Episode 4: Mary the Wonder

In this episode we talk about the mystery of Beale Street's alleged 'Voodoo Queen' Mary the Wonder. We also feature the herb of the month and current happenings at the museum.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:14

You are listening to Roots Under Beal, the official podcast of the Bill Street Hodoo History and Folk Life Museum.

SPEAKER_05 0:26

Well let's be them hoodoo women.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Welcome in. I am Tony Kell, the curator of the Bill Street Hodo History and Folk Life Museum, located at the top of A. Schwab, the oldest business on Bill Street in Memphis, Tennessee. I hope you're doing well this week. And we had some good news this past month. We got to see where the cast director and actors of the movie Sinners received a record-breaking 16 nominations at the Oscars and took on four of those Oscars. So congratulations to Michael B. Jordan and the cast. And so we're always uh very encouraged by positive depictions of the tradition. We also had an opportunity this month to appear on the Jack Dappa blues radio show. Jack Dappa is the work of folklorist and blues musician Lamont Pearlie. And Lamont is an amazing guy. He spoke at the Tennessee Folklore Association gathering several years ago. And it was just a treat to hear him and to see the work that he does on a daily basis. And it's always exciting to see someone who has one foot in the academic study and one foot in the actual cultures. And so we just thank him for his work. And you can find that show on YouTube if you look up Jack Dappa Blues Radio, and the show focused on black folk belief, Hoodoo in the Blues, the Hidden Spiritual World of Blues People. So check that out if you didn't get a chance to hear it. Also, we had been uh given the good news that we are now located in the site Atlas Obscura. And if you're not familiar with Atlas Obscura, it is a virtual online map of unique museums around the world. And so the Bill Street Hodo History and Folklife Museum is very excited to be included now in that site. We've recently had visitors from Germany, Australia, we've had uh visitors from Washington, we've had visitors from Mississippi, Ohio, and Texas. And it's always a privilege to be able to share the history of the Hoodoo tradition and its importance to the people of Memphis, Tennessee. And as always, we love Memphis and love the people and culture of Memphis and want to seek to preserve that in a very respectful and honoring way. And so we are very excited when we're able to share information about this to visitors from outside the region. This week, I'm very excited to share with you some research on something that's always been a little puzzling to me, and that is a particular personality that had been said to exist on Bill Street for years. And this was this mysterious quote voodoo queen known as Mary the Wonder. And we would read about Mary the Wonder in books on Memphis history, Memphis Blues history. We would see there are even YouTube videos about alleged stories of Mary the Wonder. But it is very interesting. The more I had talked to people who have worked on Bill Street all their lives, they never heard of this person, and they never heard of the historical aspects of this person. And so we did a deep dive into Mary the Wonder and found some really interesting information we want to share with you this week. So we will jump into that momentarily, and we want to thank you for listening to Roots Under Bill, the official podcast of the Bill Street Hodo History and Folklife Museum. And one of the names that comes up through the years is a name known as Mary the Wonder. Over the last number of years, there's been a number of books and documentaries about Bill Street and the legacy of blues music, and many famous establishments on Bill have come and gone. Over time, places like the Panama Club, the Monarch Club, and Pee-Wee Saloon all make up Bill Street's rich historical timeline. And early life on Bill has been painted as stories of juke joints, spontaneous concerts with blues legends, and tales of gambling, and even voodoo in Dark Alleyways. One of the most consistent personalities on Bill that is mentioned in several publications speaks about this mysterious voodoo practitioner named Mary the Wonder. Some publications, like the 1967 book Reflections of a River Town, describe her as Mary the Wonder, a voodoo queen that practiced, quote, the black arts. Frequent descriptions of Bill Street history include similar passages as this one, found in a 1965 article in the Memphis-based Commercial Appeal newspaper, as it describes Bill Street. The article says the Panama had a bartender named Bill Bailey, who is a sharp dresser who may have been the inspiration for the song, in which a fellow of that same name is entreated to come on home. The second floor of the Panama housed a voodoo practitioner called Mary the Wonder. Years later in 1970, the Memphis Housing Authority issued a booklet called Bill Street USA, where the blues began. And it includes a section titled Bill's Voodoo Queen, describes the infamous Panama Club, and this. Bill Bailey, the Panama bartender, was the street's fashion plate, and the reputation of the building which housed the emporium was further enhanced, no doubt, by the presence of Mary the Wonder, a voodoo practitioner who held forth on the second floor. Bill Street businessman and civil rights legend George Washington Lee, also known around our region as Lieutenant Lee, wrote an extensive description of his experience with Mary the Wonder in his 1937 novel River George. Critics have noted that the novel, while said to be fiction, married much of Lee's actual life. Lee's book introduces Mary the Wonder as a Bill Street voodoo practitioner. And the book's protagonist, a character named Aaron George, is introduced to Mary by Mistress Annie Bell. Annie lived on 4th Street in Memphis, and she advises Aaron in the book that he needs to seek the help of Mary the Wonder because George is struggling with an awful heartache after he lost his love and some emotional turmoil that he endured after having to kill a white man in defense of himself. After suggesting that he visit Mary, the young man tells Annie, Voodoo will not help this situation. The character Annie takes him from her house on fourth down to the corner of Hernando and Bill. Mary is described as a tall, brown-skinned woman. She is standing on the corner of the street announcing her spiritual products. She tells listeners that she has, quote, a sure shot that will help open vein valves and will bring peace to homes where husbands suffer with nervous conditions. She's then described as lifting a root from the table she has set up on the street, and she describes it as swamp root, saying that it needed to be dug up only under a new moon. She then proceeds to lift another mysterious root and suggests that this would need to be dug up when there is no moon to be seen. She then tells passerbys that the combination of both roots can remove a cold and provide protection from any sickness. She says, They have done invented machinery to do quick work, and I invented medicine to make quick cures. She announces that she can call up spirits and can make them do her bidding as she announces proudly, Mary the Wonder is a mystery. That's what Washington says about me. Lee would go on to describe Mary's philosophy regarding healing. She would say, I ain't so much for myself, but I am for the public of the people. I put sight back into the eyes of the blind. I snatch folks away from