Historical dramaqueening – Bonnie Parker

I hope you, my readers, are enjoying my “history lessons” because I’m really enjoying writing them (especially this summer because I have time to do it!).  Although some stories may be a little gruesome, I do find it interesting what infamous women have done in the past.  Post a comment if you love/hate the stories. This time, I’m bringing the story of a woman who is best known as one half of a notorious crime duo – Bonnie Parker, partner of Clyde Barrow.

Bonnie Parker, pictured here with Clyde Barrow sometime between 1932 and 1934

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker was born on October 1, 1910 in Rowena, Texas. She was the second of the three children born to Charles and Emma Krause Parker. Bonnie’s father was a bricklayer, who died when she was only four.  Afterward, Bonnie’s mother moved the family to West Dallas community of “Cement City” where they lived in poverty.  Growing up, Bonnie made the honour role, and excelled in creative writing and public speaking.  She was described at intelligent, but strong-willed.  She was also quite attractive, standing at 4′ 11″, weighing 90 pounds, with freckles and strawberry blond curls.

On September 25, 1926, less than a week before her sixteenth birthday, Bonnie married her childhood sweetheart, Roy Thornton.  (She had a tattoo above her right knee that said “Roy and Bonnie”).  The marriage was troubled and short-lived, and in January 1929 they separated but never divorced, not even when Roy was sentenced to 5 years in prison for burglary that same year.  In fact, Bonnie was still wearing her wedding ring when she died.

Bonnie worked a waitress job at a Dallas café until it closed in November 1929.  In January of 1930, an out of work Bonnie began staying in West Dallas to assist a girlfriend with a broken arm.  It was here that Bonnie met Clyde Barrow.  He stopped by one evening while Bonnie was in the kitchen making hot chocolate.  The pair were instantly smitten, providing foundation for the belief that Bonnie joined Clyde because she was in love.

Shortly after they met, Clyde was jailed for burglary but escaped using a pistol that Bonnie smuggled past the guards.  He was recaptured a month later.  He was paroled in February 1932, and he and Bonnie started their life of crime.  They stole cars and robbed grocery stores, filling stations, and small banks.  A failed robbery attempt in the spring of 1932 resulted in Bonnie being captured and jailed in Kaufman County, Texas.  During this time, Clyde murdered a merchant in Hillboro.  Bonnie was released on June 17, 1932 because the grand jury declined to indict.  Bonnie and Clyde reunited and continued their murderous crime spree throughout Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Missouri while being relentlessly, but unsuccessfully, pursued by the law.

Bonnie, Clyde and their “Barrow gang” would kidnap lawmen or robbery victims, usually releasing them far from home, sometimes with money to help them get back.  These and other bold antics made headlines across the country, possibly contributing to Bonnie and Clyde being both reviled and adored by the public.  The gang was notorious because they would not hesitate to shoot anybody, civilian or lawman, if they got in their way. They also narrowly escaped on several occasions, causing law enforcement to intensify their manhunt.

In April 1932, Bonnie and Clyde were hiding out in Joplin, Missouri with Clyde’s brother, Buck, and sister-in-law, Blanche. Police raided the hideout, but the gang escaped.  The shootout resulted in the deaths of two policemen and wounded one gang member.  Six rolls of film containing the now famous photographs of the criminal couple was recovered from the apartment and published by The Joplin Globe.  (This prompted Bonnie and Clyde to use coats and hats to cover the license plates of their stolen vehicles when taking pictures in the future).

In June 1933, while driving with Bonnie and a gang member, Clyde missed some construction signs and flipped the car into a ravine.  Bonnie was doused with battery acid and sustained third degree burns on her left leg.  After evading the law, Clyde insisted that Bonnie be allowed to recover, so they hid out in a motel near Fort Smith, Arkansas.  A bungled robbery resulting in the murder of a city marshal set them running again.

