I've been watching this show since its premiere, and have been somewhat disappointed in the episodes until, that is, I saw this one: Killed by the Klan : The Dead Files : Travel Channel. It was fascinating! Watch it! I do, however, want to know why the owner of the home, who is a healer, and who works with people who are about to die (comforting them, helping them to let go) was warned about her work. The woman's boyfriend seemed to be scolding her about "what she does," but no further explanation was forthcoming. The medium told the woman that she can certainly continue with what she's doing as long as she "cleans her entryway into her home," and, I think she also said, "protects herself." If anyone has seen this program and would like to share your thoughts on this, I'd welcome them. In the meantime, I'm going to research the events that took place in Key West in the 1920s which have resulted in this haunting.
MANUEL CABEZA AND THE KLAN MURDER
I found the information below in an article from the Sun Sentinel Newspaper.
Before WWII, the Ku Klux Klan was an important social and political force in Key West, and Manuel Cabeza ran afoul of that force.
A native Conch and World War I veteran who was said to fear no one, Cabeza was deeply in love with a black woman, a well-known madam with whom he lived.
In those days a white man might have a black mistress, but he was supposed to keep it strictly a backstreet affair. Manuel lived quite openly with his lover and so, a week before Christmas, 1921, the Klan visited him, bearing tar and feathers. Manuel fought with them and, during the struggle, managed to rip the masks off several of the faces so that he would later be able to identify them. Tar-and-feathering was not only excruciatingly painful, it often resulted in the victim`s death. But Cabeza was tough and by Christmas Eve was recovered enough to take his revenge.
He hired a taxi and began patroling Old Town, looking for the three men he had recognized. He caught up with William Decker, manager of one of Key West`s large cigar factories on Duval Street. Cabeza fired a shot through the window of Decker`s car, killing him.
The taxi rolled on. But at the corner of Whitehead and Petronia, a group of Klan members caught up with Cabeza. According to newspaper accounts, ``gunfire was exchanged.`` There was a standoff until two sheriff`s officers arrived and Cabeza agreed to accompany them to the county jail. The sheriff called in Marines from the naval base (how about that for backup help?) to protect Cabeza from the Klan, but by midnight dismissed them, believing that all was quiet on the Key West front.
Within an hour, five automobiles loaded with masked Klan members pulled up at the jail, and with pistols drawn, ordered the diminutive sheriff to let them in.
The Klansmen proceeded to the second floor of the jail and beat Cabeza senseless with blackjacks. Then they dragged him down to the street, tied him to the rear bumper of the lead car and paraded him through the streets of Key West.
Then they took him over to Flagler Avenue where they hanged him from a tree and riddled his body with bullets.
This was the gruesome sight that greeted hundreds of Key Westers on Christmas morning of 1921. No one was ever arrested.
MANUEL CABEZA AND THE KLAN MURDER
I found the information below in an article from the Sun Sentinel Newspaper.
Before WWII, the Ku Klux Klan was an important social and political force in Key West, and Manuel Cabeza ran afoul of that force.
A native Conch and World War I veteran who was said to fear no one, Cabeza was deeply in love with a black woman, a well-known madam with whom he lived.
In those days a white man might have a black mistress, but he was supposed to keep it strictly a backstreet affair. Manuel lived quite openly with his lover and so, a week before Christmas, 1921, the Klan visited him, bearing tar and feathers. Manuel fought with them and, during the struggle, managed to rip the masks off several of the faces so that he would later be able to identify them. Tar-and-feathering was not only excruciatingly painful, it often resulted in the victim`s death. But Cabeza was tough and by Christmas Eve was recovered enough to take his revenge.
He hired a taxi and began patroling Old Town, looking for the three men he had recognized. He caught up with William Decker, manager of one of Key West`s large cigar factories on Duval Street. Cabeza fired a shot through the window of Decker`s car, killing him.
