The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1905-11-23
ESSEX
More Of the Hing and Queen Trastdy-fsncs
Law Changes system Of HOG RaiShg-A Big
PoFker-1hs Railroad, Etc.
Dunnsvillc, "a, Nov. 20, l9O5.

huntsville, Va, Nov. 20, 1905.
The enclosed clipping from the Charles
ton. S e.. News and Courier, though
late. IL Ol interest doubtless To the many
readers oi the tragic end OF ". b. Cocker,
thc quaduple murderer and suicide Ol
King and Queen county. Ills crime
seems 80 terrible that 10 * difficult To
formulate au excuse ior him. certainly
none but insanity could appease harsh
sentiment And from all that may be-
lcaIuDd OF his earlier history through
this news letter from his old home III
South Carolina. it IL reasonable and
charitable to conclude that the poor,
unfortunate man WAS ccrtulnly drncntrd
at the time that he committed Il deed
that Is unparalleled IN the history Oi
crimes In this State. So lar ~ my lniur-
nation goes. Whether intoxicated To
the mailman pitch. or under some awful
mental strain, or Just crazy, IL II evident
that the man was not himsell-nOt the
man whom every One at his old home
loved ana respected. and who had IAN
almost uuduly morbid SENSE OF honor:
This town and community was shock
ed tO hear oi the terrible tragedy which
occurred iu King and Queen County, Va,
whereby five lives Wenr cut OH. W. d..
Coker was born and grew up near
Tmmonsyile; what education he had
WAS derived from the schools here. and
bee was we'll known and esteemed by this
whole community. llls father the late
j. NJ. Cokcr, Sr, was a large and success
ID l. rf i'm a Il
the strictcst integrity. At his death, his
SON. ". ID. Coker who was at that time
the oldest unmarried child. took charge
oi the large farming interests lett 10y hls
father. and Tor several years managed
them successfully. About ten years ago
Doe married Miss Rob Roy. whom he met
in this town. while ON visit 10 her near
relative. Mrs j. +. Culpepper. Almost
Immediately he sold out to his younger
brother hi, interest in his fathers estate
and removed % Virginia. The reasons
for the fearful tragedy are not known.
Ills brother ". /. tOker, lett on the
morning train for the scene of bloody
occurrences The dead man was always
highly respected. lie was intelligent,
upright. high spirited, and with an al
most unduly morbid sense oil personal
honor. Instantly connection IN this and
the ueighboring county of Darlington ls
large. extending 10 nearly all the leading
families.
That blizzard Sunday night and the
SNOW which followed made the farmers
leave their corn-sluckiug and 20 post
haste to the woods They had not for
gotten last winter.
Well il l. almost hog killing time. Be
fore the fence laws became 30 restrictive,
one of the first sounds after chantlcleer
had heraldcd the coming dawn, IN the
fall of the year, was 'c-li-a-w l-O-gggggl
echoing through the wales and over the
hills. and way down yonder III the deep
swamp. where the horned owl dwells,
calling up the drOyes OF hogs. IL was a
common thing for a farmer To have
scores of hogs turned out IN the acorn
lined -wamp-. with "sllt ana crop
on the lett ear. or crop and hole IN
the right. q. they had hogs then. Twas
nothing To -ee twenty pound grunter
roa-ted. and a sour apple stuck IN his
mouth ON most any poor man table.
They don't Kill pigs now. They must
grow lust a. large as crushed corn and
frosted potatoes will make them before
they arr killed Aud mighty few are
raised around here. The few are gener-
ally large.
Mr. Willie Lumpkin, OF Clyde-Side
Plantation. near huntsville, has n hog
that il the largest ! ever saw. | made Il
special trip to his house, that might re-
port the dimensions and probable weight
of the animal to The Free Lance.
John. that is his name, is II months
old. From the tip of his tail to the end
of his nose il eight feet and six inches.
did not get his exact girth, but he Is
larger around than either of the horses !
was driving. and they are certainly not
ponies. Mr. Lumpkin says that John
will weigh ton the hooD nine hundred
pounds. He thinks that he will dress
700 pounds or $50 pounds.
Last year Mr.. Lumpkin got 30 gallons
Of lard from two hogs. When asked
how he managed to raise such immense
hogs. he simply said by feeding them and
attending to them. Johns pen eX-
tends out into a creek. So he can get n
plenty of water both for drinking and
bathing CD purposes When many "a
poor pig was swetering in the lurid
glare last summer John" was quietly
reposing half submerged in the cool
water.
can not say that there are many
birds They are in the woods ii any
where. hunted a week or two ago, but
had no shooting at all.
do not know that it is a fact, but !
am trying to think it fact. that even
with an assurance OF the railroad, there
is some pulsation returning to our
stagnated section. With two railroads,
and a regular steamboat service to Nor
folk. this section will come to the front
with a good showing. and it will not
take it long to do so if we can only get
some energetic importatiOns, who will
work with Us and try to organize some
satisfactory labor system here.
have seen snowy hands tearing the
corn shucks this fall, and ! have seen
some once snowy stained by potatoes
and other rough work, not because their
parents or their husbands were not will
Ing and ready to pay for labor, but be-
cause it was impossible to procure the
labor. II the colored labor will not work
here. then we can get white labor, and
with the railroad, this will be no diff
cult matter.