On July 18, 1933 the gang rented two brick cabins south of Platte City, Missouri.  The gang again roused suspicion as Blanche continually paid for dinners and beer at a local tavern with silver coins instead of dollars.  She also went into town to purchase bandages and atropine sulfate for Bonnie’s leg.  The local druggist tipped off the Sheriff who had been alerted by interstate law enforcement to lookout for strangers seeking such supplies.  The cabins were put under surveillance  Reinforcement was called in, and at 11 p.m. that night a group of officers armed with Thompson submachine guns moved in on the cabins.  The guns were no match for Clyde’s Browning Automatic Rifles, stolen from the National Guard armory.  The gang escaped, but Buck sustained a major wound to the side of the head and Blanche was nearly blinded by glass fragments in both her eyes.

On July 24, 1933, the Barrow gang was hiding out at an abandoned amusement park near Dexter, Iowa.  Bloody bandages were noticed by local citizens and the law was set on the gang’s trail.  The gang again found themselves surrounded by the fire of local lawmen (and about one hundred spectators).  Bonnie, Clyde and one other escaped on foot.  Buck was shot a second time, in the back, and Blanche was captured.  Buck died five days later of post-operative pneumonia.

Bonnie and Clyde regrouped.  On Novemeber 22, 1933, a trap was set by the Dallas Sheriff and his deputies in attempt to capture the couple while they were trying to meet with family near Grand Prairie, Texas.  The couple escaped the gunfire by holding up a lawyer on the highway, taking his car, and later abandoning it in Miami, Oklahoma.  On December 21, they held up and robbed a citizen in Shreveport, Louisiana.  On January 16, 1934, Clyde masterminded the infamous “Eastham Breakout”, liberating five prisoners from Eastham State Prison Farm at Waldo, Texas.  The negative publicity the Texas Department of Corrections received for the over the incident was what Clyde considered his ultimate revenge.  He was accompanied by Bonnie, and this incident landmarked the start of their final run.  The jailbreak left two guards shot, which caused the Texas and federal governments to put pressure on the manhunt for Bonnie and Clyde.

On April 1, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde encountered two highway patrolmen near Grapevine, Texas.  Before the officers could draw their guns, they were shot.  These senseless killings shocked and outraged the public, which to this point had tended to romanticize the pair.  (Later it was discovered that the Eastham escapee, Henry Methvin, who was with the duo killed these officers; Clyde had not intended to kill them, but had wanted take them on one of his famous rides, and Bonnie had approached the dying officers to try to help them).  On April 6, 1934, a constable in Miami, Oklahoma was mortally wounded by Bonnie and Clyde, which further enraged the public.

The FBI trailed Bonnie and Clyde through many states.  On April 13, 1934, an Agent discovered that Bonnie and Clyde has been in the vicinity of Ruston, Louisiana.  The Methvins home was nearby and was often visited by the couple.  It was learned that Bonnie and Clyde, with some of the Methvins, had staged a party at Black Lake, Louisiana for the night of May 21, 1934 and were due to return to the area two days later.  Before dawn on May 23, 1934, police officers from Louisiana and Texas concealed themselves in the bushes along the highway near Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

At approximately 9:00 a.m. on May 23, Clyde’s stolen Ford V8 approached.  Under orders, the policemen did not call out a warning or ask the duo to surrender.  The lawmen opened fire, shooting a combined total of approximately 130 rounds, emptying specially-ordered automatic rifles, shotguns and pistols at the car. By 9:15, Bonnie and Clyde were dead.  Barrow was killed instantly from an initial shot to the head. Bonnie did not die as quickly – officers reported hearing her long horrified scream as the bullets tore into the car. (To see a rather gruesome news report of the scene, click here).

Bonnie and Clyde had wanted to be buried side by side, but the Parker family would not allow it.  At the very least, Parker’s mother had wanted to bring her daughter home, but the over 20,000 people who turned out  for Bonnie’s funeral, making it difficult for her family to reach the grave site.  Bonnie is buried in Crown Hill Memorial Park, and Clyde is buried in the Western Heights Cemetery, both in Dallas, Texas.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde
http://www.famoustexans.com/bonnieparker.htm
http://www.mysterynet.com/bonnie-and-clyde/
http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/clyde/clyde.htm

Historical drama queening – Elizabeth Báthory (long and morbid, but interesting)

I decided that I very much like the idea of adding a few more posts about fantastically interesting (and quite tempestuous) women. I’ve gathered a list of a few and I’ll write about them periodically, but as you can tell I’ve had little time to get this up and running.  The term “drama queening” is used rather loosely, as it means different things to different people.  Either way, these women certainly had an impact on their peers.  Peruse at will.

