New Info on Death of Robert Johnson
P.W. Fenton
----------
> From: Mike Williams <Sal...@GNN.COM>
> Some of you may know this, but I have seen no posting about it yet.
Gayle Dean Wardlow was at the King Biscuit Festival and someone who attended
the festival did post to Blues-l about talking to Wardlow about the new
information. Mr. Wardlow showed me the certificate at the festival. It was
very freaky because the copy he has looks exactly like an original (must have
been a two sided copy made on a full color copier). It really felt like you
had the original in your hands.
> Recently Wardlow returned to the Mississippi State Department of Health to
take
> another look at Johnson's death certificate. This time he turned it over
and looked
> at the backside [why he did not read the back side in 1968 he does not
say].
At Helena, Wardlow told me that he originally obtained a negative photocopy
of the certificate through the mail, by simply writing and asking for a copy.
He had no reason to believe, when they sent it to him, that there was
anything "missing". There was nothing for him to turn over, they only gave
him a copy of the front side. There was no reason to suspect that there was
anything on the reverse side. It was seeing a two sided copy of someone
else's certificate in a totally unrelated case that made him wonder about the
Robert Johnson certificate. This time he simply asked for a copy of both
sides and viola! We now have more information to confuse us about the death
of a mysterious Bluesman.
P.W. Fenton
Tampa, Florida
http://www.gate.net/~pwfenton
Mike Williams
Dear Blues-L:
Some of you may know this, but I have seen no posting about it yet. Enjoy.
The November issue of Guitar Player contains a short article by Gayle Dean
Wardlow
about New Details on the death of a Bluesman [Robert Johnson]. In 1971 Wardlow
published the Death Certificate of Robert Johnson in Blues Unlimited magazine
which he
found in 1968 in Mississippi. In the place were the cause of death would be
listed,
it only says "no Doctor." The names of Johnson's parents are listed. We have
know
all this since 1971. The cause of his death has been speculated on for six
decades.
His death has become a legend. Honeyboy Edwards and Johnny Shines claimed to
have
witnessed his death. Their are many conflicting stories.
Recently Wardlow returned to the Mississippi State Department of Health to take
another look at Johnson's death certificate. This time he turned it over and
looked
at the backside [why he did not read the back side in 1968 he does not say].
There he
found the signature of the Vital Statistics Director, R.N. Whitfield. The
interesting
thing is that the backside also contains an investigative report by LeFlore
County
Registrar, Cornelia J. Jordan. Among other things it states "... The plantation
owner
said it was his opinion that the Negro died of syphilis." Wardlow goes on to
state
that there is the possibility that Robert Johnson died of congenital syphilis or
a
combination of infection and alcohol abuse causing pneumonia or aneurysm. "As
to what
finally killed him... it's still just speculation. Without an autopsy it would
be
impossible to know for certain."
What I find interesting about this is that this information leads one to believe
that
Johnson died of an infectious disease and was not poisoned, stabbed, or shot. I
have
some thoughts about what microbe actually killed him. Congenital syphilis is
possible, but sexually acquired syphilis unlikely in my opinion. I have
thoughts
about other microbes too. I have a knowledge of pathogenic bacteriology, but I
will
not discuss my speculations here. Few on the Blues-L could follow it with out
first
acquiring a background in biology. Also I would like to see more information
from
Wardlow or others researchers before I publicly speculate. Now all we need to
find out
is how he learned to play guitar the way he did.
For some more background about Robert Johnson, see
"Searching for Robert Johnson" by Peter Guralnick. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1989
has Bibliography
"Gayle Dean Wardlow: the Blues World Interview" by Joel Slotnikoff
URL http://www.bluesworld.com/GDW.html
"Blues Researcher Gayle Dean Wardlow Talks About Delta Blues and the Robert
Johnson
Mystery" by Patrick Howse URL http://www.blueworld.com/Gayle
"Bibliography of Writings By Gayle Dean Wardlow" by Edward Komara
URL http://www.bluesworld.com/GDWbib.html
Yours,
Mike Williams ;-{)
Arthur Schuna
In article <1996102609...@mail-e2b.gnn.com>, Sal...@GNN.COM says...
Registrar, Cornelia J. Jordan. Among other things it states "... The
plantation owner said it was his opinion that the Negro died of syphilis."
Wardlow goes on to state that there is the possibility that Robert Johnson
died of congenital syphilis
I'd be skeptical about this theory. How would a plantation owner have this
kind of knowledge about an itinerant blues performer? Sounds more like a
reason to not do further investigation of a mysterious death. Like you say in
your post, without an autopsy we'll never know.
