The Anniston Star l Sunday, May 19, 2013 l Page 6E
Sunday RECORD YOUR GUIDE TO PUBLIC RECORDS AND VITAL STATISTICS IN CALHOUN COUNTY BANKRUPTCIES
MARRIAGE LICENSES
CATTLE SALE
A Chapter 7 bankruptcy allows the debtor to retain certain exempt property, but the debtor’s remaining property is gathered and sold by a trustee from which creditors will receive payment. It may also be used by businesses which wish to terminate their business.
• Christopher Ray Pruitt of Ohatchee to Michele Lea Shelnutt of Ohatchee • Charles Jeffrey Cline of Weaver to Lynne Alyson Lewis of Weaver • James Aaron Campbell of Jacksonville to Amanda Meharg Parrish of Jacksonville • Jeffie Harold Campbell of Jacksonville to Rachel Webb Gill of Jacksonville • Chadrick Kyle McAdams of Eastaboga to Natalie Michele Wallace of Eastaboga • Terrell Ricardo Williams of Jacksonville to Shannon Colleen Allen of Anniston • Andy Wade Orman Jr. of Oxford to Christina Renee Bonner of Oxford • Kenneth Mark Edwards of Tuscaloosa to Morgan Melanie Long of Tuscaloosa • Thomas Presly Crenshaw of Odenton, Md., to Courtney Nicole Collier of Oxford • Dewey Stinson Royce of Milton, Fla., to Cody Royals Anderson of Milton, Fla. • Kristopher Raye Dean of Piedmont to Brittney Danielle Tate of Piedmont • Jonathan Matthew Owens of Eastaboga to Heather Ann Nicole Tucker of Eastaboga • Zachary Jay Moody of Alexandria to Ashley Nicole Siskey of Weaver • Donald Blake Worthy of Anniston to Amanda Owen Lackey of Munford • Brian Keith Cooper of Piedmont to Ellen Green McEntyre of Southside • Justin Kaine Brown of Alexandria to Jacy Delane Bolling of Alexandria • Richard Joseph Johnston Jr. of Anniston to Jodi Nicole Bright of Anniston • Benjamin Matthew Waller of St. Louis, Mo., to Sarah Grace Haynes of Ohatchee • Paul William Lucas of Jacksonville to Ashley Corbin Stanton of Salem • Adam Kenley McCargo of Livermore, Calif., to Heather Dee McClain of Livermore, Calif. • Robert Daniel Bussey of Anniston to Cindy Ann Bush of Anniston • Caleb Alexander Lapsley of Jacksonville to Misty Matrice Lewis of Jacksonville
Here is the livestock market report for the Tuesday sale. Receipts for this week 817 compared to 345 last week. Receipts a year ago 643.
deAths Phillip Adams, Oxford Laura D. Bailey, Anniston Mary Beard, Leesburg Dorothy Ruth Berry, Anniston Dorothy Louise Butler, Jacksonville Martha M. Butterworth, Oxford Mary Cannon, Jacksonville Betty Jean Wilson Tucker Cantrell, Weaver Bertie B. Carter, Weaver John Brandon Cupp, Wellborn Betty Newsome Dear, Anniston Idell Finely, Jacksonville Betty Sue Whitley Foote, Anniston William “Bill” Ford, Oxford Jimmy C. Goodwin, Munford Rev. Clayton Douglas Gowens Sr., Piedmont Irene H. Graham, Centre David Hann, Talladega Nettie Lou O’Donnell Harrell, Birmingham Juanita Higginbotham, Bynum Johnny Faron Hill, Roanoke Ronald Grady Hopkins, Eastaboga Travis James, Centre Reginald Andre Johnson,
Anniston Jerry Ross Knighton, Gulf Shores Michael Edward Knox, Hobson City Johnetta “Star” Lindsey, Jacksonville Roland P. “Pete” McManus, Wedowee James L. “Butch” McNutt, Pell City Cornelia Estelle McClellan Moon, Anniston John W. Morgan, Woodland Caroline Morgan Neisler, Jacksonville Raleigh Nettles, Lineville Grace Howell Reaves, Decatur Rev. Dr. Nimrod Q. Reynolds, Anniston Larry Rutledge, Fort Payne Clarice Higgins Shaw, Oxford Jean Simmons, Talladega Marian K. Terry, Delta Barbara Turley, Heflin Cheryl Anne Renfroe Wade, Oxford Scarlette Lee Walker, Georgia Jackie M. White, Heflin Brian Keith Williams, Anniston Hazel Rebecca Wood Woods, Moultrie, Ga.
