Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Goat Castle: A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South
    Goat Castle: A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South
    Goat Castle: A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South
    Audiobook7 hours

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

    Written by Karen L. Cox

    Narrated by Pam Ward

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    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, 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.

    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateOct 9, 2017
    ISBN9781541480933
    Author

    Karen L. Cox

    KAREN L. COX is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Her books include Dixie's Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture; Goat Castle: A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South; and Dreaming of Dixie: How the South Was Created in American Popular Culture.

    More audiobooks from Karen L. Cox

    Related to Goat Castle

    Related audiobooks

    True Crime For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Monsters Walking Free

      Apr 4, 2021

      The infamous Easey Street murders remain as much of a mystery today as when they occurred more than 40 years ago. In January 1977, neighbours had noticed something amiss at the home of Suzanne Armstrong, 28, and Susan Bartlett, 27. They’d heard whi

      5 min read

    • Article

      Remains

      Sep 1, 2017

      THIS IS what you think your mother’s remains will look like. The ash will be black, like all that soot in the fireplace. It will be heavy, like wet sand. There will not be too much of it. It will fit in a small urn with intricate designs on the borde

      6 min read

    • Article

      Name That KILLER

      May 7, 2020

      When sex workers in Dallas, Texas, started showing up dead with their eyeballs missing, terror spread through the city. Many people are fascinated by eyes, but none as much as the Eyeball Killer. Charles Frederick Albright was born in Texas in 1933.

      5 min read

    • Article

      How Could They?

      Sep 1, 2020

      How Could They?
      3 min read

    • Article

      Southern Secrets

      Jun 3, 2019

      Southern Secrets
      5 min read

    • Article

      Dahleen Glanton: A Kid Charged With His Friend's Murder During A Botched Burglary In 2008 Got A Second Chance. The Teens Charged In Suburban Chicago Deserve One Too

      Aug 27, 2019

      Eleven years ago, a group of teenagers broke into a house near Rockford, Ill., planning to steal a cache of guns. The boys had meticulously planned the burglary. They knew the homeowner, who was supposed to be in the hospital that night. The house wa

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Fugitive

      May 11, 2019

      The Fugitive
      4 min read

    • Article

      An Aneurism of Axe Murders: On ‘The Man from the Train’

      Oct 9, 2017

      You can’t help but read these murders as a parable of alienation. The lone drifter stalking the country by train, itself a mode of transport from a bygone era, to literally smash apart families with an instrument that evoked America’s timbered fronti

      6 min read

    • Article

      Trouble In Chinatown

      Nov 24, 2020

      Trouble In Chinatown
      11 min read

    • Article

      Most Wanted

      Jan 25, 2023

      Kate Clark had craved adventure since she was a little girl. Born in 1873, her parents Emaline and John worked hard to make ends meet on their small farm. But flame-haired Kate had a rebellious streak. She later idolised the train-thieving Dalton Gan

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Tulsa Race Massacre

      May 13, 2021

      The Tulsa Race Massacre
      9 min read

    • Article

      Murder in Hope Falls

      Mar 31, 2022

      Murder in Hope Falls
      7 min read

    • Article

      Must See, Must Read

      Mar 1, 2022

      Must See, Must Read
      14 min read

    • Article

      Femme Fatale Laura Fair

      Nov 21, 2023

      Femme Fatale Laura Fair
      4 min read

    • Article

      Whistler’s Murder

      Jul 24, 2018

      Whistler’s Murder
      4 min read

    • Article

      Felonious Females

      Jul 24, 2018

      In R. Michael Wilson’s article “Felonious Female Nevadans” [August 2017]. he writes on P. 49, “In the roughly seven-decade history of the Wild West authorities in the Western states and territories executed just two women.” That number seems unrealis

      3 min read

    • Article

      Jesse James Died Here

      Sep 29, 2020

      Jesse James Died Here
      3 min read

    • Article

      Murder Along The Rio Grande

      Jan 16, 2024

      Murder Along The Rio Grande
      8 min read

    • Article

      Guilt by Association

      Nov 14, 2023

      Guilt by Association
      11 min read

    • Article

      The End Of His Rope

      Jul 6, 2021

      The End Of His Rope
      11 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Goat Castle

    3.5/5

    18 ratings3 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Anyone who has a fascination with the history of the deep South, Jim Crow South, and class relations will certainly welcome the well-researched Goat Castle: A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South. The historical detail surrounding the families of influence, the city of Natchez and the Civil War era sets the stage dramatically for this true crime story. Immediately, the reader is immersed in a time where they can “feel” the tension between the central figures and the pains of the vile ways POC were treated.

