This week in 1897

“Bad women are the cause of my being in this position…with all due respect to women, I must say they have brought me to ruin…I implore you all to abstain from evil habits. Especially beware of bad women.”

— Lovett Brookins, convicted of murder, hanging, Georgia.
Executed April 16, 1897

Brookins, a teacher, met the gallows smoking cigarettes. Before the drop, he prayed and sang. The high-ranking Freemason received the death penalty for murdering his mistress, Leila McCrary, and a man named Sanders Oliphant.