trouble. I've done giving women folk back their sweethearts and husbands. I am Mary the Wonder. Annie would tell George, When you talk to Mary, it's just like you were talking to God. Annie arranges for George to see Mary the Wonder. Mary lives in an apartment over the club known as the Panama Club on Bill Street. When George arrives at Mary's home, he is greeted by a maid dressed in a uniform. He describes the room as being very dark, and he's startled when a flame was said to erupt inside of a bowl. Mary the Wonder appears as if out of nowhere, dressed in a robe. She walks into the room holding her hands up with her palms out. She then proceeds to tell George that she knows he has problems with a woman, and she advises him to go to the Beaver Dam plantation where she lives and to locate a large dogwood tree. She tells him to dig at the base of the tree where he will locate a woman's hat. She then tells George to climb the tree and to drive a nail into that hat onto the highest limb in the tree. He is then advised to walk around the base of the tree seven times. She then advises George that this will break the woman's hold on his heart. George tells Mary that he is in love with the woman, but he also tells her he's not in love with his friend Annie, who has grown fond of him. Mary advises him that Annie has done something. She has taken roses and has burnt them and spread the ashes of the roses around his bed in order to affect him. Later in the book, Annie gives George a charm that Mary the Wonder had created. The charm is described as a tiny red flannel bag shaped like a heart. There are small white crosses on the bag with a string connected to the bag. Mary tells Annie that that bag is filled with thunderstones and gunpowder and other materials. The bag was to be worn as a necklace for protection. And after George is sent to war in France, he returns home to hear a message from Mary. She advises him that he should use the name George Thomas in his business dealings, as it will give him good luck. The majority of the book follows George's journey as he runs from authorities. George is captured, and the police reveal that he was discovered after Mary the Wonder gave information to police. The book closes with a focus on the charm that George was given by Mary the Wonder. Now, this book was a work of fiction, but how much information about Mary the Wonder was taken from real life? Who was this Mary? Where did she come from? And why do we not have much history of the alleged Bill Street voodoo priestess? The Arkansas Osceola Times on July 18, 1903, shared an interesting story about a group of socialites. The story mentioned that a Miss Pearl Uzel left Monday to join her sister, Miss Helen, and a party of Memphis friends for a month to go to Bon Aqua Springs. The story also says that a woman named Mary the Wonder predicted that many threads of fate were tangled up in this trip and that Prince Charming would appear on the scene. Later on, two years later, an individual by the name of Mary the Wonder is mentioned in a 1905 list of persons who had not picked up their mail at the Memphis, Tennessee Post Office. The June 5th, 1905 edition of the Memphis Commercial Appeal listed that there were four pieces of mail from Mary the Wonder. Later that year in November, the appeal re-released this report, but they released two additional words that became perhaps a clue into understanding who this character may be. Not only did it say Mary the Wonder had mail at the post office, but it said Mary the Wonder of Jamaica was now listed as the woman on Bill. 1908, some three years later, Mary the Wonder found herself in hot water with local authorities in Muscogee, Oklahoma. A local paper reported the seduction case of Mary D. Taylor, the alleged native of India who claims to be the descendant of the historic Pocahontas and who now hails from the village of Fort Smith, Arkansas, against Jacob Brown, the wealthy Creek Negro of Boynton, against who she recently filed a$50,000 breach of promise case in district court. It goes on to talk about the prosecutor, and it says that when the prosecuting witness was on the stand, they took her by surprise by flashing a copy of a circular that had been sent out through Muskogee, Oklahoma, when she was posing as someone named Madame Taylor. The circular made the announcement that she was known as Mary the Wonder of Jamaica and that she was here for a while to cure pain and renew youth. The ad went on to say, to say, change your luck and make things look better. It was after this. The article concludes saying that she is a big woman, said to possess enormous strength, and the lawyers for her are trying to make it appear that their client is a mere child. Some five years following this, she would show up in ads again in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The ads read East End Cafe at 113 North Greenwood. Mills for 10 cents, 15 cents, and 25 cents, managed by Madame Taylor. Mary, the wonder of Jamaica. She will read your mind and tell your future. The same year, she began to advertise services again in Muscogee. Madam Taylor, hurry, hurry, hurry. Those who want to see Madame Taylor must call in the next three weeks. After three weeks, she'll be found at her home office at 1100 South 2nd, rooms 16 and 18, Muskogee, Oklahoma. Mary, the wonder of Jamaica, reads your mind, tells past and future, all diseases, weakness of males and females are cured, chronic and acute rheumatism is cured. Mary will read your mind, recall your friends dead and alive. She will make the lame walk in the blind sea. Lost in hidden treasures can be located. Come one, come all. I will convince you, frankly, treatments and Turkish baths given. Also, massage, manicuring, and hairdressing. A man named John McCoy was on crutches for 13 weeks with blood poison. Two treatments with Mary, and he was walking without them. In my rooms, I have piles of crutches left by people who have been cured, and my services are in constant demand. Later on in 1911, a different ad would appear in the Muscogee Daily Phoenix, advertising a place known as the Jamaica Hotel, which was the home for classical people of modern means. The ad promised plain and Turkish baths from proprietors Madame Taylor and J.E. Smith. Was this a reference to Mary's nickname as Mary the Wonder of Jamaica? Two years later in 1913, an ad popped up in Colgate, Oklahoma, that announced the coming of Mary the Wonder to the city. The ad opens up with Madame Taylor. Mary the Wonder of Jamaica is now in Colgate and will be here for four weeks. The ad features many of the promises to heal and restore sight to the blind, with a promise that we will use no medicines. All help comes from Almighty God, signed Madame Taylor. She's mentioned in an ad later that year with the description of Madame Taylor, Hindu seer, who will read the minds of men and women. Was a legendary Mary the Wonder of Bill Street actually someone different than a quote voodoo queen? We know that in early Memphis history, anything that was related to healing traditions, particularly in the African-American community, would be referred to with terms like voodooism, hoodoo, and conjure. It's quite possible that Mary the Wonder was altogether someone different than a voodoo practitioner. Fictional legends may have painted the image of this mysterious female spiritual worker. Did Mary embrace local cultural traditions like voodoo on Beale as part of her identity, as part of her gimmick? We will continue to dig, but as of now, the mystery of Mary the Wonder remains a mystery.