      Karen L.Cox does spend a lot of time providing in-depth backgrounds of our main figures and their families, which can feel a bit drawn at times, out but I can appreciate how this may be necessary in order to capture the essence and attitude of how class (and race) plays a significant part in the actions, response and those unanswered concerns in this story. For instance, Jennie Merrill was a woman with a very affluent background and saw herself as such. A woman like Octavia Dockery was below her in class and Jennie Merrill had no use in speaking with her, thus having servants or the sheriff to deal with her disputes – and disputes she had! In her Merrill’s own words, “I have never spoken to Miss Dockery in my life,” probing the question – Why were the fingerprints of the strange couple Octavia Dockery and Dick Dana’s in the Merrill home at the time of her death when she loathed them so much? If Jennie Merrill had no use in speaking with Octavia Dockery, she certainly would not invite the couple into her home for tea. So, why were they there?

      When Jennie Merrill ends up murdered, someone must be held accountable. This being the Jim Crow South and Jennie Merrill being a white woman, it’s no surprise that the crime and punishment is handed to a black person(s). George Pearls had no chance to defend himself or share his whole truth, being shot and killed by a police officer before he could ever go to trial for the Merrill murder. Emily Burns, however, did live with 8 years in jail for a murder that she did not commit – once again, showcasing the injustices of the South towards black women and men. It wouldn’t have gone any other way.

      This fascinating book is necessary and fair – giving a voice to the truth. The historical detail, along with the many photographs throughout, went a long way for this reader!

      Thank you to NetGalley and University of North Carolina Press for providing me with a copy of this book for my honest review.
    • 4/5
      Two white ladies, both remnants of the white enslaver lifestyle who grew up after the Civil War but in a society that wished it didn't happen, have a feud; one of them squats/lives in a decrepit house with the mentally incapacitated man for whom she cares. One night, with the involvement of a black man who's returned to town from Chicago and the black woman he was courting, the other white lady is killed and her house robbed. Then the black man was killed, and then the black woman--who doesn't seem to have known the plan--is sent to jail for murder (the fact that she isn't lynched or executed seems to suggest that the whites knew she wasn't really guilty; they were content to send her to a horrific penal facility). Then the other white lady and her companion become famous for how decrepit their house was--goats wander through it, among other things. It was a delightful scandal, even a tourist attraction, in Depression-era America. A relatively slight story overall, but a lot of local color.
    • 4/5
      "Goat Castle" by Karen L Cox is not only an investigation of a murder that happened during the Great Depression in the Old South but also a fascinating and thought provoking examination of race relations during the decades after the end of the Civil War.There are a few books about the Goat Castle Murder but they are incomplete and do not know the whole story. They usually center on Richard Dana and Octavia Dockery who were the residents of Goat Castle and fallen "white" gentry, and to a lesser degree on Jennie Merrill who was the murder victim and the daughter of a former plantation owner. They also stress the guilt of African- American George Pearls as the perpetrator of the crime. Much is said of the fact that the Goat Castle residents were unfairly accused of this crime but Karen L Cox did much research going through court records and other research to bring forth other people involved in this ultimately very sad story and evidence that was overlooked. One who seems to have been lost to history is Emily Burns who was an "acquaintance" of George Pearls and the daughter of a former slave. Both Emily and her mother spent months in jail while Richard Dana and Octavia Dockery were able to avoid it. What has been lost to history is the fact that Dana and Dockery's fingerprints were found inside of the house where the crime was committed. Dockery/Dana and Merrill absolutely detested each other to the point where police were called and there were numerous legal issues on both sides for years which makes fingerprints very suspicious. Jennie Merrill definitely would not have invited either one for "tea". The fingerprint specialist was not able to be "found" which was very convenient for Dockery and Dana's case during the trial which resulted in their getting away with the crime scot-free. Pearls was shot and killed and convicted posthumously for the crime. Someone still needed to be punished for the crime and it seems that Emily Burns was a convenient scape-goat. That isn't to say she was innocent. She got involved with the wrong people and was the lookout while the crime was committed but she was not the one who pulled the trigger or planned the crime. Emily ended up spending eight hard years in prison before being released. Dana and Dockery not only got away with the crime but also made money from their notoriety. All in all, this wonderful book shows the decline of the Old South after the Civil War and how African-Americans still had a very long way to go for their freedom. I can't stress enough how wonderful this book was to read. I stayed up late to read and was reluctant to put it down. What strikes me the most is that justice was not truly done for the murder of Jennie Merrill and the descendants of former slaves really did not have their freedom or equal rights. My heart aches for Emily Burns for taking the full brunt for Dana and Dockery's crime which they planned and also I admire her grace after she was released and the life she led. I am so glad that Ms. Cox uncovered Emily's story and has set the record straight. She has also brought to light the prejudice and injustice that still prevails in the South to this day but this book is a fascinating account of a very interesting and important time in the history of the Old South. Highly recommended. I received a copy of this book from the publishers (thank you!) via Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.