Murder at Hasty Pond

By Mike Simmons

     Marianna, Florida is an old southern town in the middle of the Florida panhandle. It began as a whistle-stop for the railroad but grew into a town of significance. Twelve miles south of town lies the community of Hasty Pond. In 1930, Robert and Ada McQuagge lived on a farm there. Robert, 26, and Ada, 18, had only been married 11 months. Those months, however, had been rocky. The couple separated several times due to Robert’s frequent drunken binges. Finally, Ada went back to her mother’s home, which was also in Hasty Pond.

     On June 1, 1930, Robert again proved he couldn’t handle his liquor when he was arrested for public drunkenness. He made bail the next day and went home to an empty house.

     Two days later, Robert went over to the home of Sennie Ward, his mother-in-law, where Ada was staying. Again, intoxicated, he got into a heated argument with his new wife. Probably wondering what she had gotten into, Ada left and headed stay with a friend in nearby Calhoun County.

     Robert was furious. He was in the chicken yard when he saw Sennie come out of the house. In a rage, Robert grabbed an axe and swung it at Sennie’s head. The axe found its mark and almost decapitated her, killing her instantly.

     Robert looked around for witnesses. Among them were two – Sennie’s daughter, Leona Ward, and a neighbor, Jim Lipford. Robert approached Jim and told him he intended to kill the whole crowd so nobody could tell the tale. Neither Jim nor Leona waited for the action but fled in a sprint.

     June 3, 1930, happened to be voting day, and Robert’s relative, A.W. McQuagge, was running for state Railroad Commissioner. The local polling place was about 200 yards from the murder scene. Robert put the axe down and slowly walked over to the polling place. He found Jackson County Sheriff Arthur Lewis, related the story, and turned himself in. He was charged with First Degree Murder.

     The trial took place on October 23, 1930, at the Jackson County Courthouse in Marianna. Judge Amos E. Lewis presided over the trial, which didn’t take long. The only witnesses who testified were Jim Lipford, Leona Ward, and Ada McQuagge. By day’s end, the jury had a verdict – Guilty as charged with no recommendation for mercy, meaning the only sentence was death by electrocution.

     On Thursday, May 27, 1931, McQuagge was strapped to Old Sparky at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, Florida. When the switch was thrown, the current ran through his body, sufficient enough to take his life, much more humanely than he had done with Sennie Ward. His body was returned to Marianna and buried.