Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1843-02-28
THE WILD WOMAN. 4

II will perhaps be recollected that about
a year and half ago, the St. Louis pa
pers gave an account Of woman who
had been discovered in the woods near that
city, almost naked, and apparently quite
wild. 1t appears that she had lived in this
manner until lately; when the severity Of
the winter drove her to human habitation
and there, being much exhausted for want
of food and badly frost-biten, she expired.
Previous to her death she became quite
rational, and gave the following account of
herself, which we condense from the St.
Louis papers;
She was born in New Jersey, whence
with her parents she had removed to Gin
cinna,i, where they lived until she grew up
to womanhood. A young man whom her
father did not like, paid his addresses to her
and they eloped for St. Louis. AT Louis
vile he pursuaded her to take lodgings
with him as his wife, promising to go with
her 10 clergyman and get married in the
morning. He left her in the morning to
GO Cor minister and never returned. Al
day she remained almost distracted with
fear for the safety of her lover, whom she
could not think had abandoned her, but f.
nay she learned ,hat he had taken boat
going down the river in the morning The
shock 10 her feelings was so great that she
fainted and fell in the street. She was ta-
ken up by some kindly disposd person who
as soon as she recovered, paid her passage
back to Cincinnati.
Her heart almost failed her as she ap-
preached her home. She could see her
fathers residence as the boat passed along
up the river, and il was her intention to go
directly home, and throw herself upon the
mercy Of her father and mother and tell
them how she had been deceived On APP
preaching the door Of the dwelling, there
appeared TO be an unusual hustle in the
house. and on entering she saw her father
lying dead upon the floor. The old man
mad heard which way she had gone, and
took passage Oh the unfortunate steamboat
Moselle, which blew up al Cincinnati, and
being one Of the unfortunate sufferers, the
body had just been recovered and brought
home AS soon as the mother saw her,
"There," said she, "there is your MUIR
dered father ~ She ran from the house,
but not before her mothers curse was up
on her. She says it rang in her ears for
many a long day and night as she wan
dered through tha woods.
1t was then summer, and al times severe
hunger would induce her to go near the
habilations Of the people, as she wandered
along through the country; and at one time
she slipped in and took the ho9cake from
the fire, while the farmers wife had gone
to the spring; at other times she caught the
fowls from the fence, and devoured them
raw. How she lived so long. she is una
Die to tell; but berries, nuts, fruit, and such
game as she was enabled TO catch, have
been her food; and for two winters she
lived in an old deserted cabin on the banks
Of the Missouri. She filled it nearly full of
dried leaves in the fall and would
creep into them in cold weather. Some
body burnt down the cabin last fall, with
some little stores Of nuts and dried fruit
she had laid up for winter; since which
time she had been sleeping in large hol.
low tree.
She says" My clothing being almost
entirely gone, the cold was very severe.
and thought would come to house and
get them to bury me. How have suffer
ed no human tongue can tell, but | had
made up my mind to die in the wild woods
and never again to suffer human being
to speak to me; but my resolution failed,
and am indebted to the kindness of this
poor family for what little comfort they
could afford me on my death bed"
Pittsburgh Chronicle.