Mexico weekly ledger., 1899-05-25
SHE FELL INTO A WELL Ar HER
RESIDENCE, FIVE MILES
NORTH OF TOWN.
DEAD SOMETIME WHEN FOUND.
Was the Wife Of Chas. Hill, a Promi
nent Farmer, Who Was in Town
Buying Pump for the Well
iniwhich His Wife Met
Death Sister of Mrs.
G. B. LuptOn.

Mrs. Charles Hill, living five miles
north of Mexico, fell into half open
well on the farm Friday morning and
was drowned. She died alone, there
being no one on the place, excepting
two farm hands, who were at work in
the fields.
1t is very probable that no one will
ever know how long Mrs. Hill had
been In the well when found. The
two farm hands, a white man named
Fisher and a negrof had been at work
all morning in the fields and as noon
drew near they listened for the Gus
tomary bell-ringing which summoned
them to their noon-day meal. The
sun reached the meridian and the
hands unlocked their horses and went
to the house; it was deserted. The
two men becoming alarmed, began q
search and 1t took but moment to
see an overturned bucket at the side
of q half covered well.
The terrible import Of this ominous
sign leaped TO the brain of each man
at the same time and they hesitated
to look into the we'll. Finally, cour-
age was mustered and one look re-
veaied the innate form of their mis-
tress half submerged in the waters Of
the well; she was dead. 1t was plain
that Mrs. Hill was dead and the negro
mounted 9 horse to come to town
and Fisher started to notify the
neighbors.
Arriving In town the terrified negro
spread the news and finally found Mr..
Hin and told him of the terrible death
OF his wife. The sudden blow was q
terrible one and Mr.. Hill was near
distracted; together with q. R. Lup-
ton, of this city, brother in-law of the
dead woman, he hastened to the Hill
farm.
An odd coincidence of the accident
was that Mr.. Hill had come to town
to buy pump for the well In which
his wife found death. As 1t was 1t
was necessary to draw water teom
the well with a bucket and Mrs. Hill
became overbalanced while perform
ing this task.
On the same well and, in 1887, Mr..
Hills mother fell and broke her hip.
She died from the injuries received.
THE PARTICULARS OF THE CASE.
A LEDGER reporter went to the
scene OF the disaster as soon as the
report was brought to town; the
body of the unfortunate had been re-
moved by VIM. Fisher, Tom Morris,
Bud Fitzwater and D. b. Fletcher, the
latter having gone into the well and
attached a rope to the body,
1t Is thought that Mrs. Hill fell in
the well a short time after IL o'clock,
as 1t was the custom ct that home to
serve dinner at 1880 O'Clock, and
when the kitchen was entered the
stove was hot and q burned and
blackened steak was in the frying pan
on top of the stove. This would indi-
cate that Mrs. Hill was preparing din
ner and had gone to the well after
water 1t Is thought that she step
ped on the end of loose board and
pitched headlong to the bottom of the
we'll, which is IS feet deep, with 10
feet OF water in it.
As the LEDGER man left Squire
Dudley was holding an inquest over
the remains. The iurymen were:
O. NJ. Lewis, N. P. Morris, t. M.
Lambert, James Gardner, ] O. Witt
and J. Wesley Fox.
A verdict of accidental drowning
was returned later.
Deceased was 26 years OF age and
was married to MIR. Hill on January
0, 1895. Her maiden name was Lillian
OIarkson. She was beautiful woman,
both in face and character. Her
mother, who was In town with Mr..
Hill, lived with her.
Mrs. Hill was born in Dalton, NO.
and first met her husband while visit
ing her half-sister, Mrs. O. R. Lup-
ton, in this city about years ago.
Mrs. Hin did not leave any children
but besides her mother, there are
three sisters and one brother living.
They are Mrs. O. R. Lupton, a half
sister, Of this city; Mrs. Grayely, oi
Dalton, Mo-; Mrs. Bishop, Of Ken
lucky, and Thos. Clarkson, half
brother.
The sad death strikes terror to the
heart of every citizen.