Fact or Fiction: A Mostly-True Crime History Podcast

Fact or Fiction Author Series Presents Connie Yen

June 07, 2022 MaxMin Labs, LLC Season 3 Episode 3
Fact or Fiction: A Mostly-True Crime History Podcast
Fact or Fiction Author Series Presents Connie Yen
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Show Notes Transcript

Today’s guest, Connie Yen, is the author of Sinner and Savior: Emma Molloy and the Graham Murder, the true story of an 1886 murder in Greene County known as “The Graham Tragedy.” In 1886, the nude body of Sarah Graham was found in a well on the Molloy property. Subsequent investigations uncovered a bigamous marriage and other allegedly scandalous happenings in the home of temperance advocate Emma Molloy.  Listen carefully because it’s not easy to know what’s fact and what’s fiction in this unbelievable story!

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Images and resources used in this episode can be found at factorfictionpodcast.com. If you enjoyed this show, please support the pod by giving it a five star rating, writing a complimentary review, or joining the Fact or Fiction Fan Club. Thanks for listening!

Fact or Fiction: Author Series presents Connie Yen

That the preliminary examination of Mrs. Emma Malloy and Coralee Graham, for which George G Graham is now confined in the jail at this county should arouse the interest of thousands of men and women throughout the country is not to be wondered at when it is considered that Mrs. Malloy has for the past 15 years been prominently before the public and has been awarded a place of distinction as the most eloquent and magnetic female orator in America.

Her forte is revival meetings and temperance crusades and wherever she went, her converts were numbered by hundreds in the temperance campaigns of Ohio and Kansas. 

 The developments of the trial thus far have been such as to shock those who believed in the purity of her character and confirmed those suspicions that she has all along been serving the devil in the livery of an angel.

Hi there factor fixing fans.

I'm your host, Laura. And today I am back with another installment of the factor fiction author series. 

Today's guest Connie yen is a writer and archivist with a passion for history and telling stories. She's the author of Sinner and Savior: Emma Malloy and the Graham Murder.

The true story of an 1886 murder in Greene county, known as the gram tragedy. And also she's written a book called a postcard history of Springs. Connie graduated from Missouri state university in 2012, with a degree in history and a minor in Ozark studies. She earned a master's degree in history in 2015, since 2016, Connie has been the director of the green county archives and records center in Springfield.

I'm delighted to welcome Connie to today's episode to discuss center and savior Emma Malloy and the grand birder, and hear a mostly true tale told by a master storyteller Connie will infuse her factual story with one fictional detail. Will I guess the fiction? Will you ?Listen carefully because it is tricky to know if what you hear is fact or fiction Ready to. play?.

Hi, Connie. Welcome to fact or fiction. 

Thank you, Laura. I'm so happy to be here. 

Thanks for joining me. First off, I want to share with the listeners that in all fairness to the factor fixing game, I haven't read your book. Yeah, I know.

So although I plan to do it, I plan to read it as soon as I'm finished recording, because this story is so exciting. Um, it touches on some of the really interesting aspects of American history. There's the temperance movement, the suffrage movement,, and then there's a strong , intelligent character of Emma Malloy, who was a female writer journalist order. And then of course there's the sensational and salacious murder and that murder trial. Yeah, I'm really, I'm really excited to learn about this story. 

It is a fascinating story. 

So I mentioned that you, have your historian with degrees from Missouri state university in Springfield. Are you originally from the Springfield area? 

Yes. I was born in Springfield and I live in Springfield most of my life. 

 How did you come across this Emma Malloy character and the story? 

It was in 2012. I was in my last year as an undergrad. My professor Brooks Blevins had recently written a book called murder and memory about a murder.

And our assignment in this class was to write about a murder story set in the Ozarks and. I Googled several of them and I found Emma and I was immediately hooked. 

So crazy story. 

It's a crazy story. So we had to write about a murder for the class and I really became more fascinated by. Then I was by the whole murder story, but that's how I, I got on board with this.

