The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1902-07-19
A CHILD-KILuNG NEGRESS.
A Vivid Recollection Of OIden
Times.
INTERESTING TALK BY OLD CITIZEN.
The First coIOred Woman to be Hung
in Clay County.

The following recollections Of an
old citizen, from the Excelsior Springs
STANDARD, will doubtless recall many
valuable bits OF history by old citizens.
These sketches should be preserved.
They grow valuable with age:
1t was the good fortune Of the
STANDARD man to engage in an inter-
esting conversation with one Of Ex-
celsior Springs best posted pioneers,
Uncle Jimmie Cravens, who readily
recalls the many incidents occurring
in Clay and Ray counties from the
early days in lS2O-and is specially
familiar with the story Of the trag-
edies that took place in the vicinity
OF that beautiful and well known spot
-Tryst Falls, sometimes called Ma
dine Falls, being so-called after fair
Indian girl, who took a particular
part in a romance thereabouts at an
early date.
According to Mr. Cravens, one
Charles Prior, during the early part
of 1928, resided a few miles over in
Ray county on the farm now owned
by John Isley. AS was the custom
at that day Prior possessed great
many slaves, and from this bunch
came big, black, keen-eyed negress,
who took the chief part in series Of
terrible tragedies. She had a mania
for killing children, and in satisfying
her murderous desires, first took one
of her masters children and went out
strawberry hunting, which was indeed
a splendid preteuset The negress
returned late in the evening without
the child and upon being questioned
claimed she hadn't been with it and
knew nothing Of her, and as queer as
it seems she was not suspected at all
IA brutal murderess enjoyed the cou-
fidence of lenient master. Upon
searching for "the lost child,n she
was found in path penetrating a
dense thicket, laying on her side a
little corpse. She was buried at New
Garden, being the first person ever
laid to rest in that beautiful grave
yard. Then sometime afterwards a
negreSs with a four-year-old child
came to the Prior farm. She had
been there but a short time when the
inhuman wretch to whom we have
alluded, took this little child and
drowned it in Gum Spring, which Is
still In existence. To cover the deed
from the "optics Of justice" she re-
turned and warned the "blark
nanny" that her child might get
drowned, telling her that she had
seen 1t wandering in the direction Of
the spring Innately the mother has
tened to the spring where she found
it liieless. AS before the murderess
escaped suspicious and lived to do
more harm.
In 1929 Prior moved to Clay county,
near Tryst Falls. The family had
only lived 10 their new abode short
time when the climax of the old crea-
lures career was duly reached-when
she accomplished her most atrocious
crime. IL was on wash day, she
was washing clothes on the banks Of
Tyst Falls, two Of Prior's children
and one of her own we're playing on
40 adjacent overhangiug rock. TIE
scenery was unique, the opportunity
golden, and the devil near. All was
still and seemingly serene when the
wash woman with fiendish delipht
caught TWO of the children aud threw
them into the pool below where they
drowned. One child Of Prioris fed TO
a neiphborlng house. but being too
badly frightened could not tell what
she had beheld. The negre>s arrived
and told them that the child had ran
! away and It's mother had sent her to
look for it. II was a fruit-bealing
falsehood. The "white folks" told
the poor child to obey the "we1ch :"
She sfraightway carried the child to
Tryst Fails and drowted it ia the
same poo The circum ,lanceS were
unrayeled, she was accusrd, aud con-
fessed killing the five children two
IN Rly and three In Cay. She was
arrested, taken TO Liberty aud hung
| by Shub elAllen, then sheriii,a wagon
being used as q scstIold. She was the
| first colored person hung in Clay
| county This was IN 1929,