Art Schuna
Mike Curtis
The final stages of syphillis are very dramatic. The disease attacks the
nervous system and brain, amongst other things. Blindness and insanity
are common in advanced stages of the disease. So it's entirely within the
realm of possibility for a nonmedical person to make an educated guess.
Also, the fact that the plantation owner did make a guess may indicate
that he was familiar with the symptoms of advanced syphillis.
Perhaps we have a medical expert on list who could fill us in a little
more authoritatively?
-- IronMan Mike Curtis
New Cassette available - email for details
Peter Lee
"How would a plantation owner have this kind of knowledge about an
Johnson's death.
When I was doing research for the Living Blues issue on Robert Johnson, I
interviewed an older man who lived in Tupelo, Mississippi. He was the son
of the owner of the plantation and, if I recall correctly, the store where
Johnson supposedly played for the last time. He remember Johnson fairly
well. And he also recalled a string band that played in the area and, he
said, he preferred them to Johnson. Not to argue the point that a white
plantation owner would or could have known the medical problems of a black
musician, but I think you should keep in mind that Johnson wasn't some sort
of phantom wondering the Delta (no matter how the myth has now evolved.)
Anyway, how easy do you think it was to hide the sort of talent Johnson
had, even in a terribly racist society like the South.
One other thing about the research we did for that issue of Living Blues. I
was talking to Robert Lockwood and Johnny Shines in a hotel room in Helena,
trying to confirm the story of a woman who then lived in Cleveland and who
had known Johnson. Johnny Shines suggested that Johnson may have died from
a bleeding ulcer. Not as glamorous as syphilis (congenital or otherwise),
being shot, being poisoned, or being stabbed. But that sort of pain might
make you wiggle on the floor a little bit.
Peter Lee
Shade Tree Music, Inc.
P.O. Box 1001
Oxford, MS 38655
(601) 238-2581
Delta Doc Roger
I thot the advanced stages of syphilis, as in the case of Al Capone, didn't
appear until 30 years after contraction of the disease. Maybe i am thinking
of gonorhea left untreated.
WE do have a doctor on the BLUES-L list, whatcha think?
regards,
ddr
He knows he shouldn't kill,
and he knows he always will;
Kill He for Me my friend,
and Me for You.
Eliot C. Williams
If, as most accounts of his death suggest, Johnson died fairly suddenly (ie
after a illness of a few days at most), congenital syphilis or tertiary
neurosyphilis (the neurologic condition associated with the late stages of
the disease) would be a very unlikely explanation, since both usually cause
a variety of signs and symptoms for some time (months to years) before
death. Congenital syphilis often produces skeletal changes that (to judge
from the available photographs) Johnson did not seem to have. However,
tertiary cardiovascular syphilis could well cause death due to "pneumonia
or aneurysm" without many premonitory symptoms. I agree that this would also
be a convenient presumptive diagnosis if one wanted to avoid having to
investigate the death.
Eliot Williams
University of Wisconsin
Department of Medicine
ecwi...@macc.wisc.edu
Arthur Schuna
In article <Pine.SUN.3.93.961027...@kaiwan009.kaiwan.com>,
wd6...@KAIWAN.COM says...
>The final stages of syphillis are very dramatic. The disease attacks the
>nervous system and brain, amongst other things. Blindness and insanity
>are common in advanced stages of the disease. So it's entirely within the
>realm of possibility for a nonmedical person to make an educated guess.
This is exactly why it doesn't make sense. All reports I've seen about Robert
Johnson suggest that he was performing right up until the time of his demise.
I don't think he would have been able to perform if he had been suddenly
stricken with blindness, insanity or other neurologic deficit. It's doubtful
these would have led to the sudden death noted.
Art Schuna
Mike Williams
When I first posted my piece on the Guitar Player article by Gayle Dean Wardlow
on the
death of Robert Johnson I stated that I would not make any personal
speculations. I
felt that the topic might be too controversial and I did not want to get in to a
[another] heated debate. But the reaction on the Blues-L has been excellent and
the
comments and questions and information have been very intelligent. Therefore I
have
changed my mind and I will comment and make some speculations. After reading
all the
responses so far (through last night's digest) and the earlier post by Tom
Freeland,
my overall opinion of the RJ story may have been swayed. I hope that everyone
reads
the GP article. I would especially like too see Peter Lee's and Eliot
Williams'
further comments.
First of all, I do not think that we will ever truly know how Robert Johnson
died.
