The Bell Witch legend is one of the most recognized examples of the unexplained in Southern American lore. How did the legend take hold of and define a small town in Tennessee?  

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Episode Sources

Bell Witch lore spins dark tale, but could science explain it all?. The Tennessean. October 28, 2021

Tennessee Myths and Legends. Tennessee State Library and Archives. 

The Year of the Witch. Tennessee Historical Society. October 13, 2017

John William Bell. Findagrave. 

The Mark of the Bell Witch (Documentary). Seth Breedlove, Small Town Monsters. 2020

Historian, descendant recount Bell Witch legend. Associated Press. November 4, 2018

Episode Music

Industrial Music Box. Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons.

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

Southern Mysteries is on hiatus. I’m taking a much needed break from researching murders and mysteries this summer. I’ll be back with new episodes in time to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the show this fall.  

If you’re a patron of Southern Mysteries, you’ll still hear the Patreon exclusive episodes, The Lesser Knowns, each month. If you don’t already support the show you can check out patreon.com/southernmysteries to catch up on the show archive and hear Patron exclusive episodes like the one I’m sharing today. 

Before we say goodbye for the summer, this is the story of a cold blooded killer who became the last woman to die by electrocution in Alabama….Rhonda Belle Martin

Episode Sources

Music

Emotional and Alone. Purple Planet Music. Licensed Under Creative Commons

The Shelton Laurel Massacre in January 1863 is a striking example of divided loyalists and complicated battle lines in North Carolina during the Civil War. 

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Episode Sources

The Massacre Men. Scalawag. July 27, 2017

Atrocity at Shelton Laurel. Our State. April 29, 2012

Blood in the Valley: The Shelton Laurel Massacre’s Haunting Legacy. Mountain Xpress Asheville

History and Writing about the Massacre. Vicki Lane Tales of Appalachia 

The Shelton Laurel Massacre, Madison County, NC,Winter of 1863. Shelton Family History Blog

Episode Music

Leoforos Alexandras by Dan Bodan.  Licensed under a Creative Commons.

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

In the summer of 1976 two bodies were discovered in rural Sumter County, South Carolina. Their identities remained a mystery for nearly 45 years

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Episode Sources

Sumter Couple Mystery Website dedicated to the case 

Killer Remains Nameless. January 2021.

Sumter County Does. The Doe Network

Sumter County murder victims laid to rest. The Index Journal. August 15, 1977

Episode Music

Long Note One by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Source: http://incompetech.com

Sense of Loss courtesy of Purple Planet Music.  https://www.purple-planet.com/

Some of the oldest true crime cases in America are racial terror lynchings. To understand the history of lynching in the American South you have to know what led to the acceptance of racial terror and the brave people who led anti lynching campaigns in an effort to end the violence and save lives. 

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Episode Sources

Hanging Bridge: Racial Violence and America's Civil Rights Century by Jason Morgan Ward. Oxford University Press

The Cross and the Lynching Tree (James Hal Cone and Bill Moyers). The Journal. 

Emmett Till Antilynching Act. Public Law No: 117-107 (03/29/2022). This bill makes lynching a federal hate crime offense.

This Bridge in Mississippi Has Hosted Decades of Racial Violence. Vice. April 27, 2016

What happens when we forget? Facing South. May 7, 2018

Thirty Years of Lynching in the United States 1889-1918. NAACP Report on Lynching 

Equal Justice Initiative, Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror (3d Ed., 2017).

How one Civil Rights activist posed as a white man in order to investigate lynchings. Fresh Air, NPR. March 30, 2022

Episode Music

“One” courtesy of Ross Gentry. Special thanks to Headway Recordings, in Asheville, North Carolina.

The Hillsville Massacre has been described as one of the most bizarre incidents in Virginia criminal and legal history. Floyd Allen, the patriarch of the Allen clan, known for feuding, moonshining and violence, was executed after he stood trial for triggering the 1912 courthouse massacre. But the question remains…who shot first?

