Unearthing the forgotten, the mysterious, and the legendary—one Southern story at a time. Hosted by Shannon Ballard, Southern Mysteries explores the rich and often untold history of the American South through a captivating mix of folklore, legends, unexplained mysteries, and true crime. Each episode uncovers a compelling tale from a Southern state, blending history with intrigue to reveal the fascinating stories that time left behind. While some episodes delve into chilling crimes, others spotlight legendary figures, ghostly lore, or baffling events.Sometimes the mystery is: why haven’t you heard the story?
Episodes
Apr 25, 2022
Apr 25, 2022
24 min
Emil and Kelly Mitchell, known as the King and Queen of the Gypsies, have long been a part of Meridian, Mississippi lore but their story is complicated and often misunderstood
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Episode Sources
Queen of the Gypsies Dead. Our Southern Home. February 10, 1915
The Rose Hill Company of Players. Facebook
Queen Kelly Mitchell: A Slice of Meridian’s History. The Meridian Star. December 26, 2007
Historical tales abound within Rose Hill Cemetery. Today in Mississippi
Fortune telling ordinance challenged. The Meridian Star. February 13, 2011
Meridian, Mississippi, the Queen City. The Meridian Star. October 28, 2011
Why Being 'Gypped' Hurts The Roma More Than It Hurts You. Code Switch NPR. December 30, 2013
Roma Culture: Customs, Traditions & Beliefs. Live Science. November 26, 2018
Meridian’s Royal Past. Mississippi FolkLife. February 4, 2019
Episode Music
Alone with my Thoughts by Esther Abrami Licensed under Creative Commons
Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use
Apr 11, 2022
Apr 11, 2022
26 min
In the late 1880s Bob Sims declared himself a prophet with more than 100 followers in his Choctaw County Alabama cult. His belief that no man could establish laws over him led to a bloody chapter in Alabama history
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Episode Sources
Sims War Siege. Choctaw County Geological Society
Robert Bruce Sims. Find A Grave.
The Sims War Connection. Rebellion Leader Robert Bruce Sims. Campbell Family History
Bad Literature. Bob Sims Paper ‘The Veil is Rent’. The Standard Gauge. September 10, 1891
Robert Sims, Thomas and Young Savage. Strange Fruit and Spanish Moss. December 26, 2014
A Southern Terror: Arrest of the Bloody Bob Sims and His Bad Gang. The Pittsburgh Press. December 27, 1891
Stars Fell on Alabama by Carl Carmer. University of Alabama Press (1985)
Episode Music
Argonne by Zachariah Hickman Licensed under Creative Commons
Bring Me Your Sorrows by Dan Lebowitz. Licensed under Creative Commons
Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use
Mar 28, 2022
Mar 28, 2022
27 min
Pearl Corens disappeared on February 13, 1945. Over the next two weeks mysterious notes perplexed police as they searched for the missing war department employee. Then came a shocking discovery on the Virginia side of the Potomac River.
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Episode Sources
Justice and the Case of the Corpseless Head. New York Daily News. March 24, 1946
Judge is Grim in Weird Case. The Spokesman-Review. May 29, 1945.
Wife’s Head Found; Husband Held. The New York Daily News. March 1, 1945
Corens Offers Alibi for Bloodstains in Bethesda Home. The Evening Star. May 25, 1945
Rice, C. (2018). 45 Murderers: A Collection of True Crime Stories. United States: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road.
Episode Music
Falling Rain by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Source: http://incompetech.com
Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use
Mar 14, 2022
Mar 14, 2022
28 min
In April 1969, Marie Arrington became the second woman ever placed on the FBI’s most wanted list. One year earlier she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for manslaughter. While awaiting appeal and out on bond she was arrested for the murder of a legal secretary. Then came a trial, Marie’s escape and the FBI’s years long pursuit of one of their most wanted
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Episode Resources
Mrs. Vivian June Ritter. The Tampa Tribune. April 30,1968
Letter Linked in Killing of Secretary Erased. The Orlando Sentinel. September 18, 1968
State Traces Hourly Steps by Mrs. Ritter. The Tampa Tribune. December 4,1968
Arrington v. State. Supreme Court of Florida. April 1, 1970
Wanted Persons Marie Dean Arrington. The Sheriff's Star. December 1969
Marie Dean Arrington. The Tampa Tribune. March 18, 1973
Is This The Place They Call Hell? The Palm Beach Post. March 18, 1973
Son Remains in Shadow of Mother’s Revenge. Orlando Sentinel. June 27, 1998
Marie Arrington 1960s Leesburg Killer. South Florida Sun Sentinel. July 1, 2014
30 days of mean marie. Lake & Sumter Style. July 2014
Episode Music
Sense of Loss and Lazy Days by Purple Planet Music. purple-planetmusic.com Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution
Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use
Feb 28, 2022
Feb 28, 2022
34 min
Kenneth Neu loved two things: music and himself. He was a talented singer and dreamed of becoming a star with his name in newspapers and his voice on the radio. Neu would get his wish in the 1930s when people from New York City to New Orleans heard his name on radio reports and saw his name and photos printed in newspapers. The headlines featured news that he had confessed to two murders.