Wardlow seems overly optimistic after finally seeing the back side of the death
certificate after all these years and possibly being deceived about it being
blank by
Steve LaVere (per Mark C. Hoffman). Knowing what is on the back side is
interesting,
but it proves nothing, it only leads to more intriguing speculations. We can
not know
if any of the statements by any one involved, such as Honeyboy Edwards, Johnny
Shines,
the plantation owner, Cornelia J. Jordan, or others are correct or the truth.
Some
one may be lying to "make a bigger name" for themselves or to cover up a murder.
Oh
yes, something that I did not mention in my original post about the GP article
that
makes the whole business about the "back side" suspect. Most of the statement
from
the plantation owner is typewritten, but the part at the end "... was his
opinion that
the negro died of syphilis." is hand written! Also after that it states "I am
always
glad to make investigations for you. C.J. Jordan", also hand written. What is
really
weird is that the change occurs mid-sentence. The typed beginning was "The
Plantation
owner said it ... ". Wardlow makes no mention of this typewritten to
handwritten
change in his article.
The fact that the "cause of death" section on the front states "no doctor" is
probably
good proof that he did not die in a hospital or physician's office, and this
agrees
with the claimed eyewitnesses to his death. As to whether a white Plantation
owner
would care, or would or could know about the health of a Negro is unknowable.
But we
can not assume that he could not identify a person with late stage syphilis. In
1938
tertiary syphilis was common. We must remember that there were no antibiotics
in
1938. He may have had outward signs of an acute disease. Not everyone with
primary
syphilis progresses to secondary, or from secondary to tertiary. Not then or
now. A
few humans have immune systems that may eliminate or keep the disease from
advancing
on their own. But penicillin or erythromycin most certainly helps. Few
physicians
today in the US could diagnose tertiary syphilis on sight - they would need
serological tests. They just do not see cases of it. It is very rare and
horrible.
To my understanding in tertiary syphilis there are no detectible spirochetes
(Treponema pallidum) in the victim and that it is an autoimmune disease with no
treatment.
I do not think that his public life as we believe it (recording, performing,
drinking,
traveling, and womanizing), is consistent with the clinical picture of someone
dying
of a chronic disease like acquired or congenital syphilis. Another problem I
have
with syphilis is his age, he was only 26. It takes several decades for syphilis
alone
to kill someone. This is important - this is why congenital syphilis would be
more
likely. Death from neurosyphilis or pneumonia or aneurysm due to cardiovascular
syphilis could explain his behavior at death. But still, from most accounts RJ
died
after an illness of only a few day. This indicates an acute infection or
poisoning.
Also he may simply have had a heart attack do to a pre-existing condition. Note
the
number of young high school and college athletes that have literally dropped
dead
after or during a game. He may have died from booze. Though you would think
that any
witnesses would know if RJ was intoxicated or had a heart attack.
He could have died from a sever acute infection possibly complicated by alcohol
use.
I have been thinking he may have died from influenza. The flu can kill, the
1918-19
pandemic killed 21 million people world wide. Usually the very young and very
old but
it can kill the healthy person too. I have also considered a particularly
virulent
strain of beta-hemolytic Streptococcus pyogenes, or coagulase positive
Staphylococcus
aureus. There are a large number of infections by bacterial species that can
cause
rapid death if not treated. A cut or scratch could introduce such microbes.
Remember
even if a person of his social class had gone to a doctor there were no
antibiotics in
1938. Another less likely culprit (which I personally am interested in) is
typhoid
fever (Salmonella typhi). An acute infection can kill within a few weeks.
Though
this would cause severe fever and GI symptoms. The chronic form or in someone
who
survives an acute infection of this and other Salmonella species, joint pain and
arthritis can develop (bad news for a Guitarist). And you have all heard of the
"Typhoid Mary" asymptomatic carrier form. Only a rapid killing strain would be
of
interest to our RJ story. All of the infectious diseases discussed above would
cause
a high fever. There are many more possible. One might not have obvious outward
signs
of disease until close to the end. Again we are fairly sure that he was a
working
musician up until a few days of his death.
This brings us to poisoning. Still a prime suspect. Only the (equally
unreliable)
"...died of syphilis." statement conflicts with poison. The weird in pain
behavior is
certainly consistent. But what type of poison? I could not guess. Though I
think
that cyanide is less likely if he was sick for a few days. Many plant, fungi,
or even
bacterial (e.g. botulism) toxin could have been used. Even if we had his
remains
today, it would be next to impossible to tell what really killed him. If we had
bones, a knife or gun shot wound might leave a mark. Though it might be
possible to
detect a poison. Do to time and decay, an organic compound would be difficult
to
detect unless it were present in massive quantities to begin with. But an
inorganic
like Arsenic, Mercury Salt, or Potassium Cyanide might be relatively easy to
detect
with a technique like GC-MS (Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectroscopy). But we
have no
known remains of Robert Johnson.
