Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1896-04-22
Negro Fiend Commits Rape and MUIR
der In Allegheny County.

uor III Al1c6 u1Hy CVuhty'
On Tuesday morning of last week,
April 14th, Henry Magruder. a negro
fiend about 20 years of age, about half
a mile from Longdale station on the
+ C. & 0. Ry. three miles East OF Clifton
Forge, first attempted rape on the per
son of Mrs. Charles Ballinger, white
woman, and shortly afterwards met
Ellen, a thirteen-year-old daughter of
William Wallace, colored, in the woods,
whom he raped and then murdered and
threw her body in a branch.
He first called at the backdoor of
the house of Mr.. Charles Ballinger and
asked his wife for something to eat.
The Clifton Forge ReUieU says
.sShe gave him piece of bread and
| he walked around the house and re-
entered at the front door, and ap-
preaching Mrs. Ballinger from the rear
choked her violently and attempted to
throw her down.
She struggled with all her strength
and he struck her several times in the
the face with his fist. Just rs he was
about to overpower her, her brother,
| Turner Putnam, a lad ten years old,
came up and frightened the brute
away. Mrs Ballinger then got a pis-
toll and the boy fired several times at
the fleeing demon, who was making
his way over the ridge going in the di-
rection of William Wallace's house.
The wife of Wallace had sent the
child to the ridge west of the house for
wood. Meantime the negro had cross
ed "Shawver's hollow" climbed to the
top of the ridge, sat down, pulled off
his boots and concealed himself in the
top of white pine tree that had been
chopped down, having observed the
i little girl going after wood. When she
came to near where he had hid him
self, he seized her and compelled her
to walk with him down the west side
of the ridge to deep and rugged IA
vine impeded in many places by fallen
timber and brush. He followed this
ravine with his pleading victim in the
u direction of Wilson creek for some
thing like half mile, where evidences
were plainly visible as the spot where
he had assaulted the child. He then
proceeded two hundred yards down
i the stream. and in a little pool of pure
mountain water damned below with
roots and trash, about six feet long,
) three feet wide and nine inches deep,
he threw the body after having MUIR
) dered his pleading, crying, helpless vic
! tim. A piece of red flannel that the
child had worn around per neck was
lying on the bank. she having been
sick and suffering with cold. Her
head was lying up stream and face
downward and body bent in a half cir
Gle. Her skull had been broken, but
%ho olvo NJ aV1f Mt I'M tpg1
ment, probably club, had been used"
When William Wallace went in
search of his child. he came upon the
fiend who struck him with stone and
would probably have killed him if his
dog had not come to his assistance.
He was captured as follows, as given
by the RevaeU:--
'sDespite the vigorous search that
had been instituted and maintained
by over hundred Infatuated citizens
r throughout the entire day Tuesday.
the guilty demon succeeded barehead-
ed and barefooted in eluding capture
by his purkuers, although on several
: occasions he had been seen and shot
at, once by Mr.. Peters.
Some time during the forepart of
II u0Sudy ulSuU, pIOOdtOiy UcIOIC OisAO
!, O'clock, ne slipped into the eastern
ledge of Clifton Forge and called at a
, shanty situated at the mouth of
iislaughter-pen hollow, occupied by
Charles Sales, an employe on the rail
road yards here. Sales noticing that
he wore no hat at once suspected that
he was the guilty party. He detained
. him at his quarters, sent for an officer
and the man was looked up SO quietly
that scarcely half a dozen people in
town knew the fact.
Feeling that it would be unsafe to
keep the prisoner here, Mayor Smith
very wisely and properly procured a
hack and at half past one O'Clock We'd
nesday morning had the suspected
man sent to the county jai. in Coving
TOM
i IDENTIFIED.
The Allegheny Sentinel of Friday
says
! "The father of the dead girl, the hus-
band of the white woman, upon whom
an assault was attempted, and several
others came Wednesday on Nos and
IL and fully identified the prisoner as
the guilty man. The men were taken
into the Jail one by one and in each
case they picked out the right man