The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1864-06-16

hand mark on her throat, which seemed
to have been made with the thumt
down on the breast. The throat seemed
red, there were bruises on the back par
of the head, and perhaps on the side O.
it, there were two others. / found thu
girl in the river about the last of March
1850, about 6 or o'clock i'm the morn
ing, a little after sun up. Twas about
my ferry the night before about IL o.
clock. l saw a team driving rather fast
in the direction of the ferry, and di
rected Barnes to go and take it across
the team was coming from the west; ]
saw the team about two hundreds yards
from the river. 1t was light enough to
see team at the distance Of one hun.
dred yards; when first saw it, it was
driving toward my house; it passed me
between my house and the river; there
was the most travel on the road leading
to the ferry; it passed close by me; when
/ last saw it, it was some fifty feet from
the river; it was on fast trot when it
passed, about Is feet from me. There
were two horses drawing the wagon,
and one leading behind; thought the
wagon was thimble-skeined; there was
lone man driving it; l did not hear it
drive into the river; there were no words
passed between me and the man dri-
wing the team; ] last saw the girl at the
store above mentioned, on the same day
/ took her out Of the river; / saw her
in the room mentioned three or
four times that day; / did not
see her after she was taken from the
room. The man driving the team was
medium sized; can't describe him par
ticularly; he was setting on a seat board
across the top of the wagon. / found
the girl in the county of Wapello, State
of Iowa.
Cross examined The road where |
saw the wagon is rather uneven; it is
not unusual for teams to 60 in trot
along there; when I met the team it
made no halt, but drove right on.
Re-examined: The people had been
fording below the ferry that SPRING
There was team came back after that,
don't know if it was the one that went
OH or not.
0. Ormick, sworn.-I found the girl
in the river, on the morning of the 3Oth
day Of March, 1860, about sunrise, !
drove into the river where Davis ferry
now is. The girl was on the other side
of the river about ten steps from the
shore, with one of the hoops of the skirt
hitched on a root, with her head down
the river, with her face turued down,
the body resting on stone over which
the water ran about ten or twelve inches
deep. The water WAS not deep at the
ford, it was l think about fifteen or six
teen inches deep. was the first one
that crossed the river that morning.
got PrGsser and Barnes and Prosser's
son, and we took her up, and brought
her on this side of the river, and deliv-
cred her to the coroner. saw her after
that at the inquest. ! saw there Mr..
Gaylord, Mr.. Washburn. DIR. qhrall and
DIR. Williamson, which was held in a
house standing where Moss store house
now stands. Ibid notsee her after she
was removed from the place where the
inquest was held. DR.. Thrall was ex-
amining the wounds. / did not notice
about her clothing. noticed
her dress at the time but don't now re-
member it. Prosser and never found
any other body of a person in the river.
The forks of the road is about one hun
dred and fifty yards from the river.
Cross examined: / saw the body be
fore / got to the river on the other side,
lying in the river about ten steps from
the west shore. People crossed the
river all along there at that time in that
year; these crossings were all above
where we found the called.
John Prosser, jr., sworn.-I was pres
ent in the skiff when father and Mr.,
Ormick took the girl out of the river
and brought her on this side, when the
coroner came and took her away on a
tlray up to house where Moss store
now is, and held an inquest upon her
body. / saw there DR.. Thrall, Mr.. Pot
ter, and father. / don't know where
she was taken to from there. She had
on a calico dress, and one pocket was
turned inside out. The dress was torn.
loose about the neck. The dress was
caught on a stump in the river; she was
lying on the left side with the face rath-
er down. There were finger prints on
the neck, and one side of the face. The.
head was bruised some, as also the face,
bat don't recoilect on which side. ]
did not notice any other until after ]
got into the coroner's Office. / don't
to have seen any rings in her
ears; was at the ferry the night before
the girl was found in the morning.
Father and Mr.. Logan were together.
When | got about half way from the
house to the river, | heard team COM.
ing; there was lone man in the wagon
driving on fast trot; the ground is nm
even where the man was driving. i
went to the river about fifteen minutes
after the team passed. / went down
the river about 75 yards to see some
colts that were tied there, went TO the
house, and then went to the river
The team was about 25 yards in the
river when got to it; the team was
aud the man as soon as he
saw me, started on over the river; the
water then was about four or four and
4 half feet deep; it was deep fording, |
heard some splashing where the team
was. / did not notice whether the team
went on over the river or not. The man
n the wagon seemed to be looking down
.he river.
Cross examined: The man seemed to
h.,u IL