The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-03-31
FAMILY QE-HIHESEAlN.
AFTER THE CHASTITY DEED, THE
HOUSE SET ON FIRE.

a mysterious Murder-A NeiGhDor DlscoVs
ers the Fire and Goes to Only Find the
Charred BodIes--No Clew Left.
NASHVILLE, March A.-Particulars
of what appears to have been a horri-
BILE and brutal murder were received
here from Paradise Ridge early this
morning. Jacob AIDE, one of the old
est and best known farmers of the
ridge settlement, his wife, his daugh.
ter and son, and little daughter of
Henry Moirer were probably murder.
ed and their bodies cremated in AIDES
house, which was burned to the
ground. The theory OF murder is
strengthed bv the fact that all of the
bodies were found in the same room,
but scattered around over the space
occupied by this room. It was thought
that the old man was killed for his
money, as he was known to be we'll
to-do, snd always kept supply of
money on hand, but whether this be
true cannot be positively stated now,
as the old mans money, or at least
the ashes of what was once big roll
of money, has been discovered in the
ruins of the house.
The dead are: Jacob AIDE, Mrs. ia
cob AIDE, Lizzie AIDE, aged 90 years; !;
Henry AIDE, aged 13; Rosa Moirer,
| aged 20.
Jacob AIDE lived Is miles from this
city near the Cheatham county line.
The house sits back half a mile from
what is known as the old Clarksville
turnpike. 1t was a 1-story frame
dwelling with five rooms rooms
in front with a hallway between and
three rooms running back forming an
L. Old man AIDE and his wife usually
| occupied the first room in the L just
in the rear of the front room or par
lor. There was only one bed in this
room. 1t was in this room that all the
bodies were found.
The first indication of the tragedy
was discovered at 10 o'clock last night
by Justics Simpson, who lives half a
mile from the AIDE place. There was
a sick man at Mr.. Simpsons house,
and about 10 o'clock Mr.. Simpson
went out to get some water for the
/ man, when he saw that AIDES house
was on fra. He at once rode over to
the scene and found the house in
ruins. Finding no one near, Simp:
sons suspicious were aroused. and
| upon closer inspection he saw the
bodies of several people in the ruins.
He went to work at once to rescue the
bodies and succeeded in getting four
of them out. These proved to be the
bodies of Mr.. and Mrs. AIDE, Miss Liz
zie AIDE and Miss Rosa Moirer. After
this Mr.. Simpson rode around notified
a number of the neighbors, and in a
short while quite crowd collected
about the ruins.
Henry A.de, the 13 year old son of
Mr.. AIDE, was also missing, but his
body could not be found. It was first
thought that he had escaped to the
woods, but further search of the
ruins of the house this morning dis
closed his body. The bodies of Mr..
and Mrs. AIDE, Miss Lizzie AIDE and
Henry AIDE were burned to a
crisp. The head and limbs were
were burned off, and in fact only a
\ small mass of flesh and bones remain
ed. The old man and his wife were
more horribly burned than the others.
The body of, Rosa Moirer was not
burned so BADLY as the others. The
little girls legs were burned off, one
arm was raised over her head and the
hand of this was gone. A portion OF
her skull was missing, but the brain,
which was exposed and the skin on
her face was only partially burned.
This fact gives further evidence in
support of the theory of murder.
Some of the people believe that pos
sibly while the other members OF the
family were being murdered this child
escaped and was not killed until after
the house had burned awhile, when
the body was thrown into the fire.
The fact that q part of the skull is
gone and the rest of the head perfect
with the skin of her face only badly
burned, lends weight to the theory
that she was knocked in the head,
probably with an axe. One handless
arm was raised over her head and it
may be that in trying to protect her
self she threw up her arm and the
hand was cut off by the same blow
which tore away a part of her skull.
The blow paralyzed her muscles and
the arm remained in this protecting
position after death had ensued.
The purpose of the murder was at
first thought to be robbery, but if this
be correct the murderer was i'll paid
Tor his horrible crime. In searching
The ruins of the house this morning,
an oyster can was found under the
place where a closet once stood in Mr..
Ade's sleeping room. In this can the
remains of what was evidently large
roll of money was found together
with four silver dollars which had
been melted so that they were sticking
together. Mr.. AIDES neighbors knew
that he kept his money in this closet.
He was in the city Monday. While
here he told Jerry Matthews that he
had $4,000 and he did not know what
to do with it. MIR. Matthews advised
him to deposit it in the Fourth Ma
tional bank. Mr.. AIDE did not say he
had the money with him. Sheriff
Sharp was notified of the crime early
this morning and he with several
deputies went to the scene and they
are now working on the case. Dis
posing of the robbery theory, it is
very hard to find a motive for the
horrible crime, as Mr.. AIDE was a very
popular man and we'll liked by all his
neighbors. The only enmity which