Collected by Merlin Mitchell
Transcribed by Mary C. Parler
Mrs. Gerald Pipes
Reed Spring, Mo.
Sept. 17, 1950
Reel 70, Item 6
The Meeks Murder Ballad
(Mitchell: Mrs. Meeks was Mrs. Pipes's aunt - her father's sister.
Mrs. Pipes: They was murdered by George and Bill Taylor on the night
of May 10, 1894, at Browning, Missouri, on the Jenkins hill. I'll try
to sing this poem. It was written by a fellow there at Browning.)
'Twas in the lovely springtime
In the lovely month of May,
When Meek's wife and children
Were induced to go away.
They were leaving, little dreaming
When the
They'd be murdered in the morning
In the darkness of that night.
About two miles from Browning
They crossed a little rill,
The team was slowly climbing
The fatal Jenkins Hill.
When springing from the roadway
Assassin fierce and wild,
And killed this helpless family
Except one little child.
A blinding flash of fire
A groan the death of pain,
A bleeding human being
Was numbered with the slain.
The mother pled for mercy,
She sank upon her knees,
But alas, was Allie murdered
Beneath the rustling trees.
They buried them 'neath the strawstack
Out on George Banner's farm,
But Nellie did recover
And gave the neighbors alarm.
The neighbors quick responded,
But found this family dead,
'The Taylors had absconded
And from this country fled.
-more-
At last they were arrested
And for this murder tried;
The evidence was taken,
Their fate to thus decide.
The jury was selected,
The verdict written be,
The jury found him guilty
Of murder in First Degree.
The Meeks Murder Ballad
Continued
Reel 70, Item 6
That's the end.