Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1881-05-07
WILD s1aL or s1sssrssIPPI.
a Deserted Child WhO Lived Alonc
in sHamps tisI Manhood.
San Francisao Examiner

! ia ssEamPs tisl Manhood.
!. san Francisco Examiner.
Y Reading of The discovery, recent
", Of wild man in the Antelope
e range of mountains, in this state
= recalls to memory the capture of 4
i wild white human being in the
0 sWamps bordering the great river oi
: the West below the city of Natchez
e in the. state of Mississippi, in the
G 1924, WHO had grown from child
5 hood up tC mans estate without
2 seeing Il single person of his own
f species until he was found by lis
! captors. Believing that the incl
. dent of the story will prove OF in
( terest to the readers of The EXamin-
er, they are herewith given. In
: Wilkinson county,. in the state
} above named, just above the old
town of Fort Adams, there is a strip
; of country known as Old River,
which was seldom visited by the
pioneer settlers of that region and
} then only for the purpose of fishing
and hunting, as both game and fish
were there to be found in abun-
dance. In that year party of hum
terS to Iheir establishment discover
ed the naked footprints of human
being leading through the mud into
the water Of the old bed of this riv-
er. Their curiosity was thusstrange-
" excited from the fact that no one
i resided in the immediate vicinity
! of that place, and the settled por-
tions were but sparsely populated.
To discover who it was that made
the footprints they hunted several
DAYS in succession with their dogs,
and finally brought to bay in a
drove of wild hogs, tall sinewy
human being i'll state OF perfect
nudity. He brandished in his hand
a stout stick, with which he defen-
ded himself, the hogs rallying
around him, seemingly for his pro-
lection. He gave utterance to no
ineligible sounds, only yells of
rage and screeches. They bound
and carried him to the town of
Woodville, the seat of justice Of the |
county, some twenty miles distant. |
He was in every respect veritRble |
human being, with good coating |
of hair over his body, which, it is |
to be inferred, nature furnishes all
her creatures, otherwise unprotect-
ed, to shield them from the ele
ments. He had lost the power of
speech, which indicated that he
had been left 10 himself when very
young. BY kind treatment he soon
became domesticated, his faculty of
speech was restored, and he gave
this account of himself When
quite a boy-supposed to be some
six or seven years-his father (pre-
sumably) came down the MiSsissip-
pi river from some of the western
states or territories in flatboat with
his mother, his eldest sister and
himself, and landed at the mouth
of Old river, near where the town of
Fort Adams now stands, where
they stayed for several days. One
day the father killed his mother
with an axe. Instigated by fear the
boy ran off and concealed himself in
a hollow log. His father hunted
him, calling "Billy," but he re-
mained silent in his place of con-
cealment. Being unable 10 find the
boy, he lOosed the fiatboat from its
fastenings, and floated down, as
was supposed, to New Orleans. Left
alone at so tender an age, in wild,
uninhabited section, the law of ne
cessity became to him the law of eX
istence. The climate being mild
made it favorable to him. He Sc
lected magnolia, or bay tree, hol-
low at the base, which in that sec
ton grew to great size, and maze
himself bed of leaves and moss,
where he stayed at night and took
shelter when it rained. For food,
he subsisted on frogs, tadpoles, such
fish as he could catch and the wild
fruit that grew there in summer.
Thus he managed to live until the
time of his capture. The habits of
the unfortunate being, and the
changes which took place in him
from the time his intellect began to
develop by coming in contact with
are interesting to con- ]
template. At first the emotions Of
shame he knew nothing of, and it
was difficult to make him wear !
clothing when the weather was !
warm. Whenever hunger pinched !
him, and he could obtain nothing
else to satisfy his appetite, he would !
return to his original diet of frogs,
raw fish, etc. An amusing instance
Vi IIfS hIHu OCCuIICA OIL OilC OCCtl- !
sion 1t was the fortune of the writ
er of this to live in family who
had "Wild Bill' in charge. On one
he, with Bill, each on IL :
horse, with a bag of corn, were sent !
to mill some miles in the country. :
Being detained by the miller until !
evening, Bill became hungry. Re- =
turning home, he heard a frog croak- !;
ing in Il lagoon by the wayside. I
Instantly he sprang from his horse y
and cautiously waded into the wa +
ter, STOPPING until it reached his i
chin, so as not to alarm the frog. y
Guided by its crOaking on the OPP h
DOsite bank, he moved slowly until h
he came within reach of it, and =
1arted forth his hand, he seized the :,
frog, and taking it by the legs tore q
them asunder and ate it with rel II
sh. For long time he was ire q
sponsible, and required to he in 4
charge of some one to keep him out "
Of mischief and trouble. On one a
1otable occasion Mrs. Hammett, n
MS guardian, wishing to pay Wis "
It to some of her lady friends in the n
.Own of WoodvilIe, and her son, +
who was generally charged with the o
ask of locking after Bill, being alb :,
sent, she locked him up inside the n
house. Her return being delayed +
until evening, Bill found the at j
Of the room oppressive, ~
md deEuded himself of his cloth "
ng. Being hungry, he concluded to =
10 his own cooking, and endeav- a
)ring to do as he bad seen n
others do in this line, he put into a y y
skillet little of every kind of food
ne could find in the hOuse-hOg's n
ard and ground coffee mixed in h
md putting it on the fire, stirred it h
Until it was sufficiently cooked. h
When Mrs. Hammett returned, ac- s
by some of her lady f,
and unlocking the door, +
The found Bill seated on the floor n,
lear the hearth with the skillet be- h
ore him, lifting its contents with .,
both hands to his mouth and ex-
)ecting chastisement, he backed in
o corner, licking his lips with
lis tongue. He was exceedingly
ond of sweet things, and particular re
y of strong drinks ii they were W
weetened. For a drink of sweet II
med whisky he would attempt ri