Southern Souls: Stories from the Stones

In 1962, a former Marine Corps expert helicopter pilot left on a routine flight to take an oil executive to an oil rig in Bay Marchand in South Louisiana. But routine turned into tragedy on the return flight. And one question still lingers today: is the body of Maxwell Hanna Jr under his tombstone in Fillmore Cemetery? Or does it still rest at the bottom of the bay?

November 7, 1910, was an exciting day for Virgil Roby. Not only would he get to visit the Louisiana State Fair, but he would also get to ride in an automobile to get there. But the exciting day turned tragic when the car young Virgil was riding in with his family was driven onto the train tracks, stalled, and the driver abandoned the family to their fate.

A shooting. A manhunt. And a mob that took justice into its own hands. In 1912, Percy Alexander's murder set off a chain of events that would leave two men dead and forever mark Shreveport's history.

In June 1881, a crying infant appeared at the kitchen door of a Shreveport family. No name. No note. No explanation. Just a newborn baby abandoned in the early morning darkness. As news spread, the city rallied around the child. The newspaper would posit that the child was destined for greatness...but his story would prove to be far shorter and more tragic.

In this episode, we follow the episode of the Rousseau family, reconstructing the final moments that led to a disaster and exploring how nearly an entire family came to rest underneath one monument in Madisonville Cemetery. Sometimes the most haunting graves are not the oldest or the most grand, but the ones that remind us of how quickly everything can change.

Former Confederate officer, Louisiana state senator, respected planter, and family man, Samuel Milton Thomas seemed an unlikely murder suspect. Yet in the early hours of one morning, he entered a room at Rush Point Plantation and shot his brother-in-law, Hugh Dickson, in the head. What followed was one of the most sensational trials in Louisiana history. At the center of the case was Thomas's...

In 1936, a political wager sent two men on a journey across half the country to Washington D.C. What began as a local joke became a nationwide sensation as newspapers covered the journey of the "Louisiana Spirit," bringing some relief from the misery of the Great Depression.

In this episode, we visit the grave of James Sanborn, a man remembered not only for the tragic way his life ended on a railroad track in Frierson, Louisiana, but also for the friends who tried to save him...and memorialized him when they failed. Content Warning: This episode discusses a case directly involving suicide. Listener discretion is advised.

Dr. Thomas Ford was a respected, well- loved physician in the city of Shreveport. To many, he was an angel of healing. But on a morning in 1886, Dr. Ford became an angel of death to one man as he stalked him through the streets of New Orleans.

Not all lives are lived in the headlines, marked by scandal and violence. Some lives are about loss, resilience, and rebuilding after tragedy. This is the story of a man remembered not for the headlines, but for the life he quietly lived in a town that bears his name.

In the early 20th century, a shadowy organization threatened violence on families in an effort to extort money. In 1911, a Black Hand letter appeared in Shreveport, and the case that followed would shock an entire state.

In late 19th century Shreveport, one woman's name appeared in newspaper headlines again and again: Fannie Roos. Known as a courtesan and proprietress of a house of ill repute, she stood at the center of violence, scandal, and the lives of the men who crossed her path. This is the story of Fannie Roos, the woman at the center of Shreveport's vice district for a decade.

In 1930s Louisiana, one man's violent temper spilled over from his home into the streets of the small town of Gilliam...with deadly consequences. In this episode, we explore the story of Will Doles, his deadly feud with a neighbor, and the woman who rose out of the violence to create a better life for herself and her son. Every stone has a story. Southern Souls: Stories from the Stones explore...

Post-Civil War Louisiana was a hard place. Many men never returned home, others came back changed, and the landscape itself still bore the scars of war. But then...a dancing master came to town. In this episode, we explore the life of M M Romby, a dancing master, award-winning fiddler, and man whose music crossed social and racial lines in a deeply divided South. Every stone has a story. Southern...

In 1886, the small town of Arcadia, Louisiana, was shaken by the gruesome murder of a quiet citizen. The entire country would soon be shocked by the mob justice that followed. In this episode, we briefly cover the life and murder of Johnie Lafelle and examine a moment when small-town justice may have gone terribly wrong. Every stone has a story. Southern Souls: Stories from the Stones explores the...

In 19th-century journalism, newspaper editors did not just write the news...they fought it. Ink, fists, pistols, shotguns, and even cane swords could be the chosen weapons. In this episode, we explore the turbulent life of brilliant young newspaper editor, Charles McDonald Puckette, from the proposed shotgun duel that kept the city on edge to the quiet cemetery where he now rests under a tombstone...

In 1935 Bossier City, LA, an argument between two men ended in gunfire, leaving a man known as Smokey Joe dead. What happened that night would be argues in court and debated across the city. In this episode, we cover the story of Smokey Joe Feducia, from the deadly confrontation at the Chicken Inn, to the grave yard where he now rests. Every stone has a story. Southern Souls: Stories from the Ston...

In rural 1880s Louisiana, a family fight escalated into a deadly confrontation, leaving one family member dead, and a community searching for answers. Why had an upstanding member of the community shot his brother-in-law to death? In this episode, we follow the story of Stephen C. King and a sudden family rift that ended a life too soon. Every stone has a story. Southern Souls: Stories from the St...

Season One Preview of Southern Souls: Stories from the Stones. Southern Souls is a narrative history podcast exploring forgotten lives through the stories hidden beneath Southern grave markers. Each episode begins in a cemetery and follows the story of a life that history nearly forgot. Season One features stories of murder, music, scandal, tragedy, and survival across the American South. Hosted b...