Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1900-07-20
FLOATING IN RIVER.
Body of Woman Found Near Brit
toms Ferry on Wednesday.

IL Was Buried Aner an Examination by
New Hampshire officials and Physi-
cIRns---May Have Been Body OF Kate
Teehan, who Disappeared from Rel
lows Falls In November.
The decomposed body of woman, evil
IDENTIFY dislodged from its resting place by |
the recent log drive which passed down the |
Connecticut river, was found Wednesday |
morning floating in the river, few rods |
out from the Westmoreland shore and nearly |
opposite the Harlan p. Farr farm in East
Putney. Soon after o. clock Byron Britton,
son of Ferryman VIM. Britton, was walk
ing on the bank of the river, close by the
old Britton homestead, when he saw, float
ing a short distance out, an object which
he thought resembled human form. He
called to his father and they got into one
of their small boats and rowed out TO the
object, which they found was a human
body, that of a woman. They fastened
rope around the body and drew 1t to the
shore, where 1t was made secure. The
Westmoreland authorities, including the
selectmen and DR.. Craig, health officer,
we're notified, and they had the body re-
moved from the water DR.. Wheat OF
Putney was also present.
An examination of the body failed to re-
veal any clue to its identity. Dr. Craig
said that in his judgment the body had
been in the water from three TO five weeks,
perhaps longer. Putrefaction had pro-
crossed to such an extent that the features
| of the woman's face we're not discernibe,
and the color of her eyes could not be as
certained. The body was bloated, and the
flesh of the hands had begun to open. The
clothing was also partially decomposed.
The woman was about five feet tall and
was stoutly built, with square shoulders.
Her hair was black and heavy, and she
had a set of false upper teeth. Her cloth
ing was of good material. She wore a
black shirt waist and a black brocade
skirt. Over her shoulders was the cape
of a blue macintosh. Her stockings we're
black, AMI she wore low shoes, size about
81. She had no jewelry. She was APP
parently from 20 to % years old. Mr..
Brtton was of the opinion that she was a
foreigner
description of the woman was tele-
phoned to Bellows Falls from the East
Putney station, but so far as could be
learned no one had disappeared from that
town. Deputy Sheriff Mcclure of Brat
tleboro was then called by telephone and
description Of the woman was given him,
as ii was thought that possibly the body
might be that of Miss Mary Ayers, the
school teacher who disappeared from her
home in Brattleboro Jan. 10. Mr.. Nc
Clure gave assurance that the body was not
that Of Miss Ayers, and the body was bur
led in the afternoon In the meadow near
the Cheshire county farm.
About O'Clock a person in Bellows
Falls, who had been in Putney sad had
heard about the finding of the body, met
Chief-of-Police Thompson of Bellows Falls
on the street and asked him as TO what dis
position had been made Of the body. This
was the first that Mr.. Thompson had
heard about the finding Of body, and i'm
mediately there came into his mind the
story of the disappearance from Bellows
Falls last November of Miss Kate Teehan,
an Irish girl who at that time was en-
ployed In the family of Col. G. A. Moore.
Mr.. Thompson obtained description of
, the woman found at Westmoreland by tel
ephonlng to East Putney and then nou-
fed Mrs. Dennis brisbane Of Bellows Falls,
sister of Miss Teehan. Mrs. brisbane and
another person went directly to the county
farm and examined the shoes and other ar
ticles Of clothing which had been removed
from the body before burial. They were
unable positively to identify the articles as
those worn by Miss Teehan, on account of
the action of the water, but there was a
strong similarity between them.
Miss Teehan had left home about
o'clock in the afternoon one day in No
vember. She had acted queerly at times,
and it was thought that she had become
slightly unbalanced mentally. DR.. Camp
bell expressed the belief at that time that
the girl had committed suicide. Miss Tee
han was about % years old and she had a
set of false upper teeth. She wore black
| shirt yyataf and lou ghnaa and eha had
: jewelry. She was about five feet tall, was
) stoutly built and had broad shoulders. In
all of these particulars the description of
Miss Teehan corresponds exactly with that
l of the recovered body.
Chief Thompson thinks there
, is no doubt that the body is that of Miss
Teehan, and people from Bellows Falls
will 60 to Westmoreland today to have the
5 body exhumed in order that the false teeth.
l which were buried with the body, may be
r examined. Miss Teehan's set of false
teeth were made by a Bellows Falls
> dentist, and he could identify them if he
r should see them again. The only facts
that would tend to disprove the theory that
the body is that of Miss Teehan are that
e under ordinary circumstances the body OF
( Miss Teehan would have become disinte-
: grated before this and that Miss Teehan's
" |
r body is said to be black. Miss Teehan's
- parents are dead. She has three sisters in
r Bellows Falls and a brother and sister in
S Fitchburg, Mass.
: Considerable needless and senseless spec
. ulation was caused in Brattleboro Wednes-
e day afternoon by the report that the de,
Y scription of the body was Identical in some
a respects with that of Miss Mary Ayers
C The description of the two women were
n not alike in a single respect, either in re-
!. gard to stature or clothing Moreover
' Miss Ayers's teeth were not false, fact
which wholly disproves any theory which
might be advanced in an effort to show
that the body recovered at WestmOreland
: was that of Miss Ayers.
e Allie j. Tucker of Brattleboro, who wal
4 in Cuba during the Spanish war, is nov
e with Company X, 9th Infantry, at Bacolod
: Island of Negros, Philippine Islands. II,
writes that he enlisted Aug. % at New
e Haven and sailed from San Francisco OF
c the transport Grant, reaching Manila Oct
5 pa
Miss Ruth Childs and Mrs. Margare