Elizabeth Báthory, aged 25, circa 1585

Elizabeth Báthory (or Erzsébet Báthory in Hungarian) was a Hungarian countess, born in 1560 into one of the oldest and wealthiest families in Transylvannia.  Both her father and mother were Báthorys by birth and their inbreeding allowed them keep the purity of the noble line.  This noble line included warlords, politicians, clerics, and even a prince who later became the king of Poland.

At the age of around 4 or 5, Elizabeth suffered from seizures accompanied by loss of control and fits of rage, which may have been a precursor to event in her later life.  These episodes may have been epileptic or neurological; some suggest a correlation to inbreeding.  However, they did not limit Elizabeth’s intelligence.  She was fluent in Hungarian, German, Latin and Greek.  She studied science and astronomy.  Elizabeth’s education would have been considered unusual as at that time most Hungarian nobles would have been all but illiterate, and men would have been more likely to be educated than women.

At the age of 11, Elizabeth became engaged to Count Ferenc Nádasdy, a skilled warrior and athlete. Reports vary, but the Count was anything from 5 to 15 years her elder.  The engagement was arranged by Ferenc’s mother Ursula, as it would have given considerable prestige to the Nádasdy family.  Elizabeth, a reputed beauty, did not remain faithful during their engagement.  She fell pregnant at the age to 14 by a peasant lover.  She was sequestered until a daughter was born, which was given to peasant parents to be raised.

On May 8, 1575, Elizabeth married Ferenc.  It was a gala festival, and even the Holy Roman Emperor  was invited, but unfortunately had to decline due to the danger of travelling in turbulent times.  The celebration had approximately 4500 guests in attendance.  Once married, Elizabeth retained her powerful family name, and the count added it to his less distinguished on, becoming Ferenc Báthory-Nádasdy.  As a wedding present, Ferenc gave Elizabeth his home Castle Cséjthe (Čachtice Castle in Slovakian) near Trenčín, its Čachtice country house and 17 adjacent villages.

After their marriage Elizabeth was established as the mistress of Nádasdy Castle in Sárvár.  Here the Nádasdy family enjoyed a reputation of being harsh masters, but this was not alarming as cruel and arbitrary behavior by nobles towards servants was common in this era. Ferenc is even said to have shown Elizabeth some of his favourite ways of punishing servants.  However, Elizabeth’s taste for cruelty far exceeded her husband’s, and she would often find excuses to inflict punishments and delighted in the torture and death of her victim’s far beyond what her contemporaries (or husband) could accept.  At times, Ferenc would storm off in disgust as Elizabeth squealed with delight.

Despite this, Elizabeth was considered a to be a good wife in her husband’s presence.  Ferenc, a warrior by nature, was often absent. In 1578, he became the chief commander of Hungarian troops, and his fierce warrior style gained him the title “The Black Hero of Hungary”.  Due to these many absences, Elizabeth bore no children during the first 10 years of their marriage.  In 1585, Elizabeth bore a daughter, Anna.  Her next two children, Ursula and András, but both died at an early age. After this, Báthory had two more children, Katherine and Paul.   Elizabeth was a doting and protective mother, but her children were primarily cared for by governesses as she had been.

With her husband away at war, Báthory managed business affairs and the estates.  To occupy her time, Elizabeth took on many young lovers.  She even eloped for a brief time with a “dark stranger” but was forgiven by her husband upon her return.  As Elizbeth’s boredom and frustration with sharing Nádasdy Castle with her hated, domineering mother-in-law increased she began to explore other interests, including the occult and sadism.  She discovered that she found the most pleasure in torturing young servant girls.  Her accomplices at this time were Helena Jo, her childrens’ wet-nurse, Dorothea Szentes or Dorka, a peasant woman of noted physical strength alleged to be a witch, and János Ujvary, also referred to as Ficzko, a manservant described as a dwarf-like cripple.

