, 1866-03-12
the SYCAMORE WIFE SHOOTING
CASE.
History Of the Parties.~.The Boy At
rood and his Girl Wife.


OF December last, Ia now being made tho subject
Of tuaie1al Investigation IN the Circuit Court Of
that county. etttlng In the town Of Syesmose, be-
fore JndKe T. D. Murphy, snd by thus means ID
aRam brought befoFr the attention Of the public
all The mysterious md extraordinarily hor-
t'oie character OF the e%ent, thorn Of
nothing of it's awfnl interest, hnt rather
having Estned in that te.pect by the time
which hss elapsed. during which opportunity h.a
bcn afforded for its tull consideration. Nothing
IN thus part Of the country has ever excited such
deep and genera feeling among al classes, and to
Wtueas The manner in which al the oedinary occu-
paians Of life and lopIca OF conversation sse swal-
loved up IN this trial. stranger might readily i'm
ac1oe thai every EttEEu WIS aty directly interest
ed IN the case. Well may such interest be felt 10.
either most Grcocsbus william has in the Alleged
| CRIME, committed o1st Of the dsrkest deeds of
hnzrur ever known. or the life of an Innocent. beard
Of the ssddest Of aecfdent*, which ii would be M
aFtned bad forever bhghted his happtness deto!si-
ing bis heart as 1t did bis home.
! TIE CASE
letated II ritf as fo1lous: TN the 18th Of Dccem.
| bet lat, Henry C.. Atwood mere boy, who will
not be eighteen yearr Of age upul the trtt OF Au.
enst ne1f, b1t who had ,!eu been married since
alone Nt!h bis = u. two yesrs youneer thaa him
feh shot her. lie was engaged al the time in
E I'd ths a srssd b hs ,S
tred, and ieil entered her body in1cting wound
from which she died, three DE-. subsequently,. This
oas1 81 aonbg aa;
ti.sd xih,n ~ lew weeks. perssps day., oi BE-.
thor her young ti!e also killed her unborn child
The explanation given Of the atlhsr 1s that Henry
.o,cr. vbilc che sitting direcriy before him,
Kitchen. She called biz attention 10 thc fset thst
portion Of The weapon. and he took up her
spron to wlpe + To-. ot IN. r. doing thts TIC
snot Tsi tbe no r;u's nea aIs e pos se
| threw her arms about his neck exclajmins, "0h.
Henry. an shot;' md be, ftsI placing hef upon
qg ESQ., to ns ns tnS S
surgeon. residenr tn DeKsb, who eave to ber every
care possible. mulf ytng her a!ileston a. much Is
| bous after the aring Of the falal shot. the gave
tt,th TO dead child, which the doctors pronounced
rerr near TO maturity ard about thirty hours from
mother and child showed ttat the bullet had
touary inquest waa held aud although the evidence
/ there 1ddnced nas even sligbter than that brought
up on the lral IN the Circuit Court, the Corouer's
| Jury brourt, in verdict so ses,oukly duplicating
Henry :. Atwood. .be husband; tbstte vas as1esi-
deied. pceambcr esud, and lodged N jail. The ex:
citemeut In The minds Of the puhhc wax Intense,
with tho-e involved In IT. or with their most distant
! relatives or aeqIatntanceF w1s eagerly and hotiy
| caDvhssed by the people.
The Defence
odc1l Is thai Henry has beeu subj Ct from his youh,
TO sinking spells, 1eeuItine from some tcrangc.
| ne1t OF the heart md liytr.-4nacks which come
upon him suddenly. and LEFT him much pnostrated
atteIward. Nc bud, It IS admitted. one Of these
spells The Eight hetore the shooting Of Ada, and
on TINT das too much exhausted 10 20 to not1z. He
therefore remained At home and 10 kill time busled
md 1--WE # ~. s.o o 'he Of T. se w
fore her deaih. That the shooting was purely atcl.
dentaA occurring IN the manner We have already de-
he idrs that The thoo.inc sas The Ietnl OF DELHI
ernie purT'ose, dendf*h design TO murder the
vile under The psescnce Of IN accident and
1 TIE PROSECUTION
| aycfe that his reasons for this were bis unhappy
relations With he wife urd his ardent pssslon Tor
Old danae-Mise F11nc.s Ca51wrteht-wi,h wbom
he stil co11epouded. and Tor whom there was
| every reason to believe that be still entertained
all the affection he had ever shown. II IL also a.
legged that the direction Of the ball WIS such as TO
oSer ppeeon han 81 aeas an
zlc downward, and not from the hand of i person
in sitting posture before The unfortunate woman
deep reercls over he results Of Bis lmprudencs
With this 1mplesston aR1tnst him Henry was ".
rested and lodgsd IA IN ,an aiLsf The The c9Ionsfs n
the 7lh 1nst., when he was brought out and
Tue TRIAL
wns commenced. Great difficulty In obtaining d
jurg was experienced, iron the 1act TINT The cast
1
pe7sou IN Tie druit, and every one seemed 10 have
formed IN up,n'on II to The Innocence OF eufl, o
the accuted. Three panels, IN Ill seventy two men
finally composed OF The following persons: ]. s
Faischild. -. coad,c. 8. =. Patton. Henry 3
gsexs ~ 3; 6n.s hi'asss t:s 4 ss nr!
