Warren County, North Carolina, United States Federal Census, 1940
• Population Schedule for Warren County, North Carolina, United States Federal Census, 1950
• Report of Verdict of Coroner on Inquest, Warren County, North Carolina, Coroner’s Records and Inquests, State Archives of North Carolina, 1947
• World War II Army Enlistment Records, North Carolina, Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946
• World War II Draft Registration Cards, North Carolina, 1942

Newspaper Articles

• “Dead on Tracks,” The Herald Sun (Durham, North Carolina), August 26, 1947
• “Negro Dies at Norlina When Hit by Train,” News and Record (Greensboro, North Carolina), August 27, 1947