RATE OF BANKRUPTCIES 15 15 12 12
13
99
9 7
66
The following bankruptcies declared by Calhoun County residents were recorded by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Northern District of Alabama last week:
Chapter 7 • Clyde L. Davis Jr., McKee Street, Piedmont • Christopher E. Green and Mary E. Green, Tiffany Lane, Ohatchee • Anthony Sandoval and Patricia Sandoval, Dennis Street Northwest, Jacksonville • Wesley Blackmon and Lori B. Blackmon, Covington Ridge Drive, Jacksonville
Chapter 13 • Deireco Stevens, Mulberry Avenue, Anniston • Me’Chelle Foster, Glade Road, Anniston • Chris Bundrum, Porter Johnson Road, Piedmont
DIVORCES • Nicole Helm Loyd and Perry Scott Loyd Sr. • Amy Michelle Webb and Cristen Lee Roberts • James R. Moore and Sherry D. Moore • Vivian M. Herman and Richard Elton Herman
• Lisa Carol Turner and Kevin Randall Turner • Kathy Jean Jackson and Larry Gene Jackson • Alison M. McGatha and Matthew Fontenot • Deborah R. Strickland and William B. Strickland
FORECLOSURES • Andy Newsome and Tammy Newsome, Ray Richards Property, block A, lots 1-3. • Thomas E. Diggs, Eva Louise Smith Property, lot 4.
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A Chapter 13 bankruptcy enables debtors, through court supervision and protection, to propose and carry out a repayment plan under which creditors are paid, in full or in part, in installments over a three-year period. During that time, debtors are prohibited from starting or continuing collection efforts.
52 weeks ago
Last week
This week
• John Webb, Lyncoya subdivision, 8th addition, block 19, lot 17. • Evie W. Perry and Barry E. Perry, Covington Ridge sub-
AnnistonStar.com
FEEDER CLASSES:
Bulls and steers (Medium and Large No. 1 and No. 2): 200-300 lbs. 170.00 to 209.00; 300-400 lbs. 146.00 to 193.00; 400-500 lbs. 134.00 to 158.00; 500-600 lbs. 125.00 to 147.50; 600700 lbs. 105.00 to 135.00. Heifers (Medium and Large No. 1 and No. 2): 200-300 lbs. 152.00 to 177.50; 300-400 lbs. 143.00 to 172.00; 400-500 lbs. 133.00 to 150.00; 500-600 lbs. 123.00 to 137.50; 600700 lbs. 100.00 to 124.00.
SLAUGHTER CLASSES:
Cows: Breakers 80.00 to 84.00; Boners 85.00 to 90.00; Lean 75.00 to 79.50. Bulls: Normal Dressing 5458% 98.00 to 103.50; High Dressing >58% 105.50 to 109.50; Low Dressing
WILLS PROBATED • Dorothy June Blakely • Donald E. Cunningham • Wyatt Lee Duramus • Mary Ann Ferguson • Benjamin Howard White
INCORPORATIONS
• Ho Restaurant Inc. • Double H. Enterprises LLC
EDITOR’S NOTE
The material inside the Sunday Record is recorded by The Anniston Star from various institutions and government offices. The public records are division, lot 45. published as they appeared • Phillips A. Conklin and Sonya R. Conklin, a parcel on the documents obtained of land near 612 Alexandria by the newspaper. Direct questions and comments Road South, Jacksonville. about Sunday Record to Isaac Godwin at igodwin@ annistonstar.com.
ARRESTS The people listed in this arrest report, whose names and charges are obtained from public records, are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
Anniston
The following felony arrests were reported by the Anniston Police Department (addresses not provided) during the seven-day period ending at 7 a.m. Thursday. • Autumn Charee Ashley, 33: two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card. • Billie Dawn Robertson, 32: second-degree promoting prison contraband. • Lewis Donnell Hawkins, 29: third-degree
burglary. • Kimberly Diane Peoples, 38: possession of a controlled substance. • Jesse Edward Cain, 44: Domestic violence.
Calhoun County
The following felony arrests were reported by the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office during the seven-day period ending at 7 a.m. Thursday. • Jason Lee Skipper, 36, of Wellington: domestic violence. • Jonathan Charles Thrasher, 42, of Oxford: writ of arrest.
