Mrs. Hugh T. Rodgers (lower photo), mother of the children, died Saturday morning. H. Clifton King, superintendent of her farm, shot Mrs. Rodgers fatally, then killed himself.
But Children of Slain Widow Do Best To “Make Things Nice” in Motherless Home by Virginia Winkelman
ORPHANS | While the rain poured down outside the little white farmhouse which the man who killed their widowed mother had built for them two years before, three little girls busied themselves as plans were being made for their drab future.
With solemn, tearless faces they were doing their best to “make things nice.” They probably will be sent to the Masonic orphans home at Nashville, relatives said Saturday.
Holding Vigil at Bedside
Frances Christine, 13, Dorothy Zelle, 10, and Norma William, 7, all were at school Friday afternoon when H. Clifton King, superintendent of the little farm at Rosemark shot first the children’s mother, Mrs. Hugh T. Rodgers, then himself after a quarrel over an auto ride.
King died immediately. The three children were hustled into Memphis after their mother, who was carried to Baptist Hospital. They watched thru the night until she died at 3 a.m. Saturday morning.
Then they went back home to “get things ready for her.” Miss Mary Ella Davidson, 18, visiting in the home at the time is with them. She was a witness to the shooting.
Not One is Crying
But, according to Frances Christine, 13, Mary Ella is a visitor and doesn’t know how to fix things or where.
Frances Christine is doing them herself. Doing them and – smiling in the midst of death. “Mother thought the world of us,” says Frances Christine. “And I’d promised to be big for her. I’m starting right now by trying to look on the cheerful side of things.”
And Frances Christine has coached the younger sisters. Norma William isn’t feeling very well but none of them are crying.
Say “He” was Kind
“He” says Frances Christine, not mentioning King by any name, “was looking tolerable blue lately. But he was never mean. The house was a log cabin till he built it up for us. After Mr. Rodgers died he came to live with us. He made our crop last year and again this year.”
The three children made a special little crop of their own which King taught them to care for, according to Frances Christine.
“He always was kind.” the child says. “At Christmas he gave us nice presents.”
She Knows the Future
“We were going to have a big Christmas this year if his mother and father could come out.” King’s parents, who live in Memphis, were at the house at the time of the shooting.
Frances Christine understands exactly what is going to happen to them now.
“We’re going to the Masonic school in Nashville until we’re 18.” She says, “We’re going to study hard and do something big for mother.”
“We’ve all made good attendance record this year and Norma Sue won a certificate last year for penmanship.”
She left off making the bed for her dead mother to show a little framed certificate Norma Sue had won.
[Memphis Press Scimitar, Memphis, Tenn., Saturday, December 19, 1931]
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Drab Future Faces Three Left Orphans By Bullets
Bullets Fatal to Mother of 3
Mother Shot to Death, Three Little Girls Face Life Alone