Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1866-12-13
Desperate Infanticide at
~r Wheeling.
A Woman Kills her Child at
Packers Hotel, and after
wards Attempts her own
Life.
tFrom the Intelligenccr, Of l..tThur.dsyI J

this city. A woman, who gives her name
as Minnie Nugent, arrived there on Tuesday
morning last on the Parkersburg boat, and
took lodgings. She had with her little
girl about three years old There was moth
ing especially unusual about her appearance,
or that created the least suspicion as to the
horrible mission on which she had come
After she had been assigned room very
little was seen of her by the INN ates of the
house. She eat her breakfast and also her
dinner having the child with her at both
meals. She did not come down to supper,
nor to breakfast the next yesterday morn
ing The landlady noticing her absence sent
up to her room to see if anything was wrong,
and the chambermaid returned saying that
the woman was asleep. Dinner passed off
and still the woman did not come down.
Thinking such long fasting very unusual
occurrence the landlady went up TO the
room a second time with her chambermaid
and knocking at the door the woman came
and opened it. The situation of affairs was
soon made known. She pointed those at
the door to her little girl lying dead in the
bed, and at once confessed that she had
murdered it on the previous evening, since
which time she had been under the influence
of opium, taken with the expectation of
killing herself. Indeed the evidences of all
she said we're conclusive enough. She had
been vomiting and was at the time in a state
of delirium from the effects of the drug
Her child was lying in its blood stained
night clothes in the bed from which she had
lust arisen, with three mortal daggar stabs
through it's left breast and side. The sight
was horrible enough, and was made doubly
so by the situation Of the woman. Confus,
ed AS she was with opium, she was able to
tell the history of The circumstance. PIevi-
Gus to hearing it, however, MIR. Packer sent
word to Sheriff Seybold, and to the
Coroner, both ofwhom came down. AJury
was at once empannrled to view the remains
and ascertain the facts of the murder
The Sheriff in the meanwhile took charge
of the woman, and while awaiting the pro-
ceedings of the inquest had long conver
sation with her. She related that her mai
den name was Arbor; that her parents
lived at Williamstown. in Wood County, in
this State, opposite Marietta; that four
years ago she had married man named
Nugent, against their consent, running
away with him. and that two months alter
tho birth Of the little girl he had deserted
her, and had never returned; that her
mother had refused to become reconclled to
her and had never forgiven her marriage,
but had made her home SO intolerable that
she could not live there and had poisoned
the minds of all her relatives against her to
such an extent that she had no place on
earth to call her home, aud was forced to go
out in the world and seek subsistence
She had gone out and had found that there
was no place for her; nothing that she could
do, and she could not hear to beg her way
| from place to place. Rendered thus des'
perate by brooding over her hopeless pros
meets, and anxious not to leave her little
| daughter to fate worse, perhaps, than
death, she calmly resolved to end both their
lives, and after making up her mind to this
| effect came to Wheeling to carry out her
resolve. She purchased small dagger, and
also several papers OF powdered opium, and
seems TO have made minute preparations
for death. She said that for several hours
after arriving, she could not bear to kill her
child, and vet she felt all the time that she
must do it. She waited until it fell asleep,
and then putting on its night clothes and
placing il in bed bent over it and kissed 1t
several times before planting the dagger IN
its heart, as she finally did. The child, she
said, made no cry, but only moaned, and
with scarcely struggle bled to death. =
She had stabbed it three times, twice IN the
left lung and once in the heart. She says
that before she took its life she knelt down
and prayed over it, and also repeated her
prayer after she had inflicted the, wounds,
and that she had kissed away Its last expir,
ing breath. 3I0 . .rs
After the perpetraton of this horrible
and unnatural deed, she took the OPIUM
with which she proposed TO take her own
life, and then lay down beside her dead
child to die. We think 1t likely, from the
character Of the writing below, that she
:. must have written portion OF 1t after the
effects of the medicine. began to tell upon
her, and before she became too drowsy to
think and compose. The woman herself
was too confused in her recollections 10 tel
a perfecty straight and reliable story, ex'
cept as to the main facts, which We have nc
doubt al correct, as she repeated them II
. various ways and connections. From some
cause, either from an over dose OF opium
or else from an insufficient amount oft, sht
% failed to accomplish her intentions OF SUI
eide. She had vomited great deal, anc
seemed 20 have thrown up most OF thelpol
son. Several powders, with directions 10
female hand write, were found among he
effects as were also the subjoiued letters
Strange as it may seem the woman's las
wish appears to have been that due pub
licitv should be given to'the facts connected
with her own death, while she says nothing
whatever about her child. One OF the en-
kvelopes was addressed thus Give this z
an editor Immediately" Her personal ap
g. pearance, Judging from a daguerrotype in
: iockct left on her table, is not prepossess
: ing. but those who saw her say that It doe
t not do her Justice She is young woman
v aged only about twenty one. ratherilllterat
\ and evidently unbalanced in her nental an
). moral organization. ~ -.i h, ttu
o The following gentlemen composed th'
d Coropeps Jury that held an inquest owe
. the remains of the child, viz: Alex. M'
o Courtney, Isaac Shallcress, G.sW.r ker
4 nedy, Vim. Haller, Joseph salisbury, Bel
pard Shanley, T. j. Mckee, Christlsa
|. Hess, Nicholas Reister, ] John Scarrborougt
: James NJ. Buleer, and Henry Ker'z, VI
. |, Hildretk made the proper medical exam
nations' and the verdict Of the jury was thi
the child died from the wounds above d.
~ scribed, inflicted by a adagger in the hang
4 of a woman calling herself Minnie Nugea
The woman is nowin Jail, and thes chi
sd was b roperly laid out last eyening. and VI
ToI DO inferred, we presume, this p9rping. :
= 4 The whole affair created considerable sens
80 =. .ha w.c;n;tv nf fhe hnf al LAST eyeniu