True Crime Chronicles: Jealousy and greed led to a pair of Carroll County murders and 1921 electric chair fate

Beulah and Amos Henry Ratliff

October 1921 marked the grim end of Amos Henry Ratliff, a 25-year-old whose life unraveled through a series of missteps and crimes, culminating in his execution for two murders.

Born in Lawrence County, Ohio, to John H. Ratliff and Christina Webb, Amos’s early life was shaped by his parents’ divorce before 1900. His father remarried and stayed in Ohio, while his mother, Christina, relocated to Carroll County, Arkansas, and wed George Washington Evans.

In 1916, at age 20, Amos married 15-year-old Beulah Jones in Carroll County. The couple welcomed a daughter, Viola, in 1917. But Amos’s attempt to provide for his young family led him astray.

In 1918, he was convicted of selling mortgaged properties, landing a two-year sentence. During his imprisonment, Beulah filed for divorce, setting the stage for Amos’s downward spiral.

Released and back in Eureka Springs by 1920, Amos’s life took a darker turn. In September, he spotted Beulah in a buggy with John Barry, a well-known local farmer. Consumed by jealousy, Amos shot and killed Barry.

While out on bail, he committed another crime on June 4, 1921, killing Winifred Frazier, described in press reports as an "aged spinsyr, during a botched robbery. Contemporary reports suggested Amos aimed to use the stolen money to win back Beulah with gifts.

However, in a confession published in The Jacksonian on July 14, 1921, Amos claimed the funds were meant to settle debts tied to another penitentiary charge. He stated that Frazier drew a pistol on him, prompting him to fire his shotgun.

Convicted of both murders, Amos faced a death sentence on September 30, 1921. Despite petitions urging the judge to reconsider, a brief stay of execution offered little reprieve. On October 14, 1921, Amos was electrocuted in Little Rock.

The Star Progress reported he walked to the death chamber unaided. His remains were returned to Eureka Springs and laid to rest in an unmarked grave at the IOOF Cemetery.

Amos left behind his daughter, Viola, and ex-wife, Beulah, who married Walter Newton Dowell in 1922 and had eight children.

Amos’s siblings--Charles, Cranston, and Leona--continued their lives, but his story remains a somber chapter in Carroll County’s history, a tale of a man undone by his own choices.