Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-09-04
0ALEM'S SNAKE WOMAN.

LAD4 . 1sPRIt's Lins With Rattlers -
Aer Oaly CsApanisas
NaFsha Ann Tillsor. the singular
ehar1nser who died ss Salem. lad. ye-
os1ty. vas known as the ''Sneke WON
-" NsBy were the stories efoai
about her. during her Hfesime, - she
would eaBnciste With no one She lived
in little cabin At the fCos OF Twelve
O'clock Knob, and led . hermit's life,
having No ono to share her abode except
snakeA By the few Who were ever al-
loved to see the interior of her cabin it
10 said to have literally swarmed with
her strange companions, with which she
ate aAd slept. and which were to- be
Den lying In her bosom and coiled
about her neck, body and limbs when
ever she was caught sight Of
Her extraordinary prediction for
thee unpleasant creatures is supposed
to have arisen from q morbid feeling
that she was, like them. hated of men;
Tor. naturally deformed. she received in
addition an injury to the spine while an
infant aud. though perfectly sound of
mind. was of 50 sensitive a nature as to
render her miserable and uneasy in the
presence Of any but her parents. as she
imagined herself An object of loathing
and hatred to them This she seemed
to feel while still . little child, for her
peculiar friendship began then
She was observed to steal away every
day with . pan of milk, and on being
followed was found to be caressing
dozen or 80 hideous rattlesnakes, while
they drank from the vessel which she
held In her lap. Horrified. her parents
tried to reason with her. then to pun
ish, and finally to confine her in an en-
desvor to break her Of her fondness for
the reptiles. but she pinned so for her
pets that they feared she would die if
kept from them. She. evinced even
stronger distaste for human society as
she grew older, and, since the death of
her parents, has withdrawn entirely
from any association with her kind, Hv-
Ing wholly on the product of a small
garden cultivated by herself and of half
. dozen chickens, which the snakes
seemed to know were not legitimate
prey, and left unmolested.
She was . little, fair woman of about
forty-dve, with sandy hair. very abun-
dant and long. which she wore in a num-
bsr Of tight plsits. which, combined
with her deformity and the odd. miscel-
laneous style of dressing. the result of
her refusal to hold any communication
with . fel1ow-being, served to make her
. most notwithstanding object She
vss looked upon as . witch by the ne
groes about, who declared her to be pos
sessed of the evil eye, and hated and
feared her accordingly. though her life
vss . most harmless, quiet one.
She had been dead some days when
discovered, and her dead body was liter
ally covered with . writhing mass OF
snakes, which had to be killed before Ii
could be removed, for the rsItilae TUNED
viciously on ell sRuK f.>A ~
| mains. On her hesfs NlssAfSs1 Z 0,4sez
| . large rattlesnake, dead
The inquest proved that the woman:
| vas Q natural death, and 1t Is probable
that the snake died Of grief for its mis-
| tress. She left no heirs, and . few
| nights xfter her burial the house ~:
burned down, it is supposed by some o.
her neighbors. IS the greatest horro,
Vas felt for the place, which was still
| infested with snskea