Some of Elizabeth’s initial torturous activities for maidservants included sticking pins in various sensitive body parts such as under the fingernails, setting them on fire, or burning them with red-hot pincers.  A favourite activity was “star-kicking,” which consisted of placing oiled bits of paper between the servants’ toes the lighting it on fire so the Countess could delight in the spectacle of the girls attempting to kick away the flames.  On her better days, she reveled in humiliating girls by forcing them to strip naked and perform their household duties in full view of men.

In January 1604, Elizabeth’s husband died of an infected wound, possibly inflicted in battle or by a harlot whom he refused to pay.  In response, Elizabeth hastily sent her mother-in-law away from Castle Sárvár and transferred herself to the royal court at Vienna.  She also began to spend much of her time at Čachtice Castle.  It was there that Elizabeth found herself yet another cohort, Anna Darvulia, a rumoured forest witch.  Darvulia is described of being the most active sadist in the entourage, and possibly Elizabeth’s lover.

It was during this time in which Elizabeth’s greatest crimes were committed.  Elizabeth has developed a heightened thirst for innocent girls’ flesh.  She was known to literally rip girls’ heads apart by pulling their mouths open until they tore at the edges and the neck snapped. In winter,  she would execute victims by having them stripped, led out into the snow, and doused with water until they were frozen.  In summer, this translated to covering the victim with honey and leaving them outside to be devoured by insects and predators.

Elizabeth also discovered a new and her most infamous reason to lust for blood.  One day when an unlucky servant girl accidentally pulled the Countess’ hair while combing it, Elizabeth struck her so hard that she drew blood. As she went to wipe it off, she believed that the skin touched by the blood had regained the smooth, creamy complexion for which it had once been famous.  Believing she had found the secret of eternal youth, Elizabeth had the maid stripped, her throat cut, and her blood drained into a huge vat; she bathed lavishly in the blood while it was still warm to beautify her entire body.

Elizabeth continued this ritual for years, having her henchmen kidnap hundreds of girls, bring them to the castle, and drain them of their blood.  At times, she would bite their flesh herself, drinking the blood from open wounds (a ritual that gave her the reputation of being one of the first female vampires). She also created a torture chamber at Čachtice, with the notorious vat, an iron maiden, spiked cages and a spike-filled metal orb which hung from the ceiling.  The girls were prodded with red-hot iron pokers until they impaled themselves on the spikes of the cages or were placed in the spiked orb and rocked back and forth until their flesh was shredded.   Each device was fitted with a drain so the Countess could save the blood for a shower or bath.

Elizabeth’s proclivities went largely undetected, or at least ignored, until around 1609 when many factors led to her downfall.  Firstly, Elizabeth was becoming sloppy when disposing of the bodies of her victims.  Initially, she had arranged Christian burials, but when the pastor refused continue this duty as too many girls were coming to him from Elizabeth who had died of “unknown and mysterious causes”, she had the bodies buried secretly.  Near the end, many bodies were disposed of in haphazard and dangerously conspicuous ways.  She would order them to be tossed over the castle walls to be devoured by passing wolves, or have them placed in nearby fields, wheat silos, or the stream running behind the castle.  Secondly, Darvulia died and Elizabeth took up a new cohort/lover, named Erszi Majorova, who encouraged Elizabeth to replace the dwindling supply of servant girls with a number of girls from families of noble blood but little wealth.

The deaths of peasant girls might be overlooked, but the murder of nobles, even those lesser rank, could not go unnoticed.  An inquiry was ordered by King Mátyás  of Hungary and Elizabeth’s own cousin, Count György Thurzó, governor of the province to raid the castle (and possibly save his family’s reputation).  On December 30, 1610 they raided the castle and they were horrified by the terrible sights. One dead girl in the main room, drained of blood, and another, still alive, whose entire body had been pierced with holes. In the dungeon they discoverd several more girls hung from the rafters of the basement ceiling like gutted deer, their blood emptying into Elizabeth’s now-legendary vat.  Fifty bodies were exhumed from the basement of the castle and a roster, discovered in Elizabeth’s desk, listed the names of 650 girls who had been murdered.  The Countess’ accomplices, Dorka, Ficzko, and Helena Jo, were taken into custody, and Elizabeth was placed under house arrest in her castle.

