Susan Hemphill

 
The Cartersville Express
Cartersville, Georgia
January 17, 1878, Page 3
 
Transcribed by:  
 

Death On The Rail.
Susan Hemphill is Knocked From Petit’s Creek Bridge and Killed.

As the “goober” train went up the road at 1 o’clock Tuesday morning and was nearing Petit’s Creek bridge, the engineer, looking ahead, saw a person running on the bridge.  He immediately blew on the brakes and made every effort to stop the train, but could not do so before the train had knocked the unfortunate pedestrian from the bridge to a depth of twenty feet below, on the bank of creek.  He stopped his train and notified some colored people of the occurrence, who immediately went to the spot and found the body of Susan Hemphill, a colored woman.

She had on Monday night attended a ball and had gotten very drunk.  She left the room at a very late hour and wandered up the railroad in search of an unfaithful lover, who had gone in the direction of Mechanicsville in company with another woman.  She had reached the bridge where she met her awful and unexpected death.

A jury was summoned by Col. J. W. Pritchett, J. P., and Coroner pro tem, consisting of the following gentlemen: Aaron Collins, Capt. R. G. May B. M. Mountcastle, Ranse Sellers, Harry J. Erwin and Cornelius Willingham.  The post mortem examination was made by Dr. J. M. Young, who gave as his opinion that the death was caused by concussion, occasioned by the fall.  The only external wound was one on the forehead, which had bled quite profusely.  After mature deliberation and a careful examination of a number of witnesses the jury arrived at the following verdict: Resolved, That we the jury impaneled to sit in inquest over the dead body of Susan Hemphill, find that the deceased came to an accidental death by being knocked from the bridge at Petit’s creek by a train, on the morning of January 16, 1878.

 

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