← My Victorian Nightmare
My Victorian Nightmare
Ep. 82 - Madame Vesta la Viesta’s Galactic Love Affairs & The Meek’s Family Murders
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Hello and welcome to my Victorian Nightmare. I'm your host, Genevieve Manion, and I'm here to talk about mysterious deaths, morbid fascinations, disturbing stories, and otherwise spooky events from the Victorian era. Because to me, there's just something especially intriguing, creepy, and oddly comforting about horror and mayhem from the 19th century. So, listener discretion is advised. Hello friends, and welcome to this, my 82nd episode. I hope that you all had a cozy moisturized week. Not me. I am a stegosaurus. Right now, there is nothing that I can do about it. No amount of moisturizer can keep me from presenting is prehistoric. In New York City winters, the horrors persist in endless facets like the news. Everything will not stop getting more expensive. And now I am Jurassic. The horrors may persist, but so do I. For you. Today, dear listener, I will be discussing Madame Vesta La Viesta, the galactic mystic and clairvoyant mediums in spirit cabinets and the horrifying Meeks family murder of 1894. But first, thank you to Lottie, Becky, Ellie and Felix for subscribing to the Patreon this week. You and everyone who has joined are the reason why my show can continue. If you too would like to support the show, listen ad free receive weekly witchy content and murdery true crime extras. Just go to myvictoriannightmare.com to find out how Wouldn't it be lovely if edibles just made you feel good instead of too stoned? Consistent, mellow and super delicious, Lume Gummies are specifically designed to make you feel good, not stoned. Whether you're looking for an end of day de stressor, a midday mood boost, or help getting the best sleep ever, Lume Gummies has a strain that's right for you. 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Lumi Gummies are available nationwide. Go to lumigummies.com that's L U M I gummies.com and use code victorian for 30% off your order. Again, that's L U M I Gummies.com code victorian lumigummies.com code victorian okay, before we get started, I want to tell you everything I know about Madame Vesta La viesta. The late 1800s early 1900s self proclaimed mystic, clairvoyant and galactic traveler. Madame Viesta, whose real name was Elmira Gaylord Beach. You won't easily find that little detail anywhere else. She kept her real name well hidden. I was able to find her name in a really obscure paper and I'm really proud of myself for actually being able to hunt it down now. Now, sadly, we don't know much about her personal life, where she came from, or what became of her, but luckily for us there is enough documentation about her wackiness for a time. So let's introduce ourselves. She was a fairly well known spiritualist and cosmic clairvoyant. She gave lectures in New York at the Occult School of Science, which is no longer there. It's now a place to donate plasma. How nice her lectures were on the subjects of divination, how to make gold vibrators for locating gold and silver ore. I don't think vibrator there means what you think it means. I'm sure it was some other kind of divination tool. That being said, her lectures definitely had a particular horniness to them. I'll give examples in a bit, but she also spoke on methods of successful mediumship and the Egyptian interpretation of dreams. Spiritualists had a long running obsession with Egyptian symbolism and mysticism, believing Egyptian objects like amulets, the bodies of dead Egyptians or symbols held powers that enhanced clairvoyance and strengthened connection with the dead in their own seances. She also subscribed to these beliefs. Madame Viesta claimed that her clairvoyant and psychic powers enabled her to astrally project around the galaxy at a place called the cosmological Center. In 1904 she described in a lecture her recent trip to both Mars and Venus. In an article in the Rock island Argus of 1904 called Mary Woman's Trip to Mars, she claimed, quote, mars is peopled with an enthusiastic stalwart noble race of men with complexions shiny and black as ebony. They are wiry, muscular, taut, and very supple. They play with electricity as they would fireworks. They have a way of flashing fire like radiation from their legs that make their presence decidedly luminous, lively, and at times somewhat dazzling. They appear like huge warriors attired in atmospheric raiments of flame. End quote. She also said that Venus is a tropical destination with a charming race of beings with flexible astral tubing which invisibly connects their bodies. I mean, you have to hand it to her, it sounds like she had a fantastic imagination. She also spoke about a whole new form of love that she experienced on Neptune, of all places. She spoke about the wonders of what she called the soul kiss as she described this experience. Quote, when you have been properly developed and try on the soul kiss, your whole being responds to a perfect delirium of ecstasy. She then described that she and another Neptune being sent these soul kisses