Kentucky Hauntings(17)

The late Brother Morris Gaskins of Russell Springs, Kentucky, wrote one account based on newspaper stories and interviews with local citizens. Editors of Adair County and Russell County papers and other regional papers wrote articles full of valuable information. Relatives wrote accounts, too, giving additional information. The account here is the one we heard most often.

The crime occurred on December 8, 1908, and the victim was a young schoolgirl. Nannie Womack's age is variously given as nine, ten, eleven, and even twelve years old, but her tombstone shows she was born April 7, 1898, and died December 8, 1908. Fate was definitely in charge of her life that day.

One of five children of Mr. and Mrs. Logan Womack, Nannie and two of her brothers attended Mt. Olive School. Normally, these brothers would have been walking home with her that day, but as fate would have it, they had gone home with some friends that day. Even so, some friends walked home from school with Nannie until they reached the lane that branched off and led to Nannie's home. They asked if she wanted them to walk on home with her, but she said she was not afraid to walk alone. They waved good-bye, and she turned and walked down the lane alone. She was found murdered in that lane, less than a quarter mile from her home.

The woods that lined the lane were dark and thick and made a perfect hiding place for her killer, Elmer Hill. Elmer was a cousin of Nannie's, but he did not have a good reputation in the community. He was in his early twenties when he waited for Nannie to come by that day. He grabbed her, dragged her into the woods, and raped and murdered her. From bits of information pieced together later, Elmer was really waiting for one of the local girls and was upset when she didn't show up. Fate stepped in and sent him an innocent substitute—Nannie Womack.

Elmer attempted to murder Nannie with her scarf, but she survived his choking attempt. If only she had played dead, she might have lived. Perhaps she was too young to think of staying perfectly still. She was probably so frightened, she just wanted her mother.

As Elmer turned to walk away, Nannie sat up and called out three times, “Mama! Mama! Mama!”

It was then that Elmer turned back and smashed her small head and face with a tree limb. Strangely enough, at that same time, Nannie's mother, Jocie Hill Womack, thought she heard her daughter calling her. That was one of the reasons that made them start searching for her as soon as they did. (We talked recently to the man who moved not long ago with his family into a home near the place where Nannie was murdered. Some members of the family have heard the voice of a little girl calling, “Mama! Mama! Mama!”)

The family was joined in the search by neighbors throughout the Webbs Cross Roads and Mt. Olive communities. Clay Dameron was the person who discovered Nannie's body.

While the search was on for the little girl, Elmer is said to have gone to the home of his grandfather to change clothes and hide his bloody ones in the loft. Later, he changed his shoes for a pair of new ones at the home of a man named Holt near the Blair Schoolhouse Road. Nobody ever explained why he went there to get the new shoes. Maybe blood was on the old pair.

In those days, it was the custom to “lay out” the body at home while the coffin was being built. During that time, Elmer came to the house to view his poor little dead cousin. He put on a good act. He was quoted as saying, “A person who would do a deal like that is sure a mean person!” At that point, nobody knew the mean person was Elmer himself.

Elmer joined the men outside who were discussing the crime and how to catch the killer. There was some mention of burning the killer at the stake when they caught him. A rider rode up and announced that bloodhounds were on their way from Lincoln County and would soon be there to start the search for the killer. This news seemed to upset Elmer, and he left the Womack home in a hurry. At that point, nobody had made the connection between Elmer and the murder.

The bloodhounds arrived and trailed the killer for three days before finding him in a relative's outbuilding in Sano, Kentucky, on the fourth day. Wolford Wilson and a young man named Sheperd captured Elmer among his relatives on Sunday, December 13, 1908, and took him to the Jamestown jail. Because of people's emotions running so high and the danger of lynching being very real, the authorities soon moved Elmer to the Wayne County jail, where he remained until Tuesday of the following week.

On the night of Elmer's arrest, a mob said to be composed of 25 to as many as 150 men decided to take the law into their own hands and hang Elmer Hill. Several such attempts were foiled, but finally a mob, many of whose members were prominent citizens, proceeded to Wayne County and seized Elmer Hill from the jail. The sheriff was not present at the time, and the deputy offered up the keys to the jail to the mob with no resistance.