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''l', l ? . " ' "''.'THE ONLY -NEWSPAPER PJPBjyHmlNMADISON COUNTY -
' ;i ,T i YYT MARSHALL. N. C, FRIDAY?DECEMBER 9, 1327 C1RCULA llON-ZOOO
ff - - .r K 2 " ' '
M I err . i :
STORY OF AN OLD
CRIME
FRANKY SILVER SLEW HER
HUSBAND
A Murder Committed 70 Yer Ago
By the Bright Little Womn Wi
On of The Moit Brutal Crime
Ever Done in North Carolina The
Recital of A Brother of The Vic
tim, Who l 87 Year. Old.
(Prom The Charlotte Observer)
The following article is published
from the Black Mountain Eagle that
was printed 'on April 18, 1903 and
credited to the Charlotte Observer.
The Eagle was published at Burns
ville. "One of the most brutal murders
ever committed in
North Carolina
was conceived, planned and executed
by the woman Frances or Franky Sil
ver, of Burke (now Yancy) county,
who killed1 and burned her husband,
Charles Silver. The crime was done
one night about 70 years ago, in a
lonely mountain cabin on Toe river,
in the presence of a two-year-old
child and God, while the victim lay
asleep by his own fireside. The mur
deress was tried, convicted and hung,
being one of the first women execut
ed on the gallows in this country.
"Mr. Alfred Silver, half brother of
the murdered man, is living to-day,
on Curtis' Creek four miles northwest
of the town of Old Fori, McDowell
county. He will be 87 years old the
15th of November, if the Great Mas-
ter allows him to live to see his next Sunday morning, having supposedly
birthday. I went out to 3 e e j.Bat down on the tracks a few min
Mr. Silver one morning last week. He ntes, and then fallen asleep from
is the finest type of the best class qf sheer exhaustion, due to the fact that
mountaineer that I ever saw, being.
large, strong featured and manly. His
face looks like the pictures of the old
patriarchs, as they appear in. the hifl
s;iea.Hft.ai Jrg8 ; hRai, a. Anp
month, an8 silken .hair. "As he lay in
bed and conversed with me I could
see nothing but his long, bony hands,
his soft, white beard, his brilliant eyes
and .the general outline of his face,
for he wore a fur cap and had the
cover pulled up around him.
"I found him willing and able to
talk about the murder, the trial and
the hanging. His mind is sound and
clear. He remembers the details of
the case as well as if the crime had
been perpetrated last month. At the
time, of the deed he was just at the
tender age when a bright mind takes
and retains. most."
Th Story of The Crim."
In giving the story of the affair I
shall let him tell it in his own vigor
ous, forceful way. He uses plain but
eloquent English,? .-.
He began r "Charles Silver, killed
and destroyed by his wife, Franky
Silver, about the year 1832, was my
half-brother. He was strong and heal-
Pthy, good-looking and agreeable. He;
had lots of friends, Everybody liked
htm. He was a favorite at au the par.
. , tiea for he could make merry by talk
ing, laughing and playing musical in
struments. " " think he -was the best
fif er hat I ever .heard. He had been,
married long enough to have one heir
before he died. He lived In. a cabin
' across Nridge, a quarter of a mile
from my father's home on Toe river.
' -"Charles was pretty much of a gnn-
. - ner, a hunter, and It was Christmas,
JoatU time, for hunting. The groiHid
" was all covered with snow and' the
river froien hard. His wife, contend
- JqbT that he would be . off sooir on a
3nmt, urged him to cut enough wqod
t ae'aO weelc He fell in with hii'axe
nd cut up a whole hickory tree,' and
m up a wnoie nicaory tree, ana
ed it ee that t weald keen jdry "
sine "Aired and sleepy after' the
knocked
- and clean.
"Being .tired and sleepy after" the
lahef of choppmg my brother ley
- down on the floor, close by the fire
with aia little girl in his rn'qind
- -weni to sleep. . His head rested on an
inverted stool for . a pillow. Ianlcy
- gently took the baby from his breast,
pet it to, bei, picked np the axe from'
- tLe door, where she had placed, it for
xr t purpose, and whacked his head
L ' ? off at single blow. She intended
to cat H clean off, but tniscalculated
aid either stood toe close or too far
kaO. The rst lick did Wt kill him
Instantly for he sprang to his feet and
tried: "God bless the child." The wife
fled to the bed, by the child, and cov
ered'herself "up,i!l she.tiearl Cbftrles
.11 rt l'.4 .lel,.J l,T
.. ...
