Midnight Murder of the Meeks Family (Marion Anderson) 'Twas in the lovely springtime in the lovely month of May When Meeks, his wife, and children were induce to go away They were leaving, little dreaming when they took their midnight flight They'd be murdered e'er the morning in the darkness of the 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 assassins fierce and wild They killed this helpless family except one little child A blinding flash of fire, a groan of death and pain A bleeding human being was numbered with the slain The mother pled for mercy, she sank upon her knees But also was foully murdered beneath the rustling trees They buried them 'neath the straw stack out on George Taylor's farm Bur Nellie did recover and then she gave the alarm The neighbors quick responded but found this family dead The Taylors had absconded and from this country fled At last they were arrested and for this murder tried The evidence was taken, their fate to thus decide The jury was selected and the verdict written we[?] The jury found them guilty of murder in the first degree DT #797 Laws F29 From Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, vol. 2 Collected from Nora Page Irwin of Reed Springs, MO in 1942 murder occurred May 11, 1894 tune: Home Sweet Home SOF oct96
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!