HORRIBLE DEED OF A MOTHER
MRS. J.M. GREEN OF RICHLAND KILLS HER THREE CHILDREN AND THEN SUICIDES
From Saturday's Daily Sun
Mrs. J.M. Green living a half-mile east of Richland, at about dawn this morning murdered her three children, Virgi, a girl, aged 13 years; Paul, a boy, aged eight years, and Eldridge, another boy, aged two years, and then cut her own throat with the same razor used in killing the children.
It will be remembered by the readers of the Sun that one day this week a man named J.M. Green was brought to Corsicana from Richland charged with a criminal assault upon his own thirteen-year-old daughter. The wife and the daughter came on the same train that brought the accused here and were at once taken before the grand jury. The jury made a thorough investigation of the case and the court appointed two physicians to examine the complaining witness, and made the result of the findings known to the court and the grand jury. After taking the consideration the evidence of the girl and her mother and the findings of the doctors the grand jury believed that no offense had been committed and returned no bill against the accused. So, about 6 o'clock yesterday afternoon, J.M. Green, the accused, was released from prison and returned to the neighborhood where he had been living. Last night, accompanied by a neighbor named Smith, Green called to see his wife and had a long talk with her, but returned to Smith's to spend the night.
A young man named James McNeill and his wife who are tenants on the same farm with the Green family, were there to spend the night with them. Mrs. Green and her three children were all sleeping on the same bed, and McNeill and his wife occupied another bed in the same room. This morning about dawn Mrs. McNeill heard an unusual noise in the room and getting up walked over to Mrs. Green's bed. Seeing all three of the children weltering in their blood, Mrs. McNeill said to Mrs. Green, "You have murdered your children." "Yes," she replied, "and I am going to kill myself."
This startling discovery and Mrs. Green's declaration to kill herself so unnerved McNeill and his wife that they ran to the nearest neighbor and gave the alarm. When others of the neighborhood heard of the tragedy they went to the Green home, and there, lying on the same bed, was the mother and three children, all weltering in their own blood, with their throats cut, and all dead, but none of them cold. The daughter was on the backside of the bed and seemed to have died without a struggle. The mother was stretched on the front of the bed and the baby boy lay between her and the girl, while the older boy lay across the foot of the bed.
A note was found in the room, which was apparently written in two different hands. One of the writers said: "Good-bye, Grandma; good-bye Mattie. We didn't swear any lie before the grand jury."
The other hand writing, which is supposed to be that of Mrs. Green, said "Good-bye, ma. I do this because I cannot bear to give my children up."
She then directs what to do with certain of her effects, etc.
People here from Richland today who heard the inquest before Judge Seely there this morning say the people think the girl and her mother entered into an agreement for the mother to kill them all after they fell asleep and then to end her own life.
Four coffins were taken from here to Richland this morning by Mr. T.B. Skipper, and it was thought by him that the woman and her three children would be buried in the neighborhood cemetery this afternoon.
The unfortunate woman was 29 years of age and the daughter of Joseph Atchley and wife of the Cryer Creek country. The father came in from Cryer Creek this morning in response to a telephone message from Mr. Skipper informing him of the terrible tragedy, and went with Mr. Skipper to Richland on the 10:50 south bound Central train.
Parties here this morning say that the sight of the three murdered children and their dead mother all on the same bed, with ghastly wounds at their throats, was a horrible one indeed—one that no number of years will efface from the memory of those who had the misfortune to see this heart-rending tragedy.
Mr. Atchley and his family moved to this county from North Alabama four or five years ago, but his daughter and her family did not come until last fall, and they had been living in the Richland country since that time.
Hon. Luther A. Johnson, Sheriff Clayton, County Attorney Knox and E.J. Gibson went to the scene of the tragedy and returned at 2:30 this afternoon. Mr. Johnson told a Sun representative soon after getting here that the coroner's verdict would say that the children came to their death as the result of razor wounds inflicted by their mother, who afterward took her own life with the same instrument. Mr. Johnson says that the eldest of the two boys was the last of the children killed, as it was his cry that waked up the man O'Neill and his wife, who were so frightened and horrified that they fled from the house in their nightclothes when they saw what had been done.
