Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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WHOLK FAMILY HLAlfJ Horrible Murder and Hulcide at Pain phllco, In Plarenre County, Florence. Jan lfl.-?~l>iseovery today pf the -Hodlfca of (tw inemflwrs of til n> ftlgham fatnRy revegfed tha't Hie en tire family, living about five miles from Pamlico In tbe southeastern pari of Florence Count/, was wiped out fometl&e yesterday afternoon, a total of five being killed. \.. S. High-mi. aged about forty-ftvo, )g thought to have shot and killed tils mothet, Mrs M. M. BiKhain, Aged .sixty; his slater, lid. Majorle A. Black, aped thirty-fiver and Nw? latte?!'s two adopt ed chiidwn; t#o Mobraek^n, aged nine, mid John MeCracken, aged five. AN {eged family troubles In which an es tate valued at about $75,000 was at etake, is reported to have t>oou tfte roiiso of the tragedy. L. s. Bigham has not been officially charged with the crime as the?coroner'n jury will not make a report for about two weeks but the throry Is that he was the murder and t*he suicide. The father of L. 8. Bigham wa? the late Senator Bigham and the family h a prominent ono in the county.. All Were evidently killed inat^ntly, except Mrs*. Bigham, the man's mother, who lived a few moments, and the old est child, who died at 5 o'clock this morning. The tragedy took place at the old Bigham homo five miles from Panvpllco. Florence County, and twen ty-five miles from this city. After slaying all within the house at the time, It Is alleged, Bigfham wont deep Into the woods surrounding the place and fired a bullet Into his own brnlft. When lii-s body iw?i found ftl no'Ui today his right hand sttTI maH|M<) the platol. It was stated by i In* physician who examined the hody that lllghaiu had been dead more than twelve liours. TRij murdered m i .ons were #11 sliot i:t the t!< iid : Mic bullets in each QkSt cujrr'ug .hint beneath t hoi r t?*in N*? ne was ' Ktiot more than once, i\l though two hiiiis'iiiat imd mis?ed their mark. were found near the hack <1 ?<>r. hinro pistol used by TMghain still contained an unexploded cartridge \i bicU !lld|0flti? t Iih t tho man reloaded. 'tic. rk'ham homo ttf more t>ban half ?? miles distant from any neighboring llbU*P. No one could be found today who b id heard any shooting about the place. A large erowd gathered during the day and passed from room to room l viewing the dead. The sight was a ghastly one. On a bed In a down stairs room lay the aged mother and the youngest child, their faces cov ered wltth blood. In the adjoining room the oldest of the ""children lay oil a bed where he died at 5 o'clock this morning, and beside him the body of It'gham was placed when tho seaehors returned with It today. Up stairs In the room she usually oc cupied was the body of Mrs. Marjorle Hlack. oldest sister of Rlgham. It lay on the floor just !n front of tho drowor. ? Until late this afternoon whmi the coroner's Jury completed tak ing evidence the bodies were undis turbed. Although the tragedy is said to have occurred at 3 :80 o'clock yesterday af ternoon It was late last night before word of It reached Florence County No Red Tape in Joining Our ' , _ . ' A Christmas Savings Club Just sa v , Barkis is willing and get your pass Book. You will then bo happy on your way ro a DEBT-FREE CHRISTMAS next yea r. You can look the problem of Christ um s Squarely In tl;/ eye. A Ten Dol lar Bill In the handta better than a lot of Unpaid Bills on January 1st. You Can Join Today. < a A Man for Every Purse, v ' Any of Them Spell Christmas Cheer. MAKE YOUR BUILDING A LANDMARK To do so it must be permanent and beautiful. Use the Palmetto Brick ? they are the best and prices are right. See Leroy S. Davidson & Company Camden, South Carolina Life Insurance * Protects mortgaged real estate. A "Life" Policy pays the mortgage if the bor rower dies. It gives him time to discharge the obligation if he dies. An "Endowment'' Policy pays off the mortgage whether the borrower lives or dies. Southeastern Life Insurance Co., L. A. McDowell, Agent official** Hittl they immediately scut out dlapatche* asking officer* in other towns to watch out for iligtmm. Kind report* of the trapedy were conflicting and duo to the fact tftiat It was lmiM>8 Bible to secure telephone and telegraph communication wtth rump! too last night, it w as not until today that the iiu-ts Itt'cuiuo known. Itlgham's brother, Edmund lllgham, hud left the hopse with ills family lu an automobile at 3:10 o'clock. He returned from a short ' visit to a neigld lot's bouse about twehty miu lilcs later, and found his mother stay: goring toward tlie road. !!?