to each other. She said, you can send this kiss over mountains and overseas to your affinity, but if your solar plexus is not properly aroused, you can't experience it. I'm quoting her, by the way. She also claimed that she could teach, of course, how to properly get your solar plexus aroused so that you too can experience a soul kiss the next time you take a jet to holiday to Neptune or whatever. It's hard to tell what's going on with her exactly, but she gave lectures on how to do all of this yourself. Poor Fee, of course. But of all of her lessons, my favorite is telling women that they should be rubbing their bodies in the grass first thing in the morning, every morning, taking what she called dew baths. She said morning dew contained the secrets of age defying beauty. Just shove your face in the grass, wriggle around, get yourself good and soggy before you start your day. For a bouncy, bright complexion, she also said that she would stand naked in her backyard and wait for dew to collect on her skin, quote, unquote, until she was happy. She didn't create this concept. Funny enough, this was actually a fad that took hold from Chicago to New York for a short time. In an article from the Evening World in 1902 called Dew Baths the Fad. It says, quote, some morning, if you happen to be up in the time to commune with the sun as it slips up across the LA and looking over your back fence, you behold a woman, young or old, kneeling in the center of a grass plot with her, with her face in close proximity to the earth. Don't call the police. This is the fad. She also gave lectures on how to gain great wealth using the powers of magic and mind control. Not only that, but poor financial situations and diseases were actually nothing but states of mind that you could change if you just learn different vibrational techniques. She was a raging fraud is what I'm getting at, and not a very successful one. Despite trying to be as weird as possible to gain notoriety, which was a way many spiritualists of the day gained notoriety, popularity and success, she was described as living in a very tiny apartment in Harlem and barely making it by. But you know what? Of all the grifting that you could do, convincing people to pay to hear you talk about your extra time terrestrial love affairs is fine by me. Have at it. I'd probably come is what I'm saying. Especially if there was a signature Morning Dew cocktail and drinks were served by decidedly luminous electric legmen. That sounds awesome. Sadly, we do not know what became of Madame Vesta la Viesta after 1910. She kinda just drops off the map. It's possible that she changed her name again. I did search for obituaries with her birth name, but there were so many Elmira beaches in New York and she may have gotten married and changed her name. Unfortunately, we will never know. Perhaps she traveled back to Neptune and never returned. Okay, before we get to our regularly scheduled segments, I have a spooky movie review. I haven't done one of these in a long time, but I have to. This is for a legitimately great spooky movie that is living entirely under the radar. I briefly want to talk about the occupant of the room. This is a spine chilling story written by Algernon Blackwood, a Victorian era and early 20th century author. The movie is a short film. You can either find it on shudder, I think YouTube subscription, and a few other places. The story is simple, but oh so fabulously executed. A gentleman makes his way to a hotel tucked deep in the Alps and when he arrives late in the evening he's told that there are no more rooms available. But a snowstorm is rolling through the hills and there are no other places to stay. They tell him there is is one room that was taken by a lady a few days ago who left to climb the Alps all by herself and didn't return. But all of her things are still in the room as she paid for the room until tomorrow and if she did return he would be asked to leave, but it's likely she will not. He decides to take the room, but all through the night quite terrifying events take place inside. I was goosebumped from the very first moment to the end of the credits. I rarely sit and fully watch anything anymore. I'm the worst. I like to put on spooky comfort movies so that I can have something on in the background while I look at stupid stuff on my phone or like while I cook. But I put the phone down. I could not look away. It has everything that I love about a special horror movie. No CG, just 100% story driven moment for moment. It's got you locked in and it all takes place in just one single room. And I don't want to give anything away about how ends, but it included something that I don't think I have ever seen in a horror movie before. All I'll say is the animator in me fell entirely in love and I needed to watch it again. The visual storytelling just puts Del Toro to shame in this short, low budget film. If you're looking for a spooky little movie to have a nice glass of wine with, especially while it's like still cold and wintry outside, this is the time to see it. If you have shudder, just search for the Haunted season. It's