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In my first few days of genealogical exploration, I came across a rough, handwritten note :
"Robert V. - killed in store in Catawba"This note was bundled in the inherited works of Phil Mace & Kathryn Murray Hooks. I had never heard of him nor heard any of the family speak of him. The association to the family was that he was the brother of William Alexander Murray who was the Murray to start Murrays’ Mill in Catawba NC. William is also my Great, Great Grandfather. Okay, I have a GGG Uncle that I presumed was murdered but I don’t know about it. How can this be? It amazes me that we lose so much information in such a relatively short time. After asking around, I found out that no one else had heard of him either. He became an enigma to me. Still is.
Checking the Catawba Co. Cemetery Index gave me dates to work with. I reasoned that the local paper would have had a write-up on it. It had been years since I had used microfilm and I did not know what I was doing then. I fumbled through spooling the 1896 Newton Enterprise on the reels. My head cocked to the side, I was already scanning the text. I was immediately side-tracked by all the snake oil ads. Amazing claims, "guaranteed to work", to cure ailments that I could not begin to understand what they meant in our time. The librarian had been sitting next to me, helping another patron with their microfilm problem. She reached over and turned the lens on my machine. I uprighted my head realizing that I had been resembling a retriever listening to a squeaky wheel. I smiled, blushed, and got serious about looking.
I found various clips in the first few months as I try to determine what is happening with John W. Setzer, the man who stood as the potentially accused. That they were considering between murder and manslaughter had me perplexed as to the unknown circumstances. I noticed another murder trial was nearing end. Thomas Covington had evidently got himself into a world of trouble. I felt that reading this was pertinent to my case as I might learn a few things of the time period and how they handled such cases. I saw, in particular, that this Covington case had been going on for two years at that point. I looked at the clock and noticed that it had taken me two hours to read or scan January through March. It was also nearing the library’s closing time. I had to walk away, gaining very little knowledge and only being that much more hungry to find out. The library in Newton is about 100 miles from my home in Stokes County. This is going to take some special attention.
I should point out that the Catawba articles written for the Newton Enterprise were penned by Dr. George C. McNeill. He was William A. Murray's inactive investment partner in Murrays' Mill. Indeed, McNeill had been part of the mill operations on that land before the Murrays were there. He had partnered with Silas Wike until 1883 when William bought Wike's share. Dr. McNeill toured the county by carriage making housecalls and practicing from his home, was a Confederate veteran, wrote articles in the Newton Enterprise & another local paper, was very prominent in his community, and served on many committees and boards. Much information is available on him such that he may be another biography installment in his own right. I do not see bias on McNeill's part but it had to be mentioned since Robert was William's brother.
A killing in the present day represents its own unique set of difficulties for the investigator. This problem is compounded by being an event that took place over a hundred years ago. I have never gotten back to the microfilmed copy of the Newton Enterprise but I have been blessed with learning several key pieces to the mystery. The internet can be an amazing thing; Carolyn Setzer Sigmon was able to provide these pieces via email (Thank You!). It is far better than any original information that I have. I hope that more light will be shed on what has been an ever-growing mystery to me. I hope to pursue with more information from the Newton Enterprise, the Catawba Co. Coroner’s Office (or whatever entity held a medical report), additional court records, and records of attorney M.E. Lowrance or administrator J. W. Sigmon if they still exist. I do not know if a separate police or sheriff’s report would have been available. Any ideas about places to look for documentation? Any other newspapers that would cover this?
Open the Case file on Robert V. Murray
Loading the graphics may take a whileSee how I get sidetracked : Newton Enterprise Curios
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