Ella Murdered at Zinc, AR

 I recently read this book about Ella Barham.  She was raped and murdered November 21, 1912 in Boone County, AR.  Ella had rode a horse across Crooked Creek to the home of a neighbor seeking help to design a pretty hat or fitting a new dress.  On her way home, she was attacked and killed.  After murdering Ella, her killer chopped her in many pieces.  He moved some of the body parts to another location.   Some brush was piled on part of the slaughter but some left in plain sight.

 Zinc, AR was once a thriving little village.  It was near the railroad and the area developed around a zinc mine.   Once the usage of zinc lessened, the little town disappeared.

Shortly after Ella's brutal murder, her neighbor Odus Davidson and his brother were arrested.  Odus was a poor country boy.  He owned one pair of shoes and only an outfit or two.   No blood was found on any of Odus' apparel or shoes--not one drop.  His father gave a lawyer 80 acres of land to fight for Odus.

 Odus was found guilty and hanged on the square at Harrison, AR.  He was the last man hanged in Arkansas.

 Odus is buried in Maplewood Cemetery in Harrison, AR.  His sister had this stone placed on his grave.  "Here rest the ashes of Odus Davidson, born January 22, 1883. His life taken August 11, 1913, by misrepresentations born of excitement." 

 Here Odus goes handcuffed to his gallows.  He proclaimed his innocence with his last breath.

Good citizens prepared the gallows.

 Men came dressed in their best clothes and many of the ladies sported a pretty hat.  Notice the man atop the building and those looking out the windows.

it seems ironic that Ella was laid to rest in the Davidson Family Cemetery.
Lillian Ethel “Ella” Barham
BIRTH 6 Feb 1894
Boone County, Arkansas, USA
DEATH 21 Nov 1912 (aged 18)
Boone County, Arkansas, USA
BURIAL
Davidson Cemetery
Olvey, Boone County, Arkansas, USA
Erin traveled to Olvey today and visited Ella's grave.   Maybe she will go next to Maplewood and view the grave of an innocent Man--Odus Davidson.

The Davidson family moved from Boone County, AR to Oklahoma after the murder as they were threatened by their good neighbors--move or be burned out!

What a sad story this is.  Ella's murder has never been solved, but I have also read another book recently about the "train murderer".   He rode the train and hacked his victims to death with an ax just as Ella was killed.  I can't help but wonder if the train rider was not Ella's killer.  Odus brother was allowed bond.  He was never tried for Ella's murder.