So I was curious, like reading, I did read a little couple of newspaper articles about her. So do you think if the murder hadn't happened, that she would be as well known today as she is. 

No, probably not. She was extremely well known all over the country at the time, but I think if not for the murder, she would have been forgotten by now.

Most people don't even know what the temperance movement was. 

why don't you tell me about the temperance movement ? 

Well, it started in the early 18 hundreds, uh, at least in the us, it, it really started gaining ground in the early 18 hundreds that began primarily.

As something that men started, various groups like the sons of temperance, the Washingtonians, there was even in the early well in the 1840s, there was a temperance group in Warsaw, Missouri. So it was always in Missouri, even from the beginnings, it spread all across the state. Then in the 1870s in Ohio, there was this thing called the women's crusades.

And this was. A huge movement for women. It was the birth of the women's Christian temperance union. And it was at this point that women really took over the temperance movement. It was something they could do, you know, even though they couldn't vote, it was something they could do, out in the public.

They could speak in public about this. They could write about this. It was socially acceptable. More or less for women to be public on the issue of temperance, because it was a family thing. If men would stay sober, families would be happier. They would be more prosperous. Alcohol was blamed for.

Many of society's ills. So this was something it was acceptable for women to be involved in.

 I always think of Carrie nation and, um, is this the same time period then? Would they've been contemporaries? 

Carrie nation came later in the 18 hundreds, I think. Okay. I haven't studied her as much. She's kind of an extreme example of women in the temperance movement. 

So now you mentioned this as socially acceptable, what did most people think of Emma Malloy as a temperance advocate?

He had a lot of people on her side. She was well-liked mostly, she did have her detractors. Some people thought she should just. You know, go home and be quiet.

It's like women are supposed to do a lot of those people, of course, or the we're, the pro liquor advocates. So it, it, it went both ways for her. . Either way, she was going to do what she was going to do. 

. So she was a strong-willed character. 

Yes. Forged her own path and she didn't worry a whole lot about what anyone else thought.

Should we talk a little bit about her background ? What is it in her background that made her such a strong character? 

First thing. Her first husband was Louis Pratt. She was about 1920 when she married him in Wisconsin, they had two small children, both of whom died when they were toddlers.

She was initially happy in her marriage, but then she soon found out that he was an alcoholic. Oh, that maybe explains part of the temperance.

Exactly. I think this set the stage for her life, her grief in that marriage. Um, Ultimate demise. She divorced him in, um, I can't remember. I think it was 67.

 She remarried shortly thereafter to Ed Malloy who was a newspaper editor. Yes. And it wasn't, but a few years later when the women's crusades came along, That's what really brought the temperance movement to her attention. She found out that she was a good speaker.

That's what got her started on the lecture circuit about temperance. And I really think the foundation of her desire to save men from alcohol was placed on her marriage to Louis the alcoholic. 

She was very committed to this cause. Absolutely because she knew firsthand what it would do to the family and, and, and a person's life.

 Did she end ed Malloy have children themselves together to have one child Franklin. Okay. Franklin? Yes. Okay. And I guess since he was a newspaper man, or he. I think he was a printer, you said, right? Uh, or he had a newspaper editor. Okay. So then, so then she was as his wife, then she was allowed to publish in his paper too, is that yes.

And then I became the first, uh, what they call then? Editors. Editors. Yes. Distinction. Then she was the first female editor in Indiana. Oh, wow. Yes. They worked together on the new school. Oh, that's nice that they could work together . And she continued to travel. She's traveled a lot during their marriage.

Did he travel with her 

as far as I know, he did not really. Not for the most part, but she did have when Franklin was little, she had him along with her occasionally. 

Was this a profitable venture being part of this, temperance, the circuit, I guess. Is that what it's revival circuit.

Is that what that was called or? Okay. 

Oh, well, they, they weren't getting rich, but they were, they were getting by, they had enough money to live enough money for her to keep traveling. 

So, they were married. They had the one son. And then she divorced ed Malloy, is that correct? 