. '. Cetfarae to Takr4'Fage) '
SHOP
BOY'S ESSAY ON GOATS
'A iroat is an animal about as big
fls a sheep if the sheep is big enough.
A fomsle coat is called a Duuress,
A little goat is calleu a goatee uuau
is very useful for eating up things
goat can eat more thing! than any
other animal that ain't a goat. My
father had a goat once. My father is
a good man and anything he says is
true whether it is or not. That's all
I know about goats."
ALEXANDER MAN
KILLED BY TRAIN
Reuben Auston, age 20. years, track
walker for the Southern Railway Co,
was instantly killed by a train early
he had walked the tracks for 48 hours
or two days and nights, without any
sleep, guarding the tracks against
high water and landslides.
Th-coroner, Dr. " John -L. . Carroll',
stated that the youth had gone to his
home a few minutes before he was
killed to change a water soaked coat
.for a dry one.
fuse, placed on
His lantern and a
a crosstie, showed
thaj he had paused for a short time
before the train came.
Mr. .Auston is 4irv've by hi3
mother, Mrs. Mary Jane Auston, with
whom he lived near Alexander.
$100 REWARD
FOR THIEF
REWARD TO BE GIVEN BY MAD
ISON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
A reward will be paid by the mem
bers of the Madison County Board of
Commissioners for any evidence lead
ing to the conviction of the person or
persons stealing the bills of indict
ment and warrants issued against the
County Commissioned iiPon charges
brought by N. B. McDevitt, Madison
County Representative in the General
Assembly, it was announced here
Tuesday. The announcement Vwas
made by .J. rHJ Sprinkle. Jr.. fn he-
half of the Co. ComnnssftneriiTSlv
' It is als oatated that the reward will
be paid by the Commissioners person-1
ally, ..( i ii't ' v' rrr ':
Theft of the indictmerito and waK
rants was. reported during the prog
ress of the hearing of the cases a
gainst that Commisaio'nerti ' here jast
week. The cases "Were hoi grossed
with leave by Judge Roy DeaL-J J
.... 7 1 4 rv- .l ... ... . x- -' '.'
. : ' J--Asjevllle -Citiaen.
i i-"-'f:' "'i ' ,i ' '. 1 .. . '
LIQUOR
$ Officertr het have Aund, M clhee'
as tev thewhereabouta ef 'the owners
of -: . large -touring- Tea whichrwas
found wrecked below an embankment
on the Marshall-Hot Springs highway, I
a, short distance .west of here.: late
Sunday nightfrhy Clinton CaldwoIL
Uawi .enforcement officer. . Mr. Cald
well noticed the wrecked car while
traveling along the highway Sunday
night, hi. attention being attracted
by j the rear light. Upon an investi
gation, the ofScer found IS gallons of
whiskey , fc the -ear, part of which
was spilled. ., No traces o the own-
era have been found by o.c- rs and
- .v mnut
CONTAINED
the ear Jia. beea eonacatett iy .fSe.'004 Dtt "e-eamt t!m1 close
'iota here' ;'?;.-' t - i'?'
FINANCING THE
STATES BAPTIST
! ORPHANAGE
ORPHANAGE REPRESENTATIVE
PRESENTS VIEWS ON THE
NEEDS OF BAPTIST STATE
INSTITUTION NEEDS
FOR COMING YEAR.
Editor of The News-Record:
Please allow mf space in ycur j
paper to set before our Baptist Chur-
ches and Sunday Schools one ot our i
! 4. 4;ot Kaccinrr nf.nl);. Tiamelv that'
of financing our Baptist Orphanage.
The French Broad Association has
asked me to represent our Orphan
age during this Associational year.
and to try to stimulate an interest m
our Sunday Schools which will cause
them to contribute to our Orphan-
n tro
regularly. To my utter amaze-
h , one
A .... a ;
church in
the
entire
. the 0rphi
, of regularity
Association is
anage with any
gularity. Our Sunday
'Schools should realize that the Or
phanage is financed by the first Sun
day and Thanksgiving offerings. We
have sought to enlist every Sunday
School in the once a month giving
to the Orphanage, but a large num
ber have failed to respond.
The needs of our Orphanage are
many and very distressing. We are
now aiding in their homes 392 with
87 mothers. These added to the num
ber now present in the Orphanage
makes 988 children in the care of
the North Carolina Baptists. We re
ceive from 50 to 100 applications each
month for entrance into our Orph
anage, but most of them are turned
away for the lack of room and adet
quate equipment to care for them,...
How long shall we heap upon our
selves the luxuries of life; how long
shall, we, go on on our needless arid)
lnauieren-wayB wivnoui, neariug wie
Voice of the Savior as He says, "Ren
der unto Caesar the things which are
Caesar's, and unto God the things
which are God's." We are rendering
unto Caesar his just dues, but we are
neglecting to give back to God His
just portion. God has richly blessed us
in the 'material things of life. Our
cattle graze upon a thousand hills,
our money is spent for that which
does not satisfy; and in the midst of
buzzing prosperity we have lost the
consciousness of personal responsi
bility.
Can our Christian bstitutions, that
have been planted by the hand of God
hope to do effective work unless those
of us who have named the name of
Christ stand loyally by them and sup
port them?. The -expense of. main
taining our Orphanage averages
$500.00 per day. This sum is compare
tively small when we take into .con
sideration the number that is being
cared for. If our more than 2200
Sunday ; Schools throughout North
Carolina would only, give an average
of , $5.00 per month, it would run. to
the grand total of $11,000 per month,
or $i32)00 p year. Every Sunday
School n the' French Broad Associa
tion, could , easily give this amount if
tne needs , of -the" orphanage were
constantly kept, before the' people, The
management f ear Orphanage have
keen forced 'to btrrow-170.000 te
tide them over nntil Qiis iThanksgiv
tair effetiag ireeiv6dether this
offering wiUsake!!-the deficit most
be- aertainedistac; bot, if ;it should
cover; .the "ibaci-Hhemanagement
will faeyitabhr erroed"to: borrow
tr.w aa.-a ajjJenomination, can
nnq. iio.geater .tavesttnenJT Qua fa
(reuuuii wur- money :vn . moniaing
inrwwn ienaracter: Those toe; red
Woodebemd TgirlaTsre. nit, papp.
,; they wreret boye and girla; of
low, morals; bnidHieyl have -come
from the borne? the nnost4 conse
crated Baptists to Nora Carolina.
Our,ch.adreaay be the next ones
ton, Weeared -A fori i Kho
," wam luyvtuence; wy) pnngt or
.what the futar holds forest;-.
us uutet ooft New Testament
and turn J'e.ie.
read wh. xT xil - Z r Bpa C.; inetantly Mled when
w?atwi?
Iftf - f"4 "J-'VW caused bT faJline-trees. the
lLll "- ton, el Walnut, Z ' -
hungry, though I sy -that I. see yon ; r. ' - --v..t..v.v.
have
, - ,
aeea .ozvsnener. clothlns and I
- I
-"t? faceewithout rendering J
a-ny assistance? Are you benefited by
my sympathy, are your hungry and
naked mouths and bodies supplied
wilih the necessities wh'ch they must
have? Your answer must inevitably
beiin the negative. I say in conclus
ion that unless we are awakened
from our state of lethargy, our un
fortunate children must inevitably
suffer.
Yours respectfully,
FRANK LEATHERWOOD,
Orphanage Representat've,
28. 1927. Man HXl, N. C
No.
SID TIPTON KILLED
BY FALLING TREE
'Sid Tipton, aged Madison County
man of Walnut, died Saturday niprht
as the result of injuries received carl-
ier in the day when a tree which ho
;was cutting down near his home
striuck him as it fell.
Mr. Tipton was able to walk to his
h : tim0 aflcr thc a(.citient,
. , . . i -1 1. i
Dm nicanwnne ne my in L"e snuv
and suffered very much from expos
ure to the weather. He had been in
poor health owing to a stroke of paral
yses some time ago, and in this condi
tion failed to withstand the shock.
iServices were held at the homo at
2:fe0 o'clock Monday afternoon, con
ducted by Rev. B. E. Guthrie, pastor
of. the Walnut Free , Will Baptist
church. The burial was in a nearby
cemetery.
- Mr. Tipton is survived by his wife,
and children, Mrs. Julia Ramsey,
Ralph Tipton, Monroe Tipton, Misses
Robbie and Sadie Tipton.
DOVER SPRINKLE
C0MMTMICIDE
K USES 20-CAUGE SHOTGUN
iMrjj Dover. Sprinkle, age about 50
years, weu-imown rarmeroi tne -wal
nut Creek section, who has been in ill
health for several years, took his own
life Wednesday morning at 6 o'clock,
shooting himself over the heart with
'a single barrel 20-gauge shotgun, liv-
ing a little over an hour after
the
fatal shot, according to reports.
It is said that Mr. Sprinkle walked
out of his home, gun in hand, and in
a few minutes the family heard a
shot, and going out, found him mar
tally wounded.
Mr, Sprinkle is a brother of Mr.
Mack Sprinkle, well-known eontrac-
tor of Marshall, and is survived by
his wife and several children.