• Garet Clay Heathcock, 40, of Wellington: domestic violence. • Scott Dewayne Landers, 41, of Ohatchee: first-degree receiving stolen property. • Heather Hagood Stapler, 25, of Grant: failure to appear in court. • Ryan Louis Steinkamp, 21, of Anniston: second-degree escape. • Caleb Shane Magee, 24, of Oxford: order of arrest. • Joseph Bradley Helms, 34, of Anniston: failure to appear in court. • Zackary Robert Wingard, 22, of Anniston: probation revocation. • Tara Shante Fleming, 33, of Oxford: probation revocation.
• Corky Wytte Peoples, 34, of Alexandria.
Oxford
The following felony arrests were reported by the Oxford Police Department during the 15-day period ending at 7 a.m. Thursday. • Franklin Dwayne Pointer, 43, of Anniston: two counts of second-degree possession of a forged instrument. • Clifton Ryan Bonds, 34, of Piedmont: firstdegree theft. • Latasha Stamps, 38, of Talladega: shoplifting. • James David Kennedy, 33, of Anniston: first-degree theft of property.
BLOTTER Crimes are listed by location. Anonymous tips may be called in to Crime Stoppers at 256-238-1414. A reward of up to $1,000 may be given.
tools, racing jack, transmission, saw, battery charger, welder, scan tool. • Residence, 3000 block of Brighton Avenue: copper wire. • Residence, 2900 block of Moore Avenue: Anniston shoes, game console. The following property crimes were report- • Residence, 3900 block of North Cross ed to the Anniston Police Department dur- Street: television, game consoles. ing the seven-day period ending at 7 a.m. • Residence, 1100 block of West 12th Street: firearm. Thursday.
Burglaries
Thefts
• Residence, first block of West 23rd Street: copper fitting, electrical wiring. • Residence, 700 block of Mountain Drive: televisions, game consoles, computers. • Residence, 400 block of Permita Court: stove, refrigerator. • Residence, 400 block of East 23rd Street: game console. • Residence, 500 block of East 20th Street: game console. • Residence, 1100 block of West 31st Street: televisions. • Residence, 600 block of West 13th Street: game consoles. • Residence, 5500 block of Ashwood Drive: money orders. • Residence, 100 block of Martin Street:
• Supermarket, 2400 block of Alabama 202: DVR recorder, cartons of cigarettes. • Restaurant, 3300 block of McClellan Boulevard: tablet computer. • Residence, 400 block of South Allen Avenue: cell phone. • Drug store, 400 block of East 10th Street: tablet computer and accessories. • Department store, 1700 block of Quintard Avenue: computer, game console, controller. • Commercial location, East 11th Street: firearm. • Residence, 1800 block of Lynn Drive: dirt bike. • Department store, 3800 block of Old Birmingham Highway: cell phone.
• Residence, 2900 block of Moore Avenue: Thefts shoes. • Specialty store, Alabama 144, Alexandria: Auto-related thefts firearm. • Residence, 2000 block of Morrisville Road: • Residence, unspecified place of occurrence: jewelry, video camera. 1995 Oldsmobile Ciera. • Residence, 4800 block of Woodchase • Residence, unspecified place of occurrence: jewelry, jewelry box. Drive: 1994 Jeep Cherokee. • Residence, 700 block of East 22nd Street: Oxford firearm, cash. • Street, Noah Medders Parkway: 2006 Ford The following property crimes were reportF250. ed to the Oxford Police Department during the seven-day period ending at 7 a.m. I.D. theft Thursday. • Unknown location, 100 block of West 13th Thefts Street: money from internet banking. • Walmart, 92 Plaza Lane: wallet, credit Calhoun County cards, cash. • Target, Oxford Exchange Blvd.: merchanThe following property crimes were report- dise. (Recovered 05-06-2013) ed to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office • Residence, 1700 block of Hillyer-Robinson during the seven-day period ending at 7 a.m. Parkway: cash. Thursday. • Specialty store, 700 block of Quintard Drive: Burglaries clothing. (Recovered 05-15-2013) • Residence, Setter Drive, Anniston: sound • Residence, 2100 block of Cheatwood Drive: bar, jewelry, mp3 player, laptop computer, jewelry. television, tablet computer, Blu Ray device. • Convenience store, U.S. 21 S.: cash. • Residence, Greensport Road, Ohatchee: • Restaurant, 500 block of Quintard Drive: coins, household items, tools. cell phone.
