About the Project
This website was started as a way to show off the Clementine Barnabet collection of James D Wilson. This website contains newspaper articles describing the events within the towns where the crimes were being committed, one of a kind court documents from the case against Clementine Barnabet that cannot be found anywhere else, and other sources that put into context what was happening in the small towns of Louisiana and Texas when these murders were taking place. This site is an ongoing project. We would love to hear feedback of any kind.
How to use the site.
The documents on this site are to be used the way that an archive would be used: to further ones research and understanding of the "Ritual Ax Murders" and Clementine Barnabet case. The documents on this site can be viewed a few different ways.
- By clicking on the Browse Items tab, items can be viewed individually and without any organization. The items closest to the top are the most recent to be uploaded to this site.
- By clicking on the Browse Collections tab, items can be viewed by the collections bulleted below. To avoid any confusion, one should view the word collection and exhibit as one in the same on this site.
- Through the Years - view the newspaper articles in a chronological fashion. The articles that appear at the top most left of the page start at the beginning of the year and work their way down.
- Pick Your Paper - view the newspaper articles according to which newspaper was responsible for publishing that article. Articles that appear the the top most left of the page are the earliest written by the newpaper that is selected.
- The New Orleans Times-Picayune - a newspaper that, according to the Library of Congress, began in 1914 and is still running in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- The Daily Picayune - a newspaper that, according to the Library of Congress, ran in New Orleans, Louisiana from 1837 until 1914 when a merger with The Times-Democrat led to The Times-Picayune being formed.
- The Times-Democrat - a newspaper that, according to the Library of Congress, ran in New Orleans, Louisiana from 1881 until 1914 when a merger with The Daily Picayune led to The Times-Picayune being formed.
- The Lafayette Advertiser - a newspaper that, according to the Library of Congress, began in 1865 is still running in Lafayette, Louisiana.
- The Crowley Signal - a newspaper that, according to the Library of Congress, ran in Crowley, Louisiana from 1888 until 1930.
- The Lake Charles daily American Press - a newspaper that, according to Library of Congress, ran from 1910 until 1912 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
- Papers From Other States - this section includes papers from Texas, New Jersey, and other states across the country who were reporting on this string of murders and the cases that followed.
- The Tensas Gazette - is a newspaper that, according to the Library of Congress, began running in 1886 and is still running today in St. Joseph, Louisiana.
- Court Documents - view court documents on the case against Clementine Barnabet that many have never seen before.