The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-01-17
AN UNNATURAL MOTHER.

Doomed 20 Die tor tho Murder OF Her Child.
WINSTON, N. c.. Jan. IL, 1872.
There Ia now confined In the jail here negro
woman named Martha Mathews under sentence OF
death for the murder of her newly born infant She
was sentenced to be executed In the public square
or this town on Friday the 10th or the present
month, but an appeal has been taken In her case to
the supreme Court OF the State which will be
heard the fourth week OF the coming month, and It
Is strongly believed that the ruling OF the lower
Court will be sustained. The crime of infantIcde is
now so common among the negro women OF the
south that the utmost rigor or the law Is
required to at least check 1t. not put stop It,
The circumstances OF this case are unusually nOrr
BILE. cruel and inhuman and they reveal the worst
traits Of the negro race. In the early part or May
last the
''AFTER-BIRrHr
OF q woman was discovered in mil pond near the
house where Martha Mathews lived. 1t first at.
tracted the attention OF negro woman, who was
crossing the milldam, and sne said she thought at
tine time that 1t was a 'catfsh TAIL" She called
the attention OF the miller to 1t, who is also negro
He rshed the strange looking matter out Of the
mllipond ana at once discovered what 1t was. He
then brought II to the notice of some white men,
ana the mlp0nd was drawn or Tor the pur-
il was supposed taat one had been murdered. But
no discoveries were then made and next morning
u party OF men was organized ana they started out
10 search the creek by which the -mIlpOnd was fed.
Nothing resulted from their Investigations until to-
wards the afternoon, when, while some OF them
were seated upon an old log which had been blown
down,
FRESH CUT
IN the earth was discovered which was so re-
markabe as 10 cause minute examination ana
upon removing the upper portion OF the earth, to
their utmost amazement, the body or a newly born
infant was found, which had
ON tile top OF Its head. This was near the house
where the woman Martha lived. negro woman
VINO was among the crowd that afterwards came to
see the body oil the dead child afterwards went to
MarJha's house and found her crying. She re-
marked to Martha that she was sorry for her. to
which Martha replied that Green "a negro man with
whom she mad been cOhabting) told ner that II she
did not Kill the child that he
WOULD KILL HER;
that ne did not intend to have her swearing young
ones TO INN. This was all the confession she made
AT the time OF her arrest, which TOOK place soon
after the discovery OF the dead body. on the COro
ners inquest she said that she had gone out into
the woods to give birth 10 the child, as she did not
want to be brought to labor before her children
(she has two small Ones); that after its birth held
IL IN her lap nearly half IN hour and cried over IT,
ana then
STRUCK IT
on the head with stick, killing It Instantly and
smotherlng Its poor feeble cries IN death. She then
wrapped IL up III an old rag and buried &c at the
root OF the tree beneath the branches OF which It
had Just been born. IL was when sne was return
ing after the birth, death and burial Of her infant
that she left the after-birh at the mupOnd, which
ultimately led to her arrest conviction and sentence
ruling out as evidence against her her own admls-
sl0nS OF guilt. But this the Court refused to DO,
and upon that ground an appeal has been taken to
the Supreme Court of the STATE. The prObabilit
tanned, In which event Martha Mathews will suffer
the extreme penalty Of the law.