Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1872-04-13


OF HER llU>nANp ON THE Cn>EGE on
HAVING POISONED HEE-Onr al those
strange and my Sterious cases OF dOmes.
tic tragedy which startle and CONFUSE
with painful excitement q quiet and
virtuOus and lawloving community,
occurred near the town of Nj, Craw-
ford. in Rockingham county. on Thurs.
day Of last week, the 2Sth of March.
On that day, about noon. Mrs. Dclilah
Cameron. wife of John Cameron. an
active. well-to-do. entcrpiiziug man.
died suddenly, after having taken what
she supposed was Il dose Of salts, hut
which from the sudden and deadly Of
fects produced is believed To have been
impregnated with dose Of strychnine.
Immediately after taking the dose,
which was about teaspoouiul. and
which was taken for the sick headache
of which she complained, she was
thrown into violent commissions. which
continued with but brief intcrmiSS!on
tor the space Of about IN hour and .
half when death terminated her mortal
agony. Her husband was absent in one
of his fields. not far from his residence,
when the dose was taken. One of Mrs.
Camcron'S children. a young lady IS
wears OF ace, ran 10 some of the neigh
bor> and announced the sudden and
violent illness of her mother Collect
inc quickly. her ncighbors found her in
the terrible bodily agonv spoken of
Her husband being called from the
field. suggested that cream should he
given her. rs thai was good in such
cases Mrs Cameron continued rapidly
TO grow worse. the commissions h'cOm.
ing more aud more violent aud h,r hoGy
more rigid, until death ousucd. In the
intervals which elapsed between the
paroxi>mS, she charged her husband
with having prepared the poison which
she felt assured would soon terminate in
her death She aad To- him, ".lohn
you have poisoned me; you said You
would DO it, and YOU have done it,
She said he had prepared it tn" Sunda!
before, when she Was AT FairIirw a
church.
On Saturday morning Coroner l.. II.
OFT summoned jury. who proceeded 10
hold IN Inquest over the body of the
deceased Thccyidcnce adduccd before
thcimy elected the facts already sta.
ted, with the additional ones that dc
ceased and her husband had ior some
time lived very uuhappily together, iic-
qucnt!y diSputIug mgrlIy, and upon one
or two occasion, coming 10 blows
The cauSe of these family difficulties
was said to be the visits Of Cameron To
the house Of Il disrcputablc woman or
women not far from bis residence. In
fact, Il difficulty had occurred between
the parties only about fortnight before
the fatal Thursday. in which Cameron
had inflicted personal chaStiscInenl upon
his wife in the presence of the woman
he was said 10 bc in the habit OF visit
ing.
After hearing the evidence in the case,
some OF the witnesses summoned being
4 number Of the most shlllluI and ~.
pcrienccd physicians in the county, the
unanimous judgment of the jury was,
that the deceased had been poisoned
and that the agent was strychninc. \
portion of the stomach of the deceased
was taken out and sent to professors of
chemistry at the University of Virginia
for examination and careful analysis.
The deceased was buried on Sunday,
and her husband was arrested and con.
fined at his residence until Monday,
when be underwent examination before
Justices of the Peace J.. &. Whitescar.
yer, VI Linden, Joseph Byrd, aud y.
W. Bowman. After a patient hearing
Of the case, the accused was sent 10 Jail
at Uairsonburg where he now remains
awaiting an indictment and final trial
Cameron Is about ~ years of age,
and his wife in the 49th year of her
age. They have twOchiIdrcn, daugh-
ter about -, aud son about Is years
of age An interview between the faith
er and the son at the Jail on Tuesday,
is represented to have been deeply al
icctlng
We have never known case TO occur
H. our county which has 50 excited tho
popular mind in the locality where it
occurred. All the circumstances with
which it is connected nave served 10 in
vest it with unusual interest We shall
watch the progress Of the trial carefully
and give the readers Of the Register the
results of our observations - I'm risOn.
bWg Rsgpier.