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Sunday Record
Sunday, May 19, 2013 Page 7E
CALENDAR: AnnistonStar.com/calendar PROPERTY TRANSFERRED • Jack T. Rodgers and Linda T. Rodgers to William R. Baggett and Lucretia J. Baggett, Shady Manor subdivision, 1st addition, block B, lot 3, $10. • Claudia M. Smith to Claudia M. Smith, Williams-Coopertown Property, block 13, lot 21, $1. • Miles Palmore and Cathy Palmore to Miles Palmore and Cathy Palmore, Piedmont Land & Improvement Co., block 117, lots 6 and 7, $10. • Bank of Wedowee to Gloria O. Winsell, Jacksonville Mining & Manufacturing Co., block 407, lots 1 and 2, $10. • Bobby J. Israel and Diane C. Israel to Antonio Woodard, Westview Heights subdivision, block 4, lot 23, $10. • Ethel W. Collins-Estate to Calhoun County Water Authority, a parcel of land in sections 13/24, township 14, range 6, $10. • Steven M. Glisan to Sharon E. Finch, Park Village subdivision, phase 3, lot 112, $10. • Ohio Investments LLC to Jimmy D. Vanhove, Brown Acres subdivision, lot 37, $10. • Faith L. Simmons to John W. Jones and Amanda K. Jones, Deer Ridge subdivision, 2nd addition, lot 31, $10. • W. Mark Hayes to Bradley A. Hewitt and Wendy T. Hewitt, a parcel of land near 312 Valley Road, Weaver, $99,900. • Dolores P. Green to Katrina Ingram Lipscomb, a parcel of land in section 10, township 13, range 8, $10. • Tony Porco Construction Co. Inc. to Pat Garrett and Tevis E. Garrett, Northern Woods Estates, 2nd addition, lot 27, $314,320. • David W. Hall and Tamara Hall to Robert A. Troxtel, Sherwood Forest subdivision, 8th addition, lot 11, $10. • Kathy Jacks and Joe Earl Jacks
to Faith Lynn Simmons, Mountainview subdivision, lot 51, $10. • Ruth Powell Sexton to Ruth Powell Sexton and Jamie Shey Sexton, Plainview subdivision, block 2, lot 3, $10. • Strategic Municipal Funding LLC to James L. Douglas Jr., a parcel of land in section 18, township 16, range 8, $100. • Strategic Municipal Funding LLC to James L. Douglas Jr., a parcel of land in section 16, township 16, range 7, $100. • Bozena Pilacik and Leszek Pilacik to David F. Roberts and Beverly Faye Harrell Roberts, Windstone subdivision, lot 1, $10. • Michael Teague and Valinda Teague to Gloria Chatmon, a parcel of land in section 4, township 16, range 9, $10. • Mary Sue Headrick to Sam’s Properties LLC, D.L. Boozer’s subdivision, block 3, all of lots 1 and 14, part of lots 2 and 13, $10. • Jeffie Harold Campbell to Jeffrey Keith Campbell, a parcel of land in section 4, township 15, range 8, $126,180. • Freedom Mortgage Corp. to Housing & Urban Development, Pelham Oaks Townhomes, lot 5, $1. • John A. Freeman and Mitchell E. Kessler to Alabama Power Co., a parcel of land in sections 35/36, township 13, range 7, $750. • Donald A. McLemore and Terry L. McLemore to Alabama Power Co., a parcel of land in sections 35/36, township 13, range 7, $280,000. • James J. Clark and Cynthia F. Clark to Joel R. Gladen and Sandy M. Gladen, fraction C of a fractional section land in township 3, township 13, range 9, $10. • M. David Dawson and Thomas W. Harmon to D&H Enterprises LLC, Anniston City Land Co., block 194, lot 2, $10. • M. David Dawson and Thomas W. Harmon to D&H Enterprises LLC,
City of Anniston, McMillian addition, block 10, lots 5 and 6, $10. • Olivia Gail Smith Browning, Charlotte Baker, Eldon L. Smith, Frieda Raye Smith Urso, Glenn Dobbs, Eric Matthew Dobbs and Andrew Taylor Dobbs to Thomas K. Rose and Renita Gail Brown, a parcel of land in section 32, township 12, range 8; a parcel of land in section 5, township 13, range 8, $10. • David F. Roberts and Beverly Faye Harrell Roberts to Darryl W. Spradley and Billie R. Spradley, McKinley Terrace subdivision, lots 7 and 8, $10. • Craig Daniel Terrell and Brittany Dunn to Jimmy Lunceford and Yon Lunceford, Sugar Valley Estates, block B, lot 5, $10. • Mildred L. Gunnels to Jerry Gray Gunnels and Earl Edward Gunnels and Martha G. Wade, a parcel