MRS. J.M. GREEN OF RICHLAND KILLS HER THREE CHILDREN AND THEN SUICIDES
From Saturday's Daily Sun
Mrs. J.M. Green living a half-mile east of Richland, at about dawn this morning murdered her three children, Virgi, a girl, aged 13 years; Paul, a boy, aged eight years, and Eldridge, another boy, aged two years, and then cut her own throat with the same razor used in killing the children.
It will be remembered by the readers of the Sun that one day this week a man named J.M. Green was brought to Corsicana from Richland charged with a criminal assault upon his own thirteen-year-old daughter. The wife and the daughter came on the same train that brought the accused here and were at once taken before the grand jury. The jury made a thorough investigation of the case and the court appointed two physicians to examine the complaining witness, and made the result of the findings known to the court and the grand jury. After taking the consideration the evidence of the girl and her mother and the findings of the doctors the grand jury believed that no offense had been committed and returned no bill against the accused. So, about 6 o'clock yesterday afternoon, J.M. Green, the accused, was released from prison and returned to the neighborhood where he had been living. Last night, accompanied by a neighbor named Smith, Green called to see his wife and had a long talk with her, but returned to Smith's to spend the night.
A young man named James McNeill and his wife who are tenants on the same farm with the Green family, were there to spend the night with them. Mrs. Green and her three children were all sleeping on the same bed, and McNeill and his wife occupied another bed in the same room. This morning about dawn Mrs. McNeill heard an unusual noise in the room and getting up walked over to Mrs. Green's bed. Seeing all three of the children weltering in their blood, Mrs. McNeill said to Mrs. Green, "You have murdered your children." "Yes," she replied, "and I am going to kill myself."
This startling discovery and Mrs. Green's declaration to kill herself so unnerved McNeill and his wife that they ran to the nearest neighbor and gave the alarm. When others of the neighborhood heard of the tragedy they went to the Green home, and there, lying on the same bed, was the mother and three children, all weltering in their own blood, with their throats cut, and all dead, but none of them cold. The daughter was on the backside of the bed and seemed to have died without a struggle. The mother was stretched on the front of the bed and the baby boy lay between her and the girl, while the older boy lay across the foot of the bed.
A note was found in the room, which was apparently written in two different hands. One of the writers said: "Good-bye, Grandma; good-bye Mattie. We didn't swear any lie before the grand jury."
The other hand writing, which is supposed to be that of Mrs. Green, said "Good-bye, ma. I do this because I cannot bear to give my children up."
She then directs what to do with certain of her effects, etc.
People here from Richland today who heard the inquest before Judge Seely there this morning say the people think the girl and her mother entered into an agreement for the mother to kill them all after they fell asleep and then to end her own life.
Four coffins were taken from here to Richland this morning by Mr. T.B. Skipper, and it was thought by him that the woman and her three children would be buried in the neighborhood cemetery this afternoon.
The unfortunate woman was 29 years of age and the daughter of Joseph Atchley and wife of the Cryer Creek country. The father came in from Cryer Creek this morning in response to a telephone message from Mr. Skipper informing him of the terrible tragedy, and went with Mr. Skipper to Richland on the 10:50 south bound Central train.
Parties here this morning say that the sight of the three murdered children and their dead mother all on the same bed, with ghastly wounds at their throats, was a horrible one indeed—one that no number of years will efface from the memory of those who had the misfortune to see this heart-rending tragedy.
Mr. Atchley and his family moved to this county from North Alabama four or five years ago, but his daughter and her family did not come until last fall, and they had been living in the Richland country since that time.
Hon. Luther A. Johnson, Sheriff Clayton, County Attorney Knox and E.J. Gibson went to the scene of the tragedy and returned at 2:30 this afternoon. Mr. Johnson told a Sun representative soon after getting here that the coroner's verdict would say that the children came to their death as the result of razor wounds inflicted by their mother, who afterward took her own life with the same instrument. Mr. Johnson says that the eldest of the two boys was the last of the children killed, as it was his cry that waked up the man O'Neill and his wife, who were so frightened and horrified that they fled from the house in their nightclothes when they saw what had been done.