In January 1611 Elizabeth’s accomplices were subjected to two hurried show trials, in which they gave evidence extracted under torture, were convicted of their heinous crimes in a matter of days and shown no mercy. Dorka and Helena Jo had their fingers torn out with red-hot pincers before being thrown into a fire; the others were beheaded and burned at the stake. Erszi Majorova, was later beheaded when evidence surfaced linking her to the Countess’ sadistic activities.  Elizabeth was not present at either trial, never confessed to or was convicted of her crimes, nor did she utter a word of repentence or remorse.

Due to her nobility, Elizabeth was not allowed by law to be executed, but her cousin sentenced her to perpetual imprisonment in own castle.  Elizabeth was walled into a small chamber with only a small hole left open for air and food where she remained until death.  On July 31, 1614, Elizabeth, age 54, dictated her last will and testament.  On August 21 of the same year, one of Elizabeth’s jailers wanted to get a good look at her, as she was still reputedly one of the most beautiful women in Hungary. Peeking through the small aperture in her walled-up cell, he saw her lying face down on the floor; Elizabeth was dead. Several untouched plates of food were discovered so her actual date of death is unknown.  She was to have been buried at Čachtice, but the local populace objected to such a woman being interred in their parish, especially on consecrated ground.  Considering this, and that she was on of the last of the descendants of the Ecsed line of the Báthory family, her body was placed to the Hungarian town of Ecsed, the original Bathory family seat.

References:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A593084
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_B%C3%A1thory
http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/Veranda/7128/
http://bathory.org/shyla.html
http://www.weird-encyclopedia.com/Bathory-Elizabeth.php

Historical drama queening (be warned, it’s long but interesting)

While it’s gracefully pouring a plethora of cats and dogs outside, I thought I would brush everyone up on some interesting facts about a historical drama queen – this is course if inspired by my recently having read the book The Other Boleyn Girl.

Anne Boyeln came from a family that prized a good social standing seemingly above all else. Anne’s own sister Mary because King Henry VII’s lover at a young age. Anne has other visions in sight as she entertained a romace with Henry Percy, a rich heir. Their engagement was not recognized by his family and it was finally stopped by Colonel Wolsey (leaving him hated by Anne). It is supposed that after this she was sent away from court to her family’s home for an undefined period of time.

When Anne returned to court, she became well know for being able to seduce men at arm’s length. She was described by Sir Thomas Wyatt as being unobtainable and headstrong though she seemed demure and quiet. It was around this time that Anne stole the King’s affections from her sister. Henry fell in love passionately and was driven mad by Anne as she would not succomb to being his mistress, but only his wife. Henry pursued her relentlessly, and soon it became “Queen or nothing” for Anne.

This was a complicated issue, as Henry was still married to his first wife, Queen Catherine. Anne is believed to be a main source of what influenced Henry to create a new church (the church of England) so to allow his first marriage to Queen Catherine to be annulled so that he and Anne could be married “in good conscience”. As Henry was pursuing the annullment, Anne began to see a rise in her courtly status. She was moved to apartments near the King, and give lavish clothes and jewelery. In 1532 Henry bestowed upon her the title of Marquess of Pembroke, making her the only woman to ever hold that title in her own right. This did not make her popular with the people of England. They were upset that she was given precendence over the King’s own family.

As the legal debates surrounding the marriage of Henry and Catherine, Anne often became frustrated at the lack of progress. She would often throw loud tempestous fits in front of the court. She could also have a very sharp tongue. Anne was afraid that Henry would return to Cathering, leaving her without an adventageous marriage.

Sometime at the end of 1532, Anne gave in to Henry’s lustful desires and by December she was pregnant. Henry was forced in to action to secure the legitimacy of his child, and he secretly married Anne sometime in January of 1533. On May 23, Thomas Cranmer, the former chaplain of the Boleyn family and appointed Archbishop, declared the marriage of Henry and Catherine null and void. On May 28, Cranmer declared the marriage between Anne and Henry was valid. Anne’s attention was then placed on her upcoming child. All home were placed on it being a son, and the unborn child was already being referred to as “prince”. However, as the fates would have it, Anne bore a daughter she named Elizabeth.

