Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1908-04-30
FOUND DEAD
IN HER ORCHARD

Our readers will be surprised and
panied to learn of the sudden death Of
Miss Hannah Welliver, a widely known
resident Of West Hemlock township.
Miss Welliver Tuesday morning was
found dead in the orchard of her little
farm. Death had evidently occurred
the evening before and the body had
lain out all night.
Miss Welliver lived alone on the
road leading from Calvin Shultz's to
Swenoda. She was accustomed to the
hardest kind of manual labor all her
life and performed the most OF the
work of her house and lot unassisted.
She was kind hearted, generous wo-
man, always ready to do others a good
turn and consequently there were
plenty of friends to look after and as
sist the aged woman.
Walter Snultz, one of the neighbors
living near Miss Welliver, each morn
ing was in the habit of visiting the
place TO see if all was we'll with the
lonely woman. On entering the place
Tuesday morning Mr.. Shultz was
surprised to find the house deserted,
neither was there any evidence that
the woman had been about the pre-
mises during the night. The fires were
out and everything presented cheer
less and deserted appearance Mr..
Shultz proceeded to the barn, but he
found no trace of Miss Welliver there,
nor anything TO indicate that she had
been in the building since the even
ing before.
Fully convinced that misfortune in
some form had befallen Miss Welliver,
Mr. Shultz called upon Calvin Shultz,
another neighbor, and apprised him Of
the woman's disappearance. Together
the two men returned to Miss Welliv-
er's home prepared to make a close
scrutiny of the premises. Another
search failing to reveal any trace Of
the woman about the house or barn
the men directed their steps to the or
chard.
Here they made a gruesome discov-
cry. By the side of an old apple tree,
which had been cut down, lay the
dead body of Miss Welliver. In her
hands she held the axe, which she had
carried to the spot for the purpose of
trimming out the limbs. The clothing
of the dead woman was drenched with
rain that fell the night before and the
body from its exposure presented a
pathetic appearance.
Miss Welliver for some years had
been afflicted with he art trouble. Her
physician had warned her of the dan
ger of living alone and several of the
relatives, in return for what she had
done for them, kindly offered her a
home in their families. In every case,
however. she declined the offer, pre-
ferring to live alone. And thus she
died-until the very last industriously
improving her time, earning her own
living and performing many acts of
kindness for others.
There seems to be no doubt but that
death was due to heart failure. Miss
Welliver was last seen alive about 80
o clock Monday evening by Calvin
Shultz, who drove along the road on
which the orchard abuts in full view
of the apple tree where Miss Welliver
was at work and where her body yes
terday morning was found.
The deceased was sixty.two years of
age. She is survived by two brothers,
Dennis Of Buckhorn and Britain of
West Hemlock township; also two
nieces Mrs. W. f. Moore and Mrs.
Charles Arnwine, both of West Hem
lock township.
The funeral will take place Thurs.
day, meeting at the house at 10 a. M.
Services will be held in the church al
Swenoda. Interment will be made in
the cemetery adjoining.