A Woman Found Dead

Mrs. Mary Ann Layton, who lives near Smithburg, was found dead on the floor of the sitting room of her house on Saturday morning. Mrs. Layton is a widow with three children. She went huckleberrying on Friday, and that night two men, William Hendrickson and George Taylor, called at the house. Mrs. Layton’s oldest boy says that when he went to bed at night only one of the men was there and that at that time his mother and the man were sitting on the porch. When the body was found on Saturday morning the body was nearly nude and there were signs of a struggle. Hendrickson and Taylor have been arrested. They both acknowledge having been at the house on Friday night, but they declare that they know nothing of the woman’s death.

Source: Red Bank Register, Wednesday, June 28, 1899