Yes. they got divorced. Um, in the divorce record, she accused him of, um, cruelty. Cruelty that was based solely on the fact that he had moved his parents and to live with them.

I'm so sorry. That's not funny. And they extremely disapproved of her lifestyle and let it be known that they disapproved of her lifestyle. Oh, but they thought she should stay home. Oh, that's actually really heartbreaking. So they were happily married and then his parents needed a place to stay. They they did not approve of her.

Did not approve of her at all. But she continued to work, I guess she ignored them and she decided she was going to. Give up on the marriage, which that's, I mean, this is her second divorce. She's twice divorced in a time she chose divorce at a time when, I mean, it, it, it happened, but it wasn't obviously as common as it is now.

And she chose to divorce. You had to have a reason, then you couldn't just get divorced then, because you wanted to, um, you had to take it to court. You had to be given permission to get divorced and she won. Her divorce in both cases, um, and then got on with her life. Wow. That's amazing. So, so when did these foster cause there were, there was more than one daughter, right?

How many the foster daughters had a bet figure in with their life? 

Well, she had ETA Malloy who she had adopted and she had Cora Ida and Emma Lee, who were her foster daughters. So I believe she had them. I can't remember. She had those when she was had them when she was still with Edward over. If it was right after.

Oh yes. She, she was taking in young women and helping to raise them, which I think that may stem from the fact that her mother died when she was a toddler. She didn't have a mother when she was little. She went to live with some other family for a while until her dad remarried and he took her back.

To live with him. So yes, she was, you know, she wanted to save men from alcohol and she wanted to help young girls who had no mother. Now were these girls, were they, they weren't related, she, she adopted them at different times, different, different families. Okay. Okay. So, wow. She sounds like quite a character, especially.

I mean, I can't imagine being a single mother much less raising. Children. That aren't my own. Well, they weren't, they weren't small. They were, upper teens and a little bit older when she got all of them. So she didn't have several little girls running around the house that she was taking her like braiding everybody's hair.

Right. So, so these, these young lady she adopted when they were older, I assumed they were in difficult circumstances. And she was saving people everywhere. That was her mission in life. Yes. Now one of the things I, I want to touch on, just because I'm interested you mentioned her auditory, uh, did she publish.

Books or, uh, I know she, she wrote some articles, asked him she did write some articles. She wrote some, this was before she got involved in the temperance movement. She wrote poems that were published in newspapers and articles under the pen name, Polly Wiggins kid. She never published any books, but of course you always had.

The newspaper with Edward. And then later she, she ran a couple of newspapers on her own because she wrote for, wow. Okay. Now was that in? Um, where, where are we geographically right now? Where are we still in Indiana? Are we in Ohio, they lived in Ohio too, right? Um, no, no. Okay. Ghana, Illinois, and Kansas actually.

Okay. , so Polly Wiggins, that's weird. I wonder why she, I'm always curious about pen names. I assumed, and I guess this is an assumption. I don't think I read it. Um, so was she involved in the suffrage movement also, or just temperance? Just temperance? I think indirectly she was involved in the suffrage movement movement, just like.

The WCTU as a whole, they didn't start out talking about suffrage. Their goal was temperance. They later started the do everything policy, which was, Frances Willard, who was president of the WCTU for many years. She started to do everything policy, which is actually how Emma met George. Francis Willard started a prison ministry and Emma ended up in charge of that prison ministry in Indiana.

Oh, okay. So they, they started a program where they worked with prisoners. What was that called again?

The do everything, probably me center. Well, the do everything policy that covered the prison ministry. Health, um, juvenile needs, police matrons. It was just endless what it covered. The prison ministry was just one aspect of that. Okay. And so she, I guess, was she speaking at a prison? Was she, what was she doing at this prison?

When she met George Graham? I don't know the exact details. I just believe that's how they met because she wasn't charged with that in 1880, George was in prison doing his. Term. So second term for what? He originally went to prison for check forgery this time he was in for horse theft.

