Pictures and Maps
The killing was done going up the hill to Jenkins Cemetery,
which lies about three miles south of Browning, Missouri. The
cemetery lies to the west of the gravel road which runs north and
south. The prints could be seen on the side of the road where
bodies had fallen, and large pools of blood were on the grass and
leaves at the side of the road. The four-year-old girl, Nellie, had
been hit in the head and left for dead. A pistol was found here
with three chambers empty; also the rock with which the smaller
children had been killed was discovered. A photo was taken when the
bodies were uncovered the haystack where they were later
hidden.
Nellie Meeks, age 9, was left under the haystack in a neighboring
field with her dead family and was presumed to be dead by the
murderers. An attempt was made to burn the haystack and the bodies;
however, the next morning she "awoke" and stumbled to a nearby farm
house where she told the story of what had happened during the
night. The Carter (Cotter) family then wen and discovered the rest
of the family. Nellie reportedly said even at this first encounter
that George and Bill Taylor (her father's employers) were the ones
who had killed her family. Nellie later married and lived in nearby
communities until her death in childbirth in 1910. Her daughter
Hattie lived into the 1970's. (Photo Source: 1977 History of
Sullivan County)
Few clear maps exist from that time period, and road have changed
since then. However, a hand-drawn sketch made some years later
shows the approximate location of the haystack where the Meeks
family was buried on the Taylor farm. Clearer photos are on reserve
file in the Linn R-1 Library, Purdin, Mo.
The Taylor brothers disappeared shortly after the murders became
known, and for weeks they were hunted all over the Midwest. A month
later, they were captured in Arkansas. A lynch mob awaited them in
Macon, Mo., on their return, but they were safely transported to
St. Joseph, Missouri. They were tried, but the jury failed to agree
(April 9, 1895). On April 29, 1895, a special grand jury was called
in Carrollton, Mo., to investigate charges of bribery against the
jury in the Taylor case; and also charges of perjury against some
of the defense witnesses. A new trial of the Taylors began in
Carrollton on July 25, 1985. The jury found them guilty on August
2, 1895. They appealed their case to the Missouri Supreme Court in
March of 1896, but the court upheld the conviction. The hanging
date was set for April 30, 1896. On April 11, 1896, Bill and George
Taylor made an attempt to break jail at Carrollton. George
succeeded, but Bill was recaptured. It was found that a bolt had
been cut in the back on one of the cells and a bar knocked off.
(One version says they made a fake bar out of soap.) They went up
to the roof and took a 50-foot hose, which they fastened to the
roof. Blood hounds tracked George only to the back gate of the
jail. It was thought that a buggy had picked him up.
Hundreds of people came by train to attend the hanging of Bill
Taylor. A stockade with high walls was built around the scaffold.
Tickets were sold, reportedly even by the governor of Missouri.
Only those with tickets were allowed in.
