Tennessee, B-C, 1843-2000, Undated

mt supper an

ak be aid that

feesion, which

onofl Mr, Johneon, ¢nd

at hie reqiegt that gentienian will not

make it public antil! after the execu-

tion. Wher questioned ap to thia, Mr.

Johoron declined (0 edy positively yea

or vay, bat enid whi r statenent
would be or had been

ade,would most
[certainly pot be madq public until, all
wasover. — pee !

MR. JORKSON IPPERVIEWED
| [aan interview with Mr. Johnaon,
last night, he esid thet the law bad
been strictly enforced ag to his client
during the long aud tadious trials, an
he would see, that it) wag ienforced to
the letter pndil the end. | Mr. Johnson
said he visited the prisoner yesterday
4 afternoon, — found him calm and
coal, as he had all dlong conducted
himself. Hemadea profession of re-
ligion a few days ago, and said he was
realy and willing to meet Heath. Mor-
row ca been advised to make no state-
ment on the ecaffold,; asd if he did
make any further ‘statement it would
be private, ead to bimeelf and [r.
ears, who were his sole advieers. Mr.
Jchuson said he had fefused to allow
anyone to see or interview the doomed
man, aod it would be utterly fatile for |
anyone ta undertake to do so, by any
chicanary. He weet on further
to say that after @esth = aad
when certain matters come to light,
the people would learn that Morrow
was noteo bada man as. they have
thought. ‘Morrow requested that his
remaios be turned, over tq Mr. Johnson
ond Dr. Sears, who witl probably take
them ona boat to Blooming Cirove
| charch, ninetéen miles below the city,
| where they will be iotermd. The ar-
ticle which appeared a few, day} since
in one of the Nashville dailies tegard-
ing the supposition that | Morrow was
the morderer of one Lepsing is pro-
pounced by Mr. Job - as utterly
false, there being no foandstion for the.
story. a |
ABAD PARTIaQ

Morrow's wife returned dn Wednes-
day night from Nashville; whither she
went to intercede with Gor, Bate in ber
husband’s behalf. Upoo her return.
she went to the jail and spent the night
with Morrow. She left yest¢rday for,
her home in the Nigth diatricy, accom-

panied by ber mother. alg riing be-
itween Mortow and his wi ascalm,
and no demonstration wag made on the
part of either. They have five children,
none of whom have been allowed to see
their father, he not, wishing them to se¢

him in jail, | 6
A BTRANGH QUIETUDE

The Banner reporter fougd jupon his
arrival here a quiegude that is strange
in a place of jts sim whea p hanging is
to occur. There a tq : beia feelie
of gloom among o better cl i.
they look uy e@ exequtio he
law asacad afisir, Theda
was found ig the second
jril, his gell, window over!
river, thus: excluding all  injéfope
with the outside world. For seve
days past no ope was admitted to;
Morrow except Dr. Sears, past of the
Baptist charch, his apiritgal | adviser,
aod bis cttorneys and frjands, Megas,
Polk G. Johnson add) Mighae| Sav

ve peid reget
- BW nw \

i i ‘

Mae ry oarridd out.of sight.
1) | Stitt aramubers. :
| pee, 1884, J. W. Pachand called
eae be attomey-general of Mont:

ery county aod gave him eome in:
es jon Ape Ransom Morrow,
Wy. Morrow and Dr. Bellamy, which,
with testimony that was afterward se-
curdd, led to their arrest ant
indictment for the murder al Janwsa
Brown, colored, in 1877, aud of Dick
Overtop, colored, in 1883 Pach ad
etatéd tbat he had long been cognizant
of the deeds of those whom he accused,
but bad been afraid to inform the au
thonities, having been forced, some
time an ae § to leave Mon'gomery
couaty, the Morrows and Bellamy
threatening his life if he revealed what
Williaga Morrow had told him: in cod
tideace. The arrest of tha three men
occasioned great excitementon account
of their high standing, which waa in.
tehsified by the Baoding in the cave cf
the putrified corpae of Overton, and
some boves that were supped to he
thbse of a human being. ‘Voe body of
a babies had been placed on the slide
méntiobed above, but the dost worn by
the murdered man had caught on 8
snag at the mouth of the chasm, and
there the remains had Ipin for ten
months. They were identitied by rela.
tives of Overton, and given decent
burial.

| TRIAL AND CONVICTION,

The trio haWMmg been placed bebind
the bers, otbet witnesses were soon
found who corroborated the story re
lated by Pachand. The trial of the
prisoners occurred in November, extra.
precautions being taken in the mean-
time to prevent them being either
mobbed by indignant citizens ar tea.
cued by friende. Much trouble was
experienced ia obtviniog a jury, most
of the pecple in the connoty having
formed or expressed an opinion as to
the guilt or innocence of the defend-
ants. The ablest attorneys at the
Clarksville bar appeared on either side
and the case was funght with rare skill.
It was proved that Wm. Morrow had
killed Brown for an

attempt to commit an outrage

na ws 88 ak $ ® ) ¢
upon sars, H3lamy, inat ne nso mer |

Brown in the woods; bad shot six bul-
lets throtigh his body after Brown had
knelt at his feet and piteously begged
for meroy; that after life was extinct
he had placed severs! burning pieces
of wood upon the body, and bad then
gone tochurch. After Brown's body
was discovered, suspicion rested upon
Bellamy, who was tried forthe murder
and was acquitted. [i was sworn that
Ransom Morrow and Bellamy had in-
duced Wm. Morrow to kill Brown,
and that the murderer had cynfeared
his guilt. to friende, who were threat-
eped with death in
should reveal what he had told them.