the second episode of the two episodes that they have in that tiny series I just had to share. It's too wonderful to keep to myself. Okay, let us have our first segment with their own eyes where I share with you the personal haunting accounts of petrified Victorians. This week we return to the Victorian Ghost Hunt article from the Jeffersonian of 1859 that I've been reading from for the past few weeks. And honestly, it just gets more and more terrifying. For the deeper into the article I go. So just to catch us up. Last week something had just scared the reporter's assistant so badly that he ran out of the house and left the reporter all by himself with a dog. And the article continues. I turned to look back into the room. The moon penetrated its shadow very palely and partially, but still there was light, and I could yet see a dim, dim shadow which seemed the shadow of a shade against the opposite wall. My eye now rested on the table, and from under the table there rose a hand visible as far as the wrist. It was a hand seemingly as much of flesh and blood as my own, but the hand of an aged person, lean, wrinkled, small too, a woman's hand. That hand, very soft, softly closed on the two letters that lay on the table. Hand and letters both vanished there. Then came the same three loud measured knocks I had heard at the bed head, before this extraordinary drama had commenced. As these sounds slowly ceased, I felt the whole room vibrate sensibly. And at the far end there rose as from the floor sparks or globules, like bubbles of light, many coloured green, yellow, fire, red, azure, up and down, to and fro, hither and thither, as tiny will o' the wisps. The sparks moved slow or swift. Each had its own caprice. A chair was now advanced from the wall without apparent agency and placed at the opposite side of the table. Suddenly, as forth from the chair there were grew a shape, a woman's shape. It was distinct as a shape of life, ghastly as a shape of death. The face was that of youth, with a strange mournful beauty. The throat and shoulders were bare, the rest of the form in a loose robe of cloudy white. It began sleeking its long yellow hair, which fell over its shoulders. Its eyes were not turned towards toward me, but to the door it seemed, listening, watching, waiting. The shadow of the shade in the background grew darker, and again I thought I beheld the eyes gleaming from the summit of the shadow, eyes fixed upon that shape, as if from the door, though it did not open, there grew out another shape, equally distinct, equally ghastly. A man. Man's shape. A young man's. It was in the dress of the last century, or rather in a likeness of such dress. For both the male shape and the female, though defined, were evidently unsubstantial, impalpable phantasms. And there was something incongruous, grotesque yet fearful in the contrast between the elaborate finery, the courtly precision of that old fashioned garb with its ruffles and la lace and buckles, and the corpse like aspect and ghost like stillness of the flitting wearer. Just as the male shape approached the female, the dark shadow started from the wall, all three for a moment wrapped in darkness. When the pale light returned, the two phantasms were as if in the grasp of the shadow that towered between them. And there was a blood stain on the breast of the female. And the phantom male was leaning on its phantom sword. And blood seemed trickling fast from the ruffles, from the lace. And the darkness of the intermediate shadow swallowed them up. They were gone. And again the bubbles of light shot and sailed and undulated, growing thicker and more widely confused in their movements. The closet door to the right of the fireplace now opened, and from the aperture there came a form of a woman, aged. In her hand she held letters, the very letters over which I had seen the hand close, and behind her I heard a footstep. She turned round as if to listen, and then she opened the letters and seemed to read, and over her shoulder I saw a livid face, the face as of a man long drowned, bloated, bleached seaweed tangled in his dripping hair, and at her feet lay a form as of a corpse. And beside the corpse there cowered a child, a miserable, squalid child, with famine in his cheeks and fear in his eyes. And as I looked in the old woman's face, the wrinkles and lines vanished, and it became a face of youth, hard eyed, stony, but still youth. And the shadow darted forth and darkened over these phantoms, as it had darkened over the last End Quote There is more to this story. I'll read the end of it next week. Now I've mentioned before, when papers printed stories like fictional ghost stories, they would be labeled as such with the name of the author. This article is simply among all the other issues of the day. It sounds too poetic, poetic and fantastical to be true, but I don't care. This is legitimately spooky stuff. Honestly, a lot of ghost stories from this era to me are beautiful and haunting, but not really scary. To me, this story gives me the absolute willies. I love it. I hope that you do too. We will return with the conclusion