Beckham County, OK - Obits: Perry Parish, 1916
Tuesday, 16 Sep 2008
Submitted by: delma25@pldi.net (Delma Tindell)

 ************************************************
 Copyright. All rights reserved.
 http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm
 ************************************************

PARISH, PERRY
(2 Mar 1916, Sayre Standard, Sayre, Beckham Co, OK):
The badly decomposed body of Perry Parish, a young man well known in the
southeastern part of the county, was found last Monday by S. W. Siddell on
a school section one mile east of Carter.  The body had been buried within
one-half mile of the public road and had been partly uncovered by hogs
running on the school section.  The inquest disclosed that death resulted
from the effects of a blow on the side of the head, doubtless having been
made with some blunt instrument in the hands of his assailant.
The murdered boy was twenty years of age, and on his twenty-first birthday
would have come into possession of several thousand dollars, left to him
by his father who fifteen or twenty years ago was murdered on a school
section within a few miles of the place where his son was found last
Monday.  The death of Mr. Parish, senior, was surrounded with as much
mystery as that of his son, and the mystery has never been solved.
Young Parish had been missing since December 13th.  His uncle, Joe
Armbuster, with whom he lived part of the time, had made some inquiry
concerning him, but finally concluded that he had gone on a visit to his
grandfather who lives in California.  A recent letter received from his
grandfather, however, conveyed the information that Parish was not there,
since which time no further effort seems to have been made to locate him. 
The murdered boy is the son of Mrs. Charles Bachelor, who lives in the
southeastern part of the county.
(3 Mar 1916, The Carter Express, Carter, Beckham Co, OK):
Quite a lot of excitement was caused among the people of Carter and
surrounding country last Monday morning when the word was passed around
that the corpse of a man who had been murdered and buried in a canyon on
the school section one mile east of Carter, had been found by Wess
Siddall.  Mr. Sidall was walking up the canyon looking for a switch with
which to witch for a well of water, when he came up on the corpse, which
the hogs had unearthed.  One arm had been pulled off by the hogs but was
lying near by.  Mr. Siddall phoned in at once and notified officers Golden
and Ridley, and the officers at Sayre were also notified, and came down to
Carter immediately and went out to investigate.
Although the body was badly decomposed it was identified by several
citizens by the clothing, shoes, etc., as that of Bud Parish, a young man
only twenty years of age, who disappeared from Carter some time in
December.  Joe Armbuster, an uncle of the dead boy, also identified him as
Parish, whom he had been looking for since his disappearance.  The body
had been put in a hole in the canyon and covered with dirt; and it is also
believed that it had been visited afterward and re-covered with sunflowers
after the hogs had unearthed it.  A large opening in the back part of the
skull on the right side showed that his skull had either been crushed in
by a heavy blow or else was shot away with a shotgun, the general opinion
being that he was struck from behind with some heavy stick or iron
instrument of some kind.
It was evidently the most horrible murder that has ever been committed in
this part of the country.  Although it is not positively known what the
motive was in murdering the boy, it is generally believed that he was
killed for his money, as it is stated that he had some money along about
the last time that he was seen in Carter.
There has been no evidence divulged so far as we know to warrant a
suspicion as to who the guilty party is, yet the officers are working on
the case with a strong determination to find the murderer or murderers,
and we believe they will succeed.
The remains were placed in a coffin and brought to Carter and on Tuesday
afternoon were carried to Spring Creek for burial.  Young Parish leaves a
mother, Mrs. C. H. Bachelor, an uncle, Joe Armbuster, and other relatives,
and had many friends throughout the country, having been raised here.
(9 Mar 1916, Thursday, Elk City Leader, Elk City, Beckham Co, OK):
NO CLUE TO MURDER OF PERRY PARISH
Death of Well Known Young Man of Carter Community May Remain Mystery
So far the officers have been unable to unravel any clue that will lead to
the identity of the person or persons who murdered Perry Parish, whose
body was found in a pasture near Carter a few days ago.  The young man had
not been seen since some time in December and his friends believed that he
had gone to Texas where he formerly lived, and little was thought of his
whereabouts.
It is reported that he had considerable money on his person at the time he
disappeared and it is believed that robbery furnished the motive for the
crime.  Another theory is that he had engaged in a poker game with a
number of men, had come out winner and that his comrades killed him and
divided the spoils.  The county officers have made as thorough
investigation as possible, and it is likely that some evidence which may
lead to the identify of the guilty ones may have been gathered.

---------------------------------------------------
Return to Beckham County Archives:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/beckham/beckham.html