He moved from Granville County NC to York District SC between 17 and then moved to Rutherford County NC.

As a Revolutionary War patriot, he was paid 52 pounds, 9 shillings, 8 pence sterling for sundry provisions in 17. He was a farmer in Rutherford Co NC He was a member of State Line Baptist Church, Cherokee Co SC. He died on in Ellenboro, Rutherford Co and was buried in the Dobbins - Harrill family cemetery, Cleveland Co NC. He appeared on the census in 17 in Rutherford Co NC. William Dobbins Sr was born on in Granville Co NC. Included on this web site with permission of Billy Byars (paragraph 1595) (in hopes of eventual connection).ġ. Robinson, Carol (June 26, 2020) '16th Street Baptist Church bomber Thomas Blanton dies in prison.Descendants of William Dobbins (b 1740) and Susannah CollinsĬompiled by Billy Byars family is not yet connected with Daniel Dobyns Sr (d 1712), but because Daniel Dobyns Sr (the emigrant) had a son and a grandson with the somewhat unusual name of Drury and because William Dobbins Sr had a son and many other descendants named Drury, a connection seems probable.'Thomas Blanton, last surviving bomber of Sixteenth Street Baptist, described as prison 'loner'.' (September 10, 2013) Associated Press.McWhorter, Diane (2001) Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution.Sack, Kevin (May 2, 2001) ' Ex-Klansman Is Found Guilty In '63 Bombing' The New York Times.Sack, Kevin (May 20, 2000) ' After '63 Bombing, Hard Lives for Suspects The New York Times.Hansen, Jeff and John Archibald (August 31, 1997) 'Klansman still on suspect list.' The Birmingham News.Donaldson Correctional Facility where he was treated for cardiac-related ailments prior to his death in June 2020. He reportedly avoided contact with fellow inmates and was visited occasionally by his daughter. He was denied parole at a hearing on August 2, 2016.īlanton served most of his sentence at the St Clair Correctional Facility near Springville. He was sentenced on to life in prison for each of the four victims of the bombing. The secret recordings were admitted because no law forbade their use at the time they were made. Recordings made in 1963 with a microphone hidden in an informant's car and in Blanton's kitchen by the FBI agent Ralph Butler led to his conviction in James Garrett's court at the Jefferson County Courthouse. By the late 1990s he was living in a small trailer on a small lot owned by Wyman Lee in Fultondale.īlanton was indicted along with Cherry by special prosecutor Doug Jones. Periodic publicity about the bombing investigation sometimes resulted in his dismissal. In the 1990s, he worked as a security guard for Liberty Park and at Wal-Mart in Hoover. He was not charged in connection with the any of the bombings until nearly 40 years later.īlanton completed a Juris Doctorate at the Birmingham School of Law in 1980, but never passed the bar exam. He picketed the FBI's Birmingham office to protest harassmant and was arrested for assaulting an FBI agent.

The administrators of a lie-detector test concluded that it was likely he was involved in the bombings of 16th Street Baptist Church and Center Street Baptist Church ten days later. His then-fiancee Jean Casey affirmed that he was with her, but their accounts of the evening of September 14 differed substantially. He was questioned at length by federal officials, who found his alibi unconvincing. Photographs of Blanton and his two-tone 1957 Chevrolet were picked out by two witnesses. She also described his satisfaction with the fatal result of the church bombing.īlanton was one of the first suspects in that bombing. His girlfriend described a time when he swerved his car at a Black pedestrian, forcing him to dive to the curb to avoid being run over.

Fellow Klansman-turned-FBI informant Mitchell Burns said that Blanton liked to sit on the steps of 16th Street Baptist Church in the evenings after he had been drinking. Acquaintances claimed that he routinely poured acid on African-American's car seats and spoke in favor of killing Catholics and Blacks and blowing up their churches. He joined the Ku Klux Klan and became a member of the Eastview 13 Klavern with Robert Chambliss and Bobby Frank Cherry. During the 1950s he became an aggressive racist with violent tendencies. Navy as an aircraft mechanic from 1956 to 1959. He attended school through the 10th grade and worked as an unskilled laborer. He rejected the Catholic church after her death. died Jat Donaldson Correctional Facility, Jefferson County) was a Ku Klux Klan member who was convicted in 2001 for his involvement in planning the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in September 1963.īlanton's father, known as ' Pops', was a notorious racist and his mother was Catholic. Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr (born Jin Washington D.C.

Thomas edwin blanton jr death