next week. Taking care of a senior loved one can feel overwhelming, almost like facing a mystery from the Victorian era, full of twists and turns. And sometimes you just need a little help to solve it. With care.com you don't have to do it alone. Whether you know exactly what kind of care your parent needs or you're still figuring it out, there's support. Find Background checked caregivers through care.com for anything from companionship to dementia care. You can even browse senior living communities, read reviews and schedule tours. If you're not sure what's best, Senior Care Advisor can help you build a plan. Care.com's algorithm suggests caregivers based on your needs and location. For a limited time, use the code POD20 for 20% off your initialcare.com subscription. That's POD20 all one word, good for 20% off. Start your senior care search today. Okay, won't you now follow me into the seance room where we discuss the goings on in the Spiritualist society of the 1800s. In this article from the Spiritualist newspaper from 1870, we have spirits singing at a seance. This article is called the Appearance of Spirits at Public Meetings and It reads, you are already, no doubt somewhat familiar with the name of our medium, Ms. Harriet Thackerberry, who visited New York recently on an invitation from a gentleman who saw the manifestations here and desired to present them to the New York spiritualists. It is now only two years since the spirits succeeded in attracting attention and making themselves known through this medium. They seem to take much pleasure in exhibiting their vocal powers in singing. And this constitutes one of the remarkable features connected with the manifestations. They are one male and three female spirits always in attendance. They have great variety of songs at hand. And always seem pleased when called on to render. And any particular one with the time or air to which it is adapted. The female voices, so far as the music is concerned, will compare with the most celebrated singers now before the public when tests are to be given. The medium's mouth is filled with a wet sponge, her lips compressed together and sealed securely with several pieces, one over the other of adhesive plaster. Her hands are then securely tied behind when she takes seat in the cabinet. And immediately passes into deep trance or unconscious states. In from one to two minutes after the door is closed, talking by the presiding spirit, known as Ben, commences. He salutes each one in turn in the audience with whom he is acquainted and likes to be introduced to all strangers. The three female spirits who are always in attendance. Will also converse freely when called out by the audience. Since singing, conversing, playing upon instruments and writing inside the cabinet. As we supposed. The ultimatum of these manifestations judge of our surprise when suddenly and without any previous warning, several faces appeared at the opening in the door above, referred to on inquiry. We were informed by the presiding spirit that hereafter these exhibitions would constitute the leading phase and most important feature in manifestations. And. Well, has he kept his word? Okay. I attempted to look into this particular medium. And very sadly, I did not find a single mention of this person anywhere in any other publication. Mrs. Harriet Thackerberry. This could mean one of a few things. This entire article was made up. The event never happened, and this person didn't exist. That is possible. Or they did, and perhaps the name was misspelled. A medium with these kind of a chops. Someone who could conjure multiple singing voices at once, male and female. Someone who could manifest the floating faces of spirits. There would be more out there about someone like this. So it's a little mysterious that I truly could not find anything on them. The spirit cabinet mentioned in the article. I've discussed those before. These were large wooden cabinets that mediums traveled with. Or they would have them installed in their homes and they would step into them. They'd close the door and go into a trench, enabling them to manifest all manner of paranormal phenomena. They would be retrofitted with sliding panels, Places where unseen assistants could go from behind, open a panel, put their head in and speak so it sounded like the voice was coming from inside the cabinet. These kinds of seances were often conducted entirely in dark rooms. So the medium would go into the cabinet and then all of the lamps and candles would be extinguished. Very convenient for assistance to fraudulent mediums to scoot around unseen. But for the most part, mediums who would offer to have themselves tied up before they went in and sponges put in their mouths were just very good escape artists. Or they had assistants that would tie them up in a way that they could easily escape inside. Harry Houdini spent a great deal of time exposing fraudulent mediums showing exactly how they escaped. Certainly kinds of knots, etc. I wonder why the sponge had to be wet. That would just make me gag. I kind of want to gag just thinking about it. Okay, let's discuss