City Marshal Thomas J. Kersey

Thomas J. Kersey

Marshal Thomas Kersey was shot and killed while attempting to search a home on what is now Kersey Street for illegal whiskey.

The owner of the home was on probation for possession of illegal whiskey and was drunk at the time that Marshal Kersey went to the home. The suspect refused to let Marshal Kersey into the home, and as Marshal Kersey attempted to gain entry, the man shot him in the face with a shotgun.

The suspect was apprehended a short time later and sentenced to hang after being found guilty the following year. On September 19, 1924, he was the last death row inmate hanged by the state of Georgia. That same year Georgia began using the electric chair.