The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1913-02-07
BRUTAL MURDER
AT JONESVILLE,
Continued from page ~


the next mornings fire. They found
Mr. Coleman still breathing and they
sent Immediately to Jonesville for
Doctors Hames and Chambers, who
soon arrived and removed Mr.. Cole
man to his bed and examined him
and they saw there was no hope for
him, and about in the morning he
died without ever regaining con-
sclouSneSS or speaking.
Sheriff FAINT had been phoned for
and had arrived few hours before
Mr.. Coleman died. The Sheriff, in the
meantime had phoned to the peni-
tentiary for blood hounds and they
came with their keeper, on train No.
8, at 10 o'clock and were soon on the
scene and set to work on a track,
and they soon located Mr.. Coleman's
son, Harry, and the Sheriff took him
in charge and sent him off to Union
in an automobile.
The Coroner was phoned for and
he arrived in the afternoon and soon
empannelled jury as follows: Mum
ro Whitlock, w. H. S. Harris, N. B.
Eison, ]. w. Scott, w. B. Fowler, H.
d. Fowler, j. H. Tweed, T. J. Etehle,
C. c. Fowler, G. T. Fowler, M. L..
Parks, B. H. Webber, Hughes Bur-
CESS, T. j. Garner Eight witnesses
were sworn and examined and the
jury charged by the coroner, and in
about ten minutes they rendered
their verdict, as follows: we find
that the deceased, R. D. Coleman,
came to his death by a gun shot
wound at the hands of Harry Cole
man."
Now as to the horrible deed, it is
evident that Mr.. Coleman was sitting
before his fire place reading his ia
vorite paper, The Union Times, as it
was lying at his feet. To his left
was center table upon which there
was a lamp. The window shades
were up. About ten feet from the
window on the right of the fire place
there is cape jasamine bush about
four feet high. Tracks showed that
the assassin came up behind this
bush and leveled his gun over the
bush and took direct aim at Mr.. Cole
mans head and fired through the
window, breaking the glass of one
pane. The load took affect in the
right temple, face, nose and throat,
and several shot struck the breast.
His right hand and wrist was shat
tered, as it was in line with his head.
The lamp chimney was shattered and
the lamp put out 1t seems that Mr..
Coleman sat in his chair a few Sec
onds before he fell out, as puddle
of blood had settled in his lap, and
upon the floor. There was much
blood as it had spread all around for
several feet over the floor.
1t is the greatest shock that has
ever come to this part of our coun-
try and is without parallel in it's
history. A man almost without
faults, loved, honored and respected
and without reproach, not having a
known enemy in the world, thus to be
so suddenly wantonly, ruthlessly,
without cause, but with malice afore-
thought, assassinated in his own
quiet home cannot be imputed as to
its enormity.
The remains were laid to rest by
the side of his wife, at Gilead Gem
etery Sunday evening The funeral
services being conducted in the
church by his pastor, Rev. Lewis M
Rice, who delivered one of the
strongest and most telling rebukes to
crime that has ever been heard by
this writer. After the services in
the church the Masons took charge
of the casket and bore it to the grave
where it was deposited according to
their beautiful burial service The
crowd at the funeral was estimated
at one thousand, made up of relatives
and friends from all parts of the
country to pay their last sad rites
to the dead.