On a tragic night in May of 1894, in Linn County, Missouri, the lives of the Meeks family were brutally cut short. Among the victims was a young female child named Hattie Meeks, who was around four years old. The horrific events unfolded when her father, Gus Meeks, became entangled in a cattle rustling operation with his employers, the affluent and prominent Taylor brothers, George and William.
It is believed that Gus Meeks had agreed to testify against the Taylors in exchange for a pardon, a decision that ultimately sealed his and his family's fate.
On the evening of May 10th, the Taylor brothers arrived at the Meeks' home under the pretense of helping them move. The family, including Gus, his wife Delora, and their children, were lured into a wagon. During the journey, the Taylors turned on the family. Gus and Delora were shot, while Hattie and her younger sister, Mary, were bludgeoned. The attackers left the entire family for dead, burying their bodies in a shallow grave concealed under a haystack on George Taylor's property. Miraculously, one of the Meeks children, six-year-old Nellie, survived the savage attack. Though seriously injured, she managed to escape and seek help from a nearby farmhouse, identifying the Taylor brothers as the assailants.
The subsequent investigation led to the arrest of George and William Taylor. Their trial became a sensational case, drawing widespread attention. Nellie's harrowing testimony was a key element in the prosecution's case against the brothers. The trial concluded with a guilty verdict for both George and William Taylor, who were sentenced to death. However, before the sentence could be carried out on both men, George Taylor managed to escape from jail and was never seen again. William Taylor was executed by hanging. The brutal murder of the Meeks family remains a dark and infamous chapter in the history of Linn County.
