Ella Lillian Ethel Barham
•Given Name: Ella Lillian Ethel
•Surname: Barham
•Sex: F
•Birth: 16 FEB 1894 in Arkansas, USA
•Death: 12 NOV 1912
•Residence: 1910 Blythe, Boone, Arkansas, USA
•Residence: 1900 Blyhte &, Prairie, Boone, Arkansas, USA
Father: George Solomon Barham b: 19 MAY 1852 in Johnson County, Arkansas
Mother: Nancy Delilah Dorothea Blevins b: 1 JAN 1868 in Boone County, Arkansas, USA
===========================
Odus Davidson was hung for her murder in Harrison, Ark.
A lot of people did not belive that he did it.
===========================
The Court records for the Jan. 13th term tells the story of Boone Countys last legal execution.
On Jan.3nd an indictment was returned against Odus Davidson for murder in the 1st degree. The undisputed facts that led up to this indictment were as follows:
Davidson was a 25 year old farmer living in the White Oak Community, east of Harrison. He was the son of Cant Davidson, who was of a respected family in the community.
Ella Braham age 18, lived some fifteen miles southeast of Harrison near the Killebrew Ford of Crooked Creek. The Braham family likewise was one of the highly respected familys in the neighood.
On the morning of Nov. 21th, 1912 the Braham girl went to a neighbors house about 10 o'clock to have a dress fitted.
Odus Davidson was cutting wood in the vicinity of Killebrew on that day, and the spot where he was working was near the route traveled by the Barham girl.
When the girl did not return in the afternoon, a scearching party was organized in the neighborhood. Davidson joined the party in the search.
All day and into the night the party hunted through the dark woodlands, and about midnight the girl was found near an old mine shaft.
The limbs had been severed from the torso, the head was crushedand the body was partially buried under a pile of rocks.
Davidson's conduct caused some to supect him from the first hours after the crime was discovered: So the following day a warrent was issued for him. The officers together with a posse went to his house to make the arrest and as they approached Davidson tossed a pair of socks from a back window, the socks fell near a member of the posse,and upon examination they were found to be liberally sprinkled with
Red Pepper, in the trial the prosecuter contented that this was done to hampter the use of Bloodhounds in the event an attempt was made to trail the killer.
In the beginning of the proceedings Davidson was represented by E.G. Mitchell and B.B. Hudgins: However Hudgins later withdrew fromthe case, Mitchell made a
spectacular fight for his client. Several times in the course of the trial he was called to task by the court for his conduct, and once was fined 25.00 for contempt, when he failed to desist from his harsh treatment of an unfavorable
witness.
The trial lasted 6 days, from Jan. 20th through Jan. 25th. The jury returned a verdict ofb guilty and Davidson was sentenced to be hung on Mar. 21, 1913.
Attorney Mitchell filed a motion for a new trial, but it was denied.
Finally after some delays, Davidson paid the supreme penalty on Aug. 11, 1913.
The scaffold upon which he died was erected on the site of the present county jail.
On the scaffold Davidson protested his innocence:
The hood was placed over his head and adjusted, and then Sheriff Jim Helm threw the trap and the condemed man plunged to his death.
Davidson was one of the first to be buried in the Maplewood Cemetery, and today his grave can be found in the northern portion of the cemetery, west of potters field.
On the simple stone that marks his finalresting place is this inscription:
HERE REST THE ASHES OF
ODUS DAVIDSON
BORN: JAN. 22, 1883
HIS LIFE TAKEN
AUG. 11, 1913
BY MISREPRESENTATIONS
BORN OF EXCITEMENT
=============================
The Springdale News
November 29, 1912
Lead Hill, Ark, Nov. 22 - Dragged from her pony, ravished
and butchered like the victim of the most vicious cannibal, was the fate of 18-year-old Lillian Olive Barham of
Pleasant Ridge.
The murder is the most diabolical in the history of Arkansas, was committed apparently in broad daylight. Tonight Boone county is in a heat of excitement, the like of which has never before been experienced. Hundreds of
armed men are searching every nook confined within her borders for the brute.
There will be no trial if he is found. Lynch law will rule. The blood thirsty deed which has aroused Northwest Arkansas to such a tremendous pitch was discovered at midnight by a party of fox hunters, all young men residing in or near the vicinity of Pleasant Ridge and acquaintances of the unfortunate girl.
They were attracted by the loud baying of their hounds and coming up to the dogs they discovered the canines had run into a drove of hogs. Further examination disclosed several parts of a dismembered body scattered about. The hunters were so horrified at their find that it was hard for them to realize the true situation.
The girls legs had been cut off. She had been decapitated and her scull was crushed with a huge rock. The trunk of the body had been cut in two. One leg was found more than 100 yards from the spot where the trunk was found.
The hunters hurried to Pleasant Ridge, which is four miles south of here, and spread the alarm. Sheriff John Helm of Harrison, the county seat, was notified and left immediately for the scene with Deputy Sheriff Jones.
A call was sent far and wide for bloodhounds and tonight it is reported that the hounds kept at the state prison camp at Leslie are being hurried overland to Pleasant Ridge to be used in the manhunt that is extending to all parts of this section.
Miss Barham, the daughter of George S. Barham, lived with her parents a short distance from Pleasant Ridge. Her father sent her Thursday morning to the home of C.C. Bryan, a neighbor, on an errand. She was mounted on a pony and was seen about 11 o'clock passing the Killibrew home by members of the family.
The authorities believe her assailant pulled her from her pony as she was riding along the road and after the
assault he dismembered the body. In the afternoon
the girls pony, riderless and dragging the bridal, returned home. At first the
family formed the impression that the girl had he eloped to Harrison and an
anticipated receiving word from her before nightfall. When night came and no word was received they grew alarmed and sent inquiries to Pleasant Ridge but
their efforts to locate the girl proved futile. As soon as the authorities arrived on the scene they sent word to all parts of the county to arrest all suspicious persons.
Several large posses were sent into the mountains to search for the brute and in all about 500 men became actively engaged in the manhunt.
All indications point that the savage murdered and dismembered the body with a saw. This, it is thought, has been thrown in a creek that runs near the spot where the corpse was found.
What prompted such a horrible deed up on the girl, who is extremely popular and well-known, is one of the deepest mysteries in this case. It is generally believed she met death at the hands of a mad man. The girl evidently was dragged into a fallen tree top where the head and legs were cut off. Footprints indicate the murderer took his victim to the banks of Crooked Creek, taking off his shoes to wade the small stream, and carried the girls body to the opposite bank. It is believed that he must have been frightened away during his fiendish work by the
fox hunters or the hogs and abandoned his attempt to hide or destroy the body.
Miss Braham(sic)was a niece of Elijah Braham of Zinc, a merchant and well known in connection with many of the mines in this district. The girls father is a prosperous farmer of 60 years. There are three other children in the family. The mother of the murdered girl, it is feared, will suffer a breakdown, especially since she has learned that the hogs ate away the nose and part of the cheek.
Lee Kirby of Harrison, coroner of Boone county, had not arrived at the scene of the crime this afternoon. Sheriff John Helm, through his deputies, has stationed posses at points on both the Missouri & North Arkansas railroad and the Missouri Pacific, White River branch, in the belief that some tramp killed the girl.
•Given Name: Ella Lillian Ethel
•Surname: Barham
•Sex: F
•Birth: 16 FEB 1894 in Arkansas, USA
•Death: 12 NOV 1912
•Residence: 1910 Blythe, Boone, Arkansas, USA
•Residence: 1900 Blyhte &, Prairie, Boone, Arkansas, USA
Father: George Solomon Barham b: 19 MAY 1852 in Johnson County, Arkansas
Mother: Nancy Delilah Dorothea Blevins b: 1 JAN 1868 in Boone County, Arkansas, USA
===========================
Odus Davidson was hung for her murder in Harrison, Ark.
A lot of people did not belive that he did it.
===========================
The Court records for the Jan. 13th term tells the story of Boone Countys last legal execution.
On Jan.3nd an indictment was returned against Odus Davidson for murder in the 1st degree. The undisputed facts that led up to this indictment were as follows:
Davidson was a 25 year old farmer living in the White Oak Community, east of Harrison. He was the son of Cant Davidson, who was of a respected family in the community.
Ella Braham age 18, lived some fifteen miles southeast of Harrison near the Killebrew Ford of Crooked Creek. The Braham family likewise was one of the highly respected familys in the neighood.
On the morning of Nov. 21th, 1912 the Braham girl went to a neighbors house about 10 o'clock to have a dress fitted.
Odus Davidson was cutting wood in the vicinity of Killebrew on that day, and the spot where he was working was near the route traveled by the Barham girl.
When the girl did not return in the afternoon, a scearching party was organized in the neighborhood. Davidson joined the party in the search.
All day and into the night the party hunted through the dark woodlands, and about midnight the girl was found near an old mine shaft.
The limbs had been severed from the torso, the head was crushedand the body was partially buried under a pile of rocks.
Davidson's conduct caused some to supect him from the first hours after the crime was discovered: So the following day a warrent was issued for him. The officers together with a posse went to his house to make the arrest and as they approached Davidson tossed a pair of socks from a back window, the socks fell near a member of the posse,and upon examination they were found to be liberally sprinkled with
Red Pepper, in the trial the prosecuter contented that this was done to hampter the use of Bloodhounds in the event an attempt was made to trail the killer.
In the beginning of the proceedings Davidson was represented by E.G. Mitchell and B.B. Hudgins: However Hudgins later withdrew fromthe case, Mitchell made a
spectacular fight for his client. Several times in the course of the trial he was called to task by the court for his conduct, and once was fined 25.00 for contempt, when he failed to desist from his harsh treatment of an unfavorable
witness.
The trial lasted 6 days, from Jan. 20th through Jan. 25th. The jury returned a verdict ofb guilty and Davidson was sentenced to be hung on Mar. 21, 1913.
Attorney Mitchell filed a motion for a new trial, but it was denied.
Finally after some delays, Davidson paid the supreme penalty on Aug. 11, 1913.
The scaffold upon which he died was erected on the site of the present county jail.
On the scaffold Davidson protested his innocence:
The hood was placed over his head and adjusted, and then Sheriff Jim Helm threw the trap and the condemed man plunged to his death.
Davidson was one of the first to be buried in the Maplewood Cemetery, and today his grave can be found in the northern portion of the cemetery, west of potters field.
On the simple stone that marks his finalresting place is this inscription:
HERE REST THE ASHES OF
ODUS DAVIDSON
BORN: JAN. 22, 1883
HIS LIFE TAKEN
AUG. 11, 1913
BY MISREPRESENTATIONS
BORN OF EXCITEMENT
=============================
The Springdale News
November 29, 1912
Lead Hill, Ark, Nov. 22 - Dragged from her pony, ravished
and butchered like the victim of the most vicious cannibal, was the fate of 18-year-old Lillian Olive Barham of
Pleasant Ridge.
The murder is the most diabolical in the history of Arkansas, was committed apparently in broad daylight. Tonight Boone county is in a heat of excitement, the like of which has never before been experienced. Hundreds of
armed men are searching every nook confined within her borders for the brute.
There will be no trial if he is found. Lynch law will rule. The blood thirsty deed which has aroused Northwest Arkansas to such a tremendous pitch was discovered at midnight by a party of fox hunters, all young men residing in or near the vicinity of Pleasant Ridge and acquaintances of the unfortunate girl.
They were attracted by the loud baying of their hounds and coming up to the dogs they discovered the canines had run into a drove of hogs. Further examination disclosed several parts of a dismembered body scattered about. The hunters were so horrified at their find that it was hard for them to realize the true situation.
The girls legs had been cut off. She had been decapitated and her scull was crushed with a huge rock. The trunk of the body had been cut in two. One leg was found more than 100 yards from the spot where the trunk was found.
The hunters hurried to Pleasant Ridge, which is four miles south of here, and spread the alarm. Sheriff John Helm of Harrison, the county seat, was notified and left immediately for the scene with Deputy Sheriff Jones.
A call was sent far and wide for bloodhounds and tonight it is reported that the hounds kept at the state prison camp at Leslie are being hurried overland to Pleasant Ridge to be used in the manhunt that is extending to all parts of this section.
Miss Barham, the daughter of George S. Barham, lived with her parents a short distance from Pleasant Ridge. Her father sent her Thursday morning to the home of C.C. Bryan, a neighbor, on an errand. She was mounted on a pony and was seen about 11 o'clock passing the Killibrew home by members of the family.
The authorities believe her assailant pulled her from her pony as she was riding along the road and after the
assault he dismembered the body. In the afternoon
the girls pony, riderless and dragging the bridal, returned home. At first the
family formed the impression that the girl had he eloped to Harrison and an
anticipated receiving word from her before nightfall. When night came and no word was received they grew alarmed and sent inquiries to Pleasant Ridge but
their efforts to locate the girl proved futile. As soon as the authorities arrived on the scene they sent word to all parts of the county to arrest all suspicious persons.
Several large posses were sent into the mountains to search for the brute and in all about 500 men became actively engaged in the manhunt.
All indications point that the savage murdered and dismembered the body with a saw. This, it is thought, has been thrown in a creek that runs near the spot where the corpse was found.
What prompted such a horrible deed up on the girl, who is extremely popular and well-known, is one of the deepest mysteries in this case. It is generally believed she met death at the hands of a mad man. The girl evidently was dragged into a fallen tree top where the head and legs were cut off. Footprints indicate the murderer took his victim to the banks of Crooked Creek, taking off his shoes to wade the small stream, and carried the girls body to the opposite bank. It is believed that he must have been frightened away during his fiendish work by the
fox hunters or the hogs and abandoned his attempt to hide or destroy the body.
Miss Braham(sic)was a niece of Elijah Braham of Zinc, a merchant and well known in connection with many of the mines in this district. The girls father is a prosperous farmer of 60 years. There are three other children in the family. The mother of the murdered girl, it is feared, will suffer a breakdown, especially since she has learned that the hogs ate away the nose and part of the cheek.
Lee Kirby of Harrison, coroner of Boone county, had not arrived at the scene of the crime this afternoon. Sheriff John Helm, through his deputies, has stationed posses at points on both the Missouri & North Arkansas railroad and the Missouri Pacific, White River branch, in the belief that some tramp killed the girl.
Ella Lillian Ethel Barham
•Given Name: Ella Lillian Ethel
•Surname: Barham
•Sex: F
•Birth: 16 FEB 1894 in Arkansas, USA
•Death: 12 NOV 1912
•Residence: 1910 Blythe, Boone, Arkansas, USA
•Residence: 1900 Blyhte &, Prairie, Boone, Arkansas, USA
Father: George Solomon Barham b: 19 MAY 1852 in Johnson County, Arkansas
Mother: Nancy Delilah Dorothea Blevins b: 1 JAN 1868 in Boone County, Arkansas, USA
===========================
Odus Davidson was hung for her murder in Harrison, Ark.
A lot of people did not belive that he did it.
===========================
The Court records for the Jan. 13th term tells the story of Boone Countys last legal execution.
On Jan.3nd an indictment was returned against Odus Davidson for murder in the 1st degree. The undisputed facts that led up to this indictment were as follows:
Davidson was a 25 year old farmer living in the White Oak Community, east of Harrison. He was the son of Cant Davidson, who was of a respected family in the community.
Ella Braham age 18, lived some fifteen miles southeast of Harrison near the Killebrew Ford of Crooked Creek. The Braham family likewise was one of the highly respected familys in the neighood.
On the morning of Nov. 21th, 1912 the Braham girl went to a neighbors house about 10 o'clock to have a dress fitted.
Odus Davidson was cutting wood in the vicinity of Killebrew on that day, and the spot where he was working was near the route traveled by the Barham girl.
When the girl did not return in the afternoon, a scearching party was organized in the neighborhood. Davidson joined the party in the search.
All day and into the night the party hunted through the dark woodlands, and about midnight the girl was found near an old mine shaft.
The limbs had been severed from the torso, the head was crushedand the body was partially buried under a pile of rocks.
Davidson's conduct caused some to supect him from the first hours after the crime was discovered: So the following day a warrent was issued for him. The officers together with a posse went to his house to make the arrest and as they approached Davidson tossed a pair of socks from a back window, the socks fell near a member of the posse,and upon examination they were found to be liberally sprinkled with
Red Pepper, in the trial the prosecuter contented that this was done to hampter the use of Bloodhounds in the event an attempt was made to trail the killer.
In the beginning of the proceedings Davidson was represented by E.G. Mitchell and B.B. Hudgins: However Hudgins later withdrew fromthe case, Mitchell made a
spectacular fight for his client. Several times in the course of the trial he was called to task by the court for his conduct, and once was fined 25.00 for contempt, when he failed to desist from his harsh treatment of an unfavorable
witness.
The trial lasted 6 days, from Jan. 20th through Jan. 25th. The jury returned a verdict ofb guilty and Davidson was sentenced to be hung on Mar. 21, 1913.
Attorney Mitchell filed a motion for a new trial, but it was denied.
Finally after some delays, Davidson paid the supreme penalty on Aug. 11, 1913.
The scaffold upon which he died was erected on the site of the present county jail.
On the scaffold Davidson protested his innocence:
The hood was placed over his head and adjusted, and then Sheriff Jim Helm threw the trap and the condemed man plunged to his death.
Davidson was one of the first to be buried in the Maplewood Cemetery, and today his grave can be found in the northern portion of the cemetery, west of potters field.
On the simple stone that marks his finalresting place is this inscription:
HERE REST THE ASHES OF
ODUS DAVIDSON
BORN: JAN. 22, 1883
HIS LIFE TAKEN
AUG. 11, 1913
BY MISREPRESENTATIONS
BORN OF EXCITEMENT
=============================
The Springdale News
November 29, 1912
Lead Hill, Ark, Nov. 22 - Dragged from her pony, ravished
and butchered like the victim of the most vicious cannibal, was the fate of 18-year-old Lillian Olive Barham of
Pleasant Ridge.
The murder is the most diabolical in the history of Arkansas, was committed apparently in broad daylight. Tonight Boone county is in a heat of excitement, the like of which has never before been experienced. Hundreds of
armed men are searching every nook confined within her borders for the brute.
There will be no trial if he is found. Lynch law will rule. The blood thirsty deed which has aroused Northwest Arkansas to such a tremendous pitch was discovered at midnight by a party of fox hunters, all young men residing in or near the vicinity of Pleasant Ridge and acquaintances of the unfortunate girl.
They were attracted by the loud baying of their hounds and coming up to the dogs they discovered the canines had run into a drove of hogs. Further examination disclosed several parts of a dismembered body scattered about. The hunters were so horrified at their find that it was hard for them to realize the true situation.
The girls legs had been cut off. She had been decapitated and her scull was crushed with a huge rock. The trunk of the body had been cut in two. One leg was found more than 100 yards from the spot where the trunk was found.
The hunters hurried to Pleasant Ridge, which is four miles south of here, and spread the alarm. Sheriff John Helm of Harrison, the county seat, was notified and left immediately for the scene with Deputy Sheriff Jones.
A call was sent far and wide for bloodhounds and tonight it is reported that the hounds kept at the state prison camp at Leslie are being hurried overland to Pleasant Ridge to be used in the manhunt that is extending to all parts of this section.
Miss Barham, the daughter of George S. Barham, lived with her parents a short distance from Pleasant Ridge. Her father sent her Thursday morning to the home of C.C. Bryan, a neighbor, on an errand. She was mounted on a pony and was seen about 11 o'clock passing the Killibrew home by members of the family.
The authorities believe her assailant pulled her from her pony as she was riding along the road and after the
assault he dismembered the body. In the afternoon
the girls pony, riderless and dragging the bridal, returned home. At first the
family formed the impression that the girl had he eloped to Harrison and an
anticipated receiving word from her before nightfall. When night came and no word was received they grew alarmed and sent inquiries to Pleasant Ridge but
their efforts to locate the girl proved futile. As soon as the authorities arrived on the scene they sent word to all parts of the county to arrest all suspicious persons.
Several large posses were sent into the mountains to search for the brute and in all about 500 men became actively engaged in the manhunt.
All indications point that the savage murdered and dismembered the body with a saw. This, it is thought, has been thrown in a creek that runs near the spot where the corpse was found.