the Meeks family murders of 1894. This is one of the most horrifying murder cases I have ever read about. Mostly because the reason the murderers were quickly identified was because one of their youngest victims managed to survive and went for help after her whole family was slaughtered. She was literally buried alive under straw with her whole family dug her way out and went for help. Little six year old Nellie Meeks. It is the survival story to end all survival stories. And just a warning. The rest of this episode will include graphic descriptions of the murders including the murders of children. My main references are from Sullivan Dun and Murder by gaslight dot com. These and my other references can be found in the show notes. Nelly's father, a man named Gus Meeks was a tenant farmer on land owned by two gentlemen, George and William Taylor, two of the wealthiest and most prominent citizens in Linn County, Missouri in 1894. William was a graduate of Missouri's University School of Law and served in the General Assembly. He also worked for the People's Exchange bank in Browning. They surely seemed to all around to be two of the most stand up members of the community. But by the end of the 19th century the law started sniffing around the tailors financials and they were finding that virtually their entire fortune was acquired through illicit means. Forgery, larceny, false bank drafts. They were also indicted for arson and theft of livestock, otherwise known as as cattle rustling. Government officials were onto these guys and Looking to take them down. But again, they were pretty wealthy and fairly good at covering their tracks until Mr. Meeks, the farmer, was caught in their cattle rustling ring. He pled guilty and was sent to jail. But he was pardoned by the governor when he offered to testify against the Taylors in a case that was being quietly built to bring their whole operation down. The Taylors quickly found this out and showed up on his front door to to graciously offer him $1,000. They'd even help him move out and set him up somewhere comfortable. In the meantime. That $1,000 would have been worth about $40,000 in today's currency. The Taylors quickly found this out and showed up on his front door to graciously offer him $1,000 if he'd move out of town for a while to prevent him from testifying. They'd even set him up somewhere comfortable in the meantime. That $1,000 would have been about. About $40,000 in today's currency. He agreed, but his wife didn't trust these guys whatsoever. She said the whole family goes or nothing. Likely believing that they would just try to kill him if he was on his own. And less likely to try if everyone, including the children, came too. They all packed their bags and at midnight the next night the Taylors returned with a big wagon to transport the family secretly out of town. They all got in the wagon and on off they went. Now from here on, this is the testimony of Little Nellie Meeks. She said that one of the tailor men said that his feet were cold and thought walking alongside the wagon would warm him up. He got out of the wagon and walked beside where Mr. Meiks was sat. He then pulled out a gun and fired at him. He missed and Mr. Meiks then jumped and ran out of the wagon. The other took off after him and shot him a few yards away. Mrs. Meeks screamed and tried also to jump out of the wagon too. But she was shot before she could make it out. They quickly then fired at Nellie's sister Hattie and bashed Nellie's head in with a rock. She said, they hit me in the head and I went to sleep. Oh, baby girl. Her four year old sister Mary had her head bashed in so hard that her brains were beaten out. The father was loaded back onto the wagon with the rest of the family. And if you would follow me through this moonlit forest, I want to show you something. Luckily that moon is extra bright tonight. I brought a flashlight. But it's wild. We don't really need it. Do we even through the trees. That silver moon reveals all, doesn't it? It is May 10, 1890. 94. There's a gentle warm breeze. And the cornfield just up yonder at the forest's edge was freshly planted a few days ago. We're going to stay within the brush here. I don't want them to see us. And there you can see the Taylor brothers and the Meeks family. We're about two miles away from where the murders occurred. And you can see the 2 foot wide, 16 inch deep hole that has already been dug. A shallow grave that was intended only for Mr. Meeks. They're now burying the family in that small hole. Tucking them in together. Here, take my hand. I know it's hard to watch. You don't have to. If it's too much, I'll just explain what's happening. They've thrown some hay on top and George is trying to light it on fire. He's thrown a couple of matches. It looks like the hay is too wet to go up. The tailors have decided to come back tomorrow and and bring some accelerants and leave the family here under the hay and dirt. Okay, they're leaving now. I didn't take you here just to see this horrible situation by the way. I brought you here to see what's about to happen. Look there. Little Nellie Meeks