Santería, Witches, and Puritans oh my! Mix in some Husker homeland and a touch of paranormal mystery and you have this week’s guest on The Malliard Report. Welcome one Ileata Kenley: Paranormalresearcher, author, and Malliard Report fan to the show. Ileata joins Jim to discuss hauntings of the Midwest, house cleansing, and some of the darker sides to a particularly staunch 18 th century religious movement.
The mid to late 1800s in America bore witness to one of the largest migratory movements in
history. Known as the “Homestead Acts”, a series of various laws passed in hopes to suppress growth of southern plantations and increase the span of what was known as the “Yeoman Farmer.” (Yeoman Farmer essentially meaning the everyday, Joe six-pack, type person) Even though mass amounts of land was more or less just there for the taking (in some areas such as the Oregon Territory during the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 people were able to claim up 640 acres for free!) there were still disputes of boundaries and borders and such is the basis for one of the most notorious hauntings of Nebraska.
One of Ileata’s favorite cases/hauntings actually ties back to this period in history. In 1885,
Nebraska saw its first and only lynching of a woman. Failing to heed the warnings from Elizabeth Taylor about harvesting timber from her land, a neighboring farmer was shot and killed by her two teenaged sons. Already under scrutiny for the strange disappearance of her husband, tired of her constant feuding with neighbors, and now the murder of a fellow farmer the local people had reached their tipping point.
A vigilante group was quickly formed and decided to give Elizabeth and her brother (Tom Jones…another oddly coincidental celebrity name…another thread for another time) thirty days to get out of town. Not being one to shy away from confrontation (obviously) Elizabeth and Tom refused to acquiesce to the demands of the mob. Feeling as though they had given more than enough of a fair opportunity, the mob sprang into action. Forcibly removing Elizabeth and Tom from their home, the group tied them up and led them to a nearby wagon bridge where they were offered one final chance to confess their crimes. Again denying any wrong doing, Elizabeth and Tom were placed on horses and led under the bridge where ropes were then tied to their necks and the bridge. Guns were fired to spook the horses causing them to run out from underneath the two. You can figure out what happens next. Eight
men from the posse were arrested and brought to trial for the lynching but were quickly released due to “insufficient evidence” found against them in the lynching. It is said that the events from that day can be heard in addition to their ghosts roaming the area.
On this episode Jim and Ileata also discuss the spiritual cleansing of homes, tulpas, residual
effects of Santería on a family, the battle between Puritans and Witches, and much more. To follow Ileata, you can find her on Twitter @Ileata and for all things Malliard head over to www.malliard.com or @Malliard on Twitter.