And it is still possible that he was murdered and there was a cover up. We will
probably never know. Besides, the only real thing that is important is what he
did in
life; his music. By-the-way, has everyone else noticed that Robert Johnson
seemed to
have webbed fingers! I guess that as we find out more about Wardlow's and
others
research on RJ we will post it to the Blues-L. Thank you. Bye.
Yours,
Mike Williams
Bacteriologist & Photographer
bob vanarsdall
Mike wrote, after a long discourse on the etiology of syphilis:
>have webbed fingers! I guess that as we find out more about Wardlow's and
>others
>research on RJ we will post it to the Blues-L.
The whole syphilis thing seems like a red herring to me. I know many white
Mississippians of that era - my grandmother among them - for whom the far
areas of African-American life were repositories of everything evil in
life. I often heard her and her friends explain calmly that it was a "known
fact" that syphilis was of pandemic proportions in the black community.
This despite the fact that she had a number of black friends in her life;
it gets into the "love the man, hate the race" dichtomy so often evidenced
in that generation (she was born in 1886). In my mind's eye I can see a
white sheriff asking a plantation owner in 1938 about the death of a black
musician and the plantation owner replying, "Probably syphilis - they've
all got it, you know." It gets written on the back of the certificate, and
that's the last anyone thinks of it.
The writing on the back of the certificate is interesting in and of itself,
but why does Wardlaw muddy the water about Johnson's death when Mack
McCormick is reputed to know and have met Johnson's *actual killer*?
Guralnick describes Mack McCormick tracing first-hand witnesses down up
north (in the Searching for Robert Johnson, EP Dutton, NY, 1989) in 1970,
and having them name the man, who actually confessed to the crime after
some long hesitations with McCormick. McCormick supposedly presented the
evidence and the man's name to the Greenwood sheriff, who declined to
pursue a then thirty-one-year-old murder.
And before I start getting flamed about my comments in the first paragraph:
disclaimer - I'm not painting all Mississippians with a broad brush, nor am
I speaking of the present-day citizens of Mississippi. If anyone wants to
get into a discussion of black/white relations in Mississippi in the first
half of this century, I'll be glad to take it off-line, but it is a subject
way too complex and flame-provocative to involve the whole list.
Bob
Eliot Williams
> From: Sal...@gnn.com (Mike Williams)
> First of all, I do not think that we will ever truly know how
> Robert Johnson died.
I certainly agree with this. He might well have died of
cardiovascular syphilis (via a ruptured aneurysm for example),
pneumonia or a variety of other acute infections, a heart attack,
acute alcoholism, or poisoning (eg, with arsenic, methanol, or
ethylene glycol, all readily available at the time). He might have
suffered some sort of traumatic injury that didn't produce obvious
external bleeding and thus went unrecognized by others. But since
he apparently was never seen by a physician prior to death, the
supposed eyewitnesses were not in a position to make a medical
diagnosis, and the person who attributed the death to syphilis
apparently knew little about Johnson, there is simply not any
reliable information upon which to base a specific diagnosis. If
his remains could be located they might be able to tell us if he was
shot or stabbed; even a poison like arsenic might not be detectable
if he died shortly after being poisoned.
Eliot Williams
University of Wisconsin
Department of Medicine
Tom Freeland
On 29 Oct 96 at 9:29, bob vanarsdall wrote:
> The writing on the back of the certificate is interesting in and of
> itself, but why does Wardlaw muddy the water about Johnson's death
> when Mack McCormick is reputed to know and have met Johnson's
> *actual killer*? Guralnick describes Mack McCormick tracing
> first-hand witnesses down up north (in the Searching for Robert
> Johnson, EP Dutton, NY, 1989) in 1970, and having them name the man,
> who actually confessed to the crime after some long hesitations with
> McCormick. McCormick supposedly presented the evidence and the man's
> name to the Greenwood sheriff, who declined to pursue a then
> thirty-one-year-old murder.
The big issue here is McCormick's failure to come forward-- he talks
about what he's got in his file cabinet, he lets fascinating hints
slip, but he hasn't published, hasn't released interviews, hasn't
'named names,' and its impossible to go behind what he says to see if
it is real. Both Guralnick's book and the Robert Gordon piece in the
L.A. flyer (which in some ways was an update on the book) left me
convinced that McCormick could have everything or could have nothing,
but that it was impossible to tell. And since he hints but won't
release "real" information, I wonder if he doesn't have less than he
hints. He has even extended these coy hints to the
letters-to-the-editor pages of 78 QUARTERLY.