What prompted such a horrible deed up on the girl, who is extremely popular and well-known, is one of the deepest mysteries in this case. It is generally believed she met death at the hands of a mad man. The girl evidently was dragged into a fallen tree top where the head and legs were cut off. Footprints indicate the murderer took his victim to the banks of Crooked Creek, taking off his shoes to wade the small stream, and carried the girls body to the opposite bank. It is believed that he must have been frightened away during his fiendish work by the
fox hunters or the hogs and abandoned his attempt to hide or destroy the body.
Miss Braham(sic)was a niece of Elijah Braham of Zinc, a merchant and well known in connection with many of the mines in this district. The girls father is a prosperous farmer of 60 years. There are three other children in the family. The mother of the murdered girl, it is feared, will suffer a breakdown, especially since she has learned that the hogs ate away the nose and part of the cheek.
Lee Kirby of Harrison, coroner of Boone county, had not arrived at the scene of the crime this afternoon. Sheriff John Helm, through his deputies, has stationed posses at points on both the Missouri & North Arkansas railroad and the Missouri Pacific, White River branch, in the belief that some tramp killed the girl.
•Given Name: Ella Lillian Ethel
•Surname: Barham
•Sex: F
•Birth: 16 FEB 1894 in Arkansas, USA
•Death: 12 NOV 1912
•Residence: 1910 Blythe, Boone, Arkansas, USA
•Residence: 1900 Blyhte &, Prairie, Boone, Arkansas, USA
Father: George Solomon Barham b: 19 MAY 1852 in Johnson County, Arkansas
Mother: Nancy Delilah Dorothea Blevins b: 1 JAN 1868 in Boone County, Arkansas, USA
===========================
Odus Davidson was hung for her murder in Harrison, Ark.
A lot of people did not belive that he did it.
===========================
The Court records for the Jan. 13th term tells the story of Boone Countys last legal execution.
On Jan.3nd an indictment was returned against Odus Davidson for murder in the 1st degree. The undisputed facts that led up to this indictment were as follows:
Davidson was a 25 year old farmer living in the White Oak Community, east of Harrison. He was the son of Cant Davidson, who was of a respected family in the community.
Ella Braham age 18, lived some fifteen miles southeast of Harrison near the Killebrew Ford of Crooked Creek. The Braham family likewise was one of the highly respected familys in the neighood.
On the morning of Nov. 21th, 1912 the Braham girl went to a neighbors house about 10 o'clock to have a dress fitted.
Odus Davidson was cutting wood in the vicinity of Killebrew on that day, and the spot where he was working was near the route traveled by the Barham girl.
When the girl did not return in the afternoon, a scearching party was organized in the neighborhood. Davidson joined the party in the search.
All day and into the night the party hunted through the dark woodlands, and about midnight the girl was found near an old mine shaft.
The limbs had been severed from the torso, the head was crushedand the body was partially buried under a pile of rocks.
Davidson's conduct caused some to supect him from the first hours after the crime was discovered: So the following day a warrent was issued for him. The officers together with a posse went to his house to make the arrest and as they approached Davidson tossed a pair of socks from a back window, the socks fell near a member of the posse,and upon examination they were found to be liberally sprinkled with
Red Pepper, in the trial the prosecuter contented that this was done to hampter the use of Bloodhounds in the event an attempt was made to trail the killer.
In the beginning of the proceedings Davidson was represented by E.G. Mitchell and B.B. Hudgins: However Hudgins later withdrew fromthe case, Mitchell made a
spectacular fight for his client. Several times in the course of the trial he was called to task by the court for his conduct, and once was fined 25.00 for contempt, when he failed to desist from his harsh treatment of an unfavorable
witness.
The trial lasted 6 days, from Jan. 20th through Jan. 25th. The jury returned a verdict ofb guilty and Davidson was sentenced to be hung on Mar. 21, 1913.
Attorney Mitchell filed a motion for a new trial, but it was denied.
Finally after some delays, Davidson paid the supreme penalty on Aug. 11, 1913.
The scaffold upon which he died was erected on the site of the present county jail.
On the scaffold Davidson protested his innocence:
The hood was placed over his head and adjusted, and then Sheriff Jim Helm threw the trap and the condemed man plunged to his death.
