Welcome to the Lore of the South Lord of the South.

Did you know that the first female rural mail carrier in the United States was Mrs. Mamie Thomas? She began delivering the mail in 1914 by horse and buggy in the area. Southeast of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Hey y'all. Welcome back to Laura the South with Kelly Cruz. You're back, back from round two. Let's see, what have we been up to around here? Um, we spent the past weekend in St. Augustine, which so happens to be the oldest European settlement in North America, the oldest to be continuously occupied. That is settled in 1565, I think.

But I digress. What we were in St. Augustine for, we were visiting family from out of town. And also this time of year, St. Augustine puts on an amazing light displays all over the city. Um, we did the little trolley ride around town and it was just a beautiful thing to see. Also, St. Augustine is probably my very favorite place in all of Florida.

Um, and we'll definitely be visiting there in future episodes. Now if you would like to see a couple of my picks from our little trip and picks that will go along with this podcast, the story that we're gonna be sharing, be sure to follow us on social media. Just search Laura the South on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

I'll admit I'm not much of a twitterer, but I'm trying to get better. I mentioned previously that I listened to a lot of podcasts in a week or so ago. B. C. C, also known as Bigfoot Collectors Club, had a guest on from Pascal, Mississippi. His name's Carl Tart. He mentioned a couple of stories from his hometown that I had never heard of, so that triggered the research, which led to this episode you were about to hear.

And here is the odd tale of the Phantom Barber of Pascagoula, Mississippi. Government officials insist of this. December 7th, 1941, Japan launches a surprise attack on the US Naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, America turns from great depression recovery to the war efforts and record speed. Small, southern coastal towns are swept into the wartime preparation along with more industrialized areas in the country.

That brings us to a small fishing village in Pascagoula, Mississippi that has been transformed into an enormous shipyard for the US Navy seemingly overnight.

Spring 1942, Pascagoula Mississippi's population swells from a mere 5,000 to around 15,000. The upsurge in jobs and population has the small town economy booming, and with that boom comes a lot of mischief and a bit of lawlessness. Pascagoula small police force was stretched pretty thin. Having so many more citizens to watch over and guard against the constant threat of Nazi saboteurs.

Friday, June 5th, 1942 begins the short reign of terror by the Phantom Barber of Pascagoula, so named for his clandestine hair trimming on unsuspecting victims. His first victims were two young sisters, Mary Evelyn and Laura Briggs, who were sleeping in their room at the convent of our Lady of Victories.

The girls were awoken by a sound of someone clam out of their open window. The two were unharmed, but both were missing locks of hair. The Briggs girls were the only victims to even get a vague description of the phantom barber. Mary Evelyn described the intruder as sorta short and sort of fat, and he was wearing a white S sweatshirt, but that wasn't much for police to go on.

Monday, June 8th, the barber invaded the bedroom of six year old fraternal twins who lay sleeping in a shared bed. The barber had sliced a hole through the window screen to gain entry, where he then proceeded to remove a lock of Carol Petit's hair. Her twin brother was untouched. Friday, June 12th, the barber strikes again.

Once again, he enters through a slashed bedroom window screen. This time the barber wasn't there for his usual lock snipping. This time he was there to commit what seemed like an act of vengeance. Tonight's victims were the son and daughter-in-law of a local magistrate. The barber stocked towards the sleeping heidelbergs with an iron rod in his hand, and then proceeded to beat the couple in the face and head.

Mrs. Heidelberg lost her front teeth and her husband was beaten into unconsciousness. The brittle attack was carried out and ended so quickly that Mrs. Heidelberg was unable to describe the attacker. The Pascagoula police immediately launched an investigation. They deputized six men and used tracking dogs to try to follow the scent of the phantom barber.

The dogs were able to follow a trail into the nearby woods where a pair of bloodstained gloves were found. The police thought that the phantom barber might have had a bicycle stashed and waiting for him to aid in his getaway after this last attack. It had a definite effect on the men who worked the night shifts at the naval yard.

The workman being concerned for the safety of their families left at home and unguarded began to not show up for their scheduled night shifts. These nighttime visits from the Phantom Barber had to stop. He was having a direct effect on the morale and productivity of these men who were there to help defeat the Axis powers.

By helping to rebuild the US Navy, Mrs. R r Taylor became the last victim of the Phantom Barber. She reported to police that she was briefly awoken by something with a sickening smell before falling unconscious. When she regained consciousness, she became extremely ill and upon recovery, found that she was missing a chunk of hair.

Police determined that the barber had slashed Mrs. Robert's screen and then placed her rag soaked and chloroform over her mouth and nose before cutting her hair. The attacks then cease as suddenly as they began weeks go by then. It's two months later. And there hasn't been any more midnight Phantom Barbara attacks.

Then seemingly out of nowhere, the police announced an arrest. They have 57 year old William Dolan in custody. Dolan is a German trained chemist who also had a grudge over a legal matter with Heidelbergs father. These things might not have tied him directly to the crimes, but the circumstantial evidence was pretty great.

The police also claimed to have found a bag of hair secret away in Dolan's backyard. Some of the hair was later matched to Young Carol Petit by the F B I. Dolan is tried and quickly found guilty for attempted murder of the Heidelbergs and sentenced to 10 years. He was never tried for the escapades of the Phantom Barber.

Though most of Pascagoula believed Dolan was indeed the Phantom. Throughout the trial and his imprisonment, Dolan maintained his innocence. Was Dolan guilty? Was he a Nazi sympathizer? A Nazi plant sent to undermine the morale and the speed of which the Navy rebuilt its fleet, or was he a scapegoat to put the shipyard worker's minds at rest so that the men could all get back to work and not worry about wives and children Left home alone at night.

Six years into Dylan's sentence, governor Wright reviewed the case. He ordered Dolan to take a lie detector test, and once it was passed, Dolan was given a suspended sentence. And then fully freed in 1951. It is still debated to this day on whether or not William Dolan was truly guilty or not. Was he a Nazi or a pawn?

We might never know.

So what was stolen? Was he a Nazi plant? Was he the town scapegoat? Just a creeper with a hair fetish, or none of the above. Share your opinions on our social media pages. Just search for Laura. This sound. Also, I would like to thank my husband, Michael, for providing the old timey news, real voice, and for his hard work producing these episodes.

He is literally the best. Until next time, please give us those five stars, like us. Follow us and subscribe. Maybe just tell a friend and we'll talk to y'all next time on Laura the South.