Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-07-03
Lula Cox Outraged by Negro Man, in
her Dying AgOnies Writes to have
the Brute Burned to Death
-Beecher's Case.
Burned to Death I'm Presence OF
their Parents-She COnfesses
the Crime.
suicide and Murder.

4
John Fleming, in East Baltimore, this morn
ing. The men had quarreled the night be-
| fore, when Mccormick assaulted Fleming anG
| struck him several severe blows. Yesterday
| morning Fleming went to workshop in
their residence, where they both worked al
the trade of shoemaking, and procuring a
keen shoemaker's knife, went to the room oil
MCormick and stabbed him in the abdomen
III 'Cormick lived only half an hour. Flem-
| ing was arrested.
Burn Him.
GoLDsBORo, N. c., June 29.-Informatiou
has Just been received here of horrible and
brutal outrage committed yesterday by ne.
gro named Silas Johnson upon the person oil
Miss Lula Cox, beautiful and accomplished
school teacher In Pitt county. She had lett
her school and was on her way home when
she was oyertaken by the burly negro, who
| made his Infamous proposition to her. She
ran away from him, but he pursued her, and
after fierce chase caught her. He accom-
plished his purpose after beating her nearly
senseless; then, as though his lust could not
be satiated, the fend mutilated her with a
knife, and otherwise abused her, and he left
her for dead. She aroused sufficiently to
drag her mangled form to the schoolhouse,
where, after writing blurred and blood
stained statement, finishing with the words
burn him" the poor creature fell dead.
The citizens have arrested the fend and
lodged him in Jail at Kingston. He will
probably be lynched before Monday morning.
An Imitation OF Mrs. Tilton.
LEBANON, O., June 29.-Mrs. John Bra
den, the wife of a retired saloon keeper, has
for some time past been acting a little
strange, but, being troubled with some bron-
chlal affection, nothing was thought Of it
until last Monday, when she made the follow
ing strange confession-the whole of which
her friends claim is false and merely the raw
ings of disordered mind: That she entered
the room of student, who has occupied
room In the house for a year or more, to make
his bed and clear up the room, and that while
there he commenced making up to her."
telling her she was $50 beautiful" that he
loved her, etc. His advances not meeting
with any opposition, he went still further,
putting his arm around her and drawing her
to him and kissing her. He then proposed to
her that II she would leave her room-door
open that night he would come in and share
her downy couch, to which she consented,
and which he accordingly did. This he re-
peated once afterward, both times while the
husband was In the country harvesting. The
revelation was made by her to her husband
on Monday morning before they had arisen.
Immediately the distracted man arose, and,
after dressing himself. hurried to his fathers
residence, on Broadway, and there, with sobs
and almost broken heart, he told the sad
story ''as twas told to him. to his loving
and sympathizlng mother. After mature
consideration, Mr.. Braden resolved to leave
his now dishonored wife, and accordingly
made arrangements to move part of his
household possessions to his paternal roof.
While thus engaged his wife tried to commit
suicide with The aid of bottle of laudanum,
which she had on her person, but was pre-
vented by her father-in law. She afterward
removed to her fathers, a most worthy man,
who has lived in this place all his life, and
on Wednesday again tried toitake her life
with butcher knife. However, on Tuesday
she plainly slowed insanity, and from Tues
day evening has been a raving maniac.
Brutal Outrage.
TIPTONvILLE, June 19.-Last Monday a
brutal outrage was committed six miles north
of here. Sunday evening before, George Ora
ham and Ben kesterson-two bad characters
went to the house Of Mr.. Thomas They,
and had whisky with them. They spent the
night there and tried to get the family drunk.
Monday evening George Graham asked for
in the barn loft. He then told Annie, one of
the little girls, not quite eight years old, to |
go and get him some peanuts and he would |
pay her for them. She, with younger sis |
ter, started to the barn, and Graham asked |
them to wait, saying he would go with them, |
which he did. After getting up in the lott |
he made them drink whisky until they were
a
rape on Annie. She says he used knife |
on her. Her screams brought her father |
to the barn, and, with ak in hand, he |
swore he would kill Graham, and would |
have done so had it not been for Ben Kes- |
terson, who took Graham eff and hid him, |
telling him to stay until he saw him again.
Monday evening, as soon as the neigh /
began hunting for them. Our sheriff, W. ID. /
Merriwether, was sent for during the night. |
He summoned thirty men and started In pur-
suit of them. He found Kesterson, arrested /
him and lodged him in Jail last night. To-
day more men were sent for and intended to /
scour the country for Graham. We were all
TO meet at jeff. Swindle's, near the State
line, and on the river. Before we all reached
that point, JEFF. Swindle, Geo. Mari and the |
sheriff had tracked him up and had started
TO town with him, gave him trial and he |
was sent to Jail. 1t is very doubtful about |
he child's recovery. Had it not been for the
sheriff, the crowd would have riddled him
with bullets. Graham says ne came from
" Marry county, near Falcon, and has wife
living in that county somewhere. He has
;hree little boys with him. Their mother
should come or send for them. l heard this
evening that Kesterson had broke Jail twice
n Graves county, Kentucky; also that he
committed a rape near Cape GIrardeau and
made good his escape. | shall write to the
sheriff of Graves county to know if he is the
nan. He failed here to make five hundred
lollar bond. Tonight they sleep in an iron
age. l trust the law will deal severely with
hem.
Appalling Occurrence.
ST.. LOUIS, June 30.-About three miles
last of Ricker's prairie lived John Leonard
With his wife, married daughter and five
Younger children. The house was substan-
ial log structure, with an attic overhead
md summer kitchen on the south side, the |
oof being so made as to connect the house
With the kitchen, which stood the width of a
hallway distant from the main house. A
,air of stairs in this hallway led up to the at
ic, from which there was no other egress.
IN Friday night the five children went to
leep in the attic, the other people sleeping
ome unexplained cause, the kitchen caught
ire, and before the danger was discovered
he staircase leading to the attic was in
lanes. The people on the first floor had
title difficulty liz. escaping, for though the
,nly door was exposed to the intense heat,
here was a window from which they easily
,ained places of safety. But for the children
q the attic there seemed to be no hope.
The oldest was boy sixteen years old,
md when the alarm reached him
lis youth and inexperience were
lot proof against the excitement of such an
ccasion. The solid walls of logs imprisoned
cared at the doorway. There was little
window in the north end of the attic, barely
arge enough for a person to crawl through,
nd it would seem that, with proper manage
aent, this might have become the means of
aving all. But the father, In his first frantic
fforts to reach the attic by the stairs, had
ct his clothes on fire, and been SO badly