Appalachias Deadliest: Patsey Troxdale

Appalachias Deadliest: Patsey Troxdale

A cabin lays in ashes and a horrible secret lurks underneath the floorboards. This is a true story of Pepsi Trucksdale. By all accounts, 1846 had been a good year. There had been plenty of sun and rain during the spring and summer, and now was September. The crisp winds of fall were beginning to blow. It had been a banner year for the corn crops. So much so that Ed could barely hide his optimism. There would be plenty to eat this winter and all his youngans would get a new pair of shoes. Heck, even his wife had been eyeing a new dress down at the general store in Livingston. The O’Neal family lived in a small cabin at the foot of Cumberland Mountain where they tended to their hillside farm. Ed and Sarah, they had been married for over 20 years and were busy raising six youngans. Now, most folks would never admit to having a favorite child, but in Ed’s case, everyone knew that he was crazy about his oldest boy, Jackson. The 12-year-old boy was always with his father and was as much help in the field as a full-grown man.

But Jackson wasn’t the oldest child in the family. That title belonged to 16-year-old Paty. Now, Patsy’s role in the family was a bit complicated, mostly because girls weren’t thought of to be much value back in those days. Most folks believed there wasn’t any use in sending them to school since all they would end up doing was just having babies later on. But for her part, Paty resented this line of thinking. She worked harder than anyone else on the farm. Every morning, she was charged with getting all her younger siblings up and fed. She milked the cows, stacked the hay, worked the fields, and when the work day was over for everyone else, Paty cooked the food, and then put the kids to bed. And each and every day, well, this cycle would just repeat. And for as much credit that Jackson got from his father, Paty worked double the amount without any recognition or fanfare. Most girls Paty’s age were already married in those days. And although she was pretty enough, for some reason, Paty hadn’t taken up a husband and she still lived at home. But that cabin seemed to get smaller and smaller as those children grew, especially on nights when her father got his hands on some liquor. Now, don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t a drunk, but occasionally he would have a drink or two after supper to try to knock the edge off. Now, while some men use whiskey to relax and unwind after a hard day’s work, this wasn’t the case for Ed because as soon as he had a taste, he became argumentative and agitated. Especially when it came to Paty, Ed couldn’t figure out for the life of him why she wasn’t hitched yet, and he was known to bring the topic up any time he took the notion to do so. And by now Paty had heard enough of it. So she began sleeping in the hoff to try and get a bit of independence.

Neighbors thought nothing of the sleeping arrangements since it was common in those days for older siblings to utilize barns for more sleeping space. After all, no family is perfect. And you know how teenagers are. They’re famous for rebelling against parental rules. Simply put, no one batted an eye or suspected anything out of the ordinary at the O’Neal farm. Yet, this would all change in late September of 1846 in one of the most sinister diabolical crimes ever committed in the hills of Appalachia. It was well known that Ed O’Neal was a hustler, a man who would do an extra side job or trading to help make ends meet. And now that the corn was in the crib and the backa was hanging in the barn, Ed had had some extra time on his hands. So he took a temper cutting job about 10 miles away down in Crossville where he was commuting back and forth each day. September 18th was a Friday, and that morning started out just like any other day. After breakfast, Ed kissed his wife and hugged the youngans before saddling his horse bound for Crossville for another long day of logging. He was upbeat because today was payday and the weather for the weekend, well, they looked promising. So Ed spent 10 hours on the end of a crossall under that hot sun. But back home, there seemed to be a little bit of trouble brewing. Two men, William Upton and Nicholas Stevens, had rode over from neighboring Fentress County to see Ed about a previous horse trade that they weren’t too happy about. The fellas had a sour taste in their mouth since the horse had died just a few weeks after they purchased it from Ed. And in their minds, that horse had to have already been sick when Ed sold it to them. And now they wanted every cent of their money back. However, when the two men arrived at the O’Neal cabin that morning, Ed was already gone, and the eldest child, Paty, was spending the day digging roots in the nearby mountains. That left Ed’s wife, Sarah, and the five children in the cabin.