Marriage for Anne and Henry was not pleasent. Although there were periods of calm and affection, Anne would often feel enraged by her husbands infidelities, especially when his attentions were placed on Jane Seymour by her enemies. Henry disliked Anne’s constant irritability and her violent temper. Anne also did not bear Henry any other children, having more than one pregnancy but each resulting in a stillborn or miscarriage. Anne’s ability to produce and heir was imperative, and her failure to do was considered a betrayal by Henry.

Soon Henry was discussing how to leave Anne without having to return to Catherine. Anne was unaware and continued to enjoy a lavish lifestyle, during which opinion of her continued to decline. After Henry was injured in a joust, a event that was blamed for Anne’s miscarriage of 15 week old son, the marriage began to go sour. Desperate to bear Henry a son, Anne had a quick succession of preganancies which attracted much interest. After what would be her final miscarriage, Henry declared his marriage had been the product of witchcraft (a terrible sin and explanation for Anne’s barreness). Anne’s favour was securely transferred to Jane Seymour.

On April 30, 1536, the first step in a plot to rid Anne from the throne was taken. It involved the arrest of Anne’s musician and friend Mark Smeaton, who was tortured to make “revelations” about the Queen. He confessed to being the Queen’s lover. Next were more arrests of men in Anne’s entourage: Sir Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, and William Brereton. The grounds were all adultery. Finally, Queen Anne’s own brother, George Boleyn was arrested and charged with incest and treason, and accused of having had a sexual relationship with his sister over the last 12 months.

Anne herself was arrested on May 2, 1536, and accused of incest, adultery and plotting to kill the King. Henry had also made the midwife confess about the fates of Anne’s unborn children. Anne was charged on these grounds also. Anne was taken to the Tower of London, suffering a minor breakdown. This was the same Tower in which she had stayed during her coronation just three years prior.

On May 12, 1536 Weston, Brereton, Norris and Smeaton were all put on trial. The men were not allowed to defend themselves as the charge was treason. The were found guilty, and were set to be hanged, cut down while still alive and then disemboweld and quartered. On May 15, the Queen and her brother went to trial. Although the evidence was flimsy, they were found guilty and codemned to death by beheading or by burnt at the stake (punishment for incest) by their peers. On May 17, George was beheaded along with the other charged men who were spared from the above grisly fate. Soon it was Anne’s turn. She was to be beheaded by a swordsman from Saint-Omer because the King did not believe it fit for a queen to be beheaded by a common axe.

On May 19, Anne was brought to the Tower Green for her private execution. Anne wore a red petticoat under a loose, dark grey gown of damask trimmed in fur and a mantle of ermine. Her dark hair was bound up in a white linen coif and she wore her customary French headdress. She was accompanied by four young ladies as she made her final walk from the Lieutenant’s Lodgings to Tower Green. She looked “as gay as if she was not going to die”. She then knelt upright, in the French style of executions and said a final prayer. Her ladies removed the headdress and tied a blindfold over her eyes. The execution was swift and consisted of a single stroke.

Henry did not provide a proper coffin for Anne. Her head and body were placed in a arrow chest and buried in an unmarked grave in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula that ajoined the Tower Green. Her body was later identified during renovations of the chapel during the reign of Queen Victoria. Her resting place is now marked in the marble floor.

Interesting additonal facts: -

- Shortly before was executed on charges of adultery, Thomas Cramer declared the marriage of Anne and Henry was dissolved and invalid. How then could she have committed adultery if she had never been married to the King?

- After her death, a number of myths sprung up about Anne. The most popular is that Anne had six fingers on her left hand but there is no contemporary evidence to support it. None of the many eyewitness accounts of Anne Boleyn’s appearance mention any deformities, let alone a sixth finger. Moreover, as physical deformities were generally interpreted as a sign of evil, it is difficult to believe that Anne Boleyn would have gained Henry’s romantic attention had she possessed any.

References:

http://tudorhistory.org/boleyn/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Boleyn