Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore. FOR PART ONE, INCLUDING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT, CLICK HERE
PART TEN: MELUNGEON VARIATIONS
In the previous installment I wrapped up my review of the various surviving Fool Killer Letters recounting the folk figure’s homicidal adventures in North Carolina, Virginia (including what is now West Virginia) and Kentucky.
Those tales presented the Milton Chronicle‘s Fool Killer from the late 1840s or early 1850s on through the late 1870s or possibly as late as 1880. That figure slew fools with his club/ walking stick/ cudgel and his set of Bowie knives, each blade inscribed with the words “Fool Killer.”
The very first Fool Killer Letter by Charles Napoleon Bonaparte Evans’ fictional Jesse Holmes has not survived, so if Evans made reference to being inspired by any older Fool Killer traditions we have no way of knowing it.
If he had, one possible source would be the Fool Killer figure from Melungeon folklore in East Tennessee and other Appalachian areas. Or, since we have no way of checking exact dates, Evans’ darkly satirical tales may have influenced the existing Melungeon lore since Melungeons at the time were scattered from Tennessee to North Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia.
If you’re not familiar with the Melungeon people their origin is shrouded in centuries of folklore. Since I’m covering Fool Killer legends specifically here, I will simplify Melungeon origin tales for the sake of brevity.
The Melungeon origin traditions relevant to Fool Killer lore: a) Pre-Columbian Portuguese sailors became shipwrecked here in the New World and intermarried with Native Americans of the area to produce the Melungeons … b) Ancient Phoenicians arrived in the New World while sailing in search of new lands to colonize, so Melungeons are descendants of those Phoenicians … and c) Satan (“Old Horny” as he’s called in Melungeon folk tales) bred with Native American women to produce the Melungeons. (Only NON-Melungeons told this tale.)
FOOL KILLER VARIATION ONE: I’ll begin with the Melungeon Fool Killer tradition which states that the Devil/ Old Horny coupled with already existing Melungeon women who happened to be witches OR who were victims of his forced affections. One of those women gave birth to his son. Continue reading
Peter Schweizer’s 2018 non-fiction book regarding the way that the rival gangs of white-collar criminals called Democrats and Republicans have raised graft and illegality to new levels has been named the Fourth Best Book of All Time at Exposing Political Corruption. That’s from BookAuthority.com. 
The book is titled SECRET EMPIRES: HOW THE AMERICAN POLITICAL CLASS HIDES CORRUPTION AND ENRICHES FAMILY AND FRIENDS. Schweizer pulls no punches and – as Balladeer’s Blog loves to see – details corruption by BOTH the Democrats and Republicans. Have I mentioned lately that we need Third Parties? Yeah, I thought I had. 
PART NINE: This installment draws to a close the opening era of Fool Killer lore but we have much, much more to go after this. (At left is the figure riding a train’s cowcatcher like he often did to get around.)
Michael Tracey, originally one of the Young Turks and still a very outspoken anti-Trump reporter, has shown some of the integrity his colleagues lack by calling out their irrational and childish refusal to let go of the discredited and debunked Russian Collusion fantasy. 
Adam Schiff
De facto Third Party President Donald Trump continues to confound the two gangs of white-collar criminals called Democrats and Republicans. This unlikeliest hero of them all has helped the working class and poor of all colors despite the overwhelming odds against him. 
“… this week the President and the rebel alliance cracked through the Democrats’ Death Star of lies , deceit, and unpunished illegalities.” 
“Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
PART EIGHT: The previous installment dealt with the last surviving Fool Killer Letter by Charles Napoleon Bonaparte Evans, Editor of the Milton Chronicle. That letter was from February of 1879. 
In 1862 the Southern Literary Messenger quoted from a Milton Chronicle Fool Killer Letter, but without an exact date and without the whole context it’s not sufficient to count it as an 8th surviving letter. 
BREAKING NEWS: Muslim fanatics are STILL the ones behind the Boston Marathon Massacre, despite the way the media tried to blame it on Tea Party members.
It’s no secret that Democrats have become the new Nazis, despite their tendency to project their own fascist feelings onto the people who courageously oppose them. Just one of the latest examples involved a bigoted Democrat attack on Paloma Zuniga at a Post Office in Chula Vista. 
De facto Third Party President Donald Trump continues to win black voters away from Democrats, the party of the Ku Klux Klan, slavery, Jim Crow, the Dred Scott Decision and so much more. The New York Times‘ Charles Blow addressed this recently. 
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore.
PART SEVEN: The seventh surviving Fool Killer Letter. (See Part One for an explanation.) 
Holmes then set out to snuff the devious old bachelor and also came across another young man who had been played false by the same woman who victimized the wagon driver. This suitor had swum the Hyco River in North Carolina, risking pneumonia at that time of year, just to see the girl. The Fool Killer advised him about the belle’s true nature and gave him a token swat for being suckered in by that designing woman and risking his life for her. 
The trio tried to persuade Butts into joining them in a suicide pact to show their faith before the imminent end. When Charles refused, the three drunken apocalypticists grew hostile and implied they might take him with them against his will. The Fool Killer intervened with his club/ walking stick/cudgel and his set of Bowie knives and slew the three loons. 
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