The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1876-04-27
WILD CHILDREN.
4 Brother and Sister Living as Beasts.
PITGsToN, Pa, Feb. 9, 1876.

PITGsToN, Pa, Feb. 9, 1876.
For two years the authorities of the
neighboring county of Wyoming, in
this state, have been in a dilemma over
q case that probably has no parallel in
Jurisprudence, and certainly not in NOR
ais, and have at last been relieved from
responsibility in the matter by the de-
cision of a court of tu1aatico iiaQetiresa1o.
The case was that Of William Parke, the
sswild mute of Monroe township" who,
in conjunction with his sister, Melvina,
also a 'fwild mute" murdered a child
which was born to the latter, and to
which crime William subsequently added
that of the murder of the sister and at
tempted murder of his father, Thomas
Wells Parke. The facts in this unparal-
leled family history, as cleaned from
official sources, are as follows. Their
recital must awaken sensations of horror
in the orthodox reader, but the believer
in the theory of Darwin may find in
them cause for graduation and encour-
agement:
Early in the fall of 1871 party of
gentlemen were hunting in the noun
tains in the southern part of Wyoming
county. The section is wild and sparse
ly populated, there being no villages
within several miles, and only occasional
clearings. While traversing the very
deepest portions of this wilderness one
of the hunting party was startled to see
a girl entirely naked, jump from a clump
of bushes near him and run with great
speed, on all fours, off into the woods
and disappear. The hunter saw the
strange being but moment, and curious
to learn something more in regard to
her, if possible, he called to a compan-
ion who was near, and relating to him
what he had seen, the two started in the
direction the wild girl had taken. After
proceeding about quarter of a mile
they came to a small clearing in the
woods-a space covering a few acres
In the centre Of which was miserable
barn-iike hut. Near the door Of this
howell stood not only the nude girl whose
appearance in the woods had startled the
hunter, but another naked being, in the
person of a boy nearly grown. The two
as the hunters approached the hut and
were discovered, ran swiftly away to the
woods, both uttering wild, harsh cries,
as of terror.
The two hunters looked in at the door
of the hut. 4 man was crouching down
on the ground-there was no floor
apparently cooking something III a fire,
which was built in a hole dug in the
ground. He arose at once ard came to
the door. He was a man about fifty
years of age, thin and wiry. Long,
matted hair, nearly white, covered his
head and face his clothing was scant
and ragged, and his hands and face had
evidently been long unwashed. To his
inquiry as to what the visitors wanted,
they made known what had drawn them
thither, and asked him if he knew any
thing about the strange creatures they
had seen. The man answered, with
laugh
"NEhy, they're my children, William
and MeIvina."
The man was very loquacious, and the
hunters entered his hut at his invitation,
and, without much inquiry on their part,
the following extraordinary family his
tory was elicted from him
STRANGE FAMILY HISTORY.
His name, he said, was Thomas Wells
Parke He was born Ill the township
of Exeter, LGzerne comfy, in 1920,
where he lived until he was fifteen years
Old. Since that time he had lived in
the hut in the wilderness Of Wyoming
county. His father and mother both
died there, aud Parke buried them in
the woods with his own hands. For
twenty years thereafter, he lived with
his wife in the hut, having married at
twenty-six, a woman named Mary Scar
les, sickly woman OF twenty, subject
to spells of insanity. She lived with
him until March, 1871, when she ran
away, leaving her husband with the two
children the hunters had seen. Parke
said the girl was twenty-five years old,
and the boy twenty. Their mother be-
ing too delicate to take cure of them,
from the time they were old enough to
get about they had been obliged to look