The Louisiana Intelligencer - Skeleton Found

Date: Dec. 1999
Submitted by: Lora Peppers <lpeppers@ouachita.lib.la.us>




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The Louisiana Intelligencer
Wednesday, April 22, 1868
Page 1, Column 5

Finding a Skeleton:
On Saturday the 11th inst. The bones of a man and some articles of 
clothing were found, upon this being made known on the following morning, 
several of our citizens proposed to go to the place indicated, examine the 
remains and whatever could be found there, and endeavor to obtain some light 
upon the subject. We found the bones of a white man in the woods at a 
distance of about one hundred and fifty yards from an old road leading to, 
what is called the Applewhite Mill on the Bayou Cheniaire. This road is 
seldom traveled except by persons hunting, and we might say never by any 
wheeled vehicles it having grown up in bushes and obstructed by fallen 
timber, however, we must make one exception-about two months ago there was 
observed fresh tracks of a small wagon or buggy drawn by, from the size of 
the hoof-marks, a large mule, along and about the same road, and in some 
places the tracks are still visible, could not find any person who saw the 
vehicle or knew anything about it, except the tracks. In the absence of a 
Coroner, the Magistrate present, summoned a jury of inquest who, upon 
examination of the clothes, found in the coat on the left shoulder a small 
hole having the appearance of a bullet hole and the sign of blood on a large 
space around it, there was evident signs of blood on a white cotton shirt 
but the parts on the left shoulder where, if shot, a hole would have been, 
to correspond with the one in the coat, was torn off and could not be found. 
This shirt together with a knit undershirt and pair woolen socks was much 
torn and partly destroyed by buzzards as was thought, there was also found a 
white cotton handkerchief and a hickory stripe shirt very little worn. The 
coat aforementioned was a homespun black jeans pocket of the same material 
sewed upon the outside and lined with cotton cloth similar in quality to 
osnaburgs, had only one button, on the front, a Gutta percha, with a star 
impressed upon the face, the eye, or shank, going through and rivited in 
centre of star. Search was made in the woods around but no remains could be 
found of any hat, shoes, vest, drawers or pantaloons or any knife, 
pocketbook, papers or anything that could in the least tend to identify the 
deceased. Verdict of the Jury, "that deceased came to his death by a shot 
or stab about the left shoulder blade inflicted by the hands of some person 
or persons to them unknown". Description of remains: Height, supposed 5 
feet 10 inches to 6 feet, large frame, hair originally black, now about half 
gray, teeth very regular and set perfect, no sign of decay and operation of 
dentistry visible, head tolerably large.
The bones were gathered together and buried, and the place marked.
T.L. SIMPSON.

N.B.-It is generally thought that deceased was murdered some distance off 
and brought there in the wagon or buggy mentioned, no person has been missed 
from this neighborhood, the bones indicate a white man. If a request was 
made for all papers in this State, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas to 
publish description &c., it may lead to some discovery.
Respectfully, T.L.S.

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