The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-06-19

NJ YSTERY.
An Oakdale CleW to the Skele-
ton in the Swamp.
is 1t MRS. SHEDDEN?
Her Husband and the Officers Believe Her
Body Has Been Found She Disap-
peared Many Months Ago-Was
She Murdered at
Sterling?
Is 1T MRS. SHEDDEN?

Oakdale, June 1S.-There is a grow
ing belief in this village tonight that
the body of the woman found dead in
Sterling swamp may be that Of Eliza
beth Shedden, wife of William Sheldon,
an employee in DORIS mill on the Hol-
den road,
Deputy Sheriff Emory A. Bacon is
of this belief, and from facts brought
to the notice of Medical Examiner To-
hey in Clinton, at the instance of Will
liam Sheldon of this village, this clue
will be worked.
Something more than a year ago,
Elizabeth Sheldon left the bed and
board Of her husband, William. and
dr4fted out into the wide, wide world
She took with her an infant, apd the
next heard about her was that she had
visited a married sister in Boston.
Here she left the babe of her bosom,
and the next heard from her was in
August 1898, when she appeared in
Leominster. Her stay was brief, and
when she left, all traces of Elizabeth
Sheldon ceased, and her husband and
children remaining at Oakdale, gave
her up for lost.
Mrs. Sheldon was a good housekeep-
err, when not under the influence OF
strong drink, but it was commonly
known that her sober moments We're
so few that the virtue even of good
housekeeper shrank into insignificancs.
She left beside her husband, two
bows and a girl. The family came to
Oakdale from Cherry Valley Oeicester)
and here begins an interesting phase.
While in Cherry Valley, Michael
Kline, Familiarity known as Mickey
Cute" was before the central district
court at Worcester, charged with illegal
liquor keeping.
One of the principal witnesses against
Kline was a vigorous youngster, whose
evidence convicted Kline. He was
none other than Willie Shedden, the
son of Elizabeth shedden. who is now
an interesting figure, for a time, in the
sensation Of the day.
Shortly after the advent in Oakdale
of the shedden family, Little Willie"
made a record, in fact, several records,
as the result Of which Willie was next
found under the watchful eye of Sup
erintendent Johnson of the Worcester
county truant school in Oakdale.
Superintendent Johnson exerted all
of his influence to bring Willie Shed
I a,,h4aatgat1 1tYf
obliged to throw up the sponge, and
acknowledge himself beaten, and little
Willie went to the Lyman school for
boys at Westboro. and here the ire
pressible youngster resides at the
present time.
The love of strong drink was Eliza
beth Sheddens ruin, and she sank in
the social scale to such a depth that
she fell into the hands of the police
and had an unenviable police record.
No stone will be left unturned TO es-
tablish the identity Of the dead woman
Of the Sterling swamp, and If Eliza
beth Sheldon should be her name, the
mystery of Oakdale Of mora than
years duration will have been solved.
The color Of Elizabeth Shedden's
hair, the general stature of the woman
and other matters connected with her
and her disappearance are almost iden-
teal with certain developments in the
CHASTITY Sterling affair.
Tomorrow a more minute examina-
ton will be made of the dead woman's
wearing apparel, to see if it agrees with
the apparel worn by Mrs. Shedden
when last seen.
Tomorrow, also. William shedden
will accompany officers to the town of
Leominster, and ascertain If possible
where his wife last stopped. This clue
will be worked to the end.
Should the woman found in Sterling
swamp prove to be the woman who dis
appeared from Oakdale over a year
ago. then q double mystery will have
been solved, and a third will have de-
veloped. Was there murder and, if
so. who was the assassin?