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Episode Resources
Theater Manager Found Murdered. The Wilmington Morning News. September 11, 1933
Slayer of Two Held By Lack of Car Tag. The Gaffney Ledger. September 23, 1933
Crooner Held for Murder Pens Poems in Jail Cell. The Shreveport Times. September 23, 1933
Neu’s Defense at N.O. is Insanity. The Alexandria Town Talk. December 13, 1933
State Demands Death for Penalty for Slayer. The Monroe-Star News. December 15, 1933
Night Club Singer Goes to N.O. Gallows Today. The Shreveport Times February 1, 1935
Girl Pays for Neu’s Funeral. The Alexandria Town Talk. February 2, 1935
State v. Neu, 180 La. 545, 157 So. 105 (La. 1934). Casetext
Singer Kept Singing All the Way to the Gallows. The Ottawa Citizen. October 25, 1980
Fit as a fiddle and ready to hang: depression-era crooner was the ‘singing slayer’. Medium. December 1, 2018
Is Gay Panic Still An Excuse For Murder In The Courtroom? Oxygen True Crime. August 20, 2019
Episode Music
Loneliest Road in America by Jesse Gallagher Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution
Slow Hammers by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Source: http://incompetech.com
Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use
Feb 14, 2022
Feb 14, 2022
34 min
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, nicknamed the "Six Triple Eight", was the only all-black, all-female battalion overseas during World War II. They were dedicated to the mission to boost morale for service members but it would take decades for their country to acknowledge them for their service.
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Episode Resources
Double V Campaign. Newspapers.com
LTC Charity Adams Early. Women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion
6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. National Museum United States Army
Lena King, 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion U.S. Army, World War II. Veterans Chronicles. Dec 5, 2019
These Black Female Heroes Made Sure U.S. WWII Forces Got Their Mail. History. February 21, 2019.
Procession, funeral for Bertha Dupre set for Friday morning. The Salisbury Post. March 20, 2019
The SixTripleEight: No Mail, Low Morale. National World War II Museum New Orleans. February 10, 2021
Sen. Moran Introduces Bill to Award the Congressional Gold Medal to the WWII “Six-Triple-Eight” Battalion. Jerry Moran United States Senator for Kansas. February 2021
Black female WWII unit hoping to get congressional honor. Associated Press. July 13, 2021
Honoring Veterans of WWII: Women of the 6888th. Burns and McConnell. November 18, 2021
And Still, They Served: Black Servicewomen in World War II. Military Women’s Memorial.
Invisible Warriors: African American Women in World War II. Charlie Horse Productions
Episode Music
Sugar Pines by Wes Hutchison Licensed under Creative Commons
Alone With My Thoughts by Esther Abrami Licensed under Creative Commons
Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use
Jan 31, 2022
Jan 31, 2022
22 min
A Gothic revival church in downtown Cleveland, Tennessee was built in 1873 and dedicated in memory of 7-year-old Nina Craigmiles who died in 1871. The mausoleum behind the church is home to one of Tennessee's strangest mysteries
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Episode Resources
St. Luke’s Episocopal Church. National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. United States Department off the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
Elegy in Marble. The Tennessean. April 16, 1950
The Red Streaks on the White Mausoleum. Appalachian History. October 28, 2010
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Visit Cleveland Tennessee
Ghosts of Bradley County, Tennessee. Museum Center 5 Points. October 28, 2010
Episode Music
Shadowlands by Purple Planet Music https://www.purple-planet.com
Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.
Jan 17, 2022
Jan 17, 2022
31 min
The worst maritime disaster in US history occurred on April 27, 1865. Overshadowed by the end of the Civil War and assassination of President Lincoln, the death of nearly 1800 souls was not front page news and conspiracy theories of how the ship went down were rampant
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Episode Resources
Sultana Disaster Museum sultanadisastermuseum.com
The Sultana Association of Descendants and Friends thesultanaassociation.com
Sultana: A Tragic Postscript to the Civil War. American History Magazine. August 1998
Surviving the Worst: The Wreck of the Sultana at the End of the American Civil War. Mississippi History Now. October 2009
The Shipwreck That Led Confederate Veterans To Risk All For Union Lives. NPR News. April 27, 2015
Episode Music
Waiting Alone in the Dust by Lobo Loco. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Virtues Instrumenti by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Source: http://incompetech.com.
Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.
Dec 20, 2021
Dec 20, 2021
11 min
Show update and preview of patron exclusive Southern Mysteries Shorts. Meet the most remarkable survivor of the Civil War
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Dec 6, 2021
Dec 6, 2021
28 min
In December 1888 Birmingham leaders faced their greatest challenge in the city’s seventeen years of existence...sensational murders that gained nationwide attention and led to a deadly riot in the Magic City.
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Episode Resources
West, Goldsmith B. (1888) The Hawes Horror Birmingham
Northrup, Jeff. (1978) "The Hawes Riot: All the News Unfit to Print" Journal of the Birmingham Historical Society. Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 16-25
The Hawes Murders: a dark moment in Birmingham’s early history. Alabama Newscenter. October 28, 2021
Jones, Pam. (Spring 2006) "The Hawes Murders." Alabama Heritage No. 80, pp. 34-40
He Will Hang! Birmingham News. January 13, 1890.
Hawes Hung. The South Alabamian. March 8, 1890.
Episode Music
Measured Places, B Somber Ballads, Mesmerize and Lamentation by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com.
There’s Probably No Time by Chris Zabriskie Licensed under creative commons
Elegy by Asher Fulero Licensed under creative commons
Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use.