Okay. Upstanding guys. So check for injury and horse stuff. All right. And so how much time had he served? I believe his second term was five years. Oh, I'm not sure that he served that long though, but that's what he was originally sentenced yet. Okay. So, wow. All right. So she met him and what threw them together?

Do you have any idea or? I really don't. Other than, of course she, she wanted to save men from alcohol, um, restore them to their family. When George got out of prison, she got him a job. , it wasn't long before she had the whole family moved in with her, his wife and kids because, , his wife, Sarah Graham or father could not stand George anymore.

He had had enough of him and he wanted them out of his house. That's where they'd been living when he, George first got out of prison. So the family went to live with Emma and she got him a job with her newspaper. Okay. So was he, was he a writer or. No, no, it was, I guess, a Jack of all trades. Oh, okay. I mean, yeah, he can forward, she can steal horses.

He can do all kinds of, I think he had originally worked for the railroad. His father had done. Oh, okay. So what about his family? Did they, do we know anything about them? His mother was deceased. Uh, his father, James Graham. He was still alive. At that time. And he was older he had previously been an employee with the railroad.

And that's about all I know about his family. Okay. But they, so, uh, Sarah Graham, correct. That's her name? Okay. So Sarah, I'm trying to picture this and they're in Indiana at this point, correct? No, they moved to Illinois briefly. And then back to India. . So they're an Indiana. She has at this 0.3 or four foster daughters, three foster daughters .

And is her son still living with her or is he living with his father? Her son, you know, I have never actually read who her son was living with during any of this. I think he was mostly. With his father, because she traveled so much. And I read about her going back to visit him. So he must've lived with his father the majority of the time.

Then she had the four girls. Okay. And now the grand family did, did ed Malloy remarry, do we know that I don't believe he did. There's very little mention of him. He certainly never mentioned her again, but I know of. Oh, my, I mean, he never said anything bad about her. Uh, there was no comment from him that I found during the whole scandal really.

Okay. Cause I'm sure the reporters were knocking down his door, trying to find, any extra dirt they could find on her, you would think so. As far as I know, he didn't talk. Okay. That makes me respect him. Although I'm not sure. I liked that he chose his. His parents over his wife, but you know, I guess who knows, we don't know, we never know what's going on behind closed doors.

 So George Grant, so she invites George Graham into her home. She has these young ladies that she's adopted that range in age from. Late teens, early twenties, late teens, early twenties. Okay. And then George Graham comes there with his wife. How did, uh, Sarah Graham and Emma get along?

Do we know that according to Sarah Cora and Georgia's children, most of the time they got along, um, there was some bickering, occasionally something that Charlie said, George's oldest son. That they bickered a lot, but then if someone was sick, all that was put aside and they took care of each other. 

This is a very, uh, non-traditional blended family. And. Time when that's not, I assume that's not normal. Maybe it was maybe because people, well, you know, because they had to live together because they didn't have the resources. They, so maybe that's not as uncommon. It sure.

Sounds odd to me though. I guess this all stems from Emma's desire to save everyone. Do you think that's, what's going on here? 

So what do we know about George Graham? Other than he was a horse thief and a forger and he was married? What was his personality like? Well, what we gather from the period of the preliminary examination is that George was extremely intelligent.

He was well-read, he was literate. He was charming. Just imagine if he had tried to do something decent with his life. Productive as opposed to destructive. 

So he and Sarah had two sons. And what were their ages? 

Roy was about five years old and Charlie 12 or 13. Okay. And now at this point, When, when they're that age.

So at some point they moved to Springfield, right? Or Kansas, they were in Washington, Kansas. Emma had a temperance newspaper there called the morning and day of reform. The paper failed. There were too many anti temperance people in Kansas. She had come to the Springfield area for a temperance revival and judge baker, a local man talked her into, moving to the area.

So he helped her buy a farm out near Brookline. She moved here with the four girls. It was at that time that George and Sarah separated, she went back to Fort Wayne to live with her father. George came here and as he was confessing to, to Emma, He said, you know, I know Sarah and I have been living together as man and wife these last few years, but we were never actually remarried.

