The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-07-25
THE HERMIT,s LIFE AND DEATH.
An Old Man Who Lived Like Wild Beast
In the Woods.
From the Buffalo (N. ~ Courier.

rFOW Hc OuDQt0 I've y CouItG'
The story of the strange life and its
cruel ending of Michael Daulter, the
hermit of South Cotton, St. Lawrence
County, will be read with interest. This
singular man was native of Ireland,
coming to his country very young
Thirty years ago he was engaged in the
capacity of hostler at Clark's Hotel,
Waddington, st. Lawrence County, and
leaving there after several years service,
he went to act in the same capacity at
Raymondville, where he did not stay
long. He was always noted to be q say.
ing and industrious man, and courted
sohcitude habitually. Nothing is known
of his career from the time he left there,
twenty years and more ago, until he
turned up, four years ago last April, at
South Cotton. To appearance he was
then about As years Of age, and spoke,
which was but seldom, with an unmistak-
able "brogue." he engaged board at
Armstrong; Hotel for six weeks, paying
weekly in advance. He disappeared
after this for two weeks, when he re-.
turned and boarded another week at the
hotel. While he boarded at the hotel he
sought seclusion and busted himself du-
ring the day in rambles in the woods,
gaining an accurate knowledge of all the
locations of the country around; every
spring, brook, crag and mound in the
locality was known to hira.
Upon leaving Armstrong; the last
time'he began to live the life of her
nit, upon piece of woodland which he
bought from M. D. Beckwith, situated
two miles northeast of South Cotton, on
the section known as the "Dead Creek
Road" Daulter's manner of living here
was not above that of a wild beast. He
erected log hut, consisting of three
apartments connected by holes, facing to
the east. The south apartment, ten by
eight, Daulter lived in. It had no floor,
no windows, and he cooked from fire
against the wall. The middle apartment
was used to sleep in, the bed consisting
of husks and old straw thrown on the
ground; and the north apartment, the
foremost and best of all, be kept his cow
in. He had cleared about six acres of
land around the camp and had inclosed
it with a substantial fence, which must
have taken many months to erect. In
front of his camp were few rods square
evidently Intended for potatoes. In the
entire clearing, under the most favorable
circumstances, it would be impossible to
raise hay, grain or vegetables to the value
of FIVE dollars. Here Daulter lived alone,
seeking the companionship of no one,
and nobody inquiring after his.
The last time he was seen alive was on
Tuesday forenoon, April 80, standing in
front of his shanty cutting potatoes for
planting. On the same afternoon two
boys named Morgan passed the hut and
looked in. They saw inside one Peter
Bresnaham, who slammed the door in
their faces. They told the circumstance
to their father on reaching home. The
latter's curiosity being excited he visited
the shanty the next day. The door was
standing open and the cow was lowing
continuously. Entering he found It
empty, and noticed that the floor in
many places was dug up. The neighbor-.
hood being alarmed, more than 100 peo-
pie turned out to search for the absent
man; this was Wednesday. The search
was continued until / O'Clock Friday
afternoon without success. The remains,
soon after, were discovered by a dog be.
longing to one of the party; they were
lying behind log about thirty rods from
the shanty. The head was thrust under
log and covered with leaves and dirt.
The feet bore marks of having been stood
upon to crush them out Of sight and
were covered with leaves and dirt. One
hand grasped some leaves, as though
they had been clutched in the agonies of
death.
Peter Bresnaham having been seen in
the hut by tke Morgan boys, suspicion
at once fell upon him as the murderer of
Daulter. Investigation revealed that for
some days before he made several at
tempts to borrow gun from different
persons. He pretended that he wanted
to shoot wood-chucks. He eventually
secured an old flint musket from one
Joseph Matthews. On the day of the
killing, toward evening, he bought -four,
tobacco and tea. One Lindsay, of whom
he purchased the -four, kept the money,
being induced to do so on account of its
popularity. It was all in ten-cent silver
pieces, five-cent nickles, and two.cent
pieces, and looked dark-colored, as
though it had not been used for some
time. When asked where he got the
money, be could give no rational account
of it. When buying the -four he had on
his shoulder the same gun he had bor-
rowed from Matthews. One man saw
Bresnaham as he was going to Daulter's,
and another saw him as he was leaving.
Blood was found also on his coat, pants
and boots.
Bresnaham is an Irish Canadian, and
came to reside at South Cotton last Octo-
ber. He is shiftless, dissipated, poverty
stricken, and ragged. He has wife and
child; the latter twelve years old. Last
winter he cut logs for one George Will
hanson, who had some trouble with him.
1t was noticed that about the time of the
murder he had changed his whiskers.
On his examination he accounted for
this by saying that he had fire in front
of his house on the Thursday evening
after Daulter was missed, and the wind
blew the flames into his face and burnt
his whiskers, which necessitated his
trimming them with shears. On being
further pressed on examination he stated
that he never knew Daulter nor had
heard that he was a singular man, or that
he had money. But he had heard that
he lived in peculiar hut or camp.
"Last winter, when playing cards with
the Hutcheson boys, some one remarked
that they would have to knock over Mike
Daulter and get some money to put up !;
am innocent of this murder; never saw
Daulter until saw the corpse yesterday
afternoon; went down to the Dead Greed
Road and passed Daulter's Wednesday,
the day after the murder; went to see q
man; do not see that there are any more
suspicious hanging over me in regard to
the murder than attach to any other per-
son in South Cotton"
The vounper how Morpan identified