The men quickly informed Sarah that they’d be back later that evening to discuss this business with Ed. And in the meantime, well, they spent the day down at the local saloon getting a belly full of whiskey. Now, exactly what happens next in this story is still surrounded in controversy. To this very day, the events were so unsettling that for years after the crime, the old-timers would say, “Well, we don’t talk about that no more.” In hopes that one day, the gruesome event would be forgotten. But one thing is for certain, Ed O’Neal returned home that night to his family. But by Saturday morning, his cabin was a pile of smoldering coals. It had burned down during the night. And even more disturbing was the fact that the entire O’Neal family had completely disappeared and were nowhere to be found. Yet, there was something lurking underneath those ashes that would soon send shock waves across America. Friday night, Ed O’Neal returned home and was scheduled to be back at work on Saturday morning. Yet, he never showed up. Neighbors had reported seeing a bright fire in the sky around midnight on Friday. And by Saturday morning, the Overton County Sheriff along with a dozen neighbors made their way to the scene of the fire. The cabin, oh, it was completely consumed by the flames. Just what had happened and where was the family? The men began searching through the rubble for any clues when one man shouted out, “Boys, take a look at this here.” The group of men approached. There seemed to be a secret pit underneath the floorboards, almost like a cellar.

And as the men began removing the boards, a horrid smell of burnt flesh overtook them as they fell backwards in disbelief. Good God, what’s that? There, piled in the pit under the house were what seemed to be the remains of the entire O’Neal family. The husband’s body laid on top of the pile. One by one, the neighbors began the gruesome task of removing them. The parents’ bodies, oh, they were badly burned. But underneath them, the children’s remains had been spared from the flames. That’s when the men discovered something even more horrible. It was clear that every child had been bludgeoned to death with an axe. In total, seven bodies were pulled from the pit and laid on the grass for inspection by the coroner. Several on the scene believed that Ed O’Neal had murdered his own family before taking his own life. Others weren’t so convinced. Many had seen William Upton and Nicholas Stevens in town that day, where they had made several statements about revenge on head. Several towns folk had even seen both men on horses leaving the O’Neal farm about the same time as the fire. Just then, the sheriff spoke up. How many children did Mr. and Miss O’Neal have? Well, they had six youngans, another man said. And just then, the sheriff’s eyes immediately looked down at the bodies on the ground. There were only five children. One of them was missing and that person was Paty O’Neal. The men began to search the property for Py. Looking in the sheds and the barns, she was nowhere to be found. However, a vital clue was discovered. There, stuck in the top of a stump about 100 ft from the cabin, was a bloody axe with human hair still on it. Hey guys, JD Phillips here from the Appalachin Storyteller and I hope you’re enjoying this episode of Appalachia’s Deadliest about the life of Paty Troxdale. If you enjoy stories like these, I hope you’ll consider checking out my new books, volume one and volume two of the Appalachin Storyteller, available now by clicking the link below.

Thanks so much, and now back to the story. Sheriff Hinsley immediately brought Upton and Stevens in for questioning. Both men admitted to visiting the farm on Friday, but Head, he wasn’t home. Each man had an alibi, too. They were both married with families of their own, and each man’s wife swore under oath that her husband was in the bed next to them at the time of the fire, and they lived nearly 10 mi away from the O’Neal farm. It would have been impossible for them to be in both places at the same time. But the sheriff wasn’t convinced and he decided to hold the men down at the jail until he could interview Psy and get to the bottom of exactly what transpired. And by Sunday, less than 48 hours after the brutal crime, Paty had turned herself in for questioning. Oh, she was devastated. She had learned of all the horrible details of her mother and her siblings demise. and now she was here to set the record straight on exactly what happened that night. The sheriff immediately got down to business. Paty, where were you Friday? The scared girl softly spoke with tears rolling down her face. I was at home. I spent the morning digging roots on the hillside. And that afternoon, I helped mama with a meal. It was about an hour before sunset when Paul got home. Oh, he was so drunk he could barely ride his horse. He had gotten paid and bought a jug of whiskey that afternoon. And by the time he got home, that bottle was nearly empty. Oh, he was in a foul mood. Mama told him to go sleep it off, but he wouldn’t. He was yelling at Maul. And I was scared he was going to hit her, so I begged him to stop. And that’s when he started on me. He ran at me and backhanded me so hard it flipped the chair that I was sitting in. I had seen him drunk many times. But this time was different. He grabbed me by my hair and he drugged me out of the cabin and told me not to come back. I was scared for my family and I knew that he was capable of doing evil things. But I just started running and before I knew it, I’d ran 2 miles to the Thompson’s place and I hid in their barn until the next day. The sheriff still had strong suspicions about Paty’s story and the Upton and Stevens alibi, but he didn’t have any solid evidence. Had Paty committed this unthinkable crime? Or had Ed went on a drunken tirade? And what about Upton and Stevens? The exact timing of their visits to the farm and the crime was mighty coincidental. Coming up, this story takes a stunning turn with a plot twist that sent shock waves across the mountains and became front page news all over the world. The O’Neal family murders made its way to newspapers all across America. And at first, folks believed that Ed O’Neal had committed the crime.