of land in section 20, township 14, range 6, $10. • John W. Day and Gloria Ann Day to Tammy White Heard and James J. Heard, a parcel of land in section 36, township 16, range 7, $10. • Martha H. Fowler and Cynthia Renee Majors to Janice Phillips, Lenlock subdivision, block 4, lot 10, $10. • Mary Frances Veal to Casey L. Kennedy and Jason C. Kennedy, Briarwood subdivision, lot 23, $10. • Olivia Gail Smith Browning, Charlotte Baker, Eldon L. Smith, Frieda Raye Smith Urso, Glenn Dobbs, Eric Matthew Dobbs and Andrew Taylor Dobbs to Frieda Raye Smith Urso, a parcel of land in section 23, township 12, range 8, $10. • Bobby Woodrow to Akshay Patel and Jalpaben Patel, Lake Louise subdivision, section 2, block 2, lots 3 and 4, $130,000. • Ronald B. Steiner and Harriet L. Steiner to Ronaldo M. Cunningham, Jane Heights subdivision, lot 3, $100. • PJI LLC to Susan Denise Houck,
Karlee Alane Combs and Deanna Nikole Combs, Piedmont Land & Improvement Co., block 67, lot 17, $10. • Dinah Sexton to Richard Sexton, a parcel of land in section 22, township 13, range 8, $10. • Dinah Sexton to Richard Sexton, Jacksonville Mining & Manufacturing Co., block 44, lots 16-18, $10. • Dinah Sexton to Richard Sexton, Jacksonville Mining & Manufacturing Co., block 400, lots 10-12, $10. • James Ray Thacker to James Ray Thacker and Cathy L. Thacker, Ramblewoods subdivision, lots 13 and 14, $10. • Michael D. Almaroad and Beverly Almaroad to Brad Almaroad and Jodi Almaroad, a parcel of land in section 8, township 14, range 8, $10. • Angela G. Edwards and Eric Shane Edwards to Total Mold Solutions Inc., Five-W Lakesites subdivision, block 10, lot 35, $75,000. • Verdree W. White to White Family Trust, a parcel of land in section 4, township 15, range 8, $10. • Charles Maddox to Jeanette Maddox, Reaves subdivision, block 2, lots 13-18, $10. • Billy Joe Guyer and Peggy Linda Guyer to Ruah Income Properties LLC, a parcel of land in section 31, township 16, range 7, $1. • Sharon K. Brown to Kenneth Buel Brown II, a parcel of land in section 7, township 14, range 6, $10. • Vince E. Conn and Katherine L. Conn to Kristi M. Hobbs, Cotton Creek subdivision, phase 3, lot 21, $10. • Frances Watts to Frances Watts, Margaret Frances Watts Wills, Charles Edward Watts and Robert Lee Watts, a parcel of land in section 34, township 14, range 7, $10. • R.G. Lee, Randy Lee, Danny L. Lee, Sonja Lee, Eddie Joe Lee, Crandall Coy Gravitt and Donna
Alesia Gravitt Gardner to Carl A. Haynes, a parcel of land near 120 North Hollingsworth Road, Anniston, $3,000. • Freddie Mac to Jerry P. Bender, Plainview subdivision, block 5, lots 6 and 8, $47,100. • Teresa L. Ellison and Samson A. Ward to Teresa Ellison, Anniston, block 429, lot 4, $1. • Shirley McCord to Emily N. Cagle, a parcel of land in section 2, township 16, range 9, $10. • Pamela Renee Smith to Pamela Renee Smith and James Nathan Smith, Constantine Park, 3rd division, block 40, lots 4, 5, 17 and 18, $0. • William C. Cotton and Kendal L. Cotton to Brandon Tyler Earls and Amy M. Earls, Cider Ridge subdivision, phase 1 reassessment, block YI, lots 15-17, $275,000. • M. David Dawson and Thomas W. Harmon to D&H Enterprises LLC, Anniston Land Co., block 141, lot 6, $10. • M. David Dawson and Thomas W. Harmon to D&H Enterprises LLC, a parcel of land near 15 East 23rd Street, Anniston, $10. • M. David Dawson and Thomas W. Harmon to D&H Enterprises LLC, City of Anniston, Tyler Park addition, block 6, lot 8, $10. • M. David Dawson and Thomas W. Harmon to D&H Enterprises LLC, a parcel of land in section 18, township 15, range 8, $10. • M. David Dawson and Thomas W. Harmon to D&H Enterprises LLC, Anniston Land Co., block 536A, lot 4, $10. • M. David Dawson and Thomas W. Harmon to D&H Enterprises LLC, City of Anniston, McMillian addition, block 9, lot 11, $10. • M. David Dawson and Thomas W. Harmon to D&H Enterprises LLC, City of Anniston, McMillian addition, block 14, lots 4 and 5, $10.