Sarah had divorced him when he went to prison for the first time. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay. So wait a minute. So, so Sarah had divorced him when he went to prison? Yes. When he got out, she remarried. She did remarry him. She did remarry him. Then he went back to prison again, got out.

They were still married. So George is now telling Emma. No, we were never remarried and I would really like to marry your foster daughter Cora. Oh, okay. All right. And how old was core at this? I believe 22 wish. Oh, okay. So that's not, for some reason I had in my head that she was 15. So 22. And how old is George Graham at this point?

Mid thirties, mid thirties. That's not. It's not unheard of, . 

Okay. Sarah left with the boys, correct. I went back to Indiana and then, uh, George convinced Emma that he wasn't actually married, and so then he could marry Cora. So, but he really still was married. But he wanted to marry Cora Cora was in love with him.

And as she said, she just despaired of her life. If she could not be with him and it was convenient for them to get married, it was convenient for Emma, because that way she could leave George there to run the farm with all those girls. Otherwise it really would not have been appropriate for him to be a single man.

They're living with the girl. Sure sure. Judge baker said. Yeah, I think, you know, it's probably a good idea if they go ahead and get married. Oh, so George Baker gave his blessing to this plan to judge baker, judge baker, George judge, whatever. And he was still pretty involved in their life at this point, judge.

'cause he has, he was good friends with Emma. All right. And so they agreed to do this. Okay. Are all of the four girls still living at the house at this point? I'm thinking Ida had married and moved away. So there was. There were still at least three girls at the house. Okay. And they're all in late teens, early twenties.

Yes. So George Graham basically has this harem of young women that face, I mean, I mean, I could see why people are a little suspicious of this after what happens, happens. Obviously. Sarah comes back into his life somehow. How, how does that happen? So George has happily living on the farm with Cora the, um, the local Constable and the post office are getting letters from Sarah's family.

Wondering, you know, we, she left there awhile back to be with her husband and we haven't heard from her since. Oh, so the local people start asking around, they try to be quiet about it. They talked to George. George says, well, she's got a sore hand. So she can't. Right. , they see core in the house and they think, okay, that's his wife.

They didn't know that there were two women at a time. Well, then George gets in a little trouble. Um, things get too hot for him with all these questions. So he forges checks again and skips town. Oh, George there's about it comes back to town. Clears that all up for him, pays off the checks. Well, the questions are still being asked and next thing you know, George is arrested for bigamy and thrown in jail.

So wait, I'm going to back up. Where's the boys at this point or test the boys. George has the boys, so, okay. So they have the boys have to know what happened, kind of I'm getting there. Okay. Okay. I'll listen. So George is in jail for bigamy and the local law enforcement are okay. Georgia side of the way.

We can look for Sarah and earnest. They figured out obviously that Cora is not the one they're looking for. So George was arrested end of January, early February. They're out looking on the Malloy farm. They find her body in an abandoned, well, her nude body in an abandoned, well, her clothes had been removed and strung everywhere.

Some of them had been found out in the field. Some of them were in the Wells. So George finally confessed to big and me, they sent for the marriage certificate in Fort Wayne and proved it. So, okay. I confessed to bigamy, but I didn't kill her. Oh, of course not. Of course not. No, they, they pulled the body from the well, and George is charged with murder.

He waived his right to a preliminary examination. Next thing you know, Cora and Emma are charged. Cora is charged with murder, accessory to murder before the. They thought she knew what happened and helped him cover it up. Emma is charged with accessory to murder after the fact. This is when their preliminary examination starts.

Hmm. Just a few days after Sarah's body was found, George finally confessed to murder. And told his story. Of course, the women were horrified. They saw their life going down. The tubes, chorus found out she's not really married to George. Emma's found out that she has helped this man who has now committed murder and is about to ruin her career.

 Or had got back to Fort Wayne that George had married. So Sarah found out about this. She was not happy. She sent him a telegram saying, meet me in St. Louis. They met in St. Louis. He said he begged her to not come back to Springfield with him.

Well, she wasn't interested. She came back anyway. She said, I am going to come back to Springfield and I want to clear court. Oh, okay. Yes. So they get to Springfield. They leave her trunk at, , face restaurant and boarding house on commercial street. And that's where she leaves the boys as well.

She kissed them. Goodnight said, don't be afraid, boys. I will be back tomorrow to get you. And they proceeded to walk to the Malloy farm. He said all the way there, they argued. He begged her to not ruin him. They're almost to the farm. He claimed that she picked up a stick and was waving it around. He picked up a stick and was widdling, you know, like you do when you're arguing your way to have both your wives meet, right?

Yes. So she took a swing at him with a stick. He raised his arm in self-defense and his knife accidentally cut her throat. Oh yeah. That totally happens. Only happens. Right? Well, that was George's story. He said I was horrified, but I felt since this had already started, I might as well go all the way and he killed her and then he stripped her naked and threw it down a well, exactly.

Yes. Okay. Sure. That's George's story. He exonerated. The women said they had nothing to do with it he confessed to murder. And then the preliminary examination against Cora and Emma started. And that's when all these salacious details came out, whether true or not, um, it really caught the public's attention.

People were horrified, not just that he had committed murder. But the things that, uh, Charlie told them about the three of them, George Koren, Emma sleeping together, literally sleeping, literally sleeping though. Oh, yes. Yes. Just sleeping in the same bed. Okay. So let's back up. Charlie is George's son, the oldest son.

Okay. All right. So he said, he said he saw them sleeping together in one. Yes, just sleeping. Okay. It was the farm so small that that's something that they would have done. Oh, no, I'm sorry. This was back in Kansas. Oh, okay. It all live together, back in Kansas. Oh, okay. Gotcha. Okay. . When, when Sarah was there too at that point? Yes. Okay. Um, And this, this house was tiny enough. That that was, well, it wasn't a huge house, but it was one of those older homes that have a lot of rooms. And he said that, they said that rule was the warmest because that's where the stove was. And even he would go in there.

That's why he went in there because he wanted to get dressed by the stove in the morning where it wasn't. Okay. And they were all sleeping in that room? Yes. Just the three of them. None of the other family. I mean, it wasn't like, it was like a frigid blizzard outside and they were all huddled. They're sleeping.

Okay. And Sarah was downstairs. George's wife was downstairs getting breakfast. Yeah. I mean, who doesn't.

. So this little boy saw this. Did he say this happened regularly? Or was this just one time you saw it or he saw it a few times and he saw Sarah a few times sitting on George's lab. It was something she didn't try to hide apparently. Okay. Sarah sitting on George's lap. Sorry.

Yes. So at this point, her age is what? 40? Yes. Yes. Okay. So she is 40. George is a mid thirties. Cora's early twenties. I assume Sarah is mid thirties too. Right. Okay. All right. And interesting living arrangement. It sounds very interesting, especially. So she sat on his lap.

Okay. Apparently in front of everyone. And that's what Charlie said. That's what Charlie said. Okay. All right. I'm curious what your thoughts are on if Charlie was telling the truth or? Well, he seemed to like it. But he like Tim and Cora, according to him, what he thought of those things. He never really said this.

The saddest thing really, I thought in the whole examination was when he asked, when he was finished with his testimony. He asked if he could have some of his mother's things. Oh, that was just heartbreaking. Oh, poor young man. Oh, I thought that, , that maybe he'd been coached by the, the prosecutor to say those things about the sleeping arrangement , but it doesn't sound like that's what you think you think that he actually, I think he actually, if it's not what he saw, it's what he said.

I don't think anyone coached him. The only thing he had been cold. During the preliminary examination for bigamy, the boys obviously knew their mother had come from St. Louis to Springfield. Right. George told him, you tell everyone she went on to pier city and that's the last you've seen ever.

