MURDER OF STELL KENNY

It was on one dark and stormy night,
On the second day of May;
Stell Kenny she was murdered,
For home she was on her way.

With her Uncle Rob Frazier,
Where she had been to stay;
She'd spent ten long month with him
Before her fatal day.

The night it was so dreary,
For hours the rain did pour.
A horse and empty buggy was found
Upon a lonely road.

The officers were summoned,
Each one his place did fill;
And there they found Stell murdered
Upon the Garvin Hill.

She was carried to the city hall;
She gave some piteous sighs.
The sight of her bloody clothes
Brought tears to many eyes.

Her father kneeling at her side,
Begged her to open her eyes;
But with seven gashes in her head
No wonder Stellie died.

The dear old mother knelt there too,
And pitifully did moan;
"Poor girl, to think she's took from me,
Her smile I'll see no more."

Rob had three little children,
And a kind and loving wife;
Who stayed faithful to his side
While being tried for life.

The judge pronounced him guilty
And then they wrote it down;
The clerk repeated the sentence,
"A life in Frankfort town."

Stell was the oldest daughter,
Her age was seventeen.
Some say it's the cruelest murder
This County's ever seen.

She had been ten month from home,
From under her mother's care;
"Go bring her safely back to me,"
We know 'twas the parent's prayer.

Rob did not bring her safely home;
Her lips were too numb to speak,
When the mother clasped her in her arms
And kissed the dying cheek.

Now Stelly's gone to heaven,
In that bright land so fair;
The Bible tells us plainly
There'll be no murder there.

While Rob, he pleads not guilty;
"It's robbery," he does say,
"They took my checks and money,
My watch, and rode away."

From Ballad Makin' in the Mountains of Kentucky, by Jean Thomas. Oak Publications, 1964, pages 156-159. Originally published in 1939 by Henry Holt.