Down in a lonely graveyard where flowers bloom and fade, there lies my darling sleeping in a cold and silent grave. It's the first stanza of a poem written by Pearl Drew of Ashland, Mississippi.

The poem was part of aland, Mississippi.

The poem was part of a confession she sent to the governor of Mississippi in 1929.

Months earlier, Her old's father had been convicted of murder, and Pearl felt it was time to come

clean and help set her father free.

Welcome to Southern Mysteries, exploring history and mysteries of the American South. I'm your host, Shannon Ballard, and this is the mystery of the poet murderous of Mississippi. Pearl Gunter was 14 years old when she married 23 year old Marlin Drew in

19.

Pearl gave birth to their first child, Thomas, within less than nine months of marriage, leading folks to talk about town and suspect the couple had been pressured to marry because Pearl fell pregnant.

Pearl was grief-stricken when baby Thomas died just weeks

before his first birthday.

At 15, Pearl Drew already felt trapped in marriage.

She lost the baby she loved and was married to a violent drunk.

It's believed Marlin Drew's battle with alcohol started after the first world war.

Marlin had served his country,

and when he came home, he was a changed man.

Drink had always been a vice for him, but when nightmares of what he had seen on the battlefield haunted him, he turned to drink as an unhealthy way to help him black out and forget about the war.

Marlin rarely remembered what happened in between the drinking and the blacking out,

but Pearl remembered every moment.

Marlin took his rage out on her, beating her so badly that Pearl feared he would kill her. By 1921, Pearl had given birth to her daughter Dorothy, and the following year,

Pearl and Marlin welcomed their son Marlin Jr. Seven years later in 1929, Pearl and Marlon seemed to be at a crossroads in their marriage.

They have been forced to move in with Pearl's parents, Mr and Mrs. Thomas Granville

Gunter in Ashland, Mississippi.

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