After a week’s duration the trial end- :

ed, Wm. Morrow being convicted as

Bercipe: and Ransom Morrow and

allamy as accessories, the verdict of
the jury being “guilty of murder in
the tirst degree, with mitigating cic:
cumstances.” he three were seo-
tesced to imprisonmet for life.

BEFORE THE SUPREME COUBT.

In. December, 1884, Wm. Morrow,
Ransom Morrow\and Charles Morrow
wore tried for the\ murder of Overton.
It was proved thet Wm. Morrow had
stated thet ane Sunday night, in
August, 1883, Overton, who was em-

loyed by Ransom Modyrow, came to

m. Mofrow’s house and had a con-
versation with him. Morrow went into
the yard, and while there heard his
three-year-old daughter scream. Re-
catering the houee, he asked Overton
what he was doing, and receiviog an
vasive anawerhe tied Overton sad
loaded gun, alter which be marched

: die, assisted by
: iad

S we

HS" ha ara
:

Hb | 1)

allegoad -

the event they |

venue. Ben m
axe, believin ;
he secured) only Pott
centr, ‘Yolhtde bia crime hdl ea
the body to the ravine in ri
of the King place and gave it: stallow |
burial. It waeecon pnearthed abd his
crime brought to light. Both of, these
negroes were tried before Judge Tar-
ner at the same tern of thecaurt. Ben}
was sentenced firet, aod at the eonclu-
rion of the) idye’s sentence he booked
him in the ey@ aod said with @ ¢ready
voice, T take a repeal oo thaw’ Whon

Fiias,who @wadquite old, apd iats heady
of voice, wag ventench | he gid,
take one of them what) Ben took.”

Both were hange? from the sane dicub
of the sametrees-a eowir maple that
stood in’ Challaws Hollow,” south of
Routh Clarkseille, and some distance
inthe rear of the present residence of
Capt Jo. Kendrick.

KILLED WITH A MOF,

Along in the thirtiee, or perhaps
ear'vin the forties, Jesse Trigg was
executed for the murder of his mvaster,
Hampton Trigg, who lived near where
Hampton Btation oow stands. Mr
Trigg had been to town and retarned
after dark to within a short distance of
hishome with a neighbor Hila family
thought they beard him whistheg as
he came fromthe Ing road to the gate
He did not appesr atthe house, how.
ever, and the next morning inquiry
was made for him The faer that he
was known to have been # clase to his
home indicated foul play, and = the
ponds on the farm and neighbdrs insti:
titted search, Jewe was foremost
among the searchers, tiking one route
each time = After taking three ine flect-
ual rounds Jesse's conduct in going the
same way each time axronsed surpicion ;
he was followed, and the body found in
agullyon hie rants wherahe mad
dragged and attempted to conceal it,
afterknocking Mr Trigg in the bead
with a grubbing hoe as he
approached the gate. Jesne was huny
at the donble pond, on Franklin strest,
That bis fats might be an example to
a!i others of his race all the negroes in
Rhecouote were given a holiday anil
Made to attend toe execution, and it ie
revorted that everyone wemt home
drunk.

A SUCCESSE UL FVPEBIMERT,

The negroes balonging to M-. Batley,
father of the late Jesse W. Bailey. were
so taken with the novelty; of the hang-
ing that they determioed to havea
mock exece!.oo of their own. A like
ly youoy negro wasselectad asa victim

he galiows was arranged from the top
of a staked and ridered feace, and che
negroswaogotl Vhe fall broke his
neck, their farce wae a tragedy, aud
Mr Saiiey lost a valuable negro

The treat execution ia the county, of
which there is ang record occorred op
Munday, March doth, 1817, oo which
day a slave named Moe. was hanged
for killing Samuel Minott M ones

red mori fey in the
ar} ula of

}

|

IL.

| Salisbury
resent were ple

marngdis,inan ¢ i 4 ten!

“thé imputation that the’ dbaservativd
desire war with ‘Russia le ridie¢ulguel’
The necessity for such a letter, jome|
conservatives say, is due entirely tg thp'
recawt secret cogference of the leader
ofthe party. ok
TCE POLITICAL SITUATION, | |

ig. ire
CER

(e-eat crowds throng all, the stheete.
inthe neighb pebgod «f the parliawent q

house Toe outpouring of the pepple:
teay is greater by tur rie at why |
tine since the brginoiiy aff the prem nt
crisis iu public affairs. The
hive Kreat difheatty in keeping the
entranee to the hou e of) partiacpent
clear that members mays have acy ond
There igan ucnushaity fall strendanes
Of menbers ta day. Liberals and @ on,
servalives are occupying abeir upual
eeals, The idveral  jieaklern lhave
not yet given the gon
rervalives any pledge of absintance is
the condact of the ycvernment. A
privy conacul was not held today at
Windsor castle forthe formal transfer
Gf the uonistry, Hence the tiberale
will retain their old bench when yar.
lame n! meeta@ this afiernoop.

ADJOURNED UN TEL

In the houte of borda thle af ernpon
the Marquisaf Selistury etated that
the sitnadon of attire had nat veer
reached a stage which would enavie
him to ruake @ statement toparliament.
The lords thereipon adjourned uot
Tresday. fothe heuse af commons
thie afternoon Mr (:ladstope, ia en
swerto a qoeation, admiied that he
wascerrespond.ag with the Marguis
of Salisbury about the cabboet crassa,
and stated that the letters. would be
ee indue coume of time. The

ouse then adjourned until Tuesday.

RACING AT ABCOIT WIKATH.

At Ascot Heath to-day the race fur
the Alexander plate of Jj)! gover:
eigos was woo by Mr. J. anna 4
four-sear-old bay colt, St. Gatien. ‘The
wioner of the cold cup yesterday Mr:
I.efere’s four-year-old baw coit, Her-
mitage, came secon!, and Mr. F (jeh-
hardi's aged bay boree, Hole, which
rac tecond toS GAa&tiewin the race for
the gold eup, third. lhe e'arcers ngm-
hered four. The race for the Hard:
wicke stakea of 2,000 gsvereigns was
woo by Mr. H. T. Barqlay's tive vear-
old brown horse, Hendig. Mr. Man.
ton’s three year-old ¢hemtout colt,
Willie Darling, was saqond, and Mr.
Crerard’s three year-old bay colt, Crol.
ton, third, There were seven starters,

Spatn.
THEO AOLPRA. |
Matai, June li --The afhcial chol-
erareinrns for vedierday fre as fil:
lows: Madrid, we@ cases, four: deaths,

1o

TUESDAY

head was cut of and placed ona pole, | oone. Valencia. aiisi new cases, thir-

asa warning to others.

Beagtage in Two Other States.
Hamintom, Ornro, Jane 19, —Geo.
Schneider, convicted of having killed
his mother in October last, wag hanged
this forenoon without any incident af
note. He had previously confessed
his crime. ;

PERRY AND WILLIAM MILTON.

FapMERsyILun, LawJone 19 ~Per-
ry ‘and Wiiliam Milton, father and
son, were hanged ia the jat] enclosure
here to-day, for the murder of John W.
Cherry, an cld farmer, at his tome in
the northers part of thia (Union) pasish,

erere

caumd by the Mil:on's jealou

| y of
Cherry's social and financial pos

tian.

|

The two families have frequent
rels, :

tv tix; deaths, tweire Valancia, ( pime-
ince’ New Cases, 2h), deaths, 10g; ee
ria, (city) new can, ninety-ais deag¢hs,
twenty five; Maréia, province) new
cases, S26; deathe 65. tawellon D La
Fiana, (province: rew cCasee, eigtiy-
fiee; deaths, for ysfour.

ore pene

Irdiara
A“NECTRAL VICRRQY

Dusiim, June 14 -Toe Freemans
Joursal, ina Seading editorial upoo
the new Britigh minwsiry, gives a cpr:
dial ae to the appotatment of
the Earl cf Garnateion as lord leuten-
aot of [reland. The Jonenal holda
that he will bea “weutral viceroy ”

Franes.
THE LATE ADMIRAL COURBRET
| Panga, Jane 1).--The family of ihe
ate Admiral Courbet have decided | to
| him in Abbeville, his birth glass.

t ;
ee i
Lrg ae

A

phic |

Bi
DR. |

Benefit
han

Bice for
manuf C4
jely tard

PROP!
Yh, bi
Sis

appro mig
lL. GA@ |

P| 1O@ |
“ig ho»
Halli. aod
lew hut
beer wm. actiare
ii ve ped du
Pris te &
tm, we gb
The U gi
bec flees
we ted? omy
award of i
sere Ut


A on ep eo \c 1,
ce Canny iVesvaes y \ Te

2 f

Cay ond) Q: na w he beth,

hoe Tone 4, nvo

Smee

a JN ao.

Sez also ¥ 2 Tew . t as



Hi
;

'

be

| : {| . * :

tees el ney eA Tey! 3

sed | ¢ Clarksville

Dick orton. |
Ontly esting Dhatl in the Pros

| onee of a Few Witnesses.

His Confession: to be. Made Pablio
in Dae Time.

Bad Partisg Betwees the Qondemaed
Man and His Wits.

He Sheds Tears When Bidding Fel-
low-prisooers Farewell.
———
Tho Terrible Deeds of: the Morrows
aad Dr, Bellamy,
| - a.
Othes Exsoutions That Have Oocar-
red in Montgomery Qounty.

Special te the Banner.

Cranaby ine, Juse 19.-—-Wom. Mor-
row was a'bere thig afternoon for,
the murder of Dick Overton. e
walked op the Id a¢2 o'clock. Mr. |

Johnson sald: “Bill, you are about to

leave thig world. Arve you prepared to
die?” Marrow answered: *'I am, and
do not fegr death,” Mr. Johnson then
asked if the written statement previoa:-
ly made was correct. He replied that
itwar. De. Sears «il-red prayer aad
Mr. Johneon led the prisoner on the
trapand the black cap was adjust-
ed. He sail he had = no further
stetemest: _—ograke,: and et
ill toward no’ man. He stood firm
and «aietly directed the sheriff
how to arrange bis hands.
The trap was sprung at
2:14, the body falling six feet, and
breaking the neck. ite died without a
struggle tifteen minutes afterward.

AT THB. J ALL

There was but little excitement here
last night. Large numbers visited the
jail thropgh curiosity, bat) were all
refused admittance. The number of
witnesses to the execution will not ex-
ceed the provisions of the sxcf provid-
ing for private hanglogs. That is, six
outsiders allowed the sheriff,

tn
we

, besides
his deputies, and tbree aliowed the
dooened| nah, Morrow selected Messrs.
Johnson apd Savage apd = Pr. hears.
The decree of the coyrt péentencing
Morrow todeath tized the hour of exe

cution between 2 and 4 o’clack, but by
mutnal conpseatthe drup was spruog at
2 o'clock. The gallows were erected in
the jaily-ard. betweem the old and new
buildings. ‘Ibe drop waasix feet. The
rope used waaa three: quatter éea grans,

purchesed a few days again Nashville.

UNWILLLMSG WITNESSES,

Mr. Johngon said to-day that he,, Me.
Savage and Dr Senta had cogstantly
attended Morrow since his cordemas-
tion and the unpleasant duty iievol ved
upon them to witney the e¢x¢cution
“When this is over we will sleep well
to-night, feeling that we have dis-
charged onr whole duty as Cbtistians
for the sak@ of humanity,” aaid Mr.
John<on, “and I only hope others will
re-tas enaily as we will, especially the
Clarksville correspoadent.«f the Nash-
ville American, who Good a parting
shot into the dying man.”

HIG LABT Nilay.

Leavin r. Johopan | the reporter
repaired to the jail, wheage all looked
dark and, gloomy savq (he fickerio

lamp which) ahone throngh the bars o'
the doomed man’¢§ oell window.
Jobo sborpe | jailer,
po: *. ‘dl the! all and

pe fromt ¢ He de-

¢ to

4 doomed mas. x ¥4

|

gil

| MOT APRAID TO 11k
wW spent a rection night apd
+} long intervals, during which
hip slumbers were disturbed and
vy., He talked to a guard about
the exetution, saying he preferred to
die, and was willing to meet his end, as
death was preferable to life imprison-
ment. His greatest regret was leavi
his children, whom he feared wou
suffer. He said his father had failed
todo a parent’s part by him, and, he
was bie worst enemy. This morning

the pr looked haggard 4nd nerv-
ous. He ate a light Preak fact after
which he was shaved and dressed. At
9 o'clock Rev. Dr. Sears and his attor-
cey, Mr. Johmeon, visited Morrow and
spent peveral hours in private conver-
sation «with «bim Smal! crowds
collected around the jail, but no one
was admitted. Little or no excitement
prevailed. The doors were opened at
12 o'clock for the choaen witnesses apd
closed gt 1 o'glock. There seers to be
a general feel sy mpathy for the
| eomiession bereto-
fore made will not be made public un.
til sfter the execution. In parting
with his fellow-prisoners Merrow wept
bitterly.

FAREWELI. TO WIFE AND CHILDREN.

Morrow ste a. hearty dinner at 12
o'clock. After expressing bimsel{ as
refreshed he said he would say only a
few words on the scaffold. He wrotea
letter to his wife and children bidding
thein an affectionate adieu and adnya-
ishing them to meet him in beaven
He said he felt deeply grieved to leave
them in this unfriendly world and
stated that he wanted his children to
have their rightful part of his father’s
estate, as he had been the cause of his
death and always treated him uo-
kindly. He concluded with » hope of
awakiog in heaven and eaid it wes
sweet rest ia hope ot angels BOVering
over him in death. Large crowds,
mostly uegroes, collected about the
jail, and «twelve guards armed with
shotguns, were stationed at the en-
trance.

|
ti

MISTORY OF TWO MUR!ERS

The deedsof the Iiellamy cave mur-
derers constitute one of the mont onter
teresting chapters in the historg of
crime in America. The boldness with
which their lawless acta were planoed
and executed, the maoner in which
their guilt was prover, the strenuous
eflorts they made to escape punishment
and the commotion created by their ex-
meure have few parailel-, Kansom
Morrow, the father of the man who to-
day met with sn ignominivus end, is
nixty-sever yearsold, of good appear-
anceand plain dress. His faimily con-
nieted cf three sons, William, Charles
and Kenjaiip, aod one daughter, whu
married Dr. eter F. Bellamy, son of
the late Rey. Jesse Bellamy, 1D, D The
Morrows were in very comfortable cir
cumstances, owning considerable real
ea'a'ein Montgomery county, and be-
ing respecid by a wide circle of ac
quaintacces. Nearthe home of Rare
com Morrow is a very large cave,
which issaid to ba as extensive as the
Mammoth cave in Kentpcky, glihough
it has only been explored two miles.
‘Vhe enttance is very narrow, but the
chambers are numerous and quite wide
inscni9 places. It was once a favurite
place of resort during tho summer sea-
soo, but has got been visited much
rince the discovery of a dead body
which bad been placed in it by the
band, who used it as a means of ¢ >ver-
ing up their crime. Acslide at the
right hand side of the cavern = rans
back a long distance and ends at a
deep chasm. (Upon this the murderers
placed the remains of their victim,
which was speedily carried out of wight.

THE ARREATA.

lb June, Ld8t, J. W. Pachand called
upon the attorney-general of Moat.

omery county and gave him ¢ome in.
formaden regarding Ransom Morrow,
Wo. Morrow and Dr. Bellamy, which,
with testimony that wasafierward se-
‘led to their arrest ated

lored,'in 1877, and iM Dick
colored, in 1883 Pach-ad
: dd long been cogvisant
ose whom be pogaser,

| LARGE

gent for the murder of James.

MRE EAS 4 Pigke: 7
a ef pha i.
‘i % :
we Beale RY. Woe varie?

Poape gs pe

Hee 2
|
{ '
i .
- ned

2 eine

| SHIR

MADE TO ORDER ANC READY.MADE,

SIZES A

a ee te nara pare atm: wre

1e2 UNION ern.

an |

SPECIALTY |

nena: Gespnene ware a

his brother Charles, he carried the |
body of (Overton into the cave and |
piaced it onthe slide. Wm. Morrow

told Me. Pachand that be killed ()ver-

ton becautehehad attempted to com

mit rapeon his daughter -The cases

sgainst Kansom Morrow and Charles

Morrow were onolle prossed and

William was convicted and sentenced

to hang January 30th, Is*>. He ap-

pesled to the supreme court and that

tribunal atfrmed the jidgment of the

lower ccurt, and reset the day of exe-

cation for April 16:h. Morrow wae re-

manded to Clarksville, and upon ap-

plication, Gor Bate granted a respite

of sixty daya, tuing today for the ex-

ecutior

AVERALS TO THE GUVERNOK.

Petitions a-king the governor to par-
dou our comtoute the sentence to life
iprisoument came from 3,000 citizens
cf Montyemery county, but the gov-
erner, on dune llth, declined to grant
the request Ransom Morrow and
Bellary appealed to the supreme court,

which, on March 14th, granted them a |

new trish  DPellamy bad bis second
trial several weeks age, the supreme
court having ruled that be was entitled
toa reverance. [ne jury disagreed,
and were decharged. He and Ran-
pom Morrow are therefore yet to be
tried for the murder of Brown,

FX ECUTIONS IN MONTOOMERY COURI

The Banner isindebted to the editors
of the excellent and euterprising To-
bacco Leaf for the appended intoraa
tioh regarding other legal executions
in. Montgomery county: Four other
legal hangings are known t> bave
taken place in’ the county pince tts
formation ‘dhe condemned ino eich
case was a negro, Morrow beirg the
first white man ta be hanged tn the
county, and the secood known to be
hung tinea the war fork'l tog a negr >.
Phe last of these Jegal executions was
in 1853, just thirty years ago, when
Kiias Adama, slave, was bung for an
otittrage upon Mrs Bristow, ga aged
woman who lived in the First district,
near state Jine.

Tork A “REVEAL.”

The year previous John Harbest, a
yourg freanezro, who was hung for.
murdering “Aunt Hannah,” an old
free negiess who made hers diving by
selling cakes inthe tawny. she lived on
the lands of Ilon Cave Johanson, not
far from the King place, oo Greenwood
avenue. Ben murdered her with an
axe, believing ‘hat ehe bad maney, but.
he secured only about © forty,
cents. ‘Vo hide his crime he carried

Sbegro, aod hiv crime was dastardiy xi!

the body to the ravine in the rear
of the King place and gave it atiallow.
burial. It wassoon unearthed and his
crime brought to light. Both of, these
negroes were tried before Judge) Tar-
ner at the same tern of the cgurt. Bent
was senten¢ed fiest, and at the cpnclu-
sion of the j 1dge’s sentence he bo»ked
him in the mye aod said with @ #4

|
voice, “I sn a repeal oe in er
Elias, who wadqyaite o gt
of voloe, a Lalepadaey sil ri

et
man (berry’s peaceful diqpoeitior On
the morning of the murder the Miltoma
were parsing Cherry's Jarm ect! sae
the old man working in Bis held. The
elder Milton called out that pow was
a god time to settle! scores, aad

the two advanced of Uberry,
who retreated and warned them
off. Finally Cherry wae ocmpeiled to

use his revciver, woundjog the elder
Milton in the arm this antayonisss
then closwed in on him and attacked
him with hoes Cherry turned and
ran towards his residence, calling to
his wife to bring out the shotgun.
Wom. Milton headed hin off and got to
the house first, cast as Mrs. (berry
stepped out of the door with the gun.
Milton feiled ber with a handspike that
he fuund io the vard and seized the
gun Meantime Perry: Milton came
up and held Cherry wotil William
knocked him bown by adezen blows on
the head. Cherry be ccedt for how life
but Wiliam beat bin with the band
spike rou theo do man’e head was in
ajelly, Me. Cherry, who bad regained
her senses, tock ber dving husband s
head ino her Japo hat wee brutally
theust aside. Cherre ‘showed rome
eyasof jifeand the elder Moiton tid
Perry to Huish fim the did so be
crushing bis ekall. The Miitons hid
in the aeighborbood for several weeks,
Hoally escaping to Texas, where they

were capinred., se
CAMP PEd

NEW ORLFANS, Sune di - 4 lnries
Campbell, sliay “Red, wae banged at
Pomte ada Hadhe, Plaquemeons par
ssh, to dav, for the murderc! PhLeedore
Fuplevieb, in Chat parish, August Loco,
S840 Campbeil was a beptal ooking

CHARTES

niaprovoked Tajplesich owas thot
downon a couniry cond after words

with Camphe io which didi met angen
even ton quarcel  AlthAayh the ere
cation was private, the Jitie edliage

wascrowded wish poaople from tha ad.
jolting country

EUROPEAN EVENTS.

Great Urowds Vongrezated Arquad
the Pactiement Buileings.

ee ns rn

Nearly Sev co Hucdred Now Cases
of Obolera in Spain,

Lanvon, June 1. There wag ag-
other Conference of conservatives © this

CRRA HET we)

nuorming-in the nesidence ofthe Mag-.
quince! Salisbury. As heretofore, alt
present were pledged tq recrecy, |The
marquis, in an open letter, writes that:
“the imputation that the aonserys i
desire war with ‘Russig is zidigul

reuch es -

» le dug


into action to
year-old victim.
a clueless case.
‘an was reputed

ivities of other

Rea Bioiacck Coa
OMAR: at 12 Bien hs 5

by water seep-
iling from Mrs.
‘tment, roomers
uite (1, above).
athroom, shown
d the body of
aan in the tub.

ibbery had mo-

nerfield’s death, -

e electric chair.

rove, shows the
on avenue where
ter struck down

ictim in broad

the most shock-
sy of Mern-
own.

DARING

occupants of the Union avenue hotise. John Deal, negro house-
boy, aroused suspicion by a display o bills in a Beale street
cafe. Taken into custody he was rigidly grilled, told a maze of
conflicting stories, then finally broke and confessed the crime.

He had strangled her with a towel, taken $40 from her person
and then placed the body in the bathtub. Later he had turned

Brilliant sleuthing by W. T. Griffin,

Chief Inspector of Detectives, and his

‘ aides, cracked the Summerfield case in

: record time and secured a confession
from the phantom strangler.

ee On Gare a Mi ee eae

on the water, hoping to make the death appear to be accidental.

Deat had committed his crime at two o’clock Saturday after-
noon, was arrested Sunday at eleven and confessed four hours
later. On September 15, 1934, singing hymns and repeating
his confession, he went to his death in the electric chair in the
state prison at Nashville.

Bye Smee CO ASSESS a RHEIN SERS

One of the first officers on the
acene, Detective Sergeant Wilbur
D. Miller of the Memphis police

rtment was instrumental in

b the fiendish slayer of Mrs.
Summerfield to justice.
DETECTIVE

Detective Sergeant A. L. Moore
answered the death call in com-
pany with Sergeant Miller. To-
gether they uncovered evidence
which proved the woman was not
a suicide, but a murder victim.

One of the original searching
which found Mrs. Summ 1d’s
body, John Deal aided officers in
solving the riddle and played a
starring réle in the finale of the
sensational case.

33


wm i 2 aa

24 Master

Left to right: Detective Sergeant

O. P. Caldwell, who brought in the

phantom strangler; and Detective

Sergeant W. D. Miller, whose keen

eyes made the first startling discov-

ery that put officials on the mur-
derer’s trail

bathroom door was first opened?” Ser-
geant Miller demanded.

“John Deal and I held the body up in
a sitting position until we got the water
cut off and saw that she was dead,” Mr.
Rolland explained. “We did all we could
do until help arrived.”

A methodical examination of the
corpse and surroundings was begun.

he doctor riveted his attention upon
three barely discernible scratches on the
victim’s nose, a slight bruise on the upper
lip, a bluish mark on the throat that
could have resulted from falling over the
edge of the tub, and decided that there
was no evidence of foul play. “Suicide,” was his verdict.

Herman Summerfield, who by this time had responded to
the alarm, bravely mastered his grief and lent his aid.

“The doctor is wrong!” he said emphatically. “Mother
didn’t commit suicide!”

Detective Sergeant Miller’s keen eyes and alert brain had
not been idle. To him, the scratches, bruises, and other
evidence bore sinister suggestions of a dastardly murder.
Picking up the woman’s nose glasses from a bed he dis-
covered that the clamp was sprung outward in a manner
that would have kept them from staying on! - He noted
that the body was clothed in a combing-robe, underwear,
corset, hose and house-slippers. It didn’t seem likely that
Mrs, Summerfield would have sought death in that garb.
The locked doors puzzled him.

“Look for a money belt which mother wore around her
waist,” Herman Summerfield suggested. “It ought to con-
tain about forty-five dollars, and some jewelry which she
always kept on her person.”

An examination was made, and a belt to which was at-
tached a chamois bag was removed from the body. It had
been overlooked beneath the clothing in the first examina-
tion. In this water-soaked container, two gold watches—
treasures of the unfortunate woman’s more prosperous past
—were found. The watches, wrapped in wet tissue paper,
were inside an envelope from which the “V” shaped flap had
been torn.

S ERGEANT Moore, after glancing at these objects,
walked into the bathroom and picked up a scrap of
dry paper—the missing flap from the torn envelope. It
had fallen in a spot not reached by water from the over-
flowing tub. Near by, under the plumbing fixtures, where it
had escaped notice, lay a valuable diamond brooch which
Herman Summerfield promptly recognized as another keep-
sake from his mother’s treasure bag.

Where was the currency which should have been in this
chamois bag, if Herman Summerfield was correct? Could
that pitiful sum of money have led to robbery and murder?

Could the woman have been slain in such a manner with-
out other occupants of the house being aroused by some
outcry or sounds of disturbance? Why, unless he thought
the victim could disclose his identity, would it have been
necessary for a robber to kill? Weren't the two watches
and valyable brooch something that the average thief would
take!

But, more than all, how could a daylight marauder have
escaped through those locked doors?

Something else that seemed of no consequence at first

was picked up from the bathroom floor. It was a stocking--

cap, later identified as belonging to John Deal. The young
negro, when asked about it, explained that it fell from his
head while he was assisting in trying to rescue the drowned
woman. This, with an empty flour sack which had settled
to the bottom of the tub, completed the simple articles
catalogued by the investigators.

That flour sack, at first unnoticed, became the object of
special interest to Sergeant Moore. It was out of ofaee in
the upstairs bathroom and seemed to belong in someone’s

Detective

kitchen. He wondered if it had been used to stifle outcries.

“Where’s Mr. Guston?” Sergeant Moore asked Mr. Rol-
land.

“After returning to the house with his wife from the
curb market, I think she sent him to the grocery just be-
fore we found Mrs. Summerfield in the bath tub,” the
boarder replied.

It occurred to the officers that Mr. Guston was spending
considerable time on that errand and they were eager to
question him. While waiting for him to make his appear-
ance, the detectives obtained a list of the occupants of the
boarding house. In addition to the persons already intro-


By
Chief Inspector

Wn. T. GRIFFIN
Commanding
Detective Division
Police Department
Memphis, Tennessee
As told to
HOMER G. WELLS

final Aikwtne Wy (727

STRANGER in Menget Tennessee, would have
a hard time finding 1370 Union Avenue. This ad-
dress, however, is situated on one of the town’s
most prominent streets. The reason behind the
strange disappearance of Number 1370 forms an
episode in the sequel of a weird murder mystery. The crime
was so horrible that the present occupants of the house,
seeking to obliterate every grim reminder of the dreadful
event, even removed the numerals by which the place was
always designated and substituted other figures.

The usual heavy stream of motor traffic flowed smoothly
past the quiet residence that bore the number “1370” on
the morning of May 20th, 1933. The two-story building,
well shaded and partially obscured by stately magnolia
trees, was known as a respectable boarding house. To the
observer, it was a scene of tranquillity—but the specter of
violent death was then lurking in the shadows, and a fiend-
incarnate was soon to be revealed.

It was a little past mid-afternoon when my routine work
at Headquarters was interrupted by a telephone call.

“There’s been a suicide at 1370 Union Avenue,” [ was
told by my secretary, Sam Phillips, as he hung up the re-
ceiver after taking the call. “There’s no one in the office of
the Homicide Squad just now,” he added.

“Tell Lieutenant Heckle to send a couple of detectives out
there to look things over until the Homicide Squad can get
on the ground,” I ordered.

Detective Sergeants A. L. Moore and W. D. Miller were
immediately se to the scene to make the customary
investigation. At that time we had no intimation that a
murder had been committed, but it is a rule to carefully in-
vestigate all cases of violent or sudden death, for every ex-
perienced detective knows that “suicides” are not always
what they seem.

ore

bia

turnec
ton ca
with

the th


yuld have
This ad-
ne town’s
shind the
forms an
The crime
he house,
dreadful
place was

smoothly
1370” on
building,
magnolia
. To the
specter of
da fiend-

itine work
call.

e,” I was
up the re-
ie office of

actives out
ad can get

filler were
customary
ion that a
refully in-
every eX-
ot always

aaa

.
a
be

-around the

TR he Rapes og RR a Ue a aera

A little group of excited persons greeted the officers on
their arrival. A doctor and two ambulance attendants ap-
peared at the door where a horrified group of seven men
and four women was huddled.

“What's happened here?” the detectives inquired.

“One of our boarders, Mrs. Elizabeth Summerfield,
drowned herself in the bath upstairs,” answered a middle-
aged woman, who identified herself as Mrs. William Gus-
ton, proprietress of the boarding house. “Mr. Rolland,
tell them about it,” she finished. “I’m so nervous and
upset...”

A tall young man who introduced himself as R. V. Rol-
land, employed by the Southern Bell Telephone Company,
informed the detectives that he was one of the boarders in
the Guston home. He explained that Mrs. Summerfield,
widow of the late H. I]. Summerfield, once wealthy depart-
ment-store owner, occupied the upstairs front apartment
with her son, Herman. Both detectives knew Herman Sum-
merfield, a respected young business man, connected with an
automobile firm in the capacity of salesman. .

“I wasn’t working today,” said Rolland, “and we had
lunch about twelve. Mrs. Summerfield went back to her
room. Soon after, Mr. and Mrs. Guston left for the curb
market. Mrs. Ft R. Stevens—whose husband is away on
river work—and her visitor, Miss Minnie Goodwin, and |
sat on the front poe Herman Summerfield wasn’t here
for lunch. om eal, the colored house-boy, was working
itchen.

“About three o'clock, | went into the reception room,
which is directly beneath the Summerfield apartment, and
turned on the radio to listen to the ball game. Mrs. Gus-
ton came back from the market and went into the kitchen
with an armful of groceries. During the second half of
the third inning, a gush of water came through the plaster

overhead. I jumped up to see about it, and Mrs. Guston
and John Deal came out of the kitchen. We three ran
upstairs.

“T tried the door to Mrs. Summerfield’s apartment and
it was locked. Mrs. Stevens and Miss Goodwin then joined
us. We called, but there was no answer. Then John Deal
suggested that the key to Mrs. Stevens’ room might unlock
the door to Mrs. Summerfield’s apartment. The key worked
and we were soon inside.”

“What did you find?” Detective Moore interposed.

“The chair where Mrs. Summerfield usually sat at the
window was empty, and we could hear water running in
her bathroom. One of the ladies tried the bathroom door
and found it locked, too! John used Mrs. Stevens’ key to
get that door open and—”

“Let’s have a look up there,” Sergeant Miller interrupted.

Meanwhile, the physician and ambulance men_had as-
cended the broad stairway to the second floor. The am-
bulance attendants, R. L. Sanders and Page Trewolla, had
lifted the woman from the overflowing tub and placed her

.on a stretcher. To the trio of skilful medical men it was

apparent that no spark of life remained.
“Why didn’t someone lift her from the tub when the

2


A CASE whichis perhaps more
4% to the point, since it involved
rape without murder, occurred
‘thirty years later, many miles to
the south.
Lazar Mehojevich, alias George
Morris, owned a saloon in New Or-
' Jeans, in 1906. He lived in a dirty
‘little room behind it.
' Opposite his saloon stood the
saddlery, shop of Henry Borcher,
~ and eve: day George Morris
= watched Bebeber’s eleven-year-old
daughter, Hilda. Although so
young, Hilda Borcher was a well-
developed girl; and the adolescent
‘“eurves of her body aroused insane
passion in the saloon-keeper’s grub-
by, warped little -mind.
-He tried to become friendly with
her. At first she was somewhat
iry, with the innocent wariness
of children. Then he began offer-
ing her the little food delicacies so
dear to young appetites. Cakes...
pice .»» candy. With no evil in
‘her own heart, the girl conceived
of none in his. She was won over.
Finally, having gained Hilda’s
complete confidence, Morris called
.. sy - Ker_one evening into his restaurant,
ae: as he sometimes did when he

hae 3
e a wanted to give her some tidbit. She -
end

“<< came, unsuspecting. Once he had
' her inside, Morris locked the door
, “ and advanced on her. Suddenly

_ warned = the: child, _ 2 bi
threats, that he would kill her
she ever told anyone what had hap-

pened, Fearful, she told no one,

—until: Hilda’s: mother noticed that

. childish sobs.

say Confronted, Morris desperately
, denied everything. But his courage

= ‘was only the temporary courage of
“the cornered rat. Tried and con-
victed, he broke and confessed two
months before the date of his exe-
cution. ~ ,

de

PARTICULARLY outrage-

ous assault took place near

Knoxville, Tennessee, on June 6,

- 1940. It aroused more than the

usual indignation because the vic-

| <"~ ‘time was’ more than usually help-

less. Rather than publicize her

_ shameful experience still more

widely than it was at the time, we

«shall refrain from mentioning her

“mame. She was a deaf mute,
__' twenty-two years old.