If you tell anyone the truth, I will wake you both. Yes. Yes. So that was the original story they told after the murder, that whole story. And of course, George, his confession story was dropped. So now what did George say about this, uh, this unusual sleeping arrangement and may be, uh, Emma sitting on his lap.

 What was his take on that? You know, when he confessed, he exonerated both women, but then when all this started. He wrote a lot of letters to the newspaper that were published. Reporters had easy access to him and he talked a lot. And he wrote a lot. He claimed all kinds of crazy things, such as he had been having an affair for years with Emma and Cora, and they both knew it.

He said Cora had been pregnant several times with his children and had abortions. And if he had never met Emma and Cora, he would not be in this mess. Exactly. Okay. I'm not sure I'm believing this because he's the one who's been in jail. Emma basically saved him. Exactly. Um, wow.

So then what happened after that? So Emma and Cora where they found guilty, were they, and, well, this was just the preliminary examination to decide what they were going to do with all this evidence. And after this ended, the public was just overwhelmed, outraged, and that's when George was broken out of jail by a mob and taken a few blocks away and lynched.

Oh, no. Yes. So we never got to hear George's other side of the story in a trial because he was lynched. . So all we have are these reports that he thinks that he told the newspaper? Yes. And the preliminary examination. Okay. He did actually tell the authorities in the preliminary examination that he had been sleeping with both of them for you.

Uh, he said that in the newspaper. Okay. So he never testified because he waived his right to preliminary examination. , that's right. You said that. . And so people from Springfield area broken manager jail, which Tim, and then what happened? Well, it's interesting. Um, there was a letter that Emma wrote to George and I found this in one of her attorneys, probate records at the archives. Oh, wow. Okay. It was just the most wonderful thing. And in that letter, one of her comments was I feel like, and I'm paraphrasing here because I can't remember it.

Exactly. I feel like this. This thing would be tough. The horror would be topped off if George were lynched in the same town where I am, and that was exactly what happened. She was here in Springfield when he was lynched. Oh, wow. Okay. . So what happens to Emma and, uh, and Cora after all this, are they, do they just give up on the trial since there's no George anymore, they still have the charges against coronary. So that was an early 86.

It wasn't until 1887 Cora went to trial and they had to change the venue to Christian county. Okay. So she had a trial and OSR. Um, it took a couple of times first. There was a hung jury. She went to trial again, and that time she was acquitted. Oh, good. Okay. Yes, I know she was acquitted. The prosecutor, John Patterson just said, forget it.

Drop the charges against Emma. He said, I have the same evidence again against Emma that I have against Cora. And if it didn't work against her, what's the point. Okay. So both women were finally free, but I am guessing that Emma's career was ruined at this point. Wasn't it? For the most part, it was ruined.

She no longer. Worked on the national stage. Uh, she remarried. Oh, good. Yes. She had already been doing some workout west. Her and her husband moved to port towns in Washington. He continued her work out there on the west coast, Washington, Oregon, and California, sometimes in Idaho. But yes, her national career was over.

So what happened to Cora after all this Cora moved to Nebraska, she had some relatives there. She ended up marrying. Um, I forgotten his first name. His last name was Juul. They were married for several years. He was the county clerk where they lived. She was after a few years, she was a widow. Okay. , never had any children.

She later moved out west, I think Wyoming to live with a sister and eventually ended up in Seattle, which is where she died. Gosh, all the way up, I think 1943. Wow. Yeah, she lived a very long time. Yeah, how, chorus story, super sad. It is. And the two women after all of this, they'd been so close before and Emma , helped raise Cora, but they never spoke to each other.

Again, the trauma of the whole thing. They just wanted nothing else to do with. Oh, that's tragic on so many levels. It is. So, especially since they both ended up on the west coast, they were so close to each other, but, oh, um, so is there anything else that you want to tell me that that we haven't hit on?

That's part of the story that we missed that you think is important. Yes. Um, during all of this, so much of it's going wrong for Emma, her son, Franklin in Indiana drowned. Yes, he was out, he was in a boating accident. He was out on a lake with a young woman and I don't know what happened, but they drowned.

