National Scandal

This chapter explores the national media attention associated with this case. Because the case took place after the first pilgrimage of homes in Natchez, stark contrasts were made between the Old South and the gothic South represented by Dana, Dockery, and Glenwood. The press nicknamed Dana the “Wild Man,” Dockery as the “Goat Woman,” and Glenwood as “Goat Castle.” Descriptions of Goat Castle and photographs of the interior were shared nationwide, which caused journalists to make analogies with Edgar Allen Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher.” The scandal was that the Old South Grandeur represented by the pilgrimage was a distraction from the squalor of Goat Castle.

Hollow Victory

In the year following the trial to convict Emily Burns, Octavia Dockery seethed with resentment for the sheriff of Adams County. One year to the day of her arrest and that of Dick Dana, she filed lawsuits for herself and on Dick’s behalf, seeking damages from Book Roberts for their unlawful arrest and humiliation. Roberts, who believed the pair was involved in the murder, re-arrested them on murder charges. During arguments among the attorneys it was revealed that the previous grand jury had voted to indict the pair for murder, but Adams County district attorney Clay Tucker would not prosecute. The case had exhausted the town of Natchez. A venire of more than 200 men was passed over so there were not enough to field a jury of 12. The judge declared a mistrial, but the murder charges against Dana and Dockery remained.

Cold Justice

This chapter covers the trial of Emily Burns as an accessory in the murder of Jennie Merrill. It demonstrates the double standard of justice that befell her in late November when the weather in Natchez turned cold. Jim Crow injustice meant that Emily did not have an attorney until she was indicted by the grand jury of Adams County. Within one week she went on trial and was convicted in a day and a half. She could have received the death penalty, but was sentenced to life in the Mississippi State Penitentiary. Her attorney Wilfred Geisenberger was said to have saved her from death.

Jim Crow’s Investigation

Maurice O’Neill’s arrival sends the investigation into the black community after Minor’s “strange negro” reference. Local blacks are rounded up and the name Lawrence Williams emerges. Separately, a black man is shot and killed in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. His name is George Pearls and the police chief in Pine Bluff thought he might be the person to have killed Merrill. Book Roberts initially disregards the call. The investigation continues until someone tips Roberts off that a man named Williams was staying with Emily Burns and her mother Nellie Black. Deputies go to their home, find Williams trunk, and discover papers with the name George Pearls. Pearls/Williams are the same person. Emily is arrested alongside her mother. Emily is browbeaten and threatened with being whipped before she offers a “confession.” She remained in jail without an attorney. Her only visitor, her minister from Antioch Baptist Church, Charles Anderson.

Murder at Glenburnie

This chapter brings all of the principals together and introduces law enforcement. It explains how George Pearls met Dick Dana and Octavia Dockery and the plan to rob Jennie Merrill. It details how Emily Burns came to be at Glenburnie the night of the robbery. The botched robbery ended in Jennie Merrill being shot and killed and then tossed in a thicket 100 yards from the house. Dana, Dockery, Pearls, Burns, and perhaps Poe were involved. All disbursed after Merrill was killed as word spread throughout Natchez that Jennie Merrill might have been murdered, although her body was missing. Sheriff Clarence Roberts puts out a call for deputies and head to Glenburnie to begin their investigation.

Pink and Sister

This chapter introduces the African American principals in the book, Emily Burns and George Pearls a.k.a. Lawrence Williams. The history of the African American experience in Natchez, from slavery through Reconstruction and Jim Crow, is discussed. George lived in Chicago and when he came to Natchez in 1932 he introduced himself to Emily as Pinkney. He was called “Pink” and she was known in the community as “Sister.” Emily’s mother Nellie Black is introduced, as is their boarder, Edgar Allen Poe Newell or “Poe.” Both Emily and her mother were widows and domestics. All suffered from poverty, particularly in the depths of the Great Depression.

Epilogue

The epilogue describes what happened to Natchez and to the remaining principals of the case in the years following the trial and conviction of Emily Burns. It explains how Duncan Minor, who inherited Jennie Merrill’s estate, fended off a lawsuit by Nellie Grist who claimed she was Jennie’s daughter. It describes the continuing fascination with Goat Castle in the press and from tourists, and how Octavia Dockery fought off eviction notices, allowing her and Dick Dana to remain at Glenwood until his death and then her own. Lastly, the chapter highlights the return of Emily/Sister to Natchez where she became one of the town’s dressmakers and returned to her home church Antioch Baptist. She remarried and became a mother of the church there and died in 1969.

Longing for Home

The chapter follows Emily Burns from the Adams County Jail to the state penitentiary better known as Parchman. It describes what life was like for women at the prison by using prison blues songs written and sung by the women there in the 1930s. The songs were recorded in the prison sewing room where Emily/Sister learned this new skill. Mississippi governors held mercy courts at the prison from time to time and Emily begged for mercy and freedom. Two governors rejected her pleas, but Governor Paul B. Johnson believed her and granted a suspension of her sentence at this Christmastime mercy court and she was free to leave Parchman after serving 8 years of hard labor.

Reclusive Aristocrats

The chapter introduces Jennie Merrill, her cousin Duncan Minor, their links to southern aristocracy, and to northern families. The chapter discusses Jennie’s life after the Civil War, traveling to Belgium with her father Ayres Merrill, the ambassador, and returning to live in New York. She joined the King’s Daughters and became an acolyte of Jacob Riis. She returned to Natchez where she purchased the home Glenburnie. Before long she began a years’ long feud with her next door neighbors, Richard “Dick” Dana and Octavia Dockery.

Sideshows

This chapter explains how Dick Dana and Octavia Dockery profited from their notoriety. They not only opened their estate and home to tourists, they went on tour performing as the “Wild Man” and “Goat Woman” of Goat Castle. Those assisting the pair printed flyers inviting people to help the “old folks” restore Glenwood. And to come see the famous goats.