is digging herself out of the hay and the dirt. She's not crying. She's surely in shame shock. But she knows what to do. And luckily she's got that big bright silver moon to help her find her way. Nellie, the survivor is turning back toward the road and all alone she will walk until sunrise to the nearest house. Okay, let's make her way back. She eventually came to a farm that belonged to Mr. John Carter. She knocked on the door and Mrs. Carter answered horrified at what she saw. Little Nellie was covered in blood, her dress covered in dirt. She was barely coherent but she was able to tell her what happened to her family and the names of the men who did this. Mr. Carter wasn't home at the time and Mrs. Carter didn't want to leave the little girl all alone. So she sent her nine year old son Jimmy. Jimmy Carter to go and investigate. I made sure to check that that was not young President Jimmy Carter. It wasn't. He did and found the bodies while there. George Taylor was on his way back to finish bur burning the pile. And the young nine year old Jimmy Carter saw him approach and identified him before he quickly ran away. The little guy ran home to tell his mom that he found the bodies and George Taylor was at the scene. His mother told him to quickly run to the neighbors to spread the word George Taylor must be found. George Taylor made it quickly to town to grab his brother. They decided to make a run for it fast. Word spread fast, but not as fast as the Taylors could run. By that night, 500 well armored armed men were mobilized to find these monsters. Bloodhounds hit the trail. Wires were sent to every town in a 100 mile radius. And by the next day they had over a thousand men searching up and down the state. The story hit front page papers all across the south. The very next day, the coroner arrived at the field and it was already becoming dark. It was determined that Mrs. Meeks miscarried a baby during the murder. Only rude coffins could be found quickly and as it was stated in an article, be it said, to the eternal disgrace of Linn county, that woman's and children's bodies were placed in those unlined boxes in all that dirt, blood and old clothes they had lain in all day and unwashed and with only furniture packing and the old clothes stuffed around them, they were brought to the courthouse yard to be examined. The coroner's jury delivered the verdict of murder by gunshot and by blunt force to the children. The bodies were brought into the courthouse corridors where they were put on display for townspeople to come and pay respects. It turned into a zoo of hundreds of people clamoring in. Within a few weeks, the story of this horrifying event was everywhere. In less than a month, the Taylors were caught in a hotel in Arkansas. They were spotted by someone who knew them, who quickly alerted the sheriff. They'd stopped off in Montana to pick up a large scene of money from one of their businesses there before making their way to Arkansas. They were put on a train back to Missouri. But about halfway through their journey, the sheriff had been notified that a Lynch mob of 250 men with faces covered with handkerchiefs was awaiting their arrival in Linn County. They were then removed from the train, then transported secretly by wagon back to Brookfield. When the train pulled up that the mob thought they were on, a shout went up, here they come. And they hounded the train. It was announced that they were not on the train and the crowd was enraged. But no one got off that train. It simply pulled off. I imagine even if some other folks on that train intended to get off there, they likely stayed the hell on. The Taylors were refused bail even though they offered to give $50,000 each. But the judge didn't budge. The trial began on April 5, 1895 and the courthouse was packed with spectators. The prosecution didn't just have Nellie's and the young Carter boys testimonies. They had a number of witnesses who came forward with important details. A worker for the Taylor's testified that he went into the stall where they kept the wagons and saw that their wagon bed was covered in clotted blood which had dripped down the bed to the wheels. Another man found one of the murder weapons along the road. One of them very stupidly threw his gun and it ended up in a place where it was easily found by someone walking along. The were also found in the Meeks house between the tailors and Mr. Meeks asking him if he did indeed intend to testify against them. So motive was easily demonstrated. Young Jimmy Carter testified to what he found and what he saw. He said that when little Nelly told him where they were, he put his saddle on a horse in the barn lot and rode away. I then went to the straw stack, pushed the straw back and saw the bodies. End quote. Then he saw George Taylor in the brush scurrying away. Could you imagine this? This little guy. How traumatizing. Little Nellie did not testify in court. That was considered too much for her. But she had given her full testimony during the coroner's inquest. So that testimony was used in lieu of making her sit on a stand in front of the two men that