SPEAKER_02 20:30

Looking for traditional hoodoo spiritual supplies? Need some ingredients for your mojo bag? Look no further than Aishwab. Located at 163 Bill Street. We have a selection of traditional herbs and roots, such as John the Conqueror, Oris Root, and that Lucky Hand route. We also carry an array of candles, powders, oils, and incense. Don't forget about those old-time dream books, like the classic Kansas City Kitty. We've got them. So come see us at Aschwab and keep that mojo working.

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Come from miles around. Running down my prescription. I got medicine to cure all y'all's ill. I got remedies of every description. Green green gun.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

This week's hoodoo herb of the month is life everlasting. Also called rabbit tobacco. The herb is used in the hoodoo tradition for protection against negative energies, spiritual healing, and clearing spaces of negativity. It can also be used in the creation of spiritual baths and has been used in teas to break fevers. And cold life everlasting can be hung in the home for protection. And that is the Beale Street Hoodoo History and Folk Life Museums Herb of the Month.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

And this is going to conclude another episode of Roots Under Bill, the official podcast of the Bill Street Hudu History and Folk Life Museum. I am your host, Tony Cale, and I hope to see you back next month. And we invite you to come see us at 163 Bill Street and the A. Schwab building, the top floor of A. Schwab. And we hope to have some more events coming up soon, and we will definitely let you know about those. Check us out online at Atlas Obscura and Hodoo Museum.org. Thank you so much for your time. We appreciate you. And Memphis, we love you.

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My mojo it failed. My love will never fail. When I rub my root, my Johnny Congaroo. Well, you know that ain't nothing she can do. Now I rub my Johnny Congaroo. I will choose the murder in the first degree. The judge might cry. Let the man go free. I was rubbing my root. My John the Congaroo. Yeah, nobody nothing that you can do. Well I rub my John and the Congo. Don't have a dime. All I have to do to rub my root. I will win every time. When I rub my root, my John the Kongaroo. Well, you know ain't nothing you can do.