> jumped from his ear but the aged woman died almost before he reached her. Others happened to drive by the house at that time and when they bore the laxly of Mrs. Ititfliam Into the house they saw evidences of blood on the floor ami be gun an Investigation which revealed the slaughter of three others. At the coroner'# inquest today lCd^ muud Itigham testified tihat he had beeu away from the house only about twenty minute*. He had left his brother standing in Phe yard. He had been acting strangely for several weeks and he did not a]H>ear to be any more depressed yesterday than usual, he said. "When I got into the car with my f > ndly to go to Paropllco," IQdmund Hlghnm testified," I left my mother and winter and the children at their various occupations and play. Ah far as I know there had 4?eeu no quarrel ing during the day. Instead of going straight to Pamplico, I went up the road to see Bob Foxworth for a min ute. As we came back we saw mother stagger out of the yard. I then turned and caught a glimpse of Smllle turn ing into the woods almost. In a run. He had his right hand up toward his breast as if toe had something In it, but I did not see any pistol. My mother died as we were carrying her >- - ? into the house. "I Mien went out on the back piazza and found .John MeCracken, the young est child, dead there. My mother's cap was also on the floor just by the back door and there was blood all about. I ladieve my mother and the child were ffl'ot on the pia/.r.a and that she tried to get into the road for help. "We then started to look for my sls jler and the other child. It wfls almost dark, probably two hours after we reached home, that we found Mrs. Mack dead in her room upstairs. "Later some one found the child, Leo MeCracken on a pile of straw behind a potato bank out in the yard. He was still alive. We called Dr. Poston as soon as possible. The boy died about 5 . o'clock this morning. It is evident the boy was running when he was stfiot." M>. Bighnni could not say why tho room of Mrs. Rlack was not searched sooner,. "It Just happened so." ho said, "that wo did not think about it." Someone had asked him to go up stairs. hilt* ho just did not do it. Mr. TMtrhn in also doc'nrcd that Ids brother had been in financial troubles and Jhad often spoken of Wiom, Two years afro while he was postmaster at Oruni. he was eh a rged with a shortage. There had always been a (fucstlon about this and it had never boon settled. He had nlso spoken of certain people who had been trying to do him wrong he said. "That morning about 12 o'clock we fcnd paid off the (hands together and ?j T noticed that my brother was awfully ' depressed. ITe would stand up and gaze about in an abstracted manner. 77o did not have a p'sfol that I know of Tho pistol ho did the killing with was mine and was in my bureau drawer when I left the house, in my mother's room I think." There were some at the scone of tho fdiooting today who ?were inclined to doiVht ftfoat Smilie Bighnm had done the wholesale killing or that he had kiUed himself. All of the evidence which could be found today, however j pointed toward him as murderer, and | sn'eide. The complex situation in 'which Wio Rlgham estate had been in voved for the past year or two, give j rise to trtio doubts expressed by gome of the people living in the community. ] From the situation at the *eone of the shooting it is believed that the ninrderer shot Mrs. Black first. From cleanliness of the bullet wound, he evidently orept into the room and shot her before knew it. Tt fa thought that tibe man then rushed down tho stairs and met Mrs. Bigham, his moth er. at the back door on the pi izzn, which connects the kitchen and dining room with the main house. There he shot her and the youngest of ttie two children. Tho boy's body was half way down the steps. Indicating that ho was trying to escai?e. In the meantime 'the other child evidently had made his way Into the yard and was run down, being overtaken near a potato bank at the rear of thtr kitriben. From,all that can be gathered Rlgham must have im mediately hnried himself in the thick woods a mile from the house wher^ he took his own life. Rlgham wan at>out forty year* old. He waa nn married. He irss^'son of t*r litr /_5?i?i0r L. n. Righsm, who ifr?M several terms 1a the Senate from Florence County. Rltfhrtw was u civil engineer. The Ulily NlllvivllIK IUCUlt*H*rt <)f Hicham fa Hilly now are Kdmund liigham who I've* of the old homo mid Dr. Cleve land iUgham, whoso whereabouts Is unknown. Pr. Illgham was convicted ill tin1 lirnwlown County court se\ ovul years ago of the the niurdur of hi* wife. Ho was Mintencod to throe your* Imprisonment In the penitentiary, but, before he could ho taken to prison Juiqihm) !?ls bond and has not been frcard of since. Tho amount of the; bond was $10,000. Still I'nfollct-ted. The S 1 1? t ?' of South Carolina has never been ahle to col loot tlio bond money and tho mat tor la now In the hands of tho Attorney General for set tlement. It Is understood that the Hig lintn estate Is responsible for the money, All