The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #3817   Message #55120
Posted By: Kate Riley
21-Jan-99 - 07:44 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Pearl Bryan (murder ballad)
Subject: RE: Pearl Bryan
Thanks Earl, that was a great summary. Also of interest in the case was the testimony of cab driver George Jackson, an African-American man who was hired to drive Jackson, Walling and Pearl to the field where her body was found. He identified Walling as the man who hired him. During the drive when he became alarmed at the noises inside the cab, he testified that Walling held a gun to his head to force him to continue to drive. Many people at the time discounted his testimony (three guesses as to why!). BTW, I checked out the lyrics in the database! Thanks! Pearl's sister really is supposed to have confronted Jackson and Walling about the location of Pearl's head. Folklore in Greencastle always held that her sister later committed suicide because of the murder.