The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1892-07-28
FOUND DEAD In THE WOODS.
Ellen Smith Was Discovered With a
Bullet in Her Breast.
She Was Seen With a Mysterious
Young Man "wednesday Afternoon
of Last Week-The Murder Must
Have Been Committed Sometime
Wednesday Night.

ken Smith was murdered. between
the hours of three O'Clock Wednesda.
afternoon and eight Thursday morn
ing of last week in lonely piece o
woods about half mile back of TIL
new Hotel
She was first discovered by a col
ored woman named Hattie Pratt, wh'
is employed in the laundry at thu
Zinzendorf Hattie told the follow
ing story to a SENTINEL reporter
''As | was going over to the spring
(which is situated several hundred
yards back of the hOteD Wednesday
| met young white man dressed in 8
solid brown suit of clothes, with a
black derby hat on. | don't remem
Der whether he had any beard OF
whiskerS. He told me there was q
woman dead down there in the woods.
| said no, l guess she is asleep He
said she was dead, and said for me to
go and see, and l told him if he
would go with me, | would.
"Then we went down and L saw a
white apron hanging on bush, and a
few yards behind it, womans feet,
which were turned towards me. l
didn't go very close, but [ saw from
the blood on her that she had been
shot and was dead"
The Sheriff and coroner were at
once notified of the murder.
A SENTINEL reporter was one of the
first to arrive at the scene of the
tragedy.
The woman was lying fiat on her
back. with her white apron spread
over her head 1t had been placed
there by some of the bystanders to
keep off the flies from her face. Her
hands were lying by her side, her fin
gers slightly clutching her dress.
On removing the apron the features
of a girl about nineteen years old
were discovered. The face was much
swollen and disfigured, not apparent
ly from any struggle but from lying
on the ground long time. The
green flies had gotten in their horri-
BILE work.
The girl was not bad looking, but
had a rather bold countenance. She
had dark hair. which was short and
rather inclined to curl. She had blue
eyes. pretty white teeth and rather
sharp nose.
Her dress consisted of white pecal
shirt-waist with small black stripes,
belted around her. The skirt was of
a dark brown material. Her shoes
were new and seemed to have been
IGCeHUll UOllS1tu. w Ilcu uISCOtcItu
her hat was lying over her face.
Her dress waist was profusely stain
ed with blood. The bullet hole was
plainly evident in her left breast i'm
mediately below the arm. Judging
from the hole in the right breast eX-
actly corresponding with that in her
left, the bullet must have gone en-
tirely through the body. This, in
fact, was the opinion of DIR. Dalton,
who examined the body. The powder
had slightly burned the clothes where
the pistol had been presented at the
WOman'S side.
She was lying in a patch of thick
brushy underground, about ten steps
from the path which divided the
woods where she lay from an open
field on the left. There was no evil
dence of any struggle. A large fancy
hairpin was found few feet from the
woman.
A red bandanna handkerchief was
found about three hundred yards from
where the girl was, at the point where
the path turned off from the road.
Coroner EOgle and Sheriff league
arrived about twelve O'Clock at the
scene and Swore in the following
Jury from those who had cOngregated
at the scene:
Edward Rothrock, John III. Swain,
Frank Keehln, F. S. Chewing, c. G.
Knott and John Wall.
The Jury examined two witnesses on
the spot. The first was Hattie Pratt,
who gave the same testimony in effect
as has already been reported. G. G.
Halliard was the second witness. He
said he came down with number of
Others to the spot shortly after being
told of the affair by Hattie Pratt.
Hp alCn mot q VOJ1n0 man dPQcCa6 in q
brown suit and wearing black derby,
whom he thought must have been the
same person as met Hattie Pratt.
He asked Mr. Halliard if he were
looking for the dead woman and upon
receiving an affirmative answer, pOin-
ted out the spot were she lay.
He furthermore stated that he
found the white apron tied by one
string to a small sapling. He united
it and placed it over the girls head.
A cot was then obtained and the
body removed to a barn on Fourth
street where the inquest was contin-
ued,
Several interesting questions perplex
the jury. One was who was the young
man in the brown suit with the black
derby who was so anxious to call at
tention to the dead woman and why
this anxiety in his part. Another
question is why was the apron tied
up on the sapling at the path in such
a conspicuous place, and who tied it
there.
1t was reported that the girl had
been seen in the woods not very far
from the place where the murder was
C committed, last Wednesday about
three O'Clock.
Mr.. Rose, who lives on Fifth street
and for whom she has been cooking,
told reporter that she left his
house about two O'Clock and went to
his store where she bought a yellow
silk handkerchief. About an hour
later she was seen in the woods de-
Scribed with a mysterious young man.
That is the last heard of her until
she was found.
held by Drs. Dalton and Galloway,
who found that the bullet had pene-
trated the liver and cut the large vein
below the heart.
A young man in town Wednesday
wrote a letter at Ellen Smiths dicta-
tion to another young man named
Peter DeGraff who has been visiting
her, and in which it is said she stated
that she never wanted to see him
again, and enclosed a handkerchief to
him which was to return gift of one
to her by him.
It is said also that this is the same
young man with whom she was seen
Wednday Afternoon at three O'Clock
in the woods. 1t is also thought that
the young man in the brown suit was
DeGraff.
The girl came originally from Yad-
kin county and sustains question:
able character.
The result of the inquest was sub
stantia1ly that the girl came to heI
death at the hands of companion.
a gentleman in town Thursday
morning met young man about II