TWO YOUNG MEN
INJURED EfWRECK
Wednesday morning a Ford road
ster turned over an embankment on
old Route 20, across the River, the
accident being due to a broken radius
rod, and not the fault of the driver,
according to reports.
Mr. Glenn W. Naves, of Marshall,
was riding on the running-board of
the car at the time of - the accident,
and jumped clear of the car? enly to
have it come dowat enr hinv-bruising
him about the .body severely: inflict
ing several minor cutaj. antfc breaking
his left hand. ..The driver of the ear
wee the other injured member-of the
party, being thfowtt against the steer-
hir ' wh'tol With nrli -fh. Vki
;w - W4w'eeMae1
With bruises in the-chestrHe might
have been hurt nvm aeriomuy were
it not for the fact that he- had a
heavy overcoat niwhfch aerved' u a
food padding agatest th eteeriiig
wneeij
h Those In the car war Elmer Clark,
ElmoU Ponder and brother Reems
boy, anoT Glenn Naveasr- ' -
Ul llill UlilAl ; t
IQUMDriREE
Word hu beenreciT lier .tw
rg,J- yeaxe oiqox
-or .
ML wv w mA - UIJ.
"Two
armsl
Two 'nnuHr ' Fan
; jjr-T-:, - " lkleWTThuiwind.
A DETAILED ARTICLE CONCERNING
WARRANTS SWORN BY M'DEVITT
AGAINST COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
W. G.
TO
BUCKNER GIVES FIGURES
BEAR OUT HIS STATE
MENTS IN THIS MATTER
We know that there has been, con
siderable interest among the people
of Madison County, as well as peon!"
on the outside of the County in re
gard to the warrants which N. B. Mc
Devitt swore out against thc Cornrrw
sioners of .Madison County, alleging?
.that the Commissioners had willfully
failed and neglected to perform tlieir
duties as to certain alleged laws which
McDevitt had passed by the Legisla
ture of 11)27.
In the issue, of the News-Record of
November 18, we explained with sum:?
detail what was required uf the C"-1!-misMoners
under the law in veg-ivi! ti
the tax levy for Madison County, arid
we respectfully request the readers
of the Record to refer to that article
in connection with wnat we have lo
say now.
The people of
the County waited
with great interest to know what
would be the results of the indict
ments of McDevitt against the Com
missioners in the Superior Court.
In the case of state gainst W. G.
Buckner, No. 96. on the Criminal
Dtocket indictment against W. G.
Buckner for failure to make bond in
the sum of $5,000.00, as chairman of
the road board returned "Not a True
Bill." John Hipps, Foreman Grand
Jury."
Indictment under Chapter 182,
Public Local Laws 1927.
State vs W. G. Buckner, J. C.
Chandler, Claud J. Wild, No. 95 Crim
inal Docket. Indictment in this case
under .Chapter 90 Public-Local Laws
North Carolina, 1927, Section 4.
That the Road Board or County.
Commissioners of Madison shall di
vide an apportion to each and every
road in the various townships a part
of the road taxes paid in by said
township, and the divisions shall be
made to all roads according to the
taxes paid in by the tax-payers own
ing property or living or residing on
said roads.
This case was called for trial and
the defendants announced that they
were ready for trial. The Solicitor
and the private prosecution asked that
the case be continued, The defense
insisted that the case should be tried
'for the reason that the Commissioners
were unable to construe the said law
or to comply,, with the demands made
in the foregoing section. That the
railroad and other corporations pay
a large part of the road taxes in the
County besides there are about 75 to
a 100 miles miles of state roads in the
County on which a large number of
the tax-payers own property and re
side, and that the Commissioners are
unable under the said law to deter
mine how the road tax paid by the
corporations and people who reside
end own property exclusively on the
atate Highways shall be divided or
distributed. The defendants further
contended that if the case should be
continued, that the Commissioners
would not feel justified in spending
any ; of the road money on the roads,
not knowing how to apportion it, with
criminal fcdictment . hanging; over
W r ke judge- -asked the-; SoHei
to--ee had, any charre ffainMMt)i
Commissioners for- not ' annorHohln
the oad tax money, among the differ
ent townships . fa. proportion ta h
taxes paid . for .road Jnureoaea nH.
