View in EDS PDF Full Text ePub Full Text

Goat Castle : A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Goat Castle : A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South
Description: In 1932, the city of Natchez, Mississippi, reckoned with an unexpected influx of journalists and tourists as the lurid story of a local murder was splashed across headlines nationwide. Two eccentrics, Richard Dana and Octavia Dockery—known in the press as the “Wild Man” and the “Goat Woman”—enlisted an African American man named George Pearls to rob their reclusive neighbor, Jennie Merrill, at her estate. During the attempted robbery, Merrill was shot and killed. The crime drew national coverage when it came to light that Dana and Dockery, the alleged murderers, shared their huge, decaying antebellum mansion with their goats and other livestock, which prompted journalists to call the estate “Goat Castle.” Pearls was killed by an Arkansas policeman in an unrelated incident before he could face trial. However, as was all too typical in the Jim Crow South, the white community demanded “justice,” and an innocent black woman named Emily Burns was ultimately sent to prison for the murder of Merrill. Dana and Dockery not only avoided punishment but also lived to profit from the notoriety of the murder by opening their derelict home to tourists.Strange, fascinating, and sobering, Goat Castle tells the story of this local feud, killing, investigation, and trial, showing how a true crime tale of fallen southern grandeur and murder obscured an all too familiar story of racial injustice.
Authors: Karen L. Cox
Resource Type: eBook.
Subjects: Murder--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th century, Judicial error--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th century, African Americans--Civil rights--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th century, African Americans--Segregation--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th century
Categories: TRUE CRIME / Murder / General, HISTORY / United States / State & Local / South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV), SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination
Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
FullText Links:
  – Type: ebook-pdf
  – Type: ebook-epub
Text:
  Availability: 0
Header DbId: nlebk
DbLabel: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
An: 1572247
RelevancyScore: 1077
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: eBook
PubTypeId: ebook
PreciseRelevancyScore: 1077.00524902344
IllustrationInfo
ImageInfo – Size: thumb
  Target: https://rps2images.ebscohost.com/rpsweb/othumb?id=NL$1572247$PDF&s=r
– Size: medium
  Target: https://rps2images.ebscohost.com/rpsweb/othumb?id=NL$1572247$PDF&s=d
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Goat Castle : A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Description
  Group: Ab
  Data: In 1932, the city of Natchez, Mississippi, reckoned with an unexpected influx of journalists and tourists as the lurid story of a local murder was splashed across headlines nationwide. Two eccentrics, Richard Dana and Octavia Dockery—known in the press as the “Wild Man” and the “Goat Woman”—enlisted an African American man named George Pearls to rob their reclusive neighbor, Jennie Merrill, at her estate. During the attempted robbery, Merrill was shot and killed. The crime drew national coverage when it came to light that Dana and Dockery, the alleged murderers, shared their huge, decaying antebellum mansion with their goats and other livestock, which prompted journalists to call the estate “Goat Castle.” Pearls was killed by an Arkansas policeman in an unrelated incident before he could face trial. However, as was all too typical in the Jim Crow South, the white community demanded “justice,” and an innocent black woman named Emily Burns was ultimately sent to prison for the murder of Merrill. Dana and Dockery not only avoided punishment but also lived to profit from the notoriety of the murder by opening their derelict home to tourists.Strange, fascinating, and sobering, Goat Castle tells the story of this local feud, killing, investigation, and trial, showing how a true crime tale of fallen southern grandeur and murder obscured an all too familiar story of racial injustice.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Karen+L%2E+Cox%22">Karen L. Cox</searchLink>
– Name: TypePub
  Label: Resource Type
  Group: TypPub
  Data: eBook.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subjects
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Murder--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th+century%22">Murder--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th century</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Judicial+error--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th+century%22">Judicial error--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th century</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22African+Americans--Civil+rights--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th+century%22">African Americans--Civil rights--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th century</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22African+Americans--Segregation--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th+century%22">African Americans--Segregation--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th century</searchLink>
– Name: SubjectBISAC
  Label: Categories
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22TRUE+CRIME+%2F+Murder+%2F+General%22">TRUE CRIME / Murder / General</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22HISTORY+%2F+United+States+%2F+State+%26+Local+%2F+South+%28AL%2C+AR%2C+FL%2C+GA%2C+KY%2C+LA%2C+MS%2C+NC%2C+SC%2C+TN%2C+VA%2C+WV%29%22">HISTORY / United States / State & Local / South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22SOCIAL+SCIENCE+%2F+Discrimination%22">SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination</searchLink>
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=nlebk&AN=1572247
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Classifications:
      – Code: 364.15230976226
        Scheme: ddc
        Type: prePub
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Murder--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th century
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Judicial error--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th century
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: African Americans--Civil rights--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th century
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: African Americans--Segregation--Mississippi--Natchez--History--20th century
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Goat Castle : A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Karen L. Cox
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Karen L. Cox
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2017
            – D: 18
              M: 08
              Type: profile
              Y: 2017
          Identifiers:
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9781469635033
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9781469661438
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9781469635057
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9798890849151
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9798890849144
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Goat Castle : A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South
              Type: main
ResultId 1