tho member* of the family having signed the bond except Mrs. J. Hokum Cain, who dioo rather suddenly during tbo Influents* epidemic, leaving a husband and One son. Ah a possible motive for his deed yesterday H may be stated that L. 8. H'gbarn has been suspected of mutilating tho county r?M?ords for the purpose of getting hold oi the estate lands. Tbis matter la be ing Investigated. It seems that about the time Pr. Cleveland Blg\inm left Florence tho IMghams transferred their 'nt crest In tho estate to the /late Mrs. ! Nogan Cain, tlho only member of the family not on the bond. All the ;le <1s to Hhe thousand or more aeros of land bear her name. SJnee her death, it is stated, that Itlgham has been attempting to Ret a settlement from her huSband who Is a deputy sheriff of this county, but the matter has not been closed. Several pages thavo been torn from the deed hooks, the indexes Indicating, it Is said, that they relate to the tttgham \ lands, and it is also said in more than one case the wording of the deeds where the record is in long hand has been crudely altered to show that Mrs. Cain was outfitted to only a half or a third interest as the cause inigfct be in the certain tracts referred to. The mutilation of the courthouse records caused something of a sensation and the matter has been kept quiet until ibsolntn evidence could he secured. More than 40,000 ? marriages were jwrformcd in California during the past, yea r. The Y. M. O. A. has now no fewer than 015 American men and women en gaged in va'ribqs forms of welfare ser vice in European countries. Phone 66 -r ? ? We specialize on Telephone Orders. Prompt Delivery. Bruce s Pure Food Store 'HONK 66 PEPTO-MANGAN WILL HELP FIGHT COLD ' f ?? * ' V ?Make Up Your MlncI to Keep Free From Colds. Get Your Blood in Good Condition. START TAKING PFJTO-MANGAN Now Is the Time to liuild Up. You Will be Strung Thin Winter Kvcry house has a supply of fuel for i whiter. People know eohl weather Is i coming. They get ready for It. Ho\yf many people got their own bodies ready for winter? Most of lis go arOund nil summer in the Intense beat hurning up energy, working hard all day and sometimes lying awake night# sleepless in the heat. Winter comes along. It catches many people totally unprepared physically. Few of us take stock of our health. Whether we -will bo well, healthy and strong, we often leave too much to i chance. I Hut not everybody. Nowadays peo j pie are learning. They know this mat ter of enjoying good health Is a thing they-ean help control.- If you live right eat right; get plenty of sleep, breathe fresh air and keep your blood in good 'condition, you will be all right. . It Ik no simple. If you feel a little off In health ix'ihaps worn out and pule -don't .take chances. There'H no need of It. Buy some IVpto Mangan of your druggist. Begin taking It to (lay. You can get It In liquid or tab let form. Tell your druggist which you prefer. But to be certain that you got the genuine Pepto-Mangan ; ask for it by the full name ? "Gude's lVpto Mangan." Look for the nauio "GudeV on the package. ? Advertisement. Coburn's MlnHtrelf*? Opera House Saturday, January Declaring Miat it spoils the tranquil peace of the country, the English rurjil people are making .moves to abolish l ho motor bus from the country road These busses roar through quiet little villages, raising great clouds of dust, frightening pedestrians and exciting (he wrath of motorists. Most of 'Km Do That. While waiting for bis train the young man amused himself with the various slot-machines. At Inst , he emtio to one which did not respond to the penny lie deposited." "Look here!" lie said to a porter who was standing by, "I tried my strength on one machine and I've tried my weight on another, but what's this apparatus? I put my penny in and got nothing." "Oh," responded the iporter, "that's to try your temper." Back to Pre-War Battery Prices PREST-O-LITE I . ? * BATTERIES FOR ALL CARS Last to Raise First to Reduce That new storage battery your can needs ? can now be bought at a big and sub stantial saving. You will think the good old days have really come back when you see what Prest-O-Lite has done to restore the low cost of-motoring. Heavy Reduction in the Cost of New Batteries Yet quality has been rigidly maintained. That unusual pep and reserve power for which the Prest-O-Lite battery has always been famous, is greater than ever today. A full powered battery of correct size for your car is ready, waiting for you at the new price. A Prest-O-Lite battery in your car will give you a world of satisfac tion. If your old battery still has some value, we will make you a handsome allowance in buying a new battery, a still further saving in addition to the substantial discount ( that the new low price will give you. Beard's Battery Service West DeKalb Street Camden, S. C. % % f