RESTAURANT INSPECTIONS Here are food service establishments recently inspected by the Calhoun County Health Department, along with scores. A score of 100 indicates the inspector found no deficiencies. Potentially hazardous deficiencies (fouror five-point demerit items) are noted. These must be corrected immediately and inspectors say they are often corrected while the inspection is underway. Restaurants earning below 70 must raise their scores within seven days or face closure.
4-OR 5-POINT DEMERITS • Crimson Tiger, 1001 Noble St., Anniston — 88, approved food safety course certificate required. • Dunkin Donuts, 10 Oxford Exchange Blvd., Oxford — 91, potentially hazardous food did not meet temperature requirements during cold holding.
NO MAJOR DEMERITS
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• Panera Bread, 21 Commons Way, Oxford — 99.
Drawings made in mental asylum become hit in art world By Donald Bradley Kansas City Star
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A simple drawing, done with pencil on ledger pager, shows two hats, side by side. One a variety of top hat, the other a stocking cap with a long tail, tapering to the side. Below, the artist has written “WO MULE.” Feel free to have a go at the artist’s message. He can’t help because he died in 1987. But Edward Deeds didn’t draw for you anyway, or for the art experts and critics now trying to understand his work. When a young man on a south Missouri farm in the 1920s, he angrily chased his younger brother with a hatchet. Already an odd, unruly sort — prone to laugh for no reason — and a profound annoyance to his strict father, Deeds would eventually be diagnosed insane and committed for life to State Lunatic Asylum No. 3 in Nevada, Mo. For the next 40 or so years, trapped inside the sprawling, red brick asylum with Gothic towers, Deeds drew pictures. Not for money or fame or any future eye. His future was there, the drawings his alone. On plain ledger paper, both sides, paying no mind to the mental institution’s letterhead at the top and “Balance Due — $” at the bottom. Portraits, landscapes, animals with hats. Some with cryptic captions. If a 14-year-old boy hadn’t fished the drawings from a trash heap, nobody would be talking about Edward Deeds today. He wouldn’t be the hit of the outsider art world. And 283 drawings by this Ozarks farm boy who liked to hunt squirrels would not be priced at $16,000 per page at a New York gallery and on exhibit at a museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. “Here was somebody who was essentially discarded,” said Neville Bean, a New York art designer whose husband bought Deeds’ album on eBay before the artist had even been identified. “His father didn’t want him around. He disappears into this giant Victorian institution. “How moving is it that his art is now out in the world and this voice is finally being heard?”
