Chester McNutt
Chester X. McNutt, also known as Chester X (born February 4, 1917 in Chicago, Illinois; died July 26, 1993) was an organizer for the Nation of Islam affiliated Muhammad's Temples of Islam.
McNutt came to the city from Chicago in order to establish a local temple, which met at the Colored Masonic Temple at 1630 4th Avenue North. He resided at 1107 13th Avenue North near Fountain Heights Park in Fountain Heights and worked as an agent for the Protective Industrial Insurance Co.. He also contributed a column to the Huntsville Mirror.
McNutt and another man were questioned by police when they appeared at Birmingham City Hall to inquire about the arrest of a teen aged follower, Eugene Meadows, who had been charged with, "selling out-of-town newspapers on a downtown street corner without authorization." During questioning, Johnnie Stevenson, identifying himself as "Johnnie X," proclaimed that the time was near for a holy war, during which all who deny Allah as God would be killed. When asked if he was a follower of Fred Shuttlesworth, McNutt, who also claimed the identity of Raymond Sherrief, said that he had attended meetings where the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights leader had spoken, "out of curiosity," but concluded that Shuttlesworth was, "a clown that was out to get all the Negro people's money." The three men were held overnight for questioning. Stevenson and McNutt were released without charge. Meadows was charged with violating a street peddling ordinance and released on $25 bond.
After that encounter, McNutt moved to Anniston where he took up residence in a duplex in the Washington Homes public housing project and served as minister to a small temple. He also operated a gas station and a restaurant, originally called the "West Side Restaurant" and later renamed "Crispy Chicken" on West 15th Street. He closed the gas station after suffering eleven burglaries in the span of a year. He petitioned the Anniston City Council to increase overnight police patrols in the area.
McNutt was arrested in 1973 when a police officer investigating a burglary in the area suffered a gunshot wound from a booby trap connected to a door at the restaurant. In 1978 the restaurant was badly damaged by an early-morning fire. A vacant store adjoining the Crispy Chicken was also damaged, and an office of the Booker T. Washington Life Insurance Co. next to it received minor damage from smoke, heat and water.
In May 1981 McNutt was charged with shooting another restaurateur, Anthony Woods, in the leg. The jury deadlocked in the criminal trial, and McNutt pleaded guilty to 3rd degree assault and paid a $100 fine before the retrial. The Crispy Chicken narrowly escaped another major fire when the neighboring Cobra Club and Taylor Furniture Co. went up in flames on November 1, 1982. McNutt praised the efforts of the Anniston Fire Department in containing the blaze.
Woods, meanwhile, filed a $100,000 civil suit against McNutt, winning a $5,000 judgment in September 1983, which McNutt failed to pay. In August 1987 the Crispy Chicken property was auctioned by the Calhoun County Sheriff to recover the judgment owed to Woods, but the highest bid, entered by Woods himself, was $275. In September Woods initiated a process of evicting McNutt's business from the property. Soon thereafter both restaurants were heavily damaged in separate arsons.
McNutt died at UAB Hospital in 1993, and is buried at Maple Grove Cemetery in Anniston. He was survived by his wife, Annie Mae.
References
- Gordon, Bud (July 19, 1959)"Arrest of Negro boy discloses moslem sect functioning here" The Birmingham News - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections
- X, Chester (August 29, 1959) "Protection of Our Women is Imperative." Hunstville Mirror
- X, Chester (September 19, 1959) "Who Is The Devil? Is He Man Or Spirit?" Hunstville Mirror
- "Night patrols asked for west Anniston" (April 19, 1972) Anniston Star
- "Policemen, suspect shot by booby trap." (September 17, 1973) Anniston Star
- "Man Who Rigged Gun Trap Charged" (September 20, 1973) Anniston Star
- "Fire ravages business" (February 20, 1978) Anniston Star
- Tye, Larry (November 2, 1982) "Fire watchers' reactions vary." Anniston Star
- Ronner, John (September 29, 1987) "Police say arsonist set downtown blaze." Anniston Star
- "McNutt" obituary (July 30, 1993) Anniston Star