HORRIBLE DEED OF A MOTHER
MRS. J.M. GREEN OF RICHLAND KILLS HER THREE CHILDREN AND THEN SUICIDES
From Saturday's Daily Sun
Mrs. J.M. Green living a half-mile east of Richland, at about dawn this morning murdered her three children, Virgi, a girl, aged 13 years; Paul, a boy, aged eight years, and Eldridge, another boy, aged two years, and then cut her own throat with the same razor used in killing the children.
It will be remembered by the readers of the Sun that one day this week a man named J.M. Green was brought to Corsicana from Richland charged with a criminal assault upon his own thirteen-year-old daughter. The wife and the daughter came on the same train that brought the accused here and were at once taken before the grand jury. The jury made a thorough investigation of the case and the court appointed two physicians to examine the complaining witness, and made the result of the findings known to the court and the grand jury. After taking the consideration the evidence of the girl and her mother and the findings of the doctors the grand jury believed that no offense had been committed and returned no bill against the accused. So, about 6 o'clock yesterday afternoon, J.M. Green, the accused, was released from prison and returned to the neighborhood where he had been living. Last night, accompanied by a neighbor named Smith, Green called to see his wife and had a long talk with her, but returned to Smith's to spend the night.
A young man named James McNeill and his wife who are tenants on the same farm with the Green family, were there to spend the night with them. Mrs. Green and her three children were all sleeping on the same bed, and McNeill and his wife occupied another bed in the same room. This morning about dawn Mrs. McNeill heard an unusual noise in the room and getting up walked over to Mrs. Green's bed. Seeing all three of the children weltering in their blood, Mrs. McNeill said to Mrs. Green, "You have murdered your children." "Yes," she replied, "and I am going to kill myself."
This startling discovery and Mrs. Green's declaration to kill herself so unnerved McNeill and his wife that they ran to the nearest neighbor and gave the alarm. When others of the neighborhood heard of the tragedy they went to the Green home, and there, lying on the same bed, was the mother and three children, all weltering in their own blood, with their throats cut, and all dead, but none of them cold. The daughter was on the backside of the bed and seemed to have died without a struggle. The mother was stretched on the front of the bed and the baby boy lay between her and the girl, while the older boy lay across the foot of the bed.
A note was found in the room, which was apparently written in two different hands. One of the writers said: "Good-bye, Grandma; good-bye Mattie. We didn't swear any lie before the grand jury."
The other hand writing, which is supposed to be that of Mrs. Green, said "Good-bye, ma. I do this because I cannot bear to give my children up."
She then directs what to do with certain of her effects, etc.
People here from Richland today who heard the inquest before Judge Seely there this morning say the people think the girl and her mother entered into an agreement for the mother to kill them all after they fell asleep and then to end her own life.
Four coffins were taken from here to Richland this morning by Mr. T.B. Skipper, and it was thought by him that the woman and her three children would be buried in the neighborhood cemetery this afternoon.
The unfortunate woman was 29 years of age and the daughter of Joseph Atchley and wife of the Cryer Creek country. The father came in from Cryer Creek this morning in response to a telephone message from Mr. Skipper informing him of the terrible tragedy, and went with Mr. Skipper to Richland on the 10:50 south bound Central train.
Parties here this morning say that the sight of the three murdered children and their dead mother all on the same bed, with ghastly wounds at their throats, was a horrible one indeed—one that no number of years will efface from the memory of those who had the misfortune to see this heart-rending tragedy.
Mr. Atchley and his family moved to this county from North Alabama four or five years ago, but his daughter and her family did not come until last fall, and they had been living in the Richland country since that time.
Hon. Luther A. Johnson, Sheriff Clayton, County Attorney Knox and E.J. Gibson went to the scene of the tragedy and returned at 2:30 this afternoon. Mr. Johnson told a Sun representative soon after getting here that the coroner's verdict would say that the children came to their death as the result of razor wounds inflicted by their mother, who afterward took her own life with the same instrument. Mr. Johnson says that the eldest of the two boys was the last of the children killed, as it was his cry that waked up the man O'Neill and his wife, who were so frightened and horrified that they fled from the house in their nightclothes when they saw what had been done.