murdered her family. She was present for some of the trial though. Until even sat in the lap of the prosecuting attorney at times in a spectacle for the jury. She'd been sent to live with her grandmother after the murders who acquired for her a very pricey lawyer to obtain for her a massive compensation from the Taylor brothers businesses on the grounds that they would be found guilty. She had to be given 24 hour security as well as it was believed that their criminal associates may try to murder her so they wouldn't have to make the payout in the event of their prosecution. Speaking of criminal associates, during the trial two of the jurors confessed that they were approached by a disguised man and offered $750 to vote to acquit. The Taylors had all kinds of folks working on the outside to get them freed. Because of this a mistrial was declared. All of the jurors became suspect. So another trial was set for a few months later with a whole new sequestered jury. This trial did not last long. With now the bribery added to the evidence list, they were quickly found guilty. They Tried to appeal, but that was dismissed just as quickly. Both were sentenced to hang on April 30, 1896. But they broke out of prison on April 11. They knocked out one of the bars of their cell. They went to the roof of the jail and climbed down a 50 foot hose. William was quickly apprehended, but George. George was never captured. Absolutely infuriating and heartbreaking. William was taken to Kansas City for safekeeping in a maximum security prison until his execution, which occurred in front of hundreds of people at 11am on April 30. He never confessed and in fact he wrote an infuriating final statement that read to the public, I have only this additional statement to make. I ought not to suffer as I am compelled to do do. Prejudice and perjury convicted me by this conviction. My wife is left a lonely widow. My babies are made orphans in a cruel world. My brothers mourn and friends weep. You hasten my gray haired mother and father to the grave. The mobs in that element have haunted me to the grave. I have hoped to live at least till the good people realize the injustice done me. But it cannot be so. I feel prepared to meet my God and now wing my way to the great union unknown where I believe everyone is properly judged. Oh, I hope my friends will meet me all in heaven. I believe I am going there. Goodbye all. W.P. taylor, Nellie Meeks sadly died fairly young. She was married at 16 and she died of childbirth complications at 17 years old. She is buried in Butte Cemetery in Sullivan County, Missouri. Misery. After all of that horror. I did find a few pieces of information about this story that might make you feel a little better. It starts horrifying but it ends sweetly. I think. The undertaker who was called to quickly prepare the Meeks family for a funeral was horrified to find that after the coroner examination the bodies weren't cleaned. They were still wet, wearing their filthy, blood soaked clothing. So he said that he wouldn't bury them until they were properly treated for burial in proper coffins. And much to the horror of a number of the town's ladies and one wealthy citizen who also noticed this during the public display of the bodies, they all offered to help. The wealthy citizen, whose name I unfortunately couldn't find, offered to pay for lovely coffins for the whole family and a proper burial for each. The large group of ladies offered to wash them and dress them in fresh clothes for burial. All arrangements were paid for. This is such an interesting detail to me that the undertaker wouldn't bury them until they were properly respected and prepared for burial in a dignified way and in no time citizens stepped up to offer their help. The next morning morning, the family was buried at a funeral that attracted thousands of people from towns all around. I read of the funeral that the Reverend leading the service quote in inspiring tones told of the babes now basking in purity and bliss. It was also noted that many of the people there had been hunting for the killers for a full 24 hours without any rest, but still made sure to attend the funeral funeral before continuing on. The ways communities come together after tragedies for families that they don't even know are always so deeply touching to me. And although it is uncommon now for thousands of people to join funerals of families that suffer tragedies and that level of empathy may seem like a thing of the past, I am reminded of the profoundly beautiful ways that people are currently coming together to protect their neighbors before tragedy can strike by the hundreds of thousands marching in the streets. I believe that love for our neighbors is only growing, not receding. If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to hear more, please rate the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Leave me comments because I love them so much and join the fan coven to directly support my show. Listen ad free and for even more creepy and witchy content. Until next time, be kind to yourselves and I will see you in your nightmares.