In 1931, 18 year old Helen Spence became a household name, and Arkansas folk hero, after she sought vengeance for the death of her father and stepmother. Over the next three years, the media followed Helen’s trial, imprisonment, second murder charge, prison escapes, and her murder at the age of 22.

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Episode Sources

• Encyclopedia of Arkansas: Helen Spence (1912–1934)
• People’s River History Project: A Secret History of American River People
• Denise White Parkinson: Daughter of the White River: Depression-Era Treachery and Vengeance in the Arkansas Delta
• Only In Arkansas: River of Redemption: The Helen Spence Story
• The Daily World: Decisions of the Arkansas Supreme Court, January 13, 1930
• The Shreveport Journal: Wounded Man is Thrown in River, April 24, 1930
• Hope Star: Body of Timber Worker, Drowned in River, Found, June 5, 1930
• The Columbus Ledger: Girl Kills Accused Slayer of Father in Courtroom, January 20,1931
• The Barre Daily Times: Young Woman Didn’t Trust Jury with Trial, January 20, 1931
• Sun Herald: Courtroom Slayer Gets Five Year Term, April 2, 1931
• Reading Times: Arrest Trusty for Killing Girl Who Fled Prison, July 13, 1934
• Daily News: Tragedy of Helen Spence Eaton, July 22, 1934
• Hope Star: Martin Acquitted in Eaton Slaying, September 28, 1934
• Arkansas Times: The river people, August 17, 2006
• Fox 16 TV: River Justice: pardon sought for Delta folk hero
• Malvern Daily Record: Helen Spence: An Arkansas Folk Hero for the Ages, March 6, 2023

Episode Music

Impromptu, Traveler and Unanswered Questions by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dr. Jacob Herman Feist was one of Nashville’s most eligible bachelors when he was accused of murder following the disappearance of his lover, Mrs. Mangrum. Was one of the city’s most prominent citizens one of its earliest known serial killers or a womanizer who was destroyed by accusations and gossip?

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Episode Sources

• The Tennessean Sadie Goldstein Obituary, May 11, 1903
• The Tennessean Dr. Feist’s Denial, May 16, 1903
• Grundy News Sadie Goldstein, May 21, 1903
• Feist Court Case J. Herman Feist vs. The State
• Knoxville Sentinel Saw Dr. Feist Embrace Woman, January 29, 1907
• The Journal and Tribune Morbid Crowd Fed Salacious Morsels, Jan 30, 1907
• The Tennessean May Not Go On Witness Stand, Jan 31, 1907
• Nashville Banner Dr. Feist Witnesses Last Scene of the Trial with no Visible Emotion, Feb 16, 1907
• Nashville Banner Defense Asks for Adjournment, March 26, 1907
• The Tennessean Treatment of Dr. J. H. Feist
• The Tennessean The Feist Case, April 4, 1978
• The Baldwin Times Dr. Feist Dies at Tensaw Home, October 23, 1952
• Genealogy Trails Davidson County J. Herman Feist Bio
• Notorious Nashville Scoundrels, Rogues and Outlaws, By Brian Allison
• Find a Grave Dr. Jacob Herman Feist (1873-1952)

Episode Music

Impromptu and Unanswered Questions by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

On May 4, 1931, William and Mamie Wagner were murdered at their home in northwest Mississippi. The Jackson Clarion-Ledger called the murders of one of the most prominent couples in the area, “the most brutal tragedy that has ever happened in this section of Mississippi”.