associated. Like doll eyes. Haunting despite the fine draperies that frame the tidy faces. Eyes from a land of electroconvulsive therapy? One such portrait Deeds labeled “WHY DOCTOR.” ——— Diamant rushed into his apartment one day seven years ago and spread a bunch of drawings on his dining table. He’d bought them from a man who had snagged the album on eBay for around $10,000 but soon suffered buyer’s remorse. He was a collector, not a dealer. So he contacted Diamant, who he knew had bid on the drawings earlier, and asked whether he was still interested. “Absolutely,” Diamant told him and soon headed to Boston to swing a deal. Diamant said he trembled when he looked at the drawings on his table that day. “Content, form, color — gorgeous and nothing like I’d ever Kansas City Star/MCT seen,” Diamant recalled in a phone interview from New York. Edward Deeds drew pictures during the four decades he was “Those eyes... that stare. I knew committed to the State Lunatic Asylum No. 3 in Nevada, Mo. the person who did these had a very unique view of the world.” What happened to Deeds was cry and we knew it was for But he didn’t know who that not uncommon. The asylums and Edward,” Williams said. person was. The artist had meticgiant state hospitals of the early What truly got Edward Deeds ulously numbered each of 283 drawings, but signed none. What past century held thousands, put away was a fanciful spirit; he sometimes for the convenience of liked hunting and fishing and art Diamant had was a starting point. The letterhead on many album a family as much as compassion more than plowing, something pages: State Lunatic Asylum No. 3 for a patient. his father would not accept. Wilon some, State Hospital No. 3 on “Back in those days, a diagliams and her sister think Uncle nosis was very subjective and Edward may have been autistic or others. For the next five years, Diaanybody could petition a judge,” hyperactive — certainly nothing mant and Bean tried to solve the said John Emerick, medical direc- deserving of banishment for life mystery of the unknown artist. tor for New Directions Behavioral to an asylum. Health in Kansas City, Mo. But then came electroconvul- They made a short documentary film about “the Electric Pencil.” In the 1950s, anti-depressive therapy — ECT, also known sants and drugs such as Librium, as shock treatment, in which volt- Bean put together a book. The Thorazine and lithium began to age high enough to cause seizures couple traveled to Missouri, even hired a private detective. lay the foundation for the modwas shot into his brain. During this time, The New ern era of psychiatric medicine. In several of Deeds’ drawYork Times singled out the drawToday, according to Emerick, ings, he perhaps makes referings of “the Electric Pencil” as someone like Deeds would likely ence to the ECT treatment. One, being some of the most admired be put on medication and treated for example, shows a woman work at an outsider art fair. as an outpatient. in a quill hat holding a bouquet Finally, on a winter day in 2011 Family members say that while of flowers. Above her is written a woman named Julie Phillips, Deeds may well have been men“ECTLECTRC” next to a pencil. tally ill, he wouldn’t have hurt his Harris Diamant, the New York while at work at her job in Springfield, glanced through a copy of brother that day. They tell about sculptor who bought Deeds’ the Springfield News-Leader and the time he jumped in a river and work, thought him dyslexic and saw a drawing of a woman in a saved that same brother, Clay, figured he meant “electric.” So quill hat. Big eyes, pursed lips. from drowning. Diamant, before Deeds’ identity The newspaper story was Clay’s daughter, Tudie Wilwas known, dubbed the artist about Diamant’s attempt to find liams, said her dad lived the rest “the Electric Pencil.” the creator of some drawings. of his years with guilt. Another possible allusion to Phillips looked close at the “My father was a tough man, ECT might be the eyes in Deeds’ but sometimes at night he would portraits. Gaping but empty, dis- woman in the hat. She knew she’d
seen her before. The drawing had been in her house. “That’s Uncle Edward’s,” she whispered to herself. Family members would visit often over the years, but not Edward’s father. “Once my grandfather put him in, that was it,” Tudie Williams said from her home in Hawaii. She and her family sometimes picnicked on the grounds of the asylum. Deeds always had his drawing tablet with him, Williams remembers. Once, when she was 6 or so, he asked her to draw a rainbow. She got her crayons out and did. Very bold colors, firm lines. “That’s not a rainbow,” he told her. “Rainbows are fluffy.” Then he drew one. “That’s the one that’s in the album,” she said. As time passed, Deeds withdrew and became sullen, hardly talking during family visits. Paolo del Vecchio, director of the federal Center for Mental Health Services, said the only persons confined for years these days are those like Reagan shooter John Hinckley Jr., who was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Del Vecchio’s take on Deeds’ drawings: “Remarkable.” At some point, Deeds gave his hand-sewn album to Clay. But in 1969 when the family moved, Clay Deeds told the moving crew they could help themselves to anything left in the attic. That’s where the album was. “My mother was so furious with him for years after that,” Phillips said. “We just knew it was gone forever.” Would have been if not for the 14-year-old who not only pulled it from a trash bin in Springfield, but then held on to it for 35 years. By then a Texas truck driver, he sold the album on eBay because he needed money, according to Neville Bean. Deeds’ work is what’s known as outsider art, meaning it doesn’t come from the traditional art world and the artist is not formally trained. The plantation drawings of Bill Traylor, a former slave, would be an example. The back story is always a big part of outsider art, said Tom Parker, associate director of the Hirschl & Adler Galleries in New York, the sole representative of Deeds’ drawings.