However, subsequent searches of Patty’s living quarters turned up her father’s Bible with his original landed inside. And then there was a dress that had blood stains on it. Presented with this new damning evidence, Paty changed her story and suggested that if her father didn’t do it, it must have been Upton and Stevens who did it. And in return, those two men then changed their story and stated that Paty had done the awful deed. So the stage was set for a spectacular trial in Livingston, Tennessee. Patsy and the two men were jailed leading up to it. In a surprising move, Paty O’Neal married a man with the last name of Troxdale, whom she barely knew in an effort to make herself look more respectable in the courtroom as a married woman. But finally, the day came and folks traveled far and wide to the courthouse. The courtroom, its halls, and the yard were packed with news reporters and the curious alike. Paty took the stand in her own defense, and she explained away the blood on the dress, stating that she had cut up a chicken for her mother that night while preparing supper. And she stuck to her story of her father being in a drunken rage, and that Upton and Stevens and her father had a heated argument in the yard while she was running to the neighbor’s house for safety. But the biggest bombshell came when Stevens took the stand. In a stunning turn of events, Stevens admitted that both he and Upton had actually spent most of the night at the farm until well after midnight. The two men were engaged in a pre-arranged, well, shall we say, manag. Apparently, unbeknownst to her father, Paty had a reputation for such acts. Stevens stated that the men originally lied about their whereabouts to authorities in an effort to keep the scandalous secret from their wives. And Upton stated that after midnight, both he and Stevens mounted their horses and disappeared into the night. They had nothing to do with the crime. The prosecution called its final witness to the stand, who was a salemate of Psy’s.

The woman testified that Py admitted to killing her entire family while they slept, starting with her father and then patiently working her way down to the youngest child before placing their bodies under the floorboards and setting the house on fire. But the defense, well, they called six witnesses that testified that Paty Salem made couldn’t be believed since she herself was a habitual liar and a career criminal. But the case was now in the hands of the jury. And it didn’t take long for him to return a verdict. In the case of Paty Troxdale, we the jury find the defendant guilty of six counts of firstdegree murder. And in the case against William Upton and Nicholas Stevens, we the jury find the defendants guilty of six counts of firstdegree murder. All three defendants were promptly sentenced to death by hanging. Justice had been served in the horrible death of the O’Neal family. Or had it? You see, just weeks after the conviction, the defense filed an appeal stating that one of the 12 jurors had publicly stated that he believed Paty was guilty before the trial even started. And with that, a new trial was ordered. Would Paty be found guilty again or would she prove her innocence? Well, we will never know. You see, in one of the most stunning and baffling cases in the history of the American justice system, the state of Tennessee simply never retried the case again. And Paty Troxdale and her two lovers, well, they walked away without any punishment. Now, I have my thoughts about what really happened that night, but for now, I’ll wait to hear what you think. Did Paty commit the crime, or did Upton and Stevens do it, or was Ed O’Neal responsible? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. And as always, thanks so much for watching, and be sure to like and subscribe for more true stories from Appalachia’s past.