The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-05-26
WILD BILL OF MISSISSIPPI.
A Deserted Child Who Lived Alone in
Swamps TIL Manhood.

LaluS III eLliS Otdtc, ICCoiiS w uCLu0ty tlO
capture of wild white human being in
the swamps bordering the great river OF
the West below the city of Matches in
the State of Mississippi, in the year
1924, who had grown from childhood up
to mans estate without seeing single
person of his own. species until he was
found by his captors. Believing that the
incidents of the story will prove of inter,
est to our readers, they are herewith
given:
In Wilkinson, county, in the; State
above named, just above the old, d,tewn Of
Fort Adams, there is d strip of country
known as Old River, which was seldom
visited by the pioneer settlers of that
region, and thenonly for the purposes of
fishing and hunting, as both game and
fish were there to be found in abundance.
In that year party of hunters, 70 their
astonishment' discovered the naked foot
prints of a human being leading through
the mud into the water OF the old bed of
this river. Their curiosity was the more
strangely excited from the fact that no
one resided in the immediate vicinity of
that place, and the settled portions were
but sparsely populated. To discover who
it was that made the footprint they hum
ted several days in succession with their
dogs, and finally brought to bay in q
drove of wild hogs tall, sinewy human
being in a state of perfect nudity. He
brandished in his hand u stout stick,
with which he defended himself against
the dogs, the hogs rallying around him,
seemingly for his protection. He gave
utterance to no ineligible sounds-only
.yells of rage and screeches. They bound
and carried him to the town of Wood
vile, the seat of justice of the county,
some twenty miles distant. He was in
every respect q veritable human being,
with a good coating of hair over his
bodys which, it is to be inferred, nature
furnishes all her features, otherwise un-
protected, to shield them from the ele-
ments. He had lost the power of speech,
which indicated that he had been left=to
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 boy, supposed. some six or seven
years, his; father {presnmably) came
doTn the Mississippi River from some
of the Western States and Territories in
a hatboat with his mother, his elder SIS
ter and himself, and landed at the mouth
ofsOld River, near where the town Of
Fort Adams now stands, where they re-
mained for several days. One day the
father killed his, mother and sister with
anf axe: Instigated.by fear the boy ran
off and concealed himself in hollow
log His father hunted him, calling
him "Billy," but he remained silent in
his placs Of concealmeut. Being unable
to find the. boy, he loosed the ,aatboat
from its fastening, and foated down the
river, as was supposed, to New Orleans.
Left alone a. so tender an age in wild,
uninhabited section, the law of necessity
became to him the law of existence.
The climate being mild, made it favora-
BILE to him. He selected magnolia, or
bay tree, hollow at the base, which, in
that section, grew to great size, and made
himself a 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 hab
its of this unfortunate being, and the
changes which took place in him from
the time his intellect began to develop
by coming. in contact with civilization,
is interesting to contemplate. 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 of this kind occurred on one
occasion. 1t was the fortune of the
writer Of this to be in the family who
had "Wild Bill" in charge. On one
Saturday he, with Bill, each on horse,
with bag of corn, were sent to mill
some miles in the country. Being de-
tanned by the miller until evening, Bill
became hungry. Returning home he
hearda frog croaning in q lagoon by the
wayside. Instantly he sprang from his
horse and cautiously waded into the
water, STOPPING until it reached his chin,
so as not to alarm the frog. Guided by
its croaking on the opposite bank, he
moved slowly until he came in reach of
it, and darting forth his hand, lie seized
the frog, and taking it by the legs, tore
them asuuder and ate it with relish.
For long time he was irresponsible, and
required to be in charge of some one to
keep him out Of mischief and trouble.
On one notable occasion Mrs. Hammett,
his guardian, wished to pay visit to
some Of her lady friends in the town of
Woodville, and her son, who was gener-
ally charged with the task of looking
after Bill, being absent, she locked him
up inside the house. Her return being
delayed until evening, Bill found the
atmosphere of the room oppressive, aud
denuded himself of his clothing. Being
hungry, he concluded to do his own
cooking, and endeavoring to do what he
had seen, Others do in this line, he put
into a skillet little of every thing he
could find in the house-hog's lard and
ground coffee mixed in-and putting it
on the fire, stirred it until he though ht it
was sufficiently cooked. When Mrs.
Hammett returned, accompanied by
some of her lady neighbors, and un-
locked the door, she found Bill seated on
the floor near the hearth with the skillet
before him, lifting its contents with both
hands to his mouth and expecting chas-
tisement he backed into corner, licking
his lips with his tongue. He vas ex'
ceedingly fond of sweet things, and par