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Episode Sources

Gunfight in courthouse after guilty verdict left 5 dead, 7 wounded. New York Daily News. July 4, 2021

Floyd Allen (1856–1913). Encyclopedia of Virginia. 

Courthouse Tragedy. The Carroll County Historical and Society Museum

The Hillsville Massacre. The Roanoker. November 1982

Floyd Allen. Murderpedia

Episode Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

Emil and Kelly Mitchell, known as the King and Queen of the Gypsies, have long been a part of Meridian, Mississippi lore but their story is complicated and often misunderstood 

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Episode Sources

The Rose Hill Company of Players. Facebook

Queen Kelly Mitchell: A Slice of Meridian’s History. The Meridian Star. December 26, 2007

Historical tales abound within Rose Hill Cemetery. Today in Mississippi 

Fortune telling ordinance challenged. The Meridian Star. February 13, 2011

Meridian, Mississippi, the Queen City. The Meridian Star. October 28, 2011

Why Being 'Gypped' Hurts The Roma More Than It Hurts You. Code Switch NPR. December 30, 2013

Roma Culture: Customs, Traditions & Beliefs. Live Science. November 26, 2018

Meridian’s Royal Past. Mississippi FolkLife. February 4, 2019

Episode Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

In the late 1880s Bob Sims declared himself a prophet with more than 100 followers in his Choctaw County Alabama cult. His belief that no man could establish laws over him led to a bloody chapter in Alabama history

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Episode Sources

Sims War Siege. Choctaw County Geological Society

Robert Bruce Sims. Find A Grave.

The Sims War Connection. Rebellion Leader Robert Bruce Sims. Campbell Family History

Bad Literature. Bob Sims Paper ‘The Veil is Rent’. The Standard Gauge. September 10, 1891

Robert Sims, Thomas and Young Savage. Strange Fruit and Spanish Moss. December 26, 2014

A Southern Terror: Arrest of the Bloody Bob Sims and His Bad Gang. The Pittsburgh Press. December 27, 1891

Stars Fell on Alabama by Carl Carmer. University of Alabama Press (1985)

Episode Music

Bring Me Your Sorrows by Dan Lebowitz. Licensed under Creative Commons

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

Pearl Corens disappeared on February 13, 1945. Over the next two weeks mysterious notes perplexed police as they searched for the missing war department employee. Then came a shocking discovery on the Virginia side of the Potomac River.

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Episode Sources

Justice and the Case of the Corpseless Head. New York Daily News. March 24, 1946

Judge is Grim in Weird Case. The Spokesman-Review. May 29, 1945.

Wife’s Head Found; Husband Held. The New York Daily News. March 1, 1945

Corens Offers Alibi for Bloodstains in Bethesda Home. The Evening Star. May 25, 1945

Rice, C. (2018). 45 Murderers: A Collection of True Crime Stories. United States: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road.

Episode Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

In April 1969, Marie Arrington became the second woman ever placed on the FBI’s most wanted list. One year earlier she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for manslaughter. While awaiting appeal and out on bond she was arrested for the murder of a legal secretary. Then came a trial, Marie’s escape and the FBI’s years long pursuit of one of their most wanted  

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Episode Resources

Letter Linked in Killing of Secretary Erased. The Orlando Sentinel. September 18, 1968

State Traces Hourly Steps by Mrs. Ritter. The Tampa Tribune. December 4,1968

Arrington v. State. Supreme Court of Florida. April 1, 1970

Wanted Persons Marie Dean Arrington. The Sheriff's Star. December 1969

Marie Dean Arrington. The Tampa Tribune. March 18, 1973

Is This The Place They Call Hell? The Palm Beach Post. March 18, 1973

Son Remains in Shadow of Mother’s Revenge. Orlando Sentinel. June 27, 1998 

Marie Arrington 1960s Leesburg Killer. South Florida Sun Sentinel. July 1, 2014

30 days of mean marie. Lake & Sumter Style. July 2014

Episode Music