A Desperate Act, 1857

A Desperate Act.
The Boonsboro’ Odd Fellow of last week gives the following account of a most shocking occurrence:

On Wednesday night last, the 22 nd of April, a colored woman, aged about 20 years, the property of SUSAN GRAY, residing some four miles from this place, under the impression that she was to be sold South, deliberately took an axe and laid her left hand on the root of a tree and chopped it so near off that it hung by a little skin. She made six cuts, at different places, all of which save one, went nearly through. After committing the act she crawled under the bake oven, where she was found the next morning, completely prostrated from the loss of blood. But for the coldness of the night, causing the blood to coagulate, she must have bled to death. The hand was taken off this morning, above the wrist, by Dr. O. J. SMITH, and brought to town, and was the cause of attracting crowds to the Dr’s office.

Some thirty years ago, we saw a negro man, who was imprisoned in the Jail of this county, and who apprehended that he would be sold South, chop off four of his fingers with an axe; and another about the same time, entertaining like apprehensions, broke his skull with a stone.