sessiae ~ md On Thursday he easc was form
sl!y ol*ned. gs The openings Vs1e eloquent bR
ARnAr Or TALENT
be1n: one Of the strongest made In this part Of th
sonnm T. man5 year; Eor p ts rs1tseIt,h9n h "e J,
Coon, Judge Jamee End Il. White. For the defence
Judge b. F. iarks Of Aurora, assisted By Charlie
6. ksllu1a, MI 11andall, o'- -Dekalb and Judge Z L
Dr. Earl, Of Deha1h, was the nrst witness called
I, t % he ~ ,itsa r. he
be- lying on lhe bed c1ose-wise witt her closles
sao md ns4 tacs IL ABOVE sa sad iste On ihe ii
; Of he navel l, parsed iuto The Eomh md thsne'
eeuId ret Be e. ,.aosa by u E5oe Tie c rsyove
the hble in the Kitchen md one Of te barrels hat
been recentlr discharged. About forty hour ai!e
dead chIid through which the pirfoi hs bad ed
The pains wtfe natural. and The mother died aboa
th1rty hours after from perlionite induced bF TIT
| rect,on Of lte bail wns almost directly downward
! md could not have been inflicted If sccused hat
| been Fitting at the time. Accused when ne called
| apparently sery much frightened. and three times
he made use Of the c1pnrs Ion that It tvas IN aed
dent. M1e. Atwood also said that she WAS shot nc
cideptally. that Ehf did not think be had shot ne1
Urs Hopkins 0arsin apd Hez-lop sahssans1asrd
injury hui ibeir evidence developed nothing new q
Nancy Vale testified tnat she knew Henry C.
AtMood-ihat be had sent her letter md ring
shout the latte; pert or Octooer or he nr.t Of No
vember last She returned the ring and Eave the
letter 10 Mr. Gilbert. At Ihe Eoroness inquest Hel
| lowed.
Frances .ansnight being Fwosu, testified mi sub
etance q follows: Rave known Henry sinee v;
/ 5une aasi and tae osher besore shas dase. one
a'sa ses ea
before thu time had co1tsrondenoe With btu
frequently, ATTENDED on Ut ,,11h ,T1ahshRs:ss'ng h ess1
{ foas times. He fald to me he would give NIL
: NAMED maj ,he!s until morning. - Hsse met hia
. frequently ssnee bis marriage and before the deas'
Of h,s vile. h91 not BY appointment; Hs cave q,
The rest Of The testimony Of the witness vas unn
porsans. although very long, and II unnecessary 70
publication here She Ii only abont si1teen year
. George lienael. SOM testified that be knew yonn
r Atwood. Had carried 1etier for him Miss Car
: ,hss M,ts e told htm ttat A1e.hasa El-sy xante
70 rct aeqnssn.sa With him, and be was desetuine
J.. Mis. Emma Randall tessined tha, che knew Q
q accused writing letter and note to Miss car'
d wright since his marriage. He said IN bis lette
that be Lad been married 10 Miss Bennett ihloc.
]. | the influence Of some persons whom be did no
namc, brt tbs: be still ihongnt AZ much Q! her a
he eres did, and you'd nl~ays remain true 70 ttl
aa b. ka h to ,n h a ss
, | your fotes, Henry &. Atwood"
: Mise Mary schoonhoser te*hded tha, Henry had
y pan. At Lane where hi. vile vas not present
D Others were with them in the came company golD
E from and retnminG to DeKalb. She had neSe
. Mrs. jerome Root tesllhed that .he vas pseseu
: at the delivery Of Mrs. A,wood't eh{ld, ate1 ID
5 nsS ., as Sh ss es ns s. sesa Be-
he'd. where be might see it, He rcpl,ed ihsi he d
/. not wish 10 seeiL and supposed she had thrown
4 kobcrt Duty testified to haytns seen the accuse
le walking on the tt1eet With Miss Cartwright, th
r rrence. They seencd in eaEnesi courer%atfon. WI
: nesp bad heard Henry express wish that he VI
Ie GeorEe Stone testified 10 having carried lel,e.
d ttom Henry 70 Mis- Cartwright SesH besrd hir
J. e Adalbert T1ce had on several occasions see,
: Ierrc1t, since hir uar1iasc- Witness had had
conversation With .ecnscd about altss cartwright
Il ara ACCUSED Gold htto Hocf nA1 hFeu Haak11~ 0n
- - eyen1rg week ten days bc9ore the shooting G
= Mn Atwood. Accused did not tell uitpeas whr
Z they went, or xhAt they dtd.
= Nose. l. Dents f-stlGed to bearing couverta
- lion w11h Aoeneed in Ewood + Dc1ong'e Eiose th
( cay after the shooting. On that otcaklou. Ml
! DelopE rematkea 41hat n. IN awful >eeaden1.
~ ard Henry replied ..fes tr. atcidcn.s will hAppc
10 The best Of families" Accused did moi remat
there lsnS, bat did not seem much affected. "
Lonn7o Whittemore. Coroner o! Dekal", tcst
ned to the holding Of the Coroner's inquest on th
a. body Of Mrs Atwood on the ettt OF December 1ss
md 1dentiscd the rcSol1er now produccd in Conr
!. If the one With which ihe acddcut occurred. q
ot ~. Aix-anch Smith i WesBun pistol. tn goo
It condtuon md bad evidently been eleanrd mol lon
q. | stbce.)
n Charles Hunt teetfed TO conversation Wit
p Hl.nI1. at CIfdx tAt1pr1nf yffari1fuw MS wish