Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-08-27

often threatened to take the life OF MS
wife: and having enlisted some OF Hllls
| Deighbors in his cause, among them
Messrs. A. G. Kirksey and Walter Con-
ner. Mrs. Hill escaped from her hus-
bands house and was escorted by Kirk
sey and Conner to Brownsville, from
which place Kirksey conveyed her 10
Memphis.
ARRIVED IN MEMPHIS,
Kirksey returned and e~ndeavored to Sc
cure Mrs. Hills child and take it TO her.
After his return, Hill sold everything,
and. taking his child, went with Kirk
sew to ioin his wife, which he did, and
the whole party proceeded to Louisiana,
to the home of the father of Mrs. Hill.
After some days Kirksey returned, and,
about this time the dead body being
found, suspicion Immediately fastened
upon him as being the murderer or an
accessory, and he was accordingly
promptly arrested. It soon became APP
parent to the authorities, however, that
Kirksey was innocent, and he was re-
leased. He was greatly incensed at be
ing arrested for anOther's crime, and at
once set himself to work to ferret out
the true murderer.
THE INQUEST.
AS o o as the body was found a CorO-
ner's inquest was held, and an Imperfect
examination of the remains had. They
discovered, simply, that she had been
neatly and ~tastefully attired, wore a
gray shawl, had on a calico dress made
in the wrapper style, a chemlse MADE Oh
| fine material and fastened with a gold
button, drawers ruflied around the bot
- - E,-4,A,I .Iar-n Huffh TThhap uQF-
| tiers, fine cotton hose secured by another
pair of carriers, and her well-shaped foot
was encased in a well-fitting pair of
cloth shoes, No. ., laced up the front.
/ Besides this, there was found on n of
her fingers a ring with two letters carved
/ on it, supposed to be "F. g." but they
were somewhat indistinct. They like
/ wise found a wound in the back of her
head, supposed to have been made by a
| pistol bullet, and to have caused her
| death. The skin and flesh from the
neck, face and head, had pretty well
| disappeared, and her identity would not
| be discovered from her features, but her
hair, which was lying on the ground
when she was found, was collected, and
is said to have been dark auburn. This
was all that was revealed blythe inquest,
and this was quite unsatisfactory and
altogether insufficient to furnish any
clue by which TO unravel the dread
mystery.
/ THE BODY EXHUMED.
Accordingly, on Monday morning, the
ninth instant, DR.. J. A. Lackey, DR.. j.
D. Jordan, DR.. NJ. Cartwright, and
Messrs. Thomas Ferguson, G. G. Ship,
William Greaves and &. Ia. Strickland
proceeded to the place where the unfor-
| tunate woman had been inferred after
| the inquest, and eXhumed the body for
the purpose of making a more perfect
examination of it. The body was greatly
decayed, but by means Of hooks n 9TH
er appliances they succeeded in denud-
ing it of the clothing in which 1t had
been found, and after washing b same
and freeing it from stains imprinted by
the decaying body, they began to look
for marks, and soon discovered on an
underskirt plainly printed with German
text type, the nam of Emile Rogers;
but as 10 who Emile Rogers was, or
where she came from, they were as
much in the dark as before, and as to
who had murdered her they had not yet
even the faintest conception.
AFTER W. G. MARTIN.
Suddenly, however, Mr.. G. G. Ship,
who is a jeweler, remembered that a
man named Martin, who lived in that
neighborhood, had brought to him at his
shop in Ripley two very fine gold
rings which had been filed in two, and
which he said he had been compelled to
file from his own fingers. This circum-
stance they hoped might be OF someser-
vice. In the meantime, Deputy Sheriff
Alsobrook and Mr.. Kirksey had not
been idle, but had struck the trail of the
incarnate fiend. On Thursday, before
the body was taken up on Monday by
| the gentlemen named, Billy Pennington
had told AlsObrOOk and Kirksey that it
might be a fact of some significance that
one w. J. Martin, the same above men
toned, had left his wife at her fathers,
who lived in the neighbOrhOOd of where
the body was found, in the month OF
April without any visible means what
ever; that he had been absent in Arkansas
and had returned a short time before
with two or three horses and mules, a
wagon and a w~agon-load OF boxes,
trunks, etc, the contents of which were
unknown. Several other circumstances,
all pointing in the same direction, be-
gan to leak out, and accordingly on
Monday, the same day that the body
was exhumed, but without any knowl-
edge thereof, DEPUTY Sheriff AlsobroOk
and A. c. Kirksey took the war path,
and proceeded to Walnut Grove Church,
the neighborhoOd of which they reached
about night and there found a meeting
in progress. They learned there that
the body had been exhumed and i'm
portant discoveries made, and they at
once set about organizing a force to eff
feet the arrest of Martin, as it was feared
he might hear of the denomination OF
the body, and dreading the result, leave
the country.
THE MURDERER ARRESTED.
Martin was staying at his father-in.
laws. and early Tuesday morning foul
Young men, equipped apparently fol
hunting and fishing, three of them hav-
ing guns and the fourth having a gig,
caIIed at the house for Martin, and said
thew wanted him to go with them into
the bottom hunting andfshing. Martin
appeared and came out to meet them,
some fifteen steps from the house. They
commenced hauling their guns down as
he approached, and he turned suddenly
as if to return to the house, when the
party, leveling their pieces at him, com
handed him to halt and surrender
which he Immediately did. The rest Of
+ the posse, some eight in number, then
came up from their concealment close
by. and procuring a rope Deputy Sheriff
II AlsobrOok tied him securely, and pro-
ceeded, with the consent of the family.
to
SEARCH THE HOUSE
Among the articles brought there by
Martin were one large goods box, one
small one, one wicker-basket, and &
large. handsome Saratoga trunk. The
goods boxes were marked for "Lonoke
Arkansas and were evidently puT'
chased there when put to their present
use. The large one was filled mostly
with b~ed-clothing, and the smaller one
/ with queensware. When the trunk wa;
opened there were found in the tray;
and in the top a great many little arti-
cles for ladies' use, most of them of
fancy character, and zone of them Igiv-
? ing any indication of who the owner
, might be. Then lifting out the trays he
commenced to 90 deeper, when Mar.
tins wife objected, saying that the rest
of the articles in the trunk were
her clothing. Thereupon the Deputy.
Sheriff closed the trunk, but afterward
feeling dissatifed with the examination
he had given it, returned to it and went
10 the very bottom. In the body OF the
trunk he came first to a number Of fine
and Acknowledgements dresses, M o.
them an elegant black silk. Next, and