Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1889-05-16
A CHASTITY STORY.
4 Young Girls Life Sacrificed Terrible
Tale Of Suffering.
A MORRlSTOYE GIRL TIE VICTIM,

called upon to relate is chronlcled be-
low 1t is that of the betrayal, suffering
. and death of Miss Lizzie Taggart, a bright
and fascinating daughter Of Mr.. James
, Taggart. of MorristOwn. She was an on
r " daughter. about IS years of age, and
= was the life and light of a happy home
We are not disposed to enter into all
the horrible details of an affair which has
brought misery, grief and death into the
home. In addition TO what is related
below. the COroner'S inquest, on Tuesday,
disclosed the fact that the young girl
came to her death at the hands of Drs.
Cox. and they were held to await the
action of the Court, without bail, and
were taken to the Jail at New Martins
Vile. the father being discharged. largely
through the efforts of Mr.. j. W. Shan
non, who hearing of the trouble on his
way from a visit to Powhatan. went back
to Proctor to defend his old friend.
The body of the young lady was brought
to Wheeling Tuesday night, accompanied
by her father and Mr. Shannon. The fu-
/. neral party was met at the Ohio River
depot by Mr.. Albert Johnston, who trans
ferred the remains to his hearSe, and
they were taken to MorriStOwn for in
: terment, passing through here about
midnight, and reaching their destination
at o'clock A. NJ, and even at that early
hour the streets of the town were lined
with excited people awaiting the sad
cortege. The funeral took place at 4
o'clock Wednesday.
From the Wheeling Register, of Tuesday.
On last Sunday week Or. 7. V. Cox, of
Proctor. received a sudden call to Wheel
, ing. He went. ana on Tuesday his broth
er. DR.. F. \. Cox. and the man and girl
arrived on the noon train going south
The man gave his name as Williams, and
said the girl was his daughter. She was
married her name was Clark, and her
husband was in Massachusetts. TO the
hotel keeper he said his daughter had suf-
fered severe injuries from a severe fall at
Wheeling, and was unable to travel. He
desired a room for her over night. ltWaS
evident that the girl was far gone in preg-
nancy, and was suffering severely. She
seemed to have no idea where she was,
and talked continually about Canada, to
where she thought she was going. ArOOm
was hastily made ready, and the poor un-
fortunate entered it, never to come out
alive. That night DR. T. a. Cox, of Wheel
ing. and his brother, DR.. Cox, of Proctor.
were called to see her. What transpired
in the room no one but three men now
know The woman Of the house offered
her services, but was told they were not
needed: other women sought admlttance
to the room, but it was denied them.
The next morning the unfortunate girl
showed signs of being under the influence
of anpsthetics. She talked incOherently
but even i'll her moments of greatest de
lirium did not utter a word to reveal her
identity. That night she was delivered
of a still born child, and the two doctors
and the man giving his name as Williams
carried it away and buried it on the river
bank.
On Thursday young DIR. Cox returned
to Wheeling and the succeeding day tie
father left. In the meanwhile strange
stories began to circulate among the peO-
pie. and curiosity and suspicion were at
the boiling point. In reply to inquiries
Mr. Williams said his daughter WAS mar
ried He promised to return soon, but
when asked where word should be sent if
there was any serious change i'll his daugh-
terS condition, said he had made all ne
ceSSary arrangements with Dr. r. Y. Cox,
who was to attend her.
The man left, and the fair young girl
on her couch of pain became worse and
worse Her SutferingS were heart rend-
inc. NeighbOrS We're awakened in the
night by her screams, and the people of
the house, willing and anxious to extend
relief, were helpless. DR.. Cox SteadfaStiy
informed all questiOners that the young
woman was doing well, and that there
was no cause for fear.
On Saturday there was decided change
for the worse in the patients condition
Her sufferingS, if possible, became greater
and her rational moments less and less
All through Sunday and Sunday night
she continued to sink, and even the un-
trained eyes of the few women whose
motherIv hearts went out to the poor Suf-
ferer could see that death was at hand
Then the neighbOrS took charge of the
case. and the first efforts were made to
discover her identity Her trunk was eX
amined. 1t was noticed the address had
been scratched off. \ name was on the
trunk. however. but instead of Clark it
was Taggart Then efforts were made
to decipher the name of the town. Many
guesseS were made. From the remains
of the letters MOrristOwn, o., seemed the
: place. \ telegram was sent there, and
reply received thatfriends would start i'm
mediately. In the meantime the trunk
had been opened. and evidences of identi-
ty were apparent. On the collars and un
derclothes written in full was the name
of LIZZIE Taggart. Two slips of paper
. were also found On one was the ad-
dress DR.. r. \. Cox, Room q, McLain's
block. and On the other the simple num-
Der 1902. Jacob street. The clothing was
all of the very finest material, and it was
apparent that the Wearer was at least
well to do.
While this was being done the sufferer
was in the throeS of death, and at 10 yes
terday morning she breathed her last. In
all her suffering the girl did not reveal her
identity, nor the author Of her trouble.
As soon as possible word was conveyed
to the nearest civil authority, and in the
afternoon a jury was summoned to deter
mine the cause of the death, and the in
5 FAINT was diSinterred Physicians exam
ined it. but did not give their testimony
at that time The first witness called was
Miss Lu Schumann, of New Martinsville
She knew the deceased. Her name was
Lizzie Taggart and her home MOrriStOwn,
o. She had seen the man who gave his
name as Williams, and she knew him to
be James Taggart, the father of the girl.
1t had been year since she saw the dead
girl She was not then married; thinks
she would have heard Of it had it occur
red since The Taggart family consisted
of father mother, daughter and one son.
and was prominent in business and social
circles.
THE FATHERS STORY.
At the COrOner's inquest on Tuesday
+ Jas. Taggart the father of the unfOrtu-
, nate girl, according to the Register re-
port, testified substantially as follows:
He said that the girl was Lizzie Tag
/ gart, his daughter, and she had started to