The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1908-03-04
MRS. ?. W. ELLiSoR
BRVTALLY SLAIN.
Horrible Crime of Ned and Brack
leland Who Have Made Complete
Confession to the 0fficers-Prison-
ers in Penitentiary-SpeciaI Term
of Court Likely to be Ordered.

A murder that shocked the entire
country by it's inhuman and cold
blooded atrocity and caused strong
men to forget themselves in their de-
nunciation of the perpetrators oc-
Cured mile and half from New
Brookland in this county on Wednes
day morning. The body of Mrs. P.
W. Ellison, the wife of we'll known
farmer, was found in a clothes basket
by the bed with her skull crushed in
as if by blow from an axe and with
clothes piled upon her dead body.
The discovery was made by her hus-
band, who returned home after an alb
sence of about three hours. The deed
was committed for the purpose Of
robbery-a trunk was broken open, a
shotgun taken from the cornerlof the
room, and box of shells missing-all
pointed to the motive for the ghaistly
crime. The murderers fed after COW
ering up the poor, frail bit of human
ity.
At. 7. o'clock Wednesday morning
Mr.. Ellison left his wife to- 60 into
New Brookland to sell some vegeta-
bles and after finishing up his business
in that town started for home, arriv-
ing at the house at 10 o'clock. When
he got home he found his daughter,
Mrs. Nora Aughtry, seated on the
steps and asked her why she had not
gone into the house to see his wife,
whom he had left at home three hours
before. His daughter told him that
the door was locked and the two then
sat down on the steps for at least an
hour, thinking that Mrs. Ellison had
left the house fer short while and
would soon return.
Daughter HorroW Stricken.
Growing suspicious, Mr.. Ellison fl
nally decided that he would get into
the house at once and broke the door
in. When he first entered the room.
on account of comingi in from the light
and the window shades being down,
he did not notice anything amiss ex-
cept that his wife did not answer
when her name was called. His,
daughter, however, noticed that some
thing was not right in the condition
of the room and the clothes basket at
tracted her attention almost at once.
The first quilt removed from the
top of the basket the woman drew
back with cry of horror for the next
covering was smeared with blood.
The daughter could stand no more
and drew back and fell upon the bed,
the horrible suspicion of murder burst
ing upon her with sudden force. The
father with his so and more years of
experience in the world was made of
sterner stuff and yet when he drew
back the next covering from the cold
body of the woman he shuddered.
= The body was lying almost at full
length in the basket the head crushed
in on theleft side, the wound wrapped
around with cloth to hide the crime
until the murderers cbuld make good
their escape, with her arms across her
body. These were the sights that the
husband, saw as he kneeled and ex-
anlined the body, to see if but the
faintest hope of life yet remained.
The news of the horrible murder
spread like wild fire and within one
hour more than two hundred men,
armed to the teeth, were on the scene,
among the number several negroes,
who seemed as eager to catch the per-
petrators as the whites.
Tho First Cline