Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1900-05-18
SEARCH FOR A GIRL.
AN INDIANA WOMAN'S LONG
YEARS OF SEEKING
"Aunt Polly" Barnett Dead. After
Seeking a Lost Daughter for Twenty
Years-TouchinG Story of Old and
Insane Wanderer Over the Earth.

Aunt Polly Barnett, whose long
search for her daughter made heI
known all over the southern part OF
Indiana, Is dead. A week before her
death she was taken into the home of
kind woman at Linton, Green County,
and there she died. The citizens of
Linton. long acquainted with her and
her story, subscribed for the funeral
expenses and large number of people
were at the Methodist church when the
Rev. William Buck conducted the SER
vices.
Her maiden name was Lay and she
was born in Kentucky at least sixty
years ago. She was first married to a
man named Sexton, and after his death
she was married to a man named Bar
nett. She had one child, daughter, by
her marriage with Sexton, and it was
this girls disappearance that made her
an insane wanderer. John Bays, who
was prosecuting attorney of Green
County at the time the girl disappeared,
relates the story as follows:
"The daughter left the house one
morning twenty years ago and had not
returned by evening. The next day a
search for her was begun and the moth
er continued it until she was unequal to
further tramping about the country.
In my Investigation 1 soon made up
my mind that the daughter had been
put out Of the way by some person or
persons to escape exposure at her
hands. l finally concluded that three
persons knew something about her dis
l also reached conclu-
sion that she was drowned in White
River and that her body was anchored
at the bottom of the river, We found
footprints in the sand along the shore
In secluded spot and there portions
Of her clothing were found. While l
was entirely convinced Of these facts
could get no evidence on which to |
proceed against the suspected persons.
followed the career of the three men |
and each met with a tragic DEATH"
Accompanied by her younger daugh-
;er, child Of Barnett, the mother be-
gan her search. She walked I'D and
iown the banks Of the river and of 9TH
r streams In the same part of the
State. After several years she aban-
loned the river and streams and began
ooking into the faces Of women in the
owns and villages Of Southern Indi-
ma. She visited cemeteries and read
gain and again the inscriptions on
omDstOnes. Undertakers' shops were
listed by her regularly. The daughter
Who accompanied her, always walking
ust behind her, grew into womanhood.
hey were seen in all kinds of weather.
hey slept in novels, in strawstacks, or
nder trees. They ate what was given
them, and no housewife in Southern
Indiana ever turned them away with
ut food or clothing. "Aunt Pollly's"
earch awakened sympathy every
here. A few years ago the daughter I
led from consumption. She was buried :
country cemetery, but year or so /
90 her mother became dissatisfied /
18th her resting place and exhumed the ,
ody and carried the bones elsewhere. /
ut where no one has ever known. AZ I
r her daughters death she was ac- s
by large black cat which, q
le requested before her death, should t
turned loose and be allowed to con- l
nue. the search. A collar was made u
r the cat with "Aunt Polly's" name f
I'D the date Of her death engraved on II
The cat left Linton a few days v
terward. s