Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1909-01-13
MINISTER FoULLY MURDERED.
Dismembered Body Found Partially
Consumed i'm Church Stoves.

Detroit, Mich, Jan. 6.--The dis
membered body Of John J. Carmi-
chael, Methodist minister was
found to-day partially consumed
near Columbus in the southwestern
part Of st. Clair county.
Investigation was begun at once to
clear away temporary uncertainty
as to the Identity of the victim, and
to obtain clues regarding the mur-
der, and the motive for the crime.
Identification of the dead clergyman
was soon effected by Orville Lindsay,
who was sent through the county
for that purpose by Mrs. Carmichael,
who had been in great distress since
her husband failed to return home
as expected last evening, and who
surmised that the minister was the
victim as soon as she heard the re
port that some one had been mur-
dered in the Columbus church.
But clues of the murderer and
bis motive were more difficult to OBJ
tain. There was a rumor that a
strange man had left a train at
Hickey late in the afternoon, and
had been directed to the Columbus
church, and there were other rumors
indicating that two men were impli-
Gated in the crime. The fact that
several coins were found in the
clothing Of the dead man and in the
ashes in the stoves precluded the
theory Of robbery, and at the time
of his death it was not known that
the murdered minister had an enemy
in the world.
The Rev. Mr.. Carmichael had been
In Michigan agout ten years, and for
two years had been pastor of three
churches at Columbus, Adair and
China. With his wife and three chill
dren, he resided at Adair. Leaving
home yesterday morning he told Mrs.
Carmichael that he was going to CO.
lumbus to arrange for a series of re-
vival meetings there. He waved his
hand affectionately to group of
children as he drove out Of the viii
lage Of Adair, and from that moment
all trace Of him was lost
Myron Brown, who lives near the
scene Of the tragedy, was the first to
discover the crime to-day. While he
was waiting at the cross roads to
keep an appointment the cold wind
drove him to seek shelter in the
church. He was surprised to find
the church doors unlocked, and,
upon opening them, was terrified to
see the church floor, the pews and
even the communion table daubed
with blood and fragments Of bloody
clothing scattered all around. Evi-
IDENTIFY the clergyman, who was Sc
years old and Of athletic build, had
/ made a terrific struggle for his life.
Without investigating further Mr..
| Brown fled to his home, where he
had key to the church. He return =
ed and locked the doors and hurried
to the village Of Hickey, from which
place he notified the sheriff's office ut
Port Huron.
The authorities on their arrival at
the church found parts of the dis
membered body in the two stoves To-
Gated respectively at the front and
rear, and discovered in one stove
the head of what was apparently a
new hatchct, the handle of which
had been burned off. A dirk was
also found in the church, and it is
believed that the dirk served for the
murder. while the hatchet was used
10 cut the body to pieces.
The minister's horse was found to-
day tied to a tree in the village Of
Pine River. the dead mans overcoat
rein2 discovered in the buggy.
Pine River is a samll village near
Thornton, on the main line of the
Grand Trunk Railroad, and fully
twenty miles from the scene Of the
murder.