The Hawes Murders
On December 4, 1888 two teenagers were out boating on the recent man-made lake called East Lake in Birmingham Alabama when they came across the body of a young girl floating face down in the water. The body was taken to the local medical examiner and was laid out to the general public as was often the practice of the time. This time it was to see if anyone could identify the young girl. It was thought that whomever she was she was approximately twelve to fourteen years old but no one knew. The body was very bloated from being in the water for so long so it took a day before a local butcher identified her as May Hawes. It has been said that May was seven or eight years old and the daughter of Richard and Emma Hawes, local residents. There seemed to be a little division between the residents as to whether Richard and Emma were even still married. Some said that they were but the marriage was “troubled” while others claimed that the couple were divorced an...