The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-07-30
FIVE MURDERED
AND THEN CREMATED,
Continued from First page.

AAOAiA II AlSb Rce6Cs
murdered about dark, but the house
not set on fire until about II o'clock.
Mr. Hodges had gone to a near neigh
por's house to get the Oldest of the
children, where she was attending
school, and the most accepted theory
is that he was met in the lot by the
murderers and killed with the little
girl and then carried into the house,
where the wife and two little children.
about l and years old, had already
been killed
Tracks that had had little rain on
them led from the gate towards the lot,
next to what We're supposed to be Mr..
Hodges tracks, and then all turned
back to the gate. 1t was evident that
Hodges body was dragged over the
fence and carried into the house by
Two persons, as the tracks and streams
OF blood indicate that. There is
belief, too, that the murderers, know
ing that Mr.. Hodges was away, and
heaVy cloud coming up, made use of
the opportunity to go to the house,
XIII the wife, and then rob the house,
put the husband and little girl COM
ing up, to cover the crime they killed
Mrs. Hodges and the two little children
and then went out and met Mr.. Hodges
and killed him and his oldest daughter
Others think that the murderers
went to the lot first, and Mrs. Hodges
| hearing the trouble went out to the
gate with the lamp to assist her hus-
| band.
One track indicated that it was made
by person having such a badly worn
shoe that the toes made impressions
on the ground, and then it appears
that they took off their shoes.
May Have Been WayIaid.
Tracks were found in the cane patch
near the house and a rail had been
taken off the fence just at that point.
Mr.. Hodges skull had a hole in it
just over the right eye and it is
thought that the assassins may have
concealed themselves in the cane field
until Mr.. Hodges came up and then
Drained him with the rail. All the
| skulls have signs of being crushed in
| one manner or another. From the
fact, however, that a negro on the
farm borrowed Mr.. Hodges gun a
few days ago, it is thought perhaps
that he was shot in the head.
The rain, the neighbors say, stopped
little after dark, and there being a
little rain on tracks it seems plain
that the killing was done soon after
nightfall. The house was not fired
until several hours afterwards, for a
small house would have burned down
within few minutes, and yet it had
not fallen in at 1890 or 10 o'clock,
when Mr.. Woodrum arrived.
1t is believed that the murderers
killed the family and then ransacked
the house, afterwards decided that the
best thing to do was to gather in all
| the bodies and set fire to the place.
There is but one cause assigned for
| the crime-and that is robbery. Mr..
Hodges was born and reared near his
| home, and il is said by his boyhood
companions VINO had known him all
his life, that he was never known to
do anything to make an enemy. He
was quiet, peaceable and friendly and
attended strictly to his own business.
He was never known to say harsh
| things about others. Though a small
farmer, running only two or three
plows, and having only one cropper.
| he was known to always have some
money by him. This being so well
known by his acquaintances, it is
| thought the murderers were after
money. They were disappointed, for
| Mr.. Hodges had only a few days ago
| deposited his money, which was a good
sum for a moderate farmer. in the
! Bank of Statesboro.
| Recalled the voolfolk Murder.
Not since Tom voolfolk killed
| his mother and eight other MEM
| hers of his family near Macon, has
such a crime been known in Georgia
| The perpetrators of the last crime were
| more subtle and deliberate than Wool
| folk, for they burned their victims
| and covered up traces of their identity.
If they are ever apprehended they can
| only be tried on circumstantial evil
| dence.
Sheriff Kendrick has been on the
| ground nearly all day and a posse of
| determined men such as Messrs. j. c.
and George Deal, H. B. Strange and
| Judge ]. F. Brannen, II. H. Moore,
Nell Brannen, J. w. Hodges, a broth
| err of the murdered man, and hundreds
of others are running down every clue.
Nearly half dozen negroes have been
| arrested but there is nothing against
| them, and they claim that they can
easily prove alibis. The scene of the
crime is pitiful one. The charred and
swollen bodies were laid out before the
| gate of the ruined home. Coroner D.
O. Stanford summoned a jury and held
an inoueSt late this afternoon