Southern Mysteries Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 145 The Mystery of the Wagner Murders Apr 29, 2024

Show notes

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”.

Want more Southern Mysteries?

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

Connect

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

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/

Episode 144 The Disappearance of the Nelms Sisters Apr 15, 2024

Show notes

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.

Want more Southern Mysteries?

Connect

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

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

Episode 143 Battle of Blair Mountain Apr 01, 2024

Show notes

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.

Want more Southern Mysteries?

Connect

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

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

Episode 142 The Mysterious Disappearance of Ruth Dorsey Mar 18, 2024

Show notes

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.

Want more Southern Mysteries?

Connect

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.

Episode 141 The New Orleans Trunk Murders Mar 04, 2024

Show notes

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.

Want more Southern Mysteries?

Connect

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

Episode 140 William and Ellen Craft - Desperate Leap to Liberty Feb 19, 2024

Show notes

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.

Want more Southern Mysteries?

Connect

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

Episode 139 Who Killed Betty Gail Brown? Feb 05, 2024

Show notes

Betty Gail Brown was a sophomore at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky when she was murdered on campus in 1961.Betty Gail’s murder has haunted Central Kentucky for six decades. Who killed Betty Gail and why? The case remains unsolved despite the police file noting the case was closed due to an arrest.

Want more Southern Mysteries?

Connect

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

Episode Sources

Recommended Read: Who Killed Betty Gail Brown?: Murder, Mistrial, and Mystery by Robert G. Lawson.
Daily News August 1966: The Coed Parked with Death
Find A Grave: Betty Gail Brown (1942-1961)
Indianapolis Star October 1961: Co-Ed Slain on Kentucky Campus
Lexington Herald-Leader January 1965: Man held in West says he killed Miss Brown
Lexington Herald-Leader December 1984: Police still seeking answers to unsolved murder
Lexington Herald-Leader November 2017: Inside the Police File of City’s Most Notorious Slaying that has gone unsolved for 56 years
The Rambler: Kentucky Cold Case: Who killed Betty Gail Brown?
The Rambler: Cold Case Heats Up: Police Department Reopens Transy Student’s Murder Case
Vice: The Bizarre Unsolved Murder of Harry Dean Stanton's Niece

Episode Music

Surrender by Dan Lebowitz. Licensed under Creative Commons

Episode 138 The Murder of Fannie McCue Jan 22, 2024

Show notes

On September 4, 1904, Fannie McCue was found dead in a bathtub at the McCue home in Charlottesville, Virginia. Within months a man was arrested, convicted of murder and executed. Doubts linger over his guilt and some believe his execution was staged. What happened in the McCue home the night Fannie was killed?

Want more Southern Mysteries?

Connect

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

Episode Sources

The McCue Murder: The complete story of the crime and the famous trial of the ex-mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia. Lindsay, James H. (1862-1933). https://xtf.lib.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=2007_01/uvaBook/tei/b000449357.xml;brand=default;
History of the McCue Case: Full Particulars of the Crime, Inquest, Trial and Conviction with Argument of Counsel by Evan Ragland Chesterman, Joseph Francis Geisinger https://books.google.com/books?id=T3NIdLR8VF4C&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false
Murder trial of J. Samuel McCue. Cvillepedia. Retrieved January 13, 2024. <https://www.cvillepedia.org/Murder_trial_of_J._Samuel_McCue>
The Case of the “Not-So-Common” Comyn Hall. Albemarle + Charlottesville History. Retrieved January 12, 2024 <https://charlottesvillealbemarlehistory.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/the-case-of-the-not-so-common-comyn-hall>
Charlottesville. Cvillepedia. Retrieved January 12, 2024 <https://www.cvillepedia.org/Charlottesville>
McCue Believes He Will Be Free. The Greenville News. December 22, 1904. Retrieved January 12, 2024. <https://www.newspapers.com/image/187932715>
J Samuel McCue Dies on Gallows. The Roanoke Times, February 11, 1905. Retrieved January 15, 2024 <https://www.newspapers.com/image/911640060>

Episode Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Evening Fall Piani by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons.

Episode 137 Myra Clark and The Great Gaines Case Dec 11, 2023

Show notes

The Great Gaines Case remains the longest civil litigation in US History. The nearly six decade long court battle involved a wealthy Louisiana politician and merchant’s vast fortune, a hidden marriage and child and property in the heart of New Orleans business district.

Want more Southern Mysteries?

Connect

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

Episode Sources

The New Orleans woman who fought the longest court battle in US history, The Historic New Orleans Collection. (Viewed November 2023) https://www.hnoc.org/publications/first-draft/new-orleans-woman-who-fought-longest-court-battle-us-history
Notorious Woman: The Celebrated Case of Myra Clark Gaines by Elizabeth Urban Alexander https://lsupress.org/9780807130247/
Myra Clark Gaines: The Longest-Running Civil Lawsuit in America. Law Library of Louisiana (Viewed November 2023) https://lasc.libguides.com/c.php?g=560377&p=3854854
Gaines v. Relf, 53 U.S. 472 (1851). Justia US Supreme Court (Viewed November 2023) https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/53/472/
The Gaines Case Settled; Some of the Claims to be at Once Paid by the Administrator, New York Times, July 27, 1892
A man in shadow: the life of Daniel Clark, Tulane University Digital Library. (Viewed November 2023). https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A27489

Episode Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Meditation Impromptu One by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons.

Southern Mysteries Classics The Kidnapping of Alice Speed Stoll Nov 27, 2023

Show notes

One of the biggest news stories in October 1934 was the kidnapping of Alice Speed Stoll from her home in Louisville, Kentucky. Seven days later she was set free but her kidnapper remained on the run. Who kidnapped Alice and why?

Want more Southern Mysteries? Support this independent podcast on Patreon. Learn more and join today at patreon.com/southernmysteries

Episode Sources

Money for Mrs. Stoll Is Ready Authorities Refuse to Reveal ‘Definite Leads’. Healdsburg Tribune, Number 290, 11 October 1934. (Viewed April 2020) <https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=HT19341011.2.4&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1>
Robinson v. United States, 144 F.2d 392 (6th Cir. 1944). US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit - 144 F.2d 392 (6th Cir. 1944), July 31, 1944 (Viewed April 2020) <https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/144/392/1547644/>
The bizarre story of a kidnapped Louisville heiress held captive in Indianapolis, IndyStar.com. (Viewed April 2020) <https://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2019/12/20/alice-speed-stoll-kidnapping-went-louisville-indianapolis/2674240001/>
Video out takes with family spokesperson, University of South Carolina Libraries Digital Collections. (Viewed April 2020) <https://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc%3A26483>
Robinson, Stoll, Kidnapper, Caught, The Indianapolis times. October 17, 1934 (Viewed April 2020) <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015313/1934-10-17/ed-1/seq-3/>
Joyful After Kidnap Acquittal, Healdsburg Tribune, October 24, 1935. (Viewed April 2020) <https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=HT19351024&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1>

Episode Music

Alone with My Thoughts by Esther Abrami. Licensed under Creative Commons

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Southern Mysteries Podcast

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected