by Karen L. Cox
Associated Press, 124
Atlanta Journal Constitution, 104
Atlantic Monthly, 7
Audubon, John James, 8
Austin, H. L., 107
Bahin, Charlie, 70, 71
Baker, Duncan, 39, 187n11
Baker, Mrs. H. L., 139
Baker-Grand Theatre, 71, 142, 187n11
Ballistics tests, 93, 95, 100, 137, 140
Barnum, P. T., 8
Belgium, Merrill (Ayres) as ambassador to, 21–22, 104–5, 184n10
Bell, Abigail, 54, 188n4
Bennett, Bob, 158
Benoist, E. E., 136
Bertillon, Alphonse, 82–83
Better Homes and Gardens, 148
Black, James, 53, 54, 56–57
Black, Nellie Smith: arrest of, 5, 90, 93; birth of, 54; boarders in home of, 57, 61, 89; after Burns’s release from prison, 173; in Burns’s trial, 140; family of, 54, 55; interrogation of, 93; marriage of, 54; as material witness, 100; on night of murder, 64; photographs of, 55, 91; time spent in jail, 93, 100, 102, 131; in Wells’s retelling of murder, 150–51; work as laundress, 57
Black Codes, 58
Black newspapers, 108
Blacks: coded language used for, 81; in criminal justice system of South, 2–3, 78, 81, 90, 100, 107; employment opportunities for, 56–57, 172; Great Migration of, 12–13, 53, 60; nicknames and aliases used by, 58, 65, 190n4; population in Mississippi, 58; in Reconstruction era, 58–60; in Union army during Civil War, 11; women (See Black women)
Blacks, in Natchez, 53–62; in Burns’s trial, 136; community of, 54–56; employment opportunities for, 56–57, 172; after end of slavery, 12–13, 55–56; memory of Merrill murder among, 173; in middle class, 13; population of, 55, 61; residential segregation of, 54–56; sharecropping by, 12, 13; as suspects in Merrill murder, 78, 81, 88; in tourism industry, 7, 148; as witnesses in Merrill murder, 95–96, 100, 136
Black women: citizenship rights of, 100; double standard for, 99–100, 173, 195n32; employment options for, 57, 172; in Parchman prison, 161; stereotypes of, 151; vs. white women, as ladies, 99–100
Blue and the Gray, The (magazine), 45
Blues, 164
Bluff City Undertaking Company, 57, 189n13
Bowers, Mary, 162
Boyd, Willie, 1, 69–71, 78, 191n14
Boyt, E. C., 87, 185n34
Brandon, Gerard, 133, 134, 152, 155–56
Brandon and Brandon (firm), 152
Brewer, Earl, 128
Bristow, Gwen, 106, 120–22, 160, 197n9
Brown, Joseph, 81, 82, 132–33, 199n5
Brown, Sterling, 14
Bruce, Blanche, 60
Bulger, Thomas, 45
Bullwhip, in Burns’s interrogation, 96, 136, 138, 141
Burns, Edward, 57, 189n12
Burns, Emily (“Sister”), 90–91; birth of, 53, 54; boarders in home of, 57, 61; church of, 3, 56, 102, 161, 167, 174; death of, 4, 174, 203n10; in Dockery’s trial, as witness, 157, 158, 164; education of, 56, 57; family of, 53–54, 55, 56–57, 188n4; grave of, 3; home of, 166–67, 173–74, 200n23; life after prison, 4, 166–67, 173–74; marriages of, 57, 174, 189n12; at Parchman prison, 3, 146, 161–66; photographs of, 55, 91; physical appearance of, 57, 133, 161, 199n9; suspension of sentence and release of, 4, 165–66, 173; Williams’s introduction to, 58; Williams’s move into home of, 5, 58, 61–62; Williams’s relationship with, 5, 62; Williams’s threat against, 65, 90, 98, 190n5; work as laundress, 53, 57–58; work as seamstress, 167, 173
Burns, Emily, in Merrill murder: as accessory to murder, 100, 132, 133, 143, 158; arraignment of, 133; arrest of, 2–3, 5, 90, 93, 97; attorney for, lack of, 93, 131; charges against, 97, 100, 131; confession of, 5, 96–102, 135, 144; fingerprints of, 98, 102; grand jury indictment of, 132–33; innocence of, 5, 145–46, 165–66; interrogation of, 93, 95–98; in jail awaiting grand jury, 102, 131; press coverage of, 104, 107–8; in reenactment of crime, 101–2, 137, 142; role of, 64–68, 145–46; treatment in jail, 96, 99–100, 136, 138, 141–42; as victim, 173
Burns, Emily, trial of, 133–46; attorneys appointed for, 133, 157; ballistics in, 137, 140; Burns’s confession in, 135, 144; Burns’s testimony in, 141–42, 144; conviction in, 144–45; death penalty in, 134, 144–45; fingerprints in, 140–41; insanity defense in, 137, 138–40, 143; jury in, 5, 134, 142–45; as only trial for Merrill murder, 2–3, 133; planned robbery of Merrill in, 143; records of, 199n3; reenactment of crime in, 137, 142; sentencing in, 3–4, 144–45, 200n43; spectators at, 134, 137; speed of, 5, 133, 142, 144, 145; start of, 134; suspension of sentence after, 4, 165–66, 173; testimony of witnesses in, 134–41, 158
Burr, Aaron, 8
Callon, Sim, The Goat Castle Murder, 14–15
Capital punishment. See Death penalty
Car(s): of Merrill, 30, 87, 185n34; tourism by, 7
Catholic Church, 13
Catton, Bruce, 104, 105
Census, U.S., 12
Chamberlain-Hunt Academy, 39, 111, 186n8
Chancellor, James: breakdown of, 84; in Burns’s trial, 140–41; career of, 80, 192n12; in murder investigation, 80, 81, 83–84, 94, 97, 100, 102
Charleston Daily Mail, 104
Chew, J. C., 41–42
Chicago: Merrill murder investigation in, 92–95, 137; Williams’s life in, 5, 53, 60–61, 94, 194n19
Chickens, at Glenwood, 31, 48
Christ Church (Alexandria, Va.), 36–37, 112
Citizenship, black, 58, 60, 100
Civil rights, 100, 131, 174
Civil War: black soldiers in, 11; Dockery family affected by, 40–42; Merrill family affected by, 17–20; Natchez in, 11–12, 18–20, 25–26; Port Gibson in, 37–38, 40; Vicksburg in, 17–18, 37, 40, 42
Clark, W. E., 137
Clothes: of Dana, 75, 78, 109, 128, 129, 159; of Dockery, 158–59; of Merrill, 29, 105; of Williams, 68, 98, 135, 138, 139
Cohn, David, 7
Community memory, of Merrill murder, 3, 173
Comstock School for Girls, 41, 113
Concordia Parish, La.: Merrill family plantations in, 19, 22, 31, 66, 95; slave population in, 12
Confederate army: defeat of, 12; Dockery (Thomas) in, 40–43; at Port Gibson, 37; at Vicksburg, 17–18
Confederate guerrillas, 20, 25
Congress, U.S.: on African slave trade, 10; on Reconstruction, 60
Connor, Mike, 165
Contraband, slave, 20
Corban, Robert: arraignment of Burns by, 133; arraignment of Dana and Dockery by, 155; in Burns’s sentencing, 145; in Burns’s trial, 134, 137, 144; in civil lawsuit against Roberts, 156; in Dockery’s trial, 157, 159–60; in Geiger’s trial, 157; instructions to grand jury by, 132
Corn Products Refining Company, 61
Cotton industry: Merrill family in, 19–20; in Natchez economy, 8, 9, 12; slaves in, 9, 53–54; Surget family in, 17
Cotton Kingdom, 1, 12, 19
Cousins, marriage of, 24
Crime stories, popularity of, 4, 103–4
Criminal justice system, of Jim Crow South, blacks in, 2–3, 78, 81, 90, 100, 107
“Crimson Crime at Glenburney Manor, The” (Wells), 14, 150–51
Curtis, Zula, 61, 89–90, 136, 158
Cutrer, Richard, 85–86, 95
Dana, Charles, Jr. (brother of Dick), 35, 37, 38–39
Dana, Charles Anderson, 35
Dana, Charles Backus (father of Dick), 35–38, 36, 48, 112, 118, 122
Dana, Dick (Richard Henry Clay), 35–51; birth of, 38; black community’s interactions with, 172; in boardinghouses, 39, 46, 112; childhood of, 5, 38–39; civil lawsuit against Roberts, 147, 151–56; clothes of, 75, 78, 109, 128, 129, 159; death of, 170; diary of, 47, 187n12; Dockery on marriage to, 171; Dockery’s introduction to, 39; education of, 39, 111, 186n8; family of, 35–39, 112; feud with Merrill, 4, 30–34; grave of, 3, 170; guardianship of, 3, 31, 48, 112, 186n37; home of (See Glenwood); income of, lack of, 47; injury to fingers of, 39, 80, 112, 187n10; mental health pr
oblems of, 30–31, 47–51, 109, 186n37; music career of, 39, 112, 125–28, 187n11; nicknames for, 65, 154–55, 190n4; photographs of, 110, 126, 148; physical appearance of, 50, 109, 159, 190n10; public performances by, 125–29, 154–55; radio broadcast by (proposed), 127–28, 195n33; in tourism at Glenwood, 124–29; after trial, life of, 169–71; Williams’s introduction to, 62, 63, 89, 190n1
Dana, Dick, in Merrill murder, 75–86; as accessory to murder, 155–56; alibi of, 79–80; arraignment of, 155; arrest of, 2, 4–5, 75, 154, 155; attorneys of, 84, 85, 155–56; Burns’s confession on, 97–98, 100–102, 135; charges against, 4, 81, 97, 101; claims of innocence by, 81–82; clothes of, 75, 78; as early suspect, 4–5, 75, 78–80; fingerprints of, 4, 81–82, 84, 90, 100, 102, 141; grand jury on, 132–33, 156; indictment of, 132–33, 147, 155–56, 199n5; jailhouse photos of, 6, 109–10, 110; local sympathy for, 84–86, 115; press coverage of, 2, 5–6, 81–82, 104, 108–12, 159; questioning of, 69, 75, 79–80, 82, 84, 191n13; release from jail, 86, 93, 97, 99, 115, 132, 156–57; Roberts on guilt of, 82, 97, 129, 147, 154; role of, 63–69, 146; trial of, 156–57, 160; in Wells’s retelling of murder, 151
Dana, Elvira Close, 37–39, 186n8
Dana, Richard Henry, 35
Darrow, Clarence, 84
Death penalty: in Burns’s trial, 134, 144–45; in Dockery’s trial, 159–60; by hanging, in Mississippi, 134, 199n10
Delta Times-Democrat, 171
Dickson, Archibald: as custodian of Glenwood, 118–19; and Dana and Dockery’s release from jail, 86; at Forman’s boardinghouse, 39, 46; and reenactment of crime, 101; on visitors to Glenwood, 118–20, 124
Doane, George, 21
Doane Academy, 184n9
Dockery, Ann, 40
Dockery, Frederika Toelle, 41–42
Dockery, John, 39–40
Dockery, Laura West (mother of Octavia), 40–41, 42, 45–46, 113
Dockery, Nydia (sister of Octavia). See Forman, Nydia Dockery
Dockery, Octavia, 39–51; birth of, 39, 41, 43; black community’s interactions with, 172–73; as boarder on Pine Street, 47, 188n38; on Burns’s conviction, 147; childhood of, 41–43, 113; civil lawsuit against Roberts, 147, 151–56, 160; clothes of, 158–59; Dana’s introduction to, 39; death of, 171; after death of sister, 47–48, 114; education of, 41, 113; family of, 39–43, 113; feud with Merrill, 4, 30–34, 51; Geiger’s lawsuit against, 102; grave of, 3, 173; as guardian of Dana, 3, 48, 112; home of (See Glenwood); income earned by, 47, 50–51; living with Formans, 39, 43, 46–47; on marriage to Dana, 171; Merrill’s lawsuits against, 32–34, 51; as “Mistress of Goat Castle,” 3, 109, 173; nicknames for, 65, 154–55, 190n4; photographs of, 44, 110, 148, 152; physical appearance of, 43; public performances by, 128–29, 154–55; Reed’s courtship of, 44–45, 187n29; on theft at Glenwood, 119; in tourism at Glenwood, 119, 124–29; after trial, life of, 169–71, 173–74; wealth of family of, 40; Williams’s introduction to, 62, 63, 89, 172, 190n1; writing career of, 44–46, 114