.tt. W V l-0A'er toad
ymuviON- IBB COUGItAf find
rote ktiUmitpiA to H,e iw. 1
-. -wiw ,iu wen cnars udnA
the QommiaMmers, "Ceanael for? tiie
defense stated that they stood ready
to show by the-Avditor's booka tht'
the ; road , tax money up to data had
een, properly and accurately appor-
noneo-.itetweeii the different town
ehJps j f the v Conary.': The C6'nrt
thereupon expressed the opinion that
the statutb-nder which the defend
ants were indicted was so vague in its
terms olvkd be invalid. The Court '
then reruested he Solicitor te give
to ih S(mrt an InteUigtble construe
tfon of the statute, whereupon' the' So'
Bcitor admitted that he conld not.
The Court'then '-'called on Mr. j. H.
McElroy, attorney- or the private
prosecution to give a acoastruction of
the statute." . Mr. McElroy stated that
be thought he knew what the law was
driving at, but he could not interpret
the statute as it stands. The SoUcfc
tor expressed himself that he stood
ready to take such course as the iudgei
might recommend. The Court then
stated that he did not think that the
statute could be intelligibly construed
and did not believe that the Solicitor
could make a case against the defend
ants, whereupon the Solicitor took an.
Nol Pros in the ease.
State against W. G. Buekner, J. C
Chandler, Claud Wild, No. i)4 on the
Docket. This indictment was under
Chapter G21, Public Local Laws 1927.
Known as the tax levy indictment.
This case was called for trial the
defendants announced that they were
ready for trial. The Prosecution
moved for a continuance of the case".
The Judge intimated that the defend
ants ought to have a trial. The de
fendants stated that they should have
a trial for the reason that many of
the taxpayers of the County were
holding back from paying their taxes
deducting 30 cents and taking a par-
tial receipt, it was further shown that
Southern Railroad Co., heretofore had
paid its taxes as soon as the tax books
were made out, but this year the
Railroad Co. had not paid its taxes up
to date. That the Railroad all told
pays about $60,000 taxes and more
than half of that goes to the Public
Schools. That under the law the
Commissioners by failure of the pec
pie to pay their taxes on account of
the said indictment had been forced
to borrow money to run the County
and that they had borrowed for the ;
njonth of November $18,000.00 for,.. A
the school board, and that the school
board was calling on the Commission-jr,.
( Continued to "Page fonir ) ; t
SERVICES HELD FOR
CECIL SHELTON
Funeral service for Cecil Shelton,
young son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry
Shleton, of Marshall, who passed 8-way
at the' home of his parents here
early Sunday morning, following am
illness of over two years, was con
ducted at the Marshall Baptist church
Monday1 afternoon at two-thirty JC'
clock, Rev. H. L. Smith, the pastor,
and a close friend of the young manv
and his family, officiating. The serv
ice was largely attended by the many
friends of the deceased in Marshall,
and the floral offerings were very
beautiful, testifying to the high es
teem in which young Shelton was held
by both young and old in Marshall,
Rev. Mr. Smith paid a beautiful trib- (
ute to Mn Shelton, commenting oa
the splendid qualities of Christianity-
generosity, and friendliness in evi "
dence of his life, especially during hfe
long and serious illness, the greater- ;
part of which was spent in Asheville
and Winstori-Salem hospitals. s ;
; The active pall-bearers consisted of "
six boy friends and former school-' "
mates of the young man.' as follows--.
Lankford Story, Bon White, Hal Wesbr 1 1
N, B. McDevitt, Jr.. Hubert WorW. r
and Glenn W. Naves. Manv bov andf.
gfrj Iriends attended the' services. '
f?'.".e51M''1 WB years ot agev '
and prior ,'bj his illness was one 'of. the?' '
leaders id school life here. i He was4
an excellent student and star iebatv r
being a member of One of the niostl1 :
successful debating teams' in the hisL? '
ry o MarshaH'fligh. Hj waji taavt
en ill shortly before his graduations, '
from high school here, and his condi-'!'
tion ' ferew 'steadily worse, Friend
here recall that at one li'm'e' he enter- ' V
jed ' debaring contest when Jhe waw
111 .walore4''to;JBs'"crntbr' '
whfle walkiiia and sUndinar' on theV X
4oor'argue bk point"; His splendiA ;
qualities and ability as a speaker fav- '
orabty mipressed the judges, that Mar
Wall higVi Rebating team carried oir
the honors in one of the' most difficult
eontes oirthat ear. ; J- .'V.
( iHe was a" member of tHe'i'Mars! '5
Baptist church, jwd. prior to his fcln'et '
look' an active part .in Bi-,V p,..!!.,
and cither young people's work in tl
church. ' - v- '?'-- '-
Suryiyjng arehis parents,' ne r -ter,.
Miss . Mona.;. he!ton",. and. f
brothers, Thad, Servada, Che,, ,
iOkely and CarL