The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1884-04-12
CHARGED WITH MURDER.

| child, aged alb out four years, died at thehouse
of Samuel Hall, its father, near this CITY,
| The child was buried ON Sunday evening, aud
on Monday its mother, Alice Robertson, made
complaint before Justice Gustayus W. Crap
ster, charging Hall and Catharine Roberts. a
woman living with him, with having, by beat
| ing and other cruel treatment, caused the
death of the child. The accused had hear
| ing on Wednesday afternoon, and they were
remanded to the custody of the sheriff for n
further examination. On Thursday morning
| the child S body was exhumed in the presence
| of Justice Crapster, States Attorney ID. N
Henning, W. l.. Seabrook, counsel for the
accused, DR.. W. X. Fringer and Jno. Haines,
constable. After viewing the body it was de-
termined that post-mortem examination and
coroner ssinquest would be necessary. Drs
W. X. Fringer and j. ii. Billingslea made
the examination, and at 4.30 o'clock on
Thursday afternoon the coroner's jury met at
the Court House. Witnesses were called and
testified as follows:
Alice Robertson testified: am mother of
the child; its name was Elmer Robertson; L
kept it with me till in February; then went to
Sammy Hall and asked him to take the child;
Kate Roberts did not want him to take it; she
lives with him; Sammy is the father of the
child, and he agreed to take it and take the
best care he could of it; the child was well
formed and had never been sick up to that
time; | next saw the child in about two weeks;
as soon as / got in the house Kate abused me;
she was jealous of me whenever / went in the
house; she got her hat and shawl down and
threatened to leave the house; she and Sammy
then had quarrel; she abused me and said
she had no young ones of her own and would
not have any of mine; left then and did not
go back till last Saturday; | went to Mrs
Simpsons and she told me my child had had
fit | went to the house about O. clock and
saw the child in the bed; said: ''Katie, how
is the child?' she said: 81 don't know how
it is, and don't care much;'' | saw the child's
both hands pulled up and cut in welts; one of
his temples was bruised and was bleeding; /
saw knot raised on its head; place bulged
up; | smoothed my hand over it; it was kind
of soft; it was about as big as hen egg; /
said: ''Katie, what is the cause of this knot?'
she rushed around the bedstead and grabbed
broomstick and said: ~ did not beat your
child Sammy did it," l said to her: ''Katie,
the child is troubled with worms, did you get
him any worm Incidence he was dressed
and | saw no other marks than those | have
mentioned; went to Lewis Dorsey's last fall;
child was all right then.
Rebecca Simpson: know when the child
was taken to Halls; heard the neighbors
say the child was treated bad passed by the
house every day, and twice that | passed /
heard the child cry ''Oh, mammy;'' heard
it on Monday and on Tuesday; the child was
crying loud and the blows sounded heavy; ON
Saturday Kate called me and | went down;
my daughter had been down and she had told
me that Kate had been beating the child; |
found the child in bed; called for whiskey
and used it to rub the child; put my hands
on its stomach and back and legs and felt
great welts; they were red and blue; it had
mark on its temple and neck; Kate said she
had been worried a heap by the child and did
not know what was the matter with it; | saw
pile of wet clothes and she said the child
had fallen in the water; | made the child's
shroud and saw the marks still on it; on Mon
day or Tuesday saw the woman Kate passing
by the window; Sam was not there, for | saw
him up the road; there is no one else living
there; | never visit there.
Mary Simpson testified: | first saw child
when we first moved there, about the middle
Of March: heard the child crying; saw Kate
pass window and heard blows; | was going
with mother to Mrs. Keenes to work, and
mother and | both went in to Katie's; | saw
the child in the bed, but did not look at it;
mother asked her what it was doing in bed,
and she said she put it to bed to keep it from
getting in fire when she went out; on Saturday
morning | heard the child crying and heard
sounds of whipping; | went in, and as went
| in she hit it with a stick; she was sitting on
chair and the child on the floor; she struck
the child over the head with red stick that
came out of one of them things they work in
the field with; she hunched it in the side with
the stick; she told it that if it did not put on
stockings she would whip it; its hands were
scratched as though with briers; the child got
its shoe and stocking on before | left; in the
evening l went down again for fat irons,
and asked Kate if she got the boy to put his
stockings on; she said yes, and she had
whipped him; then she looked at it and it had
fit; she picked it up and asked what was the
matter with him, and he said I'm seepy;"
she picked it up and it lay down on her lap;
! hight; after ] was in bed some colored man
came up and said that child of Kate Roberts
is dead; in the morning ! went down and saw
it and IL looked very nice; she said thai it Yas
pity it was dead; that it died hard and died
in her arms.
Lucinda Gray: live about quarter of q mile
from Halls; was there often; saw Kate whip
it once with a stick; it looked to me like
quiet child it got spells often when | was
there; it would lay down on the floor and
roll over and over head first and side wise
and then would lay and pick at things; | did
not say anything to Kate: but she said to me
/ IIlGG SIG ulu IOt LEllEgc IL gnu oCHoCf IL
Just rolled over and over and drew up its face
| funny; week or so before it died she whip
ped it with peach switch for eursing her;
saw Mr.. Hall hit it with his left hand and
knock it under = bench; he struck it with
| open hand and it did not cry; it was several
weeks before it died; on last Saturday evening
went there; it was sick and was in bed; on
/ Thursday she showed me marks on the child
and told me Hall had whipped it, there was
also blue mark on its back; she told me they
kept strap to whip it; its rump was bleeding
| then; looked at her and she looked at me
and said: ~ did not do it, Sam didit;" saw the
| child after that running in and out of the
! house; ] never heard it cry; went there the
evening it died; it vas In bed and she said she
thought it was one of those spells again and
she was afraid it would die and she had called
| in Mrs, Simpson; went down after it died; |
held child while she washed it; the marks on
the rump were healed up; | saw the mark on
its back; did not notice any marks on face,
stomach or head; Sam was then in bed asleep;
| he had hemorrhage.
! Louis n. B. Dorsey testified Most knew
about treatment is what saw to-day; he was
with me for three years; he was healty child;
he was bad, would play in fire, was active as
a cat, could walk, never had a doctor, nor
took dose of medicine, he was playful
child, he climb and run and whoop; he was
bowlegged, knock kneed and sway back; most
active child | ever saw; climb trees but never
fell; he was very sound; nothing wrong with
him except that he was very croo ked; he was
with me ill Hesr the middle Of February.
DR.. w. X. Fringer testifed-Made post
mortem in company with DR.. Bllingslea; found
wounds and bruises all over him, on head,
back, abdomen and seat, several places where
skin was broken; on temple there were half
dozea little wounds, bruises on both cheeks,
and abdomen, and on the geat several abra-
sions; opening temple found one bruise to the
bone, not involving bone, one bruise on abb
domen penetrating to the bowel but not
involving the bowel; there were no in
death; the wounds might indirectly by caus-
ing commissions, and those wounds altogether
or those on stomach or back alone could have
caused convplSiops; We did mop eSamiHe the
organs at all; we found no evidences of dis.