Dockery, Octavia, in Merrill murder, 75–86; as accessory to murder, 155–56; alibi of, 158; arraignment of, 155; arrest of, 2, 4–5, 75, 154, 155; attorneys of, 84, 85, 155–56; Burns’s confession on, 97–98, 100–102, 135; charges against, 4, 81, 97, 101; claims of innocence by, 81, 153; as early suspect, 4–5, 75, 78–80; fingerprints of, 4, 81–82, 84, 100; grand jury on, 132–33, 156; indictment of, 132–33, 147, 155–56, 158, 199n5; jailhouse photos of, 6, 109–10, 110; local sympathy for, 84–86, 115; press coverage of, 2, 5–6, 85, 104, 108–15, 159, 197n29; questioning of, 82; on reenactment of crime, 101; release from jail, 86, 93, 97, 99, 115, 132, 156–57; Roberts on guilt of, 82, 97, 129, 147, 154; role of, 63–69, 146; trial of, 156–60, 164; in Wells’s retelling of murder, 151; on Williams’s role in murder, 101
Dockery, Thomas Pleasant (father of Octavia), 39–43, 113, 187n24
Dogs: owned by Merrill, 65, 66, 69; in search for gun, 87; in search for Merrill’s body, 74, 75–77, 136
Domestic work, by black women, 57, 172
Dumas, A. W., 139–40
East, Charles, 14, 194n13, 199nn2, 5
Elmore, Sarah, 140, 200n27
Elms Court: architectural style of, 17; changes in ownership of, 29; McKittrick family at, 106, 120, 124; as Merrill’s home, 11, 13, 28; spelling of name, 183n10; tourists at, 124; as wedding gift to Merrill’s parents, 17
Engle, C. F., 156
Europe: Merrill family in, 21–22; tourists from Natchez in, 9
“Fall of the House of Usher” (Poe), 118, 198n9
Farris, Laurin, 138, 191n16
Faulkner, William, 4, 150, 169, 197n9, 201n3
Ferguson, Odell: arrest of, 78; as early suspect in murder, 77, 78; on first encounter with Dana, 35; interrogation of, 78, 82, 102; on night of murder, 77, 99
Ferries, across Mississippi River, 7
Fields, Clifford, 140–41
Fingerprints, 80–84; of Burns, 98, 102; in Burns’s trial, 140–41; of Dana, 4, 81–82, 84, 90, 100, 102, 141; of Dockery, 4, 81–82, 84, 100; and grand jury, 100; of Minor, 95; O’Neill on, 83–84, 95, 97; third set of, 82, 87, 92, 94; of Williams, 92, 94
Fire, at Rhythm Club, 166
Fiveash, W. D., 88, 91
Floyd, Alonzo, 77, 78, 95
Ford, Henry, 7
Forks of the Road (slave market), 10, 11, 13, 54, 56
Forman, Nydia Dockery: childhood of, 41–42, 113; Dana in boardinghouse of, 39, 46, 114; death of, 47–48; Dockery living with, 39, 43, 46–47, 113; at Glenwood, 46–47, 114, 197n33; marriage of, 42–43
Forman, Richard: Dana in boardinghouse of, 39, 46, 112; death of, 47–48, 114; Dockery living with, 39, 43, 46–47, 113; at Glenwood, 46–47, 114, 197n33; marriage of, 42–43
Forman, Sadie, 39, 47, 188n36
Fort Rosalie, 8
Foster, Stephen, 128
France, Merrill family in, 22
Franklin, Isaac, 10
Franklin and Armfield, 10
Freedmen’s Bureau, 60
Friedman, Sophie, 85, 129
Garner, Amelia, 61, 91, 94, 194n13
Gayoso de Lemos, Manuel, 8
Geiger, John: arrest of, 78; on black suspects, 78, 81; departure from Skunk’s Nest, 50–51, 65, 75, 78, 102; injury to hand of, 90; interrogation of, 78, 82; lawsuit against Dockery, 102; overcoat of, 50–51, 65–66, 75, 78, 79; on trial for desertion of children, 157
Geisenberger, Abraham, 32, 34, 134
Geisenberger, Wilfred A., 133–45; appointment as Burns’s attorney, 133; career of, 134; cross-examination of Stone by, 135–36; defense presented by, 137, 138–42, 143, 145; instructions to jury by, 143–44; pleas for mercy by, 145, 200n43
Gibbons, James, 24
Gibson, Charles Dana, 35
Glenburnie (Merrill’s home): cash kept at, 63, 66; Dana and Dockery’s fingerprints in, 4, 81–82; Dockery’s hogs at, 31–34; location of, 29; Merrill’s purchase of, 29; Minor’s inheritance of, 95; Minor’s move into, 106; Minor’s nightly visits to, 1, 29, 34, 63; photograph of, 64; size of, 31, 66
Glenwood (“Goat Castle”), 118–29; admission charged for, 124–27, 148, 150; blood found inside, 79; changes in ownership of, 50; Dana and Dockery as squatters in, 5–6, 48, 50, 157; Dana and Dockery’s move into, 30–31, 47–51, 114, 197n33; Dana family’s purchase of, 38; Dana’s childhood in, 5, 38–39; Dickson as custodian of, 118–20; dilapidated condition of, 6, 48, 84, 118, 120; Dockery as mistress of, 3, 109, 173; Dockery’s five-year lease on, 49–51; Formans living in, 46–47, 114, 197n33; goats at (See Goats, at Glenwood); hogs at, 31–34, 51, 63, 67, 73; location of, 30; Minor’s purchase of, 30–31, 47, 49; nicknames for, 2, 6, 65, 154–55, 190n4; photographs of, 49, 121, 123; press coverage of, 104, 120–22; property tax payments on, 5, 30–31, 47, 49, 170; razing of, 171; residents of (See Dana, Dick; Dockery, Octavia); size of, 38; theft at, 118–19, 153; tourists at, 84–85, 118–20, 124–29, 148–50, 149; after trials, life at, 169–71; Zerkowsky mortgage on, 157, 169–71
Gloucester, 29
; Goat Castle. See Glenwood
“Goat Castle murder,” 2, 6
Goat Castle Murder, The (Callon and Smith), 14–15
Goat Castle Murder, The (Llewelyn), 15
Goats, at Glenwood: Dockery’s acquisition of, 31; on Glenburnie property, 31, 51, 63, 67, 69, 75, 79, 82; inside house, 6, 48, 114, 120, 125, 148; after murder trials, 169, 170; photographs of, 148; press coverage of, 6, 104, 120–22, 125, 148; tourists and, 125
Goldberger, Louis, 85
Goldberger, Mollie, 85
Gone with the Wind (Mitchell), 13
Goodman, Walter, III, 25
Goodman, Walter, Jr., 20, 24–25, 184n7
Goodman, Walter, Sr., 184n7
Goodman and Merrill (firm), 20, 184n7
Grand jury: Burns and Black in jail awaiting, 102, 131; evidence presented to, 100, 132; first meeting of, 132–33; indictments by, 132–33, 156; judge’s instructions to, 132; preparation for meeting of, 102
Grant, Julia, 21–22
Grant, Ulysses S.: in Civil War, 17–18, 19–20, 37–38, 42; death of, 42, 187n24; European tour by, 21–22
Great Depression: Burns in, 58; Parchman prison in, 162–63; popularity of true crime stories in, 4, 103–4; tourism during, 7; unemployment in, 61, 62; Williams in, 5, 61
Great Migration, 12–13, 53, 60
Greek Revival architecture, 2, 17
Green, Birdia, 173
Grist, Nellie, 107, 170
Guns, in Merrill murder: ballistics tests on, 93, 95, 137, 140; in Burns’s trial, 137, 140; number of shots fired, 190n9; owned by Merrill, 67, 68, 87; owned by Williams, 66–67, 68, 88, 93, 100, 137
Habas, Jeanette, 171
Habeas corpus, 85–86, 93, 97, 100, 132
Hacher, M. C., 1, 69–70, 191n14
Hanging, capital punishment by, 134, 199n10
Harbor View (Newport), 20
“Held by the Enemy” (Dockery), 45
Henry Street settlement, 23–24
Henslee, Robert, 87–88, 108, 138
Hinds County jail: Burns in, 97, 100; Newell in, 97, 100
Hogs, at Glenwood, 31–34, 51, 63, 67, 73
Holy Family Catholic Church, 13, 56, 173
Hoover, Herbert, 104
House, William, 97
Housing, segregation in, 54–56
How the Other Half Lives (Riis), 23