The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-01-25
FIND W0MAN'S BODY
NEGRO RABBIT HUNTER MAKES A
 GHAsTLy DISCOVERY.
Rennins of Miss Martha Thompson, Who Had Been Missing Since Christmas, Found in Woods
 Nrnr priccyflic

s v f 1 d
 Decatur Jan. 24--tspecial. )--sA ne-
 gro while hunting rabbits near Price
 villc. ten miles east of Dcratitr. this
 morning found tho horribly dccoin-
 posed remains of Miss Martins ThOnlp-
 son lying on her back in n Enilcy In the woods. Miss Thompson had been
 missing from the residence of her sis-
 ter. Mrs James Fennell. where she had been making her home. since. the alter noon of Christmas day.
 Christmas she went to tiie home of
 another sister. Mrs. Ronndtrcc. U dis
 tance of some three miles. where she
 took dinner. About o'clock in .iie
 afternoon she started son her return to
 Mrs Fenne1ls, and coming. to the
 home of a neigbbor about half way
 between the homes of her two sisters,
 stopped and asked to stay all night.
 She was tolds that she had best go on home as Mrs. Fennell would be uneasy. She left, going in the direction of Mrs. Fennell's. This was the last seen of her until today when her ghastly and almost linrecogntzable remains were found by the negro hunter.
 It is said that marks on her body indicate foul play, but why she should be murdered is question as mysteri- ous as was that of her disappearance. It was known that she had no valtia
 bles on her person when she disap- peared. Whether Miss Thompson was really murdered for some cause will probably never be known definitely as her body was in such state of decomposition as to make thorough examination of the remains q matter of impossibility. 4 short time after she was missing n snuff box, lunch basket. comb, ba- mana and a lock of her hair were found
 near the spot where she was Inst seen. peculiar feature of the case is that | the body was found some distance from where Miss Thompson was last seen and in. q spot nearby where she had
 passed on her way to her sisters Mrs. Fennell Miss Thompson was a sptnster about | fifty years of age and owned valua- | ble farm lands, although she had but I little ready money She was said to pc of unsound mind. but was not regard I ed as being dangerous and was at all times able to go visiting by herself. Some time ago the court appointed her nephew, Joe Rcundtree, of Hartselle. I as her guardian. She had been in the | habit of going unaccompauied from l her sisters, Mrs. Fennell, to her other sisters. Mrs. Roundtree, alone and had made the trip many times. It is said that she always went a path leading through the fields and woods rather than go the road. as her people had told her that If she went the wagon
 road negroes might kill her.
 A rural mail carrier of New Deca- tur says that one day last summer, he met Miss Thompson in the road near Pricevllle. He did not know, her but
 she told him who shc was and related to him a story of cruel treatment,
 She said her people had made her load l rails on a wagon and had struck her on the arm with an iron poker. hurt ing 1t badly; that they didn't give her
 enough to eat and that she hadn't prop CT clothing. The mail carrier said she was poorly dressed. She told him that at that time she hadn't had anything to eat for two days until that day at
 dinner. when she had eaten with d neighbor. The mail man said that
 Miss Thompson's sister had heard that she had told this story in Decatur and that she did not like it. The sister said Miss Thompson was always run
 ming off. that she was crazy, that she had good clothes but would not wear l them. that they gave her plenty to eat and had always treated her Ike a sis
 ter. The mail man stated further that
 Miss Thompson asked him to write to
 her guardian. Joe Roundtree, and tell them how these people are treating
 me-" meaning iler relatives with whom she was staying. The mail carrier said he did as she wished him and that later
 Miss Thompson said he was good fellow, that he did what he said ne would do; that he wrote Joe Roundtree
 and that Joe had been to see her and brought her pair of shoes. 2 t&F Miss Thompson is from a good fam fly and her relatives at Priceville are
 regarded as among tho best people of the neighborhood One of her brother
 in-laws. Dr. Roundtree, is a prominent physician of that section of the country
 the neighborhood One of her brothers
 in-law, pr. Roundtree, Is a prominent
 nent farmer of the Priceville neigh borhood.
 Her relatives offered $50 for the re-
 covery of her body.
 - . --------@-~s---
 Trara ara r.nua muwaraaw &a 4n -