The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1881-05-13
WILD BILL OF MISSISSIPPI.
A Deserted Child Who Lived Alone In
Swamps TIL! Manhood.

mountains in this State, recalls to mem
DRY the capture Of a wild white human
being in the swamps bordering the
great river of the West below the City
of Natchez in the State of Mississippi,
in the year 1924, who had grown from
childhood up to mans estate without
seeing a single person of his own species
until he was found by his captors. Be
lieving that the incidents of the story
will prove of interest to the readers of
the Examiner, 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 purposes of fishing
and hunting, as both game and fish were
there to be found in abundance. In that
year a party of hunters to their astonish-
ment discovered the naked footprints 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 thew
hunted several days in succession with
their dogs, and finally brought to bay
in a drove of wild hogs a tall, sinewy
human being in a state of perfect nudi-
ty. He brandished in his hand a stout
stick, with which he defended himself
against the dogs, the hogs rallying
around him, seemingly for his protec-
ton. He gave utterance to no intelli-
gible 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 a YER
liable human being, with a good coating
OF hair over his body, which, it is to be
inferred, nature furnishes all her crea-
lures, otherwise unprotected, to shield
them from the elements. 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 a boy,
supposed some six or seven years, his
father presumably came down the
Mississippi River from some of the
Western States and Territories in a flat.
boat with his mother, his elder sister
and himself, and landed at the mouth
OF Old River, near where the town of
Fort Adams now stands, where they re-
manned for several days. One day the
father killed his mother and sister with
an axe. Instigated by fear the boy ran
off and concealed himself in q hollow
log. His father hunted him, calling
him Billy" but he remained silent in
his place Of concealment. Being unable
to find the boy, he loosened the latboat
from its ~fastenings, and foated down the
river, as was supposed, to New Orleans.
Left alone at SO tender an age, in q 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 a 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 shell
ter when it rained. For food, he sub
sisted 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 this unfortunate being, and
the changes which took place in him
from the time his intellect began to de-
velop by coming in contact with civil
cation, 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 sat
isfy his appetite, he would return to his
original diet of frogs, raw fish, etc. An
amusing instance Of this kind occurred
n 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 a horse,
with a 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
heard a frog croaking in a 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 within
of it, and darting forth his hand,
he seized the frog, and taking it by the
legs, tore them asunder and ate it with
q relish. For u long time he was ire
sponsible, 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