Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-04-21
A GHoULIsH SEXTON.
Charged With Selling the Body ola
Child.
A Man Sends for His ChiIds Corpse and
Receives coffined Stiff That
Was Some One Else.

If the New Martinsville papers kept their
ewes open, they might have dropped upon
a good news item of local interest, aud got
Ten the denouement, which all occurred IN
that city. The first part of the story began
here. The other day REGISTER Pencll
shower dropped in on DIR. Edwards, and
casually asked for news. Toe Health ON
Ger was found engaged in taking obseFvi'
tons of the weat her. He mas become very
much interested in metsorology, and has
in his Office one of the best holosteric bar
ometers in the city. The way the index
was climbing toward the altitude last night,
indicated fine weather to day. However,
the doctor turned from his calculations,
and racked his memory for events OF the
day. Presently he said:
There was q case the other day that
might contain newspaper article. l
don't know how it ended, as I've been ex.
pecting the man back, but he has not
come"
He then went on to tell the following
story: A few days ago a man, whose
name has escaped his memory, had come
M from New Martinsville and wanted a
hermit to bury his child in the city ceme-
tery. Such requests are frequent, and
this one was unhesitatingly granted
The man then explained that
his child had been inferred in
the cemetery at New Martinsville, and
he would have it disinterred and brought
up here. After obtaining the permit he
went out and two days afterward came
back in a high state OF excitement. de
told DR.. Edwards the wrong child had been
-,
seems he had told the sexton he proposed
to exhume tie body and bring it to Wheel
ing, and the official had blandly told him
TO give himself no trouble, as he would at
tend to the exhumation and shipment OF the
BODY. This be did, but when 1t arrived 1t
proved to be the wrong one. When the
child was coffined it was enclosed in a fine
and handsome casket, whereas this coihn
was of plain, stained wood, such as are
common in country towns. The father
also saw, at glance, that this conn was
larger than that which contained the re,
mains of his child. When he discovered
the fraud that had been put upon MIN, ne
went down to New Martinsyille and
looked for the sexton, but could not
find him. He was disposed to regard the
affair as mistake until he fonnd the sex
ton was keeping shady, which naturally
aroused his suspicious and led him TO
believe that the grave digger had tried TO
palm off wrong corpse on him. As the
body had lain for two years in Mother
Earth, he did not open the coffin, but re-
lied on external evidence.
The story was told DR.. Edwards and the
man wanted advice. He desired to know
whether he had the right to go himself and
dig into his ch;ld's grave. The Doctor said
his advice would be TO get two or three
friends and go and open the grave The
stranger had then gone and the Doctor had
not seen or heard of him since.
did the!man suppose the sexton had dis
posed of the body Of his child?' asked the
reporter, when the Doctor concluded.
What seemed to be the natur al theory,
and was the reason the man wanted to ex-
anime the grave" -,
THAT could have been done with the
body?'
.'if it was taken, it was probably sold to
some surgical college. The graveyard is
on the river bank ABOVE the town, and
removal would be comparatively easy and
safe"
After this, the Doctor branched out upon
an interesting talk of the methods by
which stiffs are regularly furnished for
disseCting rooms, but that ended the New
Martinsville case. Nothing has since been
heard from there, and it Is not known
whether the grave was searched or not.