At first, we had success in our ministry, and Violet’s daughter and Harold were doing well in school. However, after Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese in December of 1941 and the United States declared war, reaction to our work changed dramatically. There was a spirit of superpatriotism and a fear of conspiracy. Because of our political neutrality, people were suspicious of us, even accusing us of being German spies.

Harold was expelled from school because of his refusal to share in the flag ceremony. His teacher told me that Harold was smart and well-mannered, but the principal felt that he was a bad example because he did not salute the flag. The superintendent of schools was so upset with the principal and the school board’s decision on this matter that he resigned and offered to pay for sending Harold to a private school!

We received threats of mob violence daily. On one occasion the police shoved us out of a lady’s doorway, smashed our phonographs against a tree, broke our records of Bible lectures, tore our Bibles and literature to shreds, and finally set fire to everything they had confiscated. They told us to leave town before dark or we would be driven out by a mob. We quickly wrote and hand delivered letters to the town’s officials, asking for protection. But they refused to provide any. I even called the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Jackson, Mississippi, and asked for help. They also advised us to leave town.

That night nearly one hundred angry men surrounded our trailer. We were two women alone with our children. We locked the doors, turned out the lights, and prayed fervently to Jehovah. Eventually, the crowd dispersed without harming us.

In view of these events, Herbert decided to join us in Brookhaven immediately. We took Harold back to his grandparents in Robertsdale, where the local school principal assured us that he would receive an education. When we returned to Brookhaven, the trailer had been vandalized and a warrant for our arrest had been nailed to one of the walls inside. Despite this opposition, we stood firm and continued in our ministry.

Arrested and Mistreated

In February of 1942, Herbert and I were arrested while we were conducting a Bible study in a modest little home. The man of the house was so angry at the treatment we received that he reached for his gun on the wall and threatened to shoot the policeman! We were charged with trespassing and were found guilty at the trial held the next day.

We were placed in a filthy, cold cell for 11 days. A local Baptist minister visited us while we were there, assuring us that if we agreed to leave town, he would use his influence to set us free. We thought this was ironic, since his influence had put us there in the first place.

One corner of our cell had previously served as a toilet. The place was infested with bedbugs. Food was served on unwashed, dirty tin pans. As a result of these conditions, I became ill with pneumonia. A doctor was called in to see me, and we were released. That night a mob appeared at our trailer, so we went home to Robertsdale to await our trial.

The Trial

Baptists from all over the state came to Brookhaven for our trial, to lend support to the Baptist minister responsible for our arrest. This moved me to write a letter to my brother-in-law Oscar Skooglund, a staunch Baptist deacon. It was an impassioned letter and not very tactful. However, the treatment I received and what I wrote must have influenced Oscar for good, for in a short time, he became a strong Witness of Jehovah.

Our attorneys, G. C. Clark and Victor Blackwell, fellow Jehovah’s Witnesses, were convinced that we would be unable to receive a fair trial in Brookhaven. So they decided to object the case out of court. Every time the prosecutor opened his mouth, one of our attorneys objected. They objected at least 50 times. Finally, the judge dismissed all charges.

More Arrests and Imprisonments

The following week Aileen and I met with E. B. Peebles, the vice president of Gulf Shipbuilding, and we explained the importance of our religious activity. He warned us that the activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses would not be permitted in Chickasaw. We explained that people had gladly received us into their homes. Could he deny them the right to study the Bible? He became hostile and threatened to throw us into jail for trespassing.

I returned to Chickasaw time and again and was arrested each time. But, each time, I was released on bond. Eventually, the bond was raised to exorbitant levels, and I would spend more and more time in jail until we could raise the needed money. The jail conditions were unsanitary—no toilet facilities, filthy mattresses without sheets, and one dirty blanket for cover. As a result, my health problems resurfaced.

On January 27, 1944, the cases of six Witnesses arrested on December 24, 1943, were tried together, and my testimony was considered representative of the other defendants. Even though the trial revealed open discrimination against Jehovah’s Witnesses, I was found guilty. We appealed the decision.

On January 15, 1945, the court of appeals announced its verdict: I was guilty of trespassing. Furthermore, the Alabama Supreme Court refused to hear my case. On May 3, 1945, Hayden Covington, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and a bold and energetic attorney, petitioned for appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

While Aileen and I were waiting to hear from the Supreme Court, we turned the tables on our accusers by filing a civil suit against E. B. Peebles and his allies in the sheriff’s department, asking for damages. Our accusers tried to change the charge they had used against us from trespassing to obstructing traffic, but when I was in jail, I had smuggled out a paper signed by Deputy Chatham, charging us with trespassing. When this evidence was presented in court, Sheriff Holcombe jumped to his feet and almost swallowed his cigar! The trial, in February 1945, ended with a deadlocked jury.