The taxi rolled on. But at the corner of Whitehead and Petronia, a group of Klan members caught up with Cabeza. According to newspaper accounts, ``gunfire was exchanged.`` There was a standoff until two sheriff`s officers arrived and Cabeza agreed to accompany them to the county jail. The sheriff called in Marines from the naval base (how about that for backup help?) to protect Cabeza from the Klan, but by midnight dismissed them, believing that all was quiet on the Key West front.
Within an hour, five automobiles loaded with masked Klan members pulled up at the jail, and with pistols drawn, ordered the diminutive sheriff to let them in.
The Klansmen proceeded to the second floor of the jail and beat Cabeza senseless with blackjacks. Then they dragged him down to the street, tied him to the rear bumper of the lead car and paraded him through the streets of Key West.
Then they took him over to Flagler Avenue where they hanged him from a tree and riddled his body with bullets.
This was the gruesome sight that greeted hundreds of Key Westers on Christmas morning of 1921. No one was ever arrested.
6 comments:
I watched the episode with great fascination, as well, and am now on a hunt for information.
Both of my grandparents are from Key West, and both from that era. Although my grandfather died before I was born my grandmother was a very important figure in my life.
As a child, I remember hearing whisperingings among my family members about my grandmother finding the Klan hood and robe among other things in a trunk and about a lynching that took place over a mixed-race relationship. I also remember that she told me that my grandfather was in law-enforcement. Most of those memories had been pushed into the dark recesses of my conciousness. Consequently, I was absolutely astounded by the similarities that were broadcasted in this episode.
Since the night of the broadcast, I have been searching for some sort of connection. It's all rather baffling, as the KKK members back then managed to safeguard their identities so well.
I have found that a few of my grandfather's acquaintences died in freak accidents within 10 years after the Cabeza murder and that all of his male children met with similar fates. Coincidence? I don't think so.
Oh my gosh, you've got amazing family history, and I do hope you'll have great success with your research!
I just found this episode fascinating. I may have a chance to see the house (from the outside) where this took place next year. My sister and her husband have a little house in the Keys and if I'm able to get down to visit, my sister and I are going to drive down to Key West and just drive by this house--just to see it.
But you, you've got a piece of family history that connects to this, and again, I hope you're able to dig up a lot of info. If you feel that you'd like to, please share your findings with me.
Finally, I completely agree with you that the endings met by persons involved in this were no coincidence. There are dark forces in existence that we don't understand. I respect them and I leave them alone! I believe that it's these very forces/powers that came into play in the brutal, and bizare, endings of some of the perpetrators' lives!
Thank you for commenting on this story and visiting my blog!
Hi all! I just watched this episode & decided to do some digging. I ran across a local Key West article about the case that reported an official KKK charter from 1921 had been donated by an unnamed family to a historical society. The article went on to explain that a Key West high school teacher had put together a group to investigate the history behind this case. The same teacher commented on the article listing his contact info & requesting anyone who had found even the smallest bit of information to contact him. Here is the link to the article:
http://keysnews/node/38753
If either of you have dug up more juicy details about this case - especially about the mysterious Angela - I'd love to hear them :)
Thanks, Whitney! I'll check out the article you mention.
I just watched the "Revisited" special and what really caught my attention was Dean's response that the cleansing efforts are B.S. and that spirits will always be around. Is it possible he's attracting/inviting them back in? Would love to hear your thoughts.
To Renee Anderson,
Just saw your comment. Sorry! Haven't been on the blog lately. Renee, I also saw the Dead Files Revisited show on this case.
I don't know how it works, but I have read, as well as seen on ghost programs, that some people taunt spirits, even if they do so unintentionally. Dean's attitude toward the spirits may actually encourage them to hang around and make a nuisance of themselves.
I do agree with Dean that Spirits are ALWAYS around and there's nothing we can do about that. They're simply present. I disagree with him, however, in that a cleansing is BS. I believe that if a cleansing is done properly, it'll work.
There's an interesting book available on Amazon that addresses this subject. It's called The Encyclopedia of Spirits by Judika Illes. She's an excellent writer. She's on FB as well and posts very interesting stuff on her page.
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