Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1900-03-30
SIX MURDERED.
Awful Crime of Carolina Colored Man.
Two Butchered and Four
Burned to Death.

Raleigh N. c., Especial tom Jones
colored, commonly known rs Preacher
Jones, murdered Z la Jones and her oldSs
daughter, Ida Jones, and then set fire 10 th
beds In which were the bodies OF the muir
dered victims and four others, all children
ranging In years from baby month old Il
the largest boy, who was not more than
years Of age.
The scene Of the crime Is Gamers. five
miles east OF here. The weapon used was
an axe. the murderer. according to the
story OF little 7-year-old Laura Jones, who
escaped with her younger sister, striking
the mother four times, and then making two
heavy strokes into the body of the Oldest
child.
The house was completely destroyed by
: Gre, :tNothing remains OF the bodies OF the
four youngest children but the bones dis
tributed among the ashes. The body OF
Ella Jones and that OF Ida, the 13-year- old
child, were burned beyond recognition.
The dead are: Ella Jones, the mother, aged
33; Ida Jones, 10 years Of age; Jessie Jones,
5 years old; Nancy Jones, 8 years old; Clever
Jones, years old, and an unnamed baby,
one month old.
The two girls who escaped with their lives
ara: Laura Jones, years old, and SD
Jones, years old.
When those who heard the story OF the
murder from the lips OF the little ragged
negro went to Jones' house to arrest him
they found that his clothes and hands were
stained with blood
Though there was talk among the colored
people Of lynching, no attempt was made
to do 80. and Jones was brought to this city
and placed in jail to await trial for his
crime. The two children, having no rela-
tiyes, were taken to the County Home to be
cared for.
Jones was arrested Oh the evidence OF the
7-year-old girl Laura. who escaped from the
burning house after lie had gone. She took
with her, In her arms, her little sister Sid,
who was sleeping with her.
They went to the house OF a neighbor. half
a mile away and told what had happened.
Those who went to the fire could see dis
tinctly the bodies on the bed inside the
burning building, but it was too late to res
cue them. The charred remains OF the two
murdered women were taken out and bur-
led. Tho four small children, except the
baby clasped in its mothers arms, had been
entirely consumed.
The child Laura is very bright for her age
and though she told the story OF the murder
many times she never varied from her first
account. She said:
preacher Jones came to our house
about o'clock. went to sleep. Then
woke up--mother woke me screaming.
saw Preacher Jones strike her four times
with An axe. Then he came to my bed and
struck sister twice. The blood few In my
face. After that he struck a match and set
both beds afre and went out. After he had
gone I took Sid up in my arms and ran out.
carried her in my arms all the way to Mrs.
Winters and told them what Preacher
Jones had done"
Tom Jones denied the murder, but he
does not undertake to explain his where
abouts at the time. He admits that he was
intimate with Ella Jones, who is not related
to him, though she bears the same name.
He says that they quarreled about her
charging him with the paternity OF her
month-ol child, and this, 1t is understood,
was the cause OF the crime