Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1876-01-08
RRMARKABLE PRISONERS.

The Indiana prison for females con-
tains some remarkable criminals, accord
ing TO a correspondent who has lately
made tour Of the institution. One OF
the most notable of the inmates 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 table, the feathers in her pill
low, and the very clothing upon her
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 ofcloth-
ing and sell them. So terrible was her
appetite that for two weeks prior to her
arrest for grand larceny she swallowed
one hundred grains of opium per day,
which far exceeds any of De Quinceys
exploits in this direction. Mrs. Nor
ris is now in good health, but the
wrinkled, sbrivelled features, the sunken
ewes and the shattered mind show how
thoroughly disease got in its work.
She has been well educated, and in her
youth was very pretty. Among the
lite-prisoners are several, the history of
whose crimes is horribly fascinating.
One of these is Aunt Sallie Hubbard,
better known as "the Wabash mur-
deress." Seventeen years ago, while
she and her husband were living alone
in retired part of Wabash county, a
man, accompanied by his wife and
three children, asked permission to
sleep under their roof for one night.
They had come from Canada, and
were going to Illinois. They were
strangers in Indiana, and in passing
through the various towns along their
way, had made few acquaintance. On
the strength of these representations
the little family was taken in, and ex-
hausted by the days journey they re-
tired at an early hour. 1t was their
last sleep. Eager to obtain large sum
of money which the old man had in
advertently exposed, Hubbard and his
wife cut their throats and buried them
in one grave under the floor of the
cabin. Several weeks afterwards the
bodies of their victims were discovered,
and Hubbard expiated his guilt on the
galows. Aunt Sallie was sent to the
penitentiary for life She is now an old
woman, 70 years of age and upwards,
bnt at no time has she confessed her
guilt Her Bible is her constant com
panion, and leisure hours are spent in
exkorting new corners to lead differ
ent life. Mary Longmaker, life-pr!s-
oner, has looked through grated win
dows for thirteen years She poisoned
her husband with tartar emetic. Mary
Adams is another husband poisoner,
and although the evidence against her
is most convincing, she firmly adheres
to her plea of mot guilty" The most
singular case, perhaps, is that of Mary
Jane Hawk. She was riding with
young fellow who had been paying her
some attention, when the latter, discoY-
ering he was pursued, leaped from the
carriage and concealed himself in a
neighboring wood, leaving the girl in
possession of the team. When the pur-
suers came up with her, Mary Jane was
informed that the horse and carriage
had been stolen, and unless she revealed
the name and hiding place of the young
man she would be held as the thief.
This she stoutiy refused to do, and, as
mittcd TO live term of years in the
penitentiary. She is not over "sweet
sixteen" and seems to have more than
ordinary intelligence. There are, at
present, 143 inmates in the institution,
and everything about them is as clean
and cheerful as in private residence.
Indeed, except when the grated doors
in the prison wing are in sight, one
would hardly suspect he was in prison.