Thomas Ammar

1914—1930

Thomas Ammar is first listed in the September 1914 Dun & Bradstreet as a seller of dry goods, sewing materials, and shoes (Mercantile Agency, 1914). In the September 1915 Dun & Bradstreet, his business is listed as a fruit store and confectionary (Mercantile Agency, 1915). This same year, evidently Ammar was convicted for the misdemeanor of operating a slot machine within his store (“Misdemeanors Many”, 1915).

The real pith of Thomas Ammar’s story is his 1920 murder of a black man named Sonnie Turner. As the story goes, Turner told Ammar not to cheat him on the cigar he was purchasing, as Ammar purportedly short-sold him on ice cream during his last visit. Ammar then attempted to push Turner out of the store and, to assist him in doing so, secured a 4-foot stick, threatening to beat Turner with it. Turner then attempted to wrestle the stick from Ammar and, during the struggle, Ammar grabbed his revolver and shot Turner twice, with one shot landing above his eye, killing him (“Try Thomas Ammar”, 1922). Unfortunately in these days, racism in the justice system was beyond commonplace. The trial ended in the acquittal of Thomas Ammar (“Vedicts Obtained”, 1922).

I suppose Thomas Ammar remained in business nearly a decade following this incident, seemingly free of much press, as he last appears in this article. Schenkman’s book states that Ammar went out of business around 1930 (Schenkman, 2009).