Sorrowing relatives and friends held a funeral here Saturday for Emmett Louis Till, but a Mississippi sheriff said the body in the casket might not be the 14-year-old Chicago Negro.
The sheriff’s charges were quickly disputed by relatives and by another official. But Sheriff H.C. Strider said he thought Till was alive and that the body found in the Tallahatchie River last Saturday, “didn’t look like a boy’s body.” It
appeared the family might have to bear the proof of identity if murder charges are brought.
“It was the size of a man’s body,” he said, “and the face didn’t look like the face of a picture of the boy they published in a newspaper down there.”
Mother Certain
In Chicago, the boy’s mother, Mrs. Mamie Bradley, 33. of 6427 St. Lawrence, said, “There is no shadow of a doubt in my mind. He is my son and I know it’s him. The last time I saw him was Aug. 20. Certainly, I would remember my son.”
She said she identified him by these characteristics:
His teeth — “the most perfect set of teeth a human being could have.”
His hairline —“He had a little peek at the center of his forehead.”
His eyes —“The left eye always bulged.”
His nose — its shape.
Ray F. Mooty, a cousin of the boy, said, “The family is convinced that the body is Emmett.” He called Strider’s comment an attempt to “cover-up.”
Deputy Sheriff Ed Cothran said he “completely disagreed” with the sheriff, and that an uncle of the youth had positively identified the body in Mississippi.
He said the right middle finger of the body bore a ring with the initials “L.T.” and the date “May 25th, 1943.”
The ring was identified as Till’s, the deputy said.
An overflow crowd of 2,500 attended the funeral, unaware of the controversy over identification. They were told by South Side religious leaders that they should exercise “tolerance, not vengeance” in the case.
Casket Opened
The casket was opened during the services at Roberts Temple of the Church of God in Christ, 4021 S. State St.
Two white men, Roy Bryant, 24, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, 36, are held in Mississippi on a charge of kidnapping young Till from the home of his uncle, Moses Wright, last Sunday near Money.
The boy allegedly had “insulted” Mrs. Bryant, wife of one of the accused, by a whistle and remarks in a store.
The men were charged with kidnapping after the boy’s beaten body, shot in the head, was found.
Complicates Issues
Dist. Atty. Gerald Chatham of Herando, Miss., said, “you would certainly have to prove the death.” Strider’s statement, he said, complicates the issue of whether the two men will face a murder charge as originally planned.
Chatham said that when he took over the case, “I was assured by Stanny Sanders (district attorney of the adjoining district) that there is no question of a corpus delecti.
Strider is sheriff in Tallahatchie County, where the body was found. The kidnapping occurred in the adjoining county of Leflore. Strider took jurisdiction when patches of dried blood and hair were found on a bridge about five miles north of where the weighted body was found. Period.
Thousands View Body
At the funeral, men shielded their eyes and three women fainted at the sight of the boy’s crushed head. Thousands viewed the body, streaming past late into the night.
The body was in marked contrast to pictures of the boy pinned in the casket top by Mrs. Bradley.
She insisted that the casket be kept open until Tuesday, “so that people can see what they did to my boy.”
Main speakers at the funeral service were the Rev. Archibald Carey, South Side religious leader and former alderman, and Bishop Louis H. Ford of the Church of God in Christ.
Both told the huge crowd that calmness and reason were needed. “There are good people in the South,” the Rev. Mr. Carey said. “There are people in the South who don’t condone this sort of thing any more than we do.”
“The Lord and the law will take care of this,” Bishop Ford told the audience. “Vengeance is not in the hands of the people.”
Outside the church, 3,000 people milled about, waiting for a chance to view the body. Another 3,000 already had filed past the body in a funeral home at 41st in Cottage Grove Friday night.
Delay Burial
The body had been scheduled for burial Saturday in Burr Oak Cemetery. But the mother decided to delay the burial after seeing the throngs. “They came here to see my boy,” she said, “and they’ll see him.”
The body lay at the foot of the pulpit during the 90-minute service. It was to remain there until 7 p.m. Saturday, then be removed to a basement auditorium in the building.
Viewing hours, Bishop Ford said, would be 8 a.m. till midnight. Burial will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, he said.