The flip side is that I have doubts about Wardlow's evaluation of the
evidence he finds in this instance and others; taking the piece he
uncovered on faith or at face value is a mistake. I think the sort
of careful inquiry that was done on this list in the last few days is
an essential part of the process of understanding history. There are
problems with the account in the death certificate; there are
problems with the various (and inconsistent) murder stories, also.
In the end, this will probably remain a puzzle.
Tom Freeland
"One time he said, 'Don give me a line here: 'Today I passed you on the
street...' And I said
'And I smelled your stinkin' feet.' Hank says, 'Yeah, by God, get funny.'" Don
Helms
Ross Whitwam
bob vanarsdall <rv...@INTERPATH.COM> wrote:
>The whole syphilis thing seems like a red herring to me. I know many white
>Mississippians of that era - my grandmother among them - for whom the far
>areas of African-American life were repositories of everything evil in
>life.
<...snip...>
> In my mind's eye I can see a
>white sheriff asking a plantation owner in 1938 about the death of a black
>musician and the plantation owner replying, "Probably syphilis - they've
>all got it, you know." It gets written on the back of the certificate, and
>that's the last anyone thinks of it.
I've always felt similarily about the poisoning theory. For instance,
Bonnie K. <bjka...@FACSTAFF.WISC.EDU> wrote:
>Wasn't poison a not unusual way of doing in someone back in that
>era and in that mileau.
But I wonder about that. I mean poisoning people stealthily
and effectively is probably only easy in the movies and
in potboilers. How do you figure out the right dose? How
do you disguise the taste? (I imagine most poisons must
taste pretty bad, and even if some don't they still won't
taste like the whiskey or whatever they've been slipped into;
I imagine most would-be poison victims would just say,
"blech, this tastes off, I'll get another" and throw the
tainted drink away.)
I can see where people, in exaggerating the details of
the rough-and-tumble past to others and even to themselves,
might create the impression that poisonings were happening all the
time, but do any real data bare this out?
I mean, if you were to only go by movie westerns, you'd think
that people in the old west were dying all the time drawing
each other out with six-shooters in the main street. I'm
told it didn't happen that way.
Or take Charley Patton's death as another example. Before
his death certificate was discovered, various of his
contemporaries were sure he had been poisoned too, or
that he had had his throat slit (which did happen) and that
he had bled to death (actually, he recovered). Turns
out Patton died of congenital heart disease. Not as
romantic, but more realistic.
I don't know for sure but I would suspect that far far more
people fell ill and died from such disease as pneumonia
(which is a cause of death suggested by Stephen LaVere in his
notes accompanying the RJ box set) aquired through regular
modes of transmission than fell ill and died as a result of
poisoning.
Ross Whitwam re...@psu.edu
Dept. Biochem & Molec Biology
Penn State University
Tom Freeland
On 29 Oct 96 at 20:30, Ross Whitwam made some good points about the
mysteries concerning Robert Johnson's death. First, quoting Bonnie
Kalmbach, he said:
> >Wasn't poison a not unusual way of doing in someone back in that
> >era and in that mileau.
>
> But I wonder about that. I mean poisoning people stealthily
> and effectively is probably only easy in the movies and
> in potboilers. How do you figure out the right dose?
<snip>
> I don't know for sure but I would suspect that far far more
> people fell ill and died from such disease as pneumonia
> (which is a cause of death suggested by Stephen LaVere in his
> notes accompanying the RJ box set) aquired through regular
> modes of transmission than fell ill and died as a result of
> poisoning.
I think the later point is very important-- that the more dramatic
(and romantic) death stories are less likely than something prosaic.
I also doubt that poisoning was that common. One thing that *has*
crossed my mind, though, is wood alcohol or the like. Alcohol
substitutes that are quite deadly ("mama mama mama that canned heat's
a'killing me") were not uncommon. I've heard of wood-alcohol related
death and injury in the last ten years in the delta, involving some
jail inmates. Further, it would fit with poisoning-- the idea that
someone handed Johnson a bottle of wood alcohol or the like. What I
don't know is whether the symptoms he showed fit with such poisoning.
Cary Wolfson
My friend Chuck Bloomingburg asks an interesting rhetorical question:
"I wonder how many Mississippi blacks in the '30s died of syphillis with
bullet holes in their heads?"
I get the feeling that the mysterious deaths of blacks didn't merit the
system's most in-depth investigative powers.
--
Cary Wolfson
Publisher
BLUES ACCESS Magazine
http://www.bluesaccess.com
"We're gonna do our best to try and move you ... If you like the blues,
I think we can." B.B. King, 1966