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Episode Sources

• The Commercial Appeal Mass Meeting on Charges Relative to Death of Rev H.P. Gibbs, May 6, 1899
• State Historical Society Archives Anti-Lynching Bill, 1921
• The Greenwood Commonwealth Water Valley Merchant and Wife Slain, May 5, 1931
• Biloxi Sun Herald Sheriff Gets Confession in Wagner Crime, May 6, 1931
• The Clarion-Ledger Atrocities in Northern Part of State Bringing Intense Police Efforts, May 7, 1931
• The Clarion-Ledger Murder Victims Are Laid to Rest, May 8, 1931
• The Clarion-Ledger Verdict Carries Dealth Penalty For Whitaker in Wagner Slayings, June 12, 1931
• North Mississippi Herald The Infamous History of Water Valley, May 14, 2008
• North Mississippi Herald Century Old Jail Is Piece Of History, April 6, 2011
• Hill Country History Water Valley (1858)
• Ancestry.com William Buford Wagner, Jr.
• Water Valley Chamber of Commerce Attractions - Carnival Info

Episode Music

Impromptu and Unanswered Questions by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Nelms Sisters Mystery is one of the most sensational mysteries of the early 20th century, that most people have never heard of. In the summer of 1914, Eloise Nelms was in love with an attorney she planned to marry. Her sister Beatrice questioned the attorney’s motives and wanted proof that he had her sister's best interest at heart. The sisters took a train from Atlanta, headed to Texas to meet the attorney. They were never seen alive again.

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Episode Sources

• An Old Coot’s Essays About An Earlier Georgia and Other Topics by Eddie Rollins
• Forgotten Stories: The World’s Worst Divorce Attorney
• Atlanta West End: Historic West End
• The Atlanta Constitution: Death Claims Him, March 1, 1911
• Oakland Tribune: Mystery of Two Sisters Deepens, July 10, 1914
• Charlotte Daily Observer: Search for Women Makes No Progress, July 11, 1914
• Tampa Journal: Atlanta Quivers with Excitement in Letter Puzzle, July 12, 1914
• The Atlanta Journal: Mother, Heartbroken, Tells of Power Innes Had Over Daughter, July 12, 1914
• San Francisco Examiner: Mrs. Nelms Bares Daughters Tragic Love, July 13, 1914
• The Atlanta Journal: Womans Clubs Urged to Aid Nelms Search, July 13,1914
• The Atlanta Journal: Evidence Sought to Hold Innes, July 16, 1914
• The Eugene Guard: Former US District Attorney Arrested in Eugene, August 19, 1914
• The Atlanta Journal: Strange Letters to Aid in Solving Nelms Mystery Case, August 21, 1914
• The Macon Telegraph: Bones Found in Connect with Nelms Mystery Are Positively Identified As Human, September 9, 1914
• The Americus Times Daily Recorder: Speculation Made in Case of INnes and wife, April 4, 1916
• The Atlanta Constitution: Finger of Death Inscribes ‘Finis’ on Final Chapter of Nelms Case, April 1, 1936

Episode Music

Northern Lights by Chris Hauge. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

Deep Haze by Kevin McLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

The Battle of Blair Mountain, in the summer of 1921, was one of the largest civil uprisings in American History. Violent attacks on Appalachian miners and their families, dangerous working conditions and a forced debt system in company towns contributed to the largest and bloodiest armed uprising since the Civil War.

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Episode Sources

• The Road to Blair Mountain by Charles Keeney
• On Dark and Bloody Ground by Anne Lawrence
• National Park Service: Introduction to the West Virginia Mine Wars
• Smithsonian Magazine: What Made the Battle of Blair Mountain the Largest Labor Uprising in American History
• Zinn Education Project: The Devil Is Here in These Hills
• ReImagine Appalachia: The Battle of Blair Mountain
• West Virginia Archives & History
• United Mine Workers of America: Standing United, Living Divided: Black coal miners and their fight for justice
• West Virginia Mine Wars Museum
• JSTOR Daily: Rednecks: A Brief History.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines by Ross Gentry. Used with permission of artist.

Resolution by Kevin McLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

The disappearance of 67 year old Ruth Dorsey has perplexed her family, friends and Lee County, Alabama law enforcement for half a century. In the summer of 1974 investigators launched what would become one of the most extensive searches to date in the east central part of the state. Ruth’s disappearance remains one of Alabama’s most baffling mysteries.

