Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1894-11-27
4 FAIR GIRL BANDIT.
STORY OF TIE DARING CAREER or
PRETTY NELL PRESCOTT.
The Extreme Poverty of Her Parents In
dueed Her to Take the Highway She
Wa Finally Run Down by a bloodhound
and Died with Her T,eots TN.

| and Died With Her Tseots on.
Nell ITszes9.t. old Vir eiii1s first high
] way woman. was horn and lived and die,
/ within eo ss1iies Of Psrhersburg, and
/ though her span ST exiStence only extended
over some 20 years she made things lively
| in the ifluJl-stiins while she did live.
Nell Pr-s-urt lived and died 'befo' de
wah ys,- the pretty daughter of
old Job Prescott. who lived at the foot OF
old Bald Top mountain. As schoolgirl
she was bright, intelligent and studious,
and il * generally believed that IL was the
extreme Issytrty Il hcr I.fents that drove
her to the hi -Avay.
Early in tn. spring of Sl3 a cattle buyer
named JennJ5 g reported 70 sheriff Null
cahey thar willie crossing Dald Top and
when near the county liI.e be caught up
with prxposSessinc. hoyish looking fel-
low on the trail, who sail he had walked
from L.nwGs,i and was going 10 Deering,
a little settlement nine miles this way
from the mountains Jennings offered
the wayfarer a scat behind him on the
horse. which offer was thankfully accept
ed Thus mounted tie paIy-sode merrily
on their way, chatting pleasantly as they
proceeded. Jennings thoughtshis compan-
ion was a very entertaining fellow and
was all unconscious of danger until while
the muzzie Of n pistol pressed against his
head, and a voice exclaimed from behind:
Give me your money, or else III
shoot .
Jennings was dumfounded- by the sud
den and unexpected turn of affairs but rs
he heard the pistol click knew there was
nothing To do but TO comply with the
command, and he at once drew out a roll
of bills amounting to $500, which was
"a -, ,I,s..x
his boyish companion, who leaped lightly
from the horse to the ground and then said:
Stranger, your broke now, and as
took the pistol from your belt to do the
job | ii give You 500 TO get another =
Then the robber disappeared, and Jen-
nings went disconsolately on his way TO
Huntley, where he found the sheriff. Null
cahey at once dispatched posse of officers
In pursuit of the highwayman, and al
though they secured the mountains for
three days could obtain no trace OF him.
Three weeks afterward a peddler was
held up and robbed of 500 near the same
spot where Jennings had been despoiled
of his money on the Linwood trail. This
deed was done by small. bewhiskered
desperate. From thence robberies were
frequent on the mountains.
The Inhabitants of the sparsely settled
country believed they Were at the mercy
Of an organized band of highwaymen, for
In no two cases did the descriptions of the
robber tally. The fact, though that the
crimes We're always committed by one per
son and in a certain locality at last led
the authorities to doubt the existence OF
4 band Of robbers and TO believe that all
1he jobs were the work of but one indi
7idual. At once they sesabout effectins
ais capture. Many attempts were made
II that direction, but all to no effect. At
asst, however, it was deemed necessary to
nave deputy sheriffs constantly patrolling
he mountains, and $500 reward was offer
ID for the capture and conviction of any |
highway robber. This offer set many pri |
ate citizens on still hunts, and at last |
iabe Unison and AL Wheaton devoted |
III their time to the pursuit of the I'M |
;nown highwayman. One morning, &C |
ompanied by Gabe's bloodhound Jennie, |
hey We're on their way up Rattlesnake |
when they met Hebrew pack /
eddler, who an hour before had been held |
p by bearded highwayman on the Bent |
sy road and robbed of $50
,, The Psddlss asoempa.nied, Gahs sea
0bhery occuffed, and the dog Was plncs6I
n the highway mans trail The hound II
Ias held In leash, SO as to keep her CON
tantly within range of her owners rife
'hus the trio Of men, led by the dog, fol- /
trough the woods and across chasms and
rocks, Jennie baying loudly the while |
After two hours journey and when near /
ng Huntley, Jennie began tugging furi- |
usly at her leash, and Gabe knew she /
ras hot on the trail, and at last he caught |
glimpse of a human form fitting through |
he trees ahead.
Instantly Gabe Unison raised his rifle |
nd fired, but apparently without effect, |
l,,A
nded at a fallen hollow tree, into which |
he highwayman had sought concealment.
;abe and AL knew they had ''treed their |
oon' and that his capture was inevitable, |
o the hound was not allowed to enter the |
perture. Gabe kicked the log repeatedly
hen shouted, Come out o. thar an s rem
Ter ter tn law, err I'll smother yer with |
moke, for we uns has yer sho'."
There was no response to this stern com |
nand Not a sound could be heard from
within the log Evidently the robber was |
to surrender, so Gabe and al
leld a consultation of war in whispers.
which ended in the latter going to sum
non assistance, while Unison remained
O guard the self imprisoned captive.
1t was shortly after o'clock when Al |
eturned accompanied by three woods
nen and Deputy Sheriff Strong. Strong |
opposed trying to smoke out the robber by
! fire at the base of the fallen tree and di-
ected another method of getting holdof |
he robber, which was to split the log open. |
80, with axes and wedges, the log was
pitt, disclosing within motionless hui
nan form. The aperture was materially
while the deputy sheriff and
Iabe stood on the alert with drawn re-
-olvers, and at last the officer reached /
Town and grasped the form by the shout
ler saving at the same time.
II arrest you in the name Of the coH-
nonwealth of Virginia for highway rob
,ery."
There was no response With vigorous |
ERIK he turned the form over and then |
Jumped back aghast. The bearded face
that confronted his was that of the utsd. |
ia be's bullet had done its work. The |
obber had been shot through the back |
IN raising the body from the log the whis-
1ers worn were discovered TO be false, and !,
xhen the officer removed them Gabe jim |
son exclaimed: Holy smoke, it's Nell
PRESCOTT Boys, I'm fabbergasted. =" I
Some of his companions also recognized |
The pretty face, and despite the fac: that, .
he form WAS clad in male attire declared /
{ TO be that of old Job Prescott's daugh- |
er. 1t was mercifully decided not TO In |
orm the Prescott family of the death OF |
Nellie. and so, after viewing the body, the |
coroner ordered it inferred Oh the nouns |
al inside near Oak Grove. After the burial |
here were no more robberies in that part
Of Virginia--Cor. St Louis Giobe-Demo-
rat
Knoxville is reminiscent of General
Henry Knox of Massachusetts,. 1t was
first called Fort Knox