In 1946, Britain's Lady Nancy Astor said during her visit, "Savannah was a beautiful lady with a dirty face." Her comment shamed Savannah, but not enough to do anything about it. Preston Russell and Barbara Hines summed up the problem in their history of the city: "Prominent businessmen who cared nothing for old architecture assumed there was little to save."
In 1952, Jim left the Air Force and decided to stay in Savannah during a time of economic growth and pride in America's future. He fell in love with the city and the architecture, and was greatly disturbed at the loss of houses in the historic district, which were destroyed to make way for parking lots and garages. It seemed like every week, another house in the historic or Victorian district was torn down. Ironically, the value of the old Savannah gray bricks as building construction material was often greater than the value of the house, so some houses were torn down just so the bricks could be sold.
To make ends meet, Jim became a salesman for Klug's Furniture Company at the corner of Victory Drive and Abercorn Street. For a while, Jim invested his time and impressive knowledge of art and antiques in a joint venture with his friend Jack Kieffer. Kieffer put up the money and Jim put up the expertise, but the venture did not survive. Even though Kieffer remained a lifelong friend, Jim told close associates that Kieffer made out much better financially in the venture than he did.
Jim's dream was to restore important historic homes in Savannah. What was going on in downtown Savannah was happening to cities everywhere in the country. The inner city had become crime-infested, and affluent people moved out to the suburbs, leaving lovely large homes to fall into disrepair. These homes in the historic and adjacent Victorian districts became tenements rented to multiple large families, which further accelerated the decline in property values. Wealthy families built their mansions in suburban Ardsley Park. Two decades later, as executives from northern states with harsh winter climates planned their retirements, many of them were enticed by the gated country club communities on Skidaway Island, like the Landings, rather than settling in a city that was still in decay.
The early 1950s was a watershed time for the city. The Georgia legislature gave the city permission to raze the historic City Market, which was replaced by an ugly parking garage. Finally, the people of Savannah woke up, and although they couldn't save the old City Market, an influential group created the Historic Savannah Foundation in 1955. As one foundation member explained, "We needed one crisis, one central issue that would focus attention on the downtown area. This happened to be it."
The decline of Savannah's historic district worsened in the 1960s as suburban shopping centers and Oglethorpe Mall, Savannah's first shopping mall, made it unnecessary to go downtown. Savannah's banks, like banks all over the country that faced a deteriorating inner city, redlined the area. In other words, they would not lend money for restoration projects. Downtown property values plunged, and large stately homes in the downtown and midtown districts could be purchased for less than $5,000.
For a man like Jim Williams, brilliant, ambitious, and absolutely hell-bent on becoming a major force in restoring Savannah's architectural jewels, the funding problem was very challenging. The wealthy families of Savannah and the city's financial institutions were extremely hesitant to invest any money in risky downtown restoration ventures. The fledgling historical foundation was a good start, but it wasn't going to further the dreams of Jim Williams anytime soon.
Ever the businessman and opportunist, he came up with an ingenious-but unethical and ultimately illegal-solution to the problem of getting his restoration projects funded and increasing his friendships with important people. Jim was a very masculine gay man with a trim body, a handsome face, thick dark hair, and penetrating dark eyes. Moreover, he was extremely intelligent, poised, an expert in antiques and architectural design, and blessed with exquisite taste. Jim was remarkably persuasive and struck most people as being extremely trustworthy. In short, he was one attractive and desirable bachelor.
Jim quickly learned that a number of wealthy and influential gay and bisexual men were locked into the married life that Savannah society required its upper crust to embrace. Some of these men were at the top of important financial institutions and businesses that would ultimately determine whether or not there would be funding in the future to restore historic Savannah.
Jim understood the conundrum that these men faced. They may have dreamed about young gay boys as sexual partners, but the risk of seeking out such relationships was fraught with risks. Yes, many young male hustlers hung around the Bull Street squares, but engaging them was far too dangerous. There was great potential for scandal, extortion, blackmail, and even personal injury if these men engaged in homosexual relationships. As a very cultured, handsome man with enormous charisma and persuasive abilities, developing sexual relationships with influential gay men was not difficult for him. Jim represented a "safe" relationship for men whose married life and reputation demanded the utmost discretion.
To a businessman like Jim, the conundrum for these men represented an opportunity to insinuate himself into Savannah's old-money crowd and coax his new influential friends to fund his restoration projects. He cultivated the spouses of his new male friends with his knowledge of interior design to charm his way into Savannah's high society.
Jim didn't work this avenue solely with his own charms. Some of his gay married friends longed for sexual partners much younger than Jim, but could not afford to be seen cruising gay bars or making sexual overtures to employees or acquaintances. Opportunist that he was, Jim found a way to serve the needs of his friends. Unfortunately, the service Jim provided-which I stumbled upon early in my research-was immoral and very illegal.
I was having some painting and wallpapering done at our home when Buddy, our wallpaper guru, overheard me talking about Jim Williams.
"My mother hated him," he blurted out. "She was the manager of the Burger King at the bus station back then."
My thoughts focused on the downtown Greyhound bus station. There was only one in Savannah.
"She'd watch him [Jim] as the buses came in from rural Georgia and South Carolina," Buddy continued. "He'd look over the teenagers coming off the buses and go talk to the good-looking ones."
"Then what did he do?" I said.
Buddy shrugged. "My mother saw him walk away with the boy he chose, but she didn't know where they went." He paused for a moment. "She knew what guys like that were up to. You see that kind of thing when you work at the bus station. He didn't do that once or twice. He was around a lot, looking for runaways."
Seeing Jim month after month checking out boys in their mid-teens and often leaving the station with them disgusted her. She assumed that he befriended the boys for his own pleasure, and that was partly true. Jim loved sex with young men and boys.
What she didn't know was that Williams also vetted the kids back at his house. If they had left their small town because they were gay or were desperate enough to make some money satisfying Jim's friends, he kept them around for awhile to make sure that they weren't a liability. Once he decided they were reliable, Jim would introduce them to his friends.
Later, when he was much more successful, Jim didn't have to hang around the bus station looking for young talent for himself or his friends. All he had to do was to go out into the squares around Bull Street and persuade some of the teenagers to come to home with him. He got to know which ones he could trust.
Confirming this aspect of Jim's character was very challenging. Although many in the gay community knew what Jim was doing, locating victims who would agree to an interview was difficult. Many of the boys that Jim had exploited were dead from AIDS, drugs, or urban violence, but eventually, I was able to interview two who are still around. One is a hairdresser and the other is a performer. Jim would invite them to his fabulous Mercer House for a drink. They were 15 or 16 years old, poor, absolutely awed by the opulence of the house, and desperate for money.
It is unlikely that Jim procured boys for wealthy clients for money. What Jim sought in exchange was influence. He needed acceptance into a level of society that normally would have been closed to him because he was not from a distinguished old Savannah family, nor was he from "old money." Gradually, because he was helpful, charming, and did not appear gay, Jim was able to use his interior design expertise, knowledge of antiques, and discreet sexual services to insinuate himself into the upper reaches of Savannah society. Savannah is very tolerant of sin in the rarified reaches of society, as long as it doesn't become the subject of conversation at the exclusive Oglethorpe Club.