MRS. J.M. GREEN OF RICHLAND KILLS HER THREE CHILDREN AND THEN SUICIDES
From Saturday's Daily Sun
Mrs. J.M. Green living a half-mile east of Richland, at about dawn this morning murdered her three children, Virgi, a girl, aged 13 years; Paul, a boy, aged eight years, and Eldridge, another boy, aged two years, and then cut her own throat with the same razor used in killing the children.
It will be remembered by the readers of the Sun that one day this week a man named J.M. Green was brought to Corsicana from Richland charged with a criminal assault upon his own thirteen-year-old daughter. The wife and the daughter came on the same train that brought the accused here and were at once taken before the grand jury. The jury made a thorough investigation of the case and the court appointed two physicians to examine the complaining witness, and made the result of the findings known to the court and the grand jury. After taking the consideration the evidence of the girl and her mother and the findings of the doctors the grand jury believed that no offense had been committed and returned no bill against the accused. So, about 6 o'clock yesterday afternoon, J.M. Green, the accused, was released from prison and returned to the neighborhood where he had been living. Last night, accompanied by a neighbor named Smith, Green called to see his wife and had a long talk with her, but returned to Smith's to spend the night.
A young man named James McNeill and his wife who are tenants on the same farm with the Green family, were there to spend the night with them. Mrs. Green and her three children were all sleeping on the same bed, and McNeill and his wife occupied another bed in the same room. This morning about dawn Mrs. McNeill heard an unusual noise in the room and getting up walked over to Mrs. Green's bed. Seeing all three of the children weltering in their blood, Mrs. McNeill said to Mrs. Green, "You have murdered your children." "Yes," she replied, "and I am going to kill myself."
This startling discovery and Mrs. Green's declaration to kill herself so unnerved McNeill and his wife that they ran to the nearest neighbor and gave the alarm. When others of the neighborhood heard of the tragedy they went to the Green home, and there, lying on the same bed, was the mother and three children, all weltering in their own blood, with their throats cut, and all dead, but none of them cold. The daughter was on the backside of the bed and seemed to have died without a struggle. The mother was stretched on the front of the bed and the baby boy lay between her and the girl, while the older boy lay across the foot of the bed.
A note was found in the room, which was apparently written in two different hands. One of the writers said: "Good-bye, Grandma; good-bye Mattie. We didn't swear any lie before the grand jury."
The other hand writing, which is supposed to be that of Mrs. Green, said "Good-bye, ma. I do this because I cannot bear to give my children up."
She then directs what to do with certain of her effects, etc.
People here from Richland today who heard the inquest before Judge Seely there this morning say the people think the girl and her mother entered into an agreement for the mother to kill them all after they fell asleep and then to end her own life.
Four coffins were taken from here to Richland this morning by Mr. T.B. Skipper, and it was thought by him that the woman and her three children would be buried in the neighborhood cemetery this afternoon.
The unfortunate woman was 29 years of age and the daughter of Joseph Atchley and wife of the Cryer Creek country. The father came in from Cryer Creek this morning in response to a telephone message from Mr. Skipper informing him of the terrible tragedy, and went with Mr. Skipper to Richland on the 10:50 south bound Central train.
Parties here this morning say that the sight of the three murdered children and their dead mother all on the same bed, with ghastly wounds at their throats, was a horrible one indeed—one that no number of years will efface from the memory of those who had the misfortune to see this heart-rending tragedy.
Mr. Atchley and his family moved to this county from North Alabama four or five years ago, but his daughter and her family did not come until last fall, and they had been living in the Richland country since that time.
Hon. Luther A. Johnson, Sheriff Clayton, County Attorney Knox and E.J. Gibson went to the scene of the tragedy and returned at 2:30 this afternoon. Mr. Johnson told a Sun representative soon after getting here that the coroner's verdict would say that the children came to their death as the result of razor wounds inflicted by their mother, who afterward took her own life with the same instrument. Mr. Johnson says that the eldest of the two boys was the last of the children killed, as it was his cry that waked up the man O'Neill and his wife, who were so frightened and horrified that they fled from the house in their nightclothes when they saw what had been done.
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