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Website: southernmysteries.com Facebook: Southern Mysteries Podcast Instagram: @shannonballard_ Email: southernmysteriespodcast@gmail.com

Episode Sources

• The Charley Project: Ruth Purcell Murphree Dorsey
• Encyclopedia of Alabama: Opelika
• Opelika-Auburn News: Dorsey Family Needs Closure After 30 Years, April 16, 2006
• Opelika-Auburn News: Only Spooky May Know What Happened, Aug 17, 1975
• Opelika-Auburn News: Ruth Dorsey Still Missing After Seven Years, Aug 16, 1981
• Opelika-Auburn News: E.S. (Pete) Dorsey, Lee Cattleman Dies at Home, June 22, 1965
• Opelika-Auburn News: Opelika Missing After Car Found, Aug 19, 1974
• Opelika-Auburn News: Helicopter Used to Search Area for Mrs. Dorsey, Aug 27, 1974
• Opelika-Auburn News: Aerial Search for Proves Fruitless In Search for Missing Opelikan
• Opelika-Auburn News: Ruth Dorsey’s Disappearance, Aug 21, 1977
• Opelika-Auburn News: After 3 Month Search, Dorsey Case Unsolved, Dec 3, 1974
• Opelika-Auburn News: Reward Up to $1400, Aug. 30, 1974
• RootsWeb: Dorsey Ancestry

Episode Music

Not Forgotten by Dan Lebowitz. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

The New Orleans Trunk Murders are a long forgotten dark chapter in the city's history. The gruesome discovery of two dismembered bodies in the French Quarter in October 1927 was one of the most violent crimes reported in the city in the 1920s.

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Hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries

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Website: southernmysteries.com Facebook: Southern Mysteries Podcast Instagram: @shannonballard_ Email: southernmysteriespodcast@gmail.com

Episode Sources

• The Historical New Orleans Collection: Amid Roaring Twenties New Orleans, a brutal French Quarter murder shocked the city
• Bayou Justice: New Orleans’ infamous trunk murders revisited
• Atlas Obscura: The Trunk Murders and ‘Sausage Ghost’ of 1920s New Orleans
• Southern Spirit Guide: A Block of Death and Dismemberment – New Orleans
• French Quarter Mangement District: History of French Quarter
• Vieux Carré Digital Survey: 715 Ursulines St.
• Find A Grave: Henry Moity
• Find A Grave: Joseph Moity
• Find A Grave: Theresa Alfano Moity
• The Evergreen Courant: Henry Moity Captured
• Orlando Evening Star: How Jealousy Turned a Devoted Husband into a Demon
• Daily Advertiser: Be Careful in Marrying,Is Advice in Story Written by Woman Found Slain at N.O.

Episode Music

Dark Times and Long Note Two by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com

William and Ellen Craft escaped slavery in Macon, Georgia by traveling to Philadelphia in 1848. Ellen, the light skinned daughter of her mixed race mother and their enslaver, posed as a young white male planter and William posed as her slave.Their daring escape made international headlines and the Crafts became two of the most famous emancipated people in American history.

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Website: southernmysteries.com Facebook: Southern Mysteries Podcast Instagram: @shannonballard_ Email: southernmysteriespodcast@gmail.com

Episode Sources

• Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: Or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery (Dover Thrift Editions: Black History)
• Time Magazine: The Remarkable True Story of the Couple Who Posed as Master and Slave to Escape Bondage
• Smithsonian Magazine: The Great Escape From Slavery of Ellen and William Craft
• National Park Service: "A Desperate Leap for Liberty": The Escape of William and Ellen Craft
• History: The Daring Disguise that Helped One Enslaved Couple Escape to Freedom
• Georgia Women of Achievement: Ellen Smith Craft
• BBC: Ellen and William Craft: Blue plaque for abolitionists who fled slavery

Episode Music

Traveller by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com