Ever read about someone in a magazine and feel the need to visit their burial place? Yep, me too. Such was the case with Julia Force. I read about her in the Summer 2010 edition of Georgia Backroads magazine. A great article by Gaynie G. Guy and Hugh T. Harrington entitled "Julia Force: Victorian Murderess" told of a crime that had the whole nation following along to find out Julia's fate. In February 1893, Julia Force shot and killed her two sisters, Florence and Minnie, in Atlanta, GA. She was subsequently tried for murder. Julia was not convicted, however, by reason of insanity. She spent the rest of her life in the Georgia Lunatic Asylum located at Milledgeville, GA, where she died 30 March 1916. As to whether or not Julia was truly insane is debatable. During her time at Milledgeville, Julia befriended a matron of the women's building named Johnanna Mitchell Darnell. ("Sent to Milledgeville," maybe with a raised eyebrow, is all anyone has t...
Telling the Tales of Tombstones