Miss Jennie was the town recluse & eccentric. Born in 1864 to a wealthy & prominent Natchez family, Miss Jennie spent her early years as a popular socialite in Natchez, New York, & France. In 1904, using a portion of the one-quarter-million-dollar estate left to her, by her father, Miss Jennie purchased the old estate of Glenburne, & from then on became more & more of a recluse. She refused to update her house, never installing electricity. She did buy an old Model T, but while she could be seen puttering around town in the old car, she would not enter or shop in the local stores. Instead, she would tap the horn, & a saleslady would come out to the car.
Miss Jennie was 68 years old at the time of her murder. She had never married, & only allowed one person to enter Glenburne during the 28 years she lived there. That one person was her cousin, the equally eccentric Duncan C. MINOR, who visited Miss Jennie every evening. It was thought that Duncan was the mysterious caller who notified police of the blood, & disappearance of Miss Jennie, that fateful August night. It was also rumored that Miss Jennie & Duncan had been in love, perhaps lovers, for years. But no one knows, & the secret was buried with them. Duncan was not much of a suspect, but Miss Jennie's neighbors were. Richard "Dick" DANA & his companion, friend, & caregiver, the spinster Octavia DOCKERY, were immediate suspects. Dick Dana, once a popular figure in Natchez, had suffered declining mental health, over the years, & depended upon Octavia to care for him.
Octavia was herself, something of an eccentric. Neither had any source of income, so Octavia began raising farm animals on the grounds of their old house, Glenwood, which had been inherited by Dick, from his parents. Chickens, geese, & goats roamed about the yard, sometimes finding their way to the porch of the old structure that was badly in need of repair. And so it was that Glenburnie became known as The Goat Castle. Sometimes the goats ventured next door, to the flowerbeds belonging to Miss Jennie. At one point, Miss Jennie purchased a rifle & a handgun, & it is thought she shot & killed several goats as they enjoyed lunch. Duncan tried to help. He made plans to purchase The Goat Castle, by paying the back taxes, so he could evict Octavia & Dick. However, Octavia had Dick declared insane, & as such, Dick could not be forced to leave his home. The couple remained, the goats remained, & the house continued to deteriorate, inside & out. Another suspect was John GEIGER, a tenant who lived in a shack, on the Dana property, called the Skumk's Nest. His overcoat was found in The Goat Castle, supposedly left as collateral for back rent. However, when fingerprints belonging to both Octavia & Dick were found at Miss Jennie's home, the poverty-ridden couple was arrested.
Miss Jennie had left a will. Her entire estate, consisting of $250,000 in cash, Glenburne, & two large plantations in Louisiana, was left to Duncan. Only one notation was made, in the will: "I am sure he [Duncan?] will carry out my wishes." Octavia & Dick both loudly proclaimed their innocence. They reported hearing loud noises coming from the Glenburne residence, on the night of the murder. Police were not convinced, & so Octavia & Dick were arrested, & taken to jail. For the first time in years, outsiders entered The Goat Castle. Visitors were aghast at the filth & squalor. The once-beautiful mansion had become home to the hordes of chickens, ducks, geese, & goats that had been allowed to roam at will, making themselves comfortable among the magnificent furnishings.
A leather-bound set of books, & several manuscripts, once belonging to the likes of Robert E. LEE & Jefferson DAVIS, had been chewed to pieces. Wallpaper had come loose, & was left to hang from the walls. Bedding & upholstered furniture had become moldy. Neither Octavia nor Dick slept in the fine four-poster beds, preferring filthy mats that had been placed on the floor in their respective bedrooms. The police thought sure they had the murderers. Then, a twist to the story. Several miles away, in Arkansas, a man named George Pearls had been shot & killed by Pine Bluff police. Pearls had brandished a .32 caliber gun, the same type of gun that had been used to murder Miss Jennie. Natchez townspeople began to wonder, & their questions soon turned to sympathy for Octavia & Dick. A jury could not be formed, and with the help of Ed Ratcliff, a prominent Natchez attorney, Octavia & Dick were released from jail. Finally there was a confession. Emily Burns, a Natchez resident who owned a rooming house, admitted that she & George Pearls had visited Miss Jennie in an attempt to obtain a loan. Miss Jennie, angry over the intrusion, had drawn her pistol. It was then than Pearls shot her. Other evidence collaborated the story, & Emily was convicted & sent to prison. Emily Burns spent less than eight years, in prison, obtaining a pardon by Gov. Paul B. Johnson, Sr., in 1940. Duncan Minor accepted his inheritance, bought a new car, & traveled. At his death, money remaining from the inheritance was left to Miss Jennie's family, presumably in accordance with her wishes.
And what about Octavia & Dick? Their lives took a definite turn for the better. For a fee of .25, visitors could tour the grounds; for another .25, visitors could actually enter The Goat Castle. Dick, who once held a promising musical career, took a bath, shaved, & entertained guests by playing a borrowed piano. Dick Dana died in 1948, a few months before Octivia's death in April, 1949. The Goat Castle was left to out-of-town cousins who auctioned off most of the furnishings. The house was abandoned, & finally torn down in 1955. Glenburne, the home of Miss Jennie, was eventually restored & updated.
