The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1875-12-30
Notable Female Prisoners.

SOME NEE rem hnaifaabl criminals, according to cor
respondent who has lately made tour Of the
institution. One OF the most notable Of the in
mates is Mrs. Fannie Morris, who has been an
opium eater for twenty years. Before being
sentenced to Jail she sold everything in her
house for opium. Even the bread upon the ia
BILE, the feathers in her pillow, and the very
clothing upon ler back were sacrificed. Her
husband was compelled to abandon her and
take the children with him. When all was
gone she began to steal articles Of clothing and
sell them. So terrible was her appetite that
for two weeks prior to her arrest for grand lar
ceny she swallowed 100 grains of opium per
day, which far exceeds any of De Quincey's
exploits in this direction. Mrs. Morris is now
in good health, but the wrinkled, sliriveled
features, the sunken eyes and the shattered
mind show how thoroughly disease got in its
work. She has been well educated, and III her
youth was very pretty.
Among the life prisoners are several, the slifs-
tory OF whose crimes is horribly fascinatilYg q
One OF these is Aunt Sallie Hubbard. sHetter
known as ''the Wabash mufderessx ~ ven
teen years ago, while she and Xer husband
were living alone in a retired bart Of Wabash
comfy, man, accompanied ny Ills wife and
three children, asked iernN ssion to sleep under
their Iool Tor one night, 'Hlaey had come from
Canada, and We're ged1g to Illinois. They were
strangers in Indiana, and, in passing thro, the
various tow.ss a]Sng the way had made few
acqnantancesG On tile strength of these rep.
reseptati0ns khe little family was taken in. aud
exhausted BY the day Journey, they retired at
| allseafly hour. + was their last Sleep Eager
.to obtain " large sum OF money, which the old
klnan laH Inadvertently exposed, Hubbard and
MS MI cut, their Threats and buried them in
/ one grave ufldcr the cabin. Several weeks af-
htrrMs;kids the bodies of their victims were dis
Ec0vgfed, and Hubbard expiated his guilt on
tl4SxgalloWs. Aunt Salle was sent to the pen
\ iteAtjary for lie. She is now an old woman,
/ no years of age and upwards, but at no time
thas she confessed her guilt. Her Bible is her
GohstanG companion, and leisure hours are
1 si3eht5n eXhorting new corners to lead differ
I ent life. Mary Longmaker, life-prisoner,has
4 booked through grated windows for thirteen
/ years. She poisoned her husband with tartar
t2emetic. Mary Adams is another husband poi
d soner, and although the evidence against her is
eonvctng, she firmly aelheres to her pie;
sIM ~iiot guilty The most singular case, per
lilapsslls that OF Mary Jane Hawk. She was
4 IEsNIs, with young fellow who had been pay
3Afgghtr some attention, when the latter dis
sssFrng that he was pursued, leaped from the
IATlHasge and concealed himself in neighbor-
ii4RHN God, leaving the girl in possession of the
n tE;HN When the pursuers came up with her,
Il Mary Jane was Informed that the horse and
II &WHage had been stolen, and unless she reveal
4 ri the name aud hiding place OF the young
she would be held as the thief. This she
lstontly refused to do, and, as evidence of her
IEpluck and affection, submitted to live a term Of
i years 10 the Penitentary. She is not over
4 sssweet SIXTEEN and seems to have more than
/ Ordinary intelligence. There are, at present,
4 I43ilmates in the institution and everything
about them is as cleah and cheerful as in a pri-
4 vatEgesidence. Indeed, except when the graz
kfeelpors in the prison wing are in sight, one
sKplE hardly suspect he was i'll a prison.