The Sumter watchman. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1855-1881, 1870-03-23

Aou tuay Jaiutiy tmaKiuo my grtoI 00Q
desolatiou. You have lost daugh.
ter, but I have lost iu ber all
that was dear to me. God help us
all
l atm too unnerved to write now
But | must beg, as last favor, that
you allow my darling's remains to rest
here undisturbed / will care for them,
and water the flowers on her dear grave
with my frequent tears As soon as
[ have tho heart to undertake the task,
| will send you all her clothing, etc
reserving to myself only few memen-
toes. May Heaven bless you aud sustain
you!
The aged couple were heart broken
at the loss of their only child. and
mourned with grief that refused
to be comforted. All! it was uot
long before they would have thank
ed God that their daughters fate
had been no worse than they at first be.
lieved
The reward offered for the discovery
and apprehension of the murderer Of
the woman had stimulated one man to
patient and oeaseless investigation. He
was sort Of amateur detective, named
Tinsley, who had 10 special fitness for
his self assumed office, except an in-
tense curiosity and persistent brood.
ing that would sometimes bring form
aud purpose out ofchaos. He haunted
the spot where the corps was found,
and meditatcd upon oil the circumstan-
ces Of the case with the dogged pertiSa
city of stapidity. A brighter person
would have yielded the task in despair,
but his very dulluess kept him at it, aud
at length gave him clue that he slows
ly bu. steadily followed up. Near the
scene OF the murder he one day found
chignon Of coal black hair. The dead
woman's hair was auburn, and when
found she wore chiynon of the same
color. Close to the chiynon lay piece
Of muddy paper. 1t proved to be an
old letter, dated "Ecar Gettysburg, Pa"
1t was simply addressed to "My dear
husband. and was signed "your affec
tionate wife, Mary" Nobody but Tin,
sley would have attached any Importance
to these discoveries. but it being his
habit Of mini to refer everything to the
case then in hand. he at once believed
that he had found the key to the awful
mystery. Yet how easy it was to &C
count for the presence of those things
there! Hundreds of both sexes, from
far aud Hear. had visited the noled
scene, and twas very probable that somc
of these had lost the chignon and the
letter. Tinslcy, however was not at all
impressed with .his view of the matter
and he thought it worth his while to gp
to Gettysburg and inquire for MARY"
He did SO 1t was weary hunt,
and would have seemed FOOLS crrand
to most people j; but ut length Tiuslcy
got on the tract of "Mary." and he per-
sncd it till he was welcomed by the Or.
dolls as friend aud ncighbor of-John
Randall! He already knew enough to
convince him that John Randall's wife
was the murdered w"man found near
Beeville, aud that John Randall was
her murderer He had already seen
tie minister who married them, and
now he read Randall's letters written
since the he!lish deed, and he thrilled
with horror ut their cold blooded du.
plicity and atrociousness. The evidence
was appallingly overwhelming. We
cast veil over the scene that occurred
when Tinslcy told that old, bcrcIt couple
what he believed to be the true story
Of their daughters end
All Beeville and the country around
was amazed when it was announced that
John Randall had been arrested for the
murder. 1t was incredible. His char
acter was excellent, both as citizen,
and soldier, and he was noted for his
abstinence, not only from the vices but
from the foll;cs into which young men
commonly fall. Yet when all the damn
ing developments appeared, it seemed
impossible to doubt his guilt. As he
had once been high in public estimation,
so now he fell. like Luciter. The pop
ular Indignation rose against him in a
tempest, and he was threatened with the
summary vengeance of an excited
mob
On the trial it was positively estab
lished, by the Identification of clothing
and ornaments, that the dead woman
was Mary Randall, once Mary Ordolt !;
that the prisoner married her in 1868,
and had since strangely kept that facS a
secret, not only from his acquaiutances
at Beevillc, but from his own family ;
that, in short, he brought her to Vir-
ginia, aud was last seen with her in a
carriage driving through Beeville on
the Sunday We have already noted that
at the hotel Oh the Saturday night be"
fore, he told his wife that he intended
next day to take her to his uncle, whose
house she never reached that lie was
engaged to be married to Indiana Ran
dali, his cousin; and that he had cruel
ly duped the Ordolfs into believing that
his wife had come to a natural death
There was a cloud Of other testimony to
the like effect, and though he was elo-
quently defended, the ju.y did not hesi-
tate in returning a vcrdict Of "Guilty
Of murder in thestirst degree"
When asked ifhe had anything to say
why sentence OF death should not be
passed upon him, Randall simply an
swered
HH