The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-01-30
GOOD WOMAN'S NOBLE DEED
Mrs. Woodson Comes from Rozeman
to Rescue Child of Dead .
Friend.
From Wednesdays Daily Gazette.

ON A~PpAAASo0 A1ASo wy AS0AC
in the city this morning than was re-
ected in the shining, ebony hued face
of good Mrs. Fannie Woodson there
was indeed one whose joy was great
enough to be consuming. Next in
gladness, perhaps, was the modest
man who has care of the spiritual
welfare of the colored people of Bill
ings. His was the joy that comes to
all who have sympathetic hearts and
who are touched by the sufferings of
the helpless, and his countenance
beamed with delight as he looked
tenderly at a little bit of humanity
Mrs. Woodson was pressing against
her motherly bosom and protecting
from the snow and wind For he had
helped to rescue the baby from a
fate that threatened it and promised
to blight its future. The story is a
simple one, yet abounds with pathos
and tells e%loquently of love and friend
ship among those Of the lower walks
of life.
man and the child, only six months
old, she was hugging and grooming to
is a wait, thrown upon the world by
misfortune and the heartlessness of
a man who had promised to be it's
protector and friend. Recently the
mother Of the child, Lizzie Cleveland
Thomas, died at Livingston, leaving
the infant in the charge of it's STEP
father. Mrs. Woodson, being a friend
of the. dead woman and by marriage
distantly connected with her mother,
until such time as she could hear
from the grandmother, who lives at
Pulaski, Tenn. To do this she took
the baby to her own home n al
though anything but wealthy and hav-
ing several children of her own, she
gave it the attention and love of a
mother. Processing to be greatly at
tached to the infant, the stepfather
induced Mrs. Woodson to turn it over
to him and he took it back to Liv-
ingston, where he gave it to a family
to rear, saying he wanted to be near
the child. He had a falling out with
the family and removed the child,
this time giving it into the custody
of a notorious character and then left
and ostensibly went to Helena, al
though he has not been heard from
for some time and is believed to have
left the state. The woman to whom
the little piece Of helpless humanity
was entrusted brought it to this city
and gave it in charge of a family re-
siding beyond the drain ditch on
the south side of town.
Having heard of the shameless man
ner in which the infant had been
handed around and traded off as
though nothing more than an animal,
Mrs. Woodson set about to recover
it and give it the home it needed. She
appealed to the chief of police OF
bOZ6uldu anu uC III tulA
ed with Chief Dulin, who succeeded
in finding the baby and SO informed
the Bczeman officer. Care, however,
had to be taken to prevent knowledge
of what was going on from reaching
the woman to whom the stepfather
had given the child, as she had been
Il n Nd In COW fhof orv ntfnYnnf fO |
take it away from her would be fol
lowed by a move on her part that
would put the child where it would
never be found. Yesterday Mr.. Dulin
notified the Bozeman chief that he
knew where the child was and advised
that if it was to be rescued from the
ones having it in charge speed would
better be made.
Last nights train from the west
brought Mrs. Woodson and this morn
ing she called on Mr.. Dulin, accom-
panied by the Reverend Mr.. McCul.
logh, pastor of the A. M. b.. church.
They consulted a lawyer and then
went to the house where the baby
was and demanded it. To their sur
prise it was readily given to them
and Mrs. Woodson visited a drygoods
store, where she bought a blanket
and other things to cover the little
n and keep it warm and make it
comfortable for the journey back to
Bozeman.,
The appearance of the child showed
unmistakable evidence of neglect, its
little person indicating utter strange
ness to the beneficent effects of soap