Oh yes. It was just horrible. She went through so much and never lost her faith. She just kept going. And in her, will she stated that she wanted to be buried her body taken back to Indiana to be buried with next to her son, Franklin and her wishes were not granted. She, when she died in 1907, she was buried next to her husband in port Townsend.

 And she didn't have any other children, . Biological children. Franklin was the only one. Okay. Well, this was just a super sad story. It really is. Wow. Um, do we know what happened to the blaze like Charlie and Roy? I have not found Roy, but Charlie, I believe. Oh Sarah Graham sister, and brother-in-law from Indiana, Abigail and Timothy.

They had moved here to be here during the trial. They can build the boys and actually moved to Monique, Missouri, tracing them there. But I did find Charlie. He later became a barber and moved back to Indiana. Unfortunately, I have not found Roy. Wow crazy. Well, okay. Now you've told me a bunch of really hard to believe things here.

So, um, it's about time for me to play factor fiction. Um, we're going to pause a moment for a word from our sponsor and then we'll be right back.

welcome back listeners. I'm here with historian, archivist and author Connie yen, who has been discussing her book center and savior Emma Malloy and the Graham murder.

Connie just shared a very crazy, uh, but apparently mostly true. I'm not sure if I believe her, but she says it is. And now she's agreed to give me four details from the story. One of which is for invention. , okay, Connie, I'm not sure I'm ready for this. Oh, let's give it a go. All right. So four things. 

, Emma son, Franklin drowned. Okay. Emma is buried in port towns in Washington. Ah, okay. Let's see. What else do we have? Um, her and Cora never spoke to each other again, after the trials and Cora moved to Nebraska and. Oh, so which one is fiction, man? Cora. Okay. They never spoke and Cora moved to Nebraska and married.

. Huh. , . I'm going to go through them again real quick. Ms. San Franklin drowned. , Emma is buried in port towns in Washington, although she wanted to be buried in Indiana, near her son. , and that of course never spoke after the traumatic events of the trial and then Cora, married and moved to Nebraska of all places.

Um, Hmm. Well, I don't want to say it's true, but it seems like Emma son drowning, just, it fits with the narrative. Everything is so bad for these varieties. Um, then, uh, Ooh, the body buried in Washington's. I don't know about that. , it seems like it would be expensive to have the body sent all the way to Indiana.

So I guess maybe I think that's true that they never spoke again. I'm not sure on that one. They didn't do anything to each other, but I can see how people want to just forget it. You know, if there was a tragic event, Pretend just to get on with life. I totally believe that she married and went to Nebraska though.

So, um, I'm going to say, I think my fiction choices that they never spoke again. I was at it. That's it? Oh my gosh, absolutely spoke again. Oh good. Oh good. That's I'm so glad. That's what they did. Oh, yay. And then Ethan mentioned her in her. Will she left her some books and I believe some joy. Oh, my goodness.

Okay, good. Keep in contact. Oh, well that's a happy factor fiction that I guess I was really worried. It was, it was something else. And like I said, maybe, oh, they did send her body. I don't know. Those were good choices. . I wasn't sure. Yay. Yeah. Yeah. Um, all right, Connie, that was so much fun. Thanks for participating on my show.

, everybody had posted a link to Connie's book again, it's called center and savior Emma Malloy, and the Graham murder. , and people can find that on Amazon. Amazon and Barnes and noble website, cool. Um, yeah, so I posted the link on, on the factor fiction podcast.com site, as well as on the factor fiction, Facebook page.

And I encourage everyone to check it out. I know I am going to start reading it right away. 

I'll be back soon with a regular episode of fact or fiction. I tell them listen carefully because it's tricky to know if something is fact or fiction. Bye. Thank you. Thank you so much, Connie. Yeah. , again, thank you so much. And this was fun. It was fun. I think it's going to be amazing when it's finished, so. All right. Thanks a lot.

Bye. Bye.