The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1879-12-04
A HORRIBLE AFFAIR,

A HORRIBLE AFFAIR.
A woman Outs the I'hroats Of Her
Five ChilArens and Then Burns Her.
self 20 l. cath.
From perfectly trustworthy sources
from q letter received from across the
border, and from gentleman who ~
rived in this city yesterday afternoon
particulars are gathered of one of the
most shocking transactions that was
ever heard Of The story Of the crime
and end of Mrs. James Adams, late of
Lancaster County, South Carolina, has,
happily, but few parallels in all the an
nails of crime, and it will, in all ikeli-
hood, stand out conspicuously for many
,ears to come as one of the celebrated
cases.
Mrs. Adams. with her husband and
five children-three boys and two girls
lived eight or ten miles below Lam
caster village, the husband and father q
farmer, working on the lands of Mr.. A.
j. KILLER. Near them lived a neigh
Dor, Mr.. Crenshaw, and last Saturday
night, about twelve o'clock, the Cren-
shaws were aroused from sleep by the
cries of Mrs. Adams, who appeared at
their door, begging for an ak, but in
sisting that no light be brought. Going
out, Mr.. Crenshaw discovered that the
clothing was entirely burned from the
body OF the woman and that she was
suffering intensely from the fire which
had enveloped her. He asked her
where her baby was, to which she re-
piled, "In Heaven" and proposed to
answer any other questions on condi-
ton that she should be knocked in
the head. Judging from Mrs. Adams
condition that her house had been
burned down, and thinking it likely
that the children had been burned with
it, Mr.. Crenshaw ran thither, but find
ing no fire upon the premises, except
upon the hearth in one of the rooms of
the dwelling, he returned to his own
home without entering.
Other persons were by this time
gathered at Crenshaw's house, aid Mrs.
Crenshaw suggesting that Mrs. Adams
be taken back to her own home she
was wrapped in a sheet and carried
thither. An hour and half after being
placed in her bed death kindly came to
her relief, and she passed away without
a word to those around her concerning
the terrible picture which was soon to
be opened up to them.
Some of the neighbors, of whom
there had by this time gathered quite
number, having occasion to 60 into a
little shed-room connected With the
house, encountered there a spectacle
which, once looked upon, is never to
be forgotten. In one bed lay all five Of
the children, each weltering in its own
blood, and all dead. All resting in
natural positions three of the children
heads at the end of the bed and the
heads of the others at the foot-so
much of repose was there in the
scene and so little suggestion OF
violence of any kind, that the
chance spectator would have said they
were enjoying natural sleep. The bod
les were still warm, but the blood was
there to tell where the knife had been.
Lights were brought, and examination
revealed that not one little life had
been spared by the distracted mother.
In every case the jugular vein had been
cut by some sharp instrument, and so
painless was the death that not one
child had moved. The eldest of
the children. aged about eleven years,
had been stabbed in two places, and
the infant in three, but only upon the
face of the eldest was there a scratch,
and except upon the necks, from which
the life-blOOd had run out, there was no
sign of blood until the cover was re.
moved and the bodies turned over.
There was no difficulty in finding o
theory for the presence of these si1
corpses in the house. The mother,
known by the neighbors to have been
an utterly wretched woman, in a mo-
ment of sudden frenzy had taken the
lives of her five children, and then sci
fire to her own clothing to finish hel
work. How we'll she did it has al.
ready been told. That she was in.
sane when she did it does not admit Of
the slightest doubt. As to the cause Of
her insanity there are conflicting
stories. The most generally accepted
is that of jealousy, and this theory il
all the more plausible since there are
no allegations in the neighborhood o.
personal violence on the part of the
husband. She had been heard to say
that she would rather see her children
dead than to have them living as they
were, but the full force of this remark
does not appear in the absence Of
proofs of degrading poverty.
The husband and father was not al
home at the time of the occurrence,
which must ever be to him the blacklist
of dark memories. He had gone to the
house of brother to spend the night,
expecting to 60 the next day from there
to church, and in the fact that his 60
ing had been urged by his wife is found
proof that the murder and suicide
were not the result of a sudden freak,
but of a premeditated purpose.
The tragic affair has, as matter Of
course, created a profound sensation in
the immediate section where it oc
cured, and will be for many days to
come the only topic of conversation
Charlotte IN. co. Observer.