Davidson was one of the first to be buried in the Maplewood Cemetery, and today his grave can be found in the northern portion of the cemetery, west of potters field.
On the simple stone that marks his finalresting place is this inscription:
HERE REST THE ASHES OF
ODUS DAVIDSON
BORN: JAN. 22, 1883
HIS LIFE TAKEN
AUG. 11, 1913
BY MISREPRESENTATIONS
BORN OF EXCITEMENT
=============================
The Springdale News
November 29, 1912
Lead Hill, Ark, Nov. 22 - Dragged from her pony, ravished
and butchered like the victim of the most vicious cannibal, was the fate of 18-year-old Lillian Olive Barham of
Pleasant Ridge.
The murder is the most diabolical in the history of Arkansas, was committed apparently in broad daylight. Tonight Boone county is in a heat of excitement, the like of which has never before been experienced. Hundreds of
armed men are searching every nook confined within her borders for the brute.
There will be no trial if he is found. Lynch law will rule. The blood thirsty deed which has aroused Northwest Arkansas to such a tremendous pitch was discovered at midnight by a party of fox hunters, all young men residing in or near the vicinity of Pleasant Ridge and acquaintances of the unfortunate girl.
They were attracted by the loud baying of their hounds and coming up to the dogs they discovered the canines had run into a drove of hogs. Further examination disclosed several parts of a dismembered body scattered about. The hunters were so horrified at their find that it was hard for them to realize the true situation.
The girls legs had been cut off. She had been decapitated and her scull was crushed with a huge rock. The trunk of the body had been cut in two. One leg was found more than 100 yards from the spot where the trunk was found.
The hunters hurried to Pleasant Ridge, which is four miles south of here, and spread the alarm. Sheriff John Helm of Harrison, the county seat, was notified and left immediately for the scene with Deputy Sheriff Jones.
A call was sent far and wide for bloodhounds and tonight it is reported that the hounds kept at the state prison camp at Leslie are being hurried overland to Pleasant Ridge to be used in the manhunt that is extending to all parts of this section.
Miss Barham, the daughter of George S. Barham, lived with her parents a short distance from Pleasant Ridge. Her father sent her Thursday morning to the home of C.C. Bryan, a neighbor, on an errand. She was mounted on a pony and was seen about 11 o'clock passing the Killibrew home by members of the family.
The authorities believe her assailant pulled her from her pony as she was riding along the road and after the
assault he dismembered the body. In the afternoon
the girls pony, riderless and dragging the bridal, returned home. At first the
family formed the impression that the girl had he eloped to Harrison and an
anticipated receiving word from her before nightfall. When night came and no word was received they grew alarmed and sent inquiries to Pleasant Ridge but
their efforts to locate the girl proved futile. As soon as the authorities arrived on the scene they sent word to all parts of the county to arrest all suspicious persons.
Several large posses were sent into the mountains to search for the brute and in all about 500 men became actively engaged in the manhunt.
All indications point that the savage murdered and dismembered the body with a saw. This, it is thought, has been thrown in a creek that runs near the spot where the corpse was found.
What prompted such a horrible deed up on the girl, who is extremely popular and well-known, is one of the deepest mysteries in this case. It is generally believed she met death at the hands of a mad man. The girl evidently was dragged into a fallen tree top where the head and legs were cut off. Footprints indicate the murderer took his victim to the banks of Crooked Creek, taking off his shoes to wade the small stream, and carried the girls body to the opposite bank. It is believed that he must have been frightened away during his fiendish work by the
fox hunters or the hogs and abandoned his attempt to hide or destroy the body.
Miss Braham(sic)was a niece of Elijah Braham of Zinc, a merchant and well known in connection with many of the mines in this district. The girls father is a prosperous farmer of 60 years. There are three other children in the family. The mother of the murdered girl, it is feared, will suffer a breakdown, especially since she has learned that the hogs ate away the nose and part of the cheek.
Lee Kirby of Harrison, coroner of Boone county, had not arrived at the scene of the crime this afternoon. Sheriff John Helm, through his deputies, has stationed posses at points on both the Missouri & North Arkansas railroad and the Missouri Pacific, White River branch, in the belief that some tramp killed the girl.
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