Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1854-08-26

isburg (Greenbrier) Era of Saturday last contains
the following notice of the hendish and murderous
doings of family Of Grahans residing in that part
i Of the State: 81 ~
! in Munroe county, Virginia, on Greenbrier river,
1 and about fourteen miles below Lewisburg, lives
! man named Joseph Graham. He has three or four
grown-up sons living beneath his roof and (until
| the 9th ultimo) one unmarried daughter-Mlss
| Jane Graham-aged about 40. This daughter had
an ilegtimate daughter by man who recently died
in Missouri leaving the sum OF 49, 090 to this child,
who is married to Mr. Miller of Nicholas coun-
tyQuarrels of the most violent character are rep
resented to have been common in this family. A
recent quarrel had taken place, and of the bro
theirs sought to nure the character OF his sister by
leaving anonymous and defamatory letters upon the
highway, and also by writing to Mr. Miller, of Mich
olas, giving the mother of his wife character as
"black hell and as rotten carron, and assert
ing that her daughter (Millers wife, was no better
Without any knowledge of this Miss Jane Graham
few weeks ago went to Nicholas county to visit her
daughter-found that she and her husband had sep
arated living apart and learned that the cause
was the anonymous letter which Miller had received.
Miss Graham, full of the violence and determination
which characterized her. Immediately returned home
violent quarrel ensued between her and the bro
Their who wrote the letter. into which the old man
and woman drawn-(they siding with the SOM
the upshot of which vas the forcble ejectment of
Miss Graham from the house. She went then to the
house of a Observation-Disclosures Mr.. Nolan who lives
hard by--who gave her shelter and protection On
the night of the 9th of july Nolan and wife went
to visit neighbour leaving Miss Graham to take
of the children. After they were gone-(about nine
O'clock and as the children of Nolan say one or two
of whom competent witnesses)-Miss Graham
dressed herself and went out. She took bonnet
belonging to her NIECE and pair of stockings be-
longing either to her niece or her sister. (Remem-
Der thisl Nolan and wife returned, and were
surprised to find Miss Graham gone At little past
ten o'clock they aroused by the cry of fire.
caused by the burning of the barn of Mr.. Joseph
Graham. From her we'll known vindictive temper
it at once suspected that she burned the barn,
honc her ted ANYTHING
remarkable after such act
The Grahams made no effort to learn anything of
the absent member of their amily-never even sug-
gestcd pursuit revenge for the injury done them.
Their conduct in this respect added strength to the
rumor that was beginning to find tongues--a rumor
char ing the family with putting Miss Graham out
of the way" This runor grew so strong that ON
Friday the 4th instant party of neighbors gather
ed together for the purpose of searching for the bo-
dy of the absent woman They went to the house
of Graham to ask his permission to search for the
body on the premises; his answer was: Go look
in the ashes of the barn-if her bones amt there,
they in hell" The party went forward on their
search. few rods below the ruins of the barn they
found indications of a scutf1e-thcn running fight
then, again, of more severe scutf1e, in which a
person appeared to have been thrown down. The
ground was imprinted thckly with footmarks of hui
man beings and of dog From this place they de-
tccted such signs indicated the drawing of hu
man body along the ground towards the creek. This
trail they followed to the creek, where it lost;
but on the other side they re-discovered it. Here
dark stains, which appeared to be of blood, covered
over with fresh ashes were occasionally detected.
This trail followed with toera5le until they
reached the bank of another creek or brooklet be-
yond. Here there were such appearances as Undue
ed the searching party to think the body, before
dragged had been rested moment, and then Shout
dered. The print of a persons knees and the toes
of two booted feet were seen plainly imprinted on
the soft earth, exactly they would have been had
a person got down upon his knees. From this point
blood occasionally detected the leaves two
fpet he Oroun(-ad1ino
to the suspicious of the party that the body had
been shouldcred. Ashes still occasionally
to be scattered along the path. But about half
dozen rods from the place where the body was sup
posed to have been shouldered all traces of the trail
were lost One of the party looking in the direction
of the sun, saw an unusual number of blue or car
ron flies flying about He took it indication,
and by using switch succeeded in establishing
line of buzzing flies toward blown down below
on the bank of the creek The instinct of the flies
was superior to that Of man, and enabled them to
detect signs that might bave otherwise escaped them.
Coming to the tree they found footste leading into
the water, and by going into the water and following
down so as to get view into the thick top of the
tree and surrounding hedge, they discovered the |
dead body of Miss Jane Graham. |
The body was extracted from the bushes after |
much difficulty. 1t considerably putrescent.
The dress she had been taken oil, and lay be-
side her, having the appearance of having been |
washed and thrown up with the body, without being
wrung. Some signs of blood still detected |
upon it, and it much torn as by dog. Her |
shoes were also taken off, and thrown up after the
body as was also the bonnet before spoken Of The |
stockings before mentioned were upon her feet. |
There were signs of violence about the neck, as
though the body had been dragged by rope Arope |
about eight feet long afterwards found near the
place of conceahnent Some signs of her having been
worried by dog were also upon her person, but |
the blood is supposed to have come from her nose |
or mouth.
The family of Grahams showed no signs of favor
or affection for the murdered, and looked with an
eye that BODIED no good upon the searchers, whom
they deemed meddling with matter that was ''none
Of their business. -
An inquest was held upon the body last Monday,
9TH inst. The evidence then given in on the part of
the searching party in accordance with the above
recital One witness spoke of being on the ground
early next morning, and saw large negro, who be-
ongs to the family, coming from the direction where
the body was found with a bucket on his arm--made
him return to search for tracks of the incendiary-
saw some one Supposed to be the negro) had scat
tered fresh ashes along, but nothing then of the
body. After hearing all the evidence, the jury came
10 the conclusion that Miss Jane Graham fired the
barn--that in so doing she reused the fierce dog be-
ongng to the amily-that the dog followed her, and
hat some of the family pursued in the same direc-
ion that some of them came up with her where the
irst indications of scuf1e occurred-that she then
escaped but overtaken where the indications of
second scuf1e found and there murdered.
The jury, understand, were unanimously of
conviction that this was the manner of her death;
yet Twill it be believed in the land of chivary and
n the nineteenth centuryD they brought in YER
lict paper that she "came to her death by some
xnGnoaon neans!" One of the jurymen, whom
.