- For five days nothing happened. :

=. she was bleeding. At last the truth —
‘came out, between broken-hearted

f. ® _, He was hanged by the neck until”

The girl and her.escort were in
the woods on the outskirts of
Knoxville on the night of June 6.
Two men appeared suddenly. The
cold gleam of gun-metal brought
the girl and her companion to

frightened rigidity

Vhe wwvo men looked at their vic-
tims for a moment in silence. They
said litule; there was little need for
words

The: forced the girl deeper into
the woods, away from possible dis-
covery by passers-by near the

town. Leering and passing obscene

remarks, which the girl’s handicap
fortunately spared her from hear-
ing, they forced the trembling vic-
tim to turn over the little money
she had. It amounted to $6.27.

But money was Not, the only
prize they sought. Their booty was
something the cowering girl would
have paid far more to preserve.
Alone in the darkness of the woods,
they. wreaked their vicious will

‘and fled,

Some time later the police ar-
rested two suspects, John Dockery,
twenty years old, and Earnest Dix-
on, twenty-three. The girl identi-
fied them as her attackers, but they
stoutly denied all guilt. Sentenced

to the chair, they still insisted they «

were innocent.

Then, just before he died, Dock-
ery confessed. Dixon went to his
doom still denying everything

the name of the poor victim, an at-

. tractive fifteen-year-old girl, on
~ whose life the soul-searing incident

must have left-an indelible mark.

SIMILAR double crime of lust
ad occurred in Missouri, some
> ten years ago. ‘Again we shall omit

This time the attackers were

brothers, Lew and Harry Worden.
In cahoots with another gentleman
of like caliber, they made their liv-
ing holding up indiscreet young
spooners. But on this occasion
mere robbery did not satisfy them.
They wanted more than money,
and they took what they wanted
by brute force.

Lew Worden was hanged on
March 3, 1932. His brother fol-
lowed him on February 10, 1933.

THER white men have been

executed for rape — but not
many. The majority of these vi-
cious criminals have escaped with
jail sentences—in spite of the fact
that the tragedy they inflict upon
their. suffering victims may some-
times be greater than death.

The single act of a sex fiend may
blight a woman’s whole life. A lit-
tle known fact, involved in the re-
cent murder of a new-born infant
by a woman whose twisted mind
had finally snapped, is this: the wo-
man who committed the murder
had, in girlhood, been cruelly ra-
vished by ‘er own father! For
years she brooded. She had never
married, since she conceived it her
duty to tell every suitor the truth
about herself—and the truth set up
an impassable barrier every time.

Charged by her profession with
the care of children — she, whose
own early life had been so be-
smirched! — this woman’s fate-
twisted mind finally cracked. She
turned on her charges and tried to
destroy two of them. Medical sci-
ence was able to save one. The
other died.

It is time we acted to put an end
to such things.

The Chief groaned and pushed
the reports to one side.

“Send every man we have: in to
see me as they comet off duty.”
His assistant hurried out to fulfill
the order, :

As each policeman came in the
Chief let off some steam.
“I want action. Get a list of

every doctor in town. I want to -

know where they were on the
night of the murders. Find out
which of them are in the need of
money. And check up on the drug-
gists too. They would have access
to chloroform and scalpels just as
well as doctors. Now get busy!”

Even in a small town it was a
slow laborious task to check all
the information the Chief demand-
ed. A week passed.

Youseff and Adib started to
breath more freely. They even be-

PYRAMIDS OF PASSION

(Continued from Page 26)

gan to make plans as to the spend-
ing of their blood-stained loot.

‘

a. ow often visited Youseff. at

the drugstone’ where he work-

ed. He was leaning on the counter
talking to Youseff one day.

“Can we talk?” He lowered his
voice. “Is your boss in?”
“No,” Adib grinned. “The heat’s
got him. He’s getting old.” He
looked around the shop. He looked
at the walls covered with dusty
bottles and sniffed the air. It was
filled with heavy aromatic smells.

“Every time I grind some pow-
der in the mortar, every time I
pound the pestle, I say to myself,
‘You don’t have to slave here much
longer’.”

“What are your plans?”

“I’m going to school. I’m going
to be a doctor. I’ll prescribe the

RARE DETECTIVE

$y a

pills. Let s’
them!”

“T think I’)!
own office. |:
Attorney-A

Youseff s

space.
“Adib, low:
pered sudden
Two polic:
the doorway
“Youseff, st:
some of the }
vanished intc
“Do you wi
of the policem
Youseff nod
is it you want
“Just a list
neighborhoo’
Youseff’s
weren't unde
just a rout)
safe after al!
tion books
over the i,
“We're tr;
killer of t]
“Yes?” VY
terest.
“Not my
get them.”
Just the:
from the i
the cops bi
back room
writhing i:
“What's
the policer
“My ston
fists in pain
“Looks 11
better get h
of yours?
seff.
“Yes. Hi
One of th
phone. The
and looked «
Youseff k
Adib. “My »
a misfortune.
“Keep yous

' suspected.”

Nor wer
hours You:
in the priso

When Aci
tal obvious|\
immediately
ray plate w.
doctor by

“Here’s
tor.”

“Oh, yes
peritonitis.
sure.”

“There i
this plite,
“Yes?”

“Look ;

The doc:
light. “For
the man ea:
it is, a br

RARE DET

= Gee, . Brassell

The Sheriff fold them as each minute pagsed Pec taly away and when the
last half minute was called, Joe said Patewelt Mr. Bohannon!" Mr. :
Bohannon said ‘Goodbye, Joe!! Teke: ‘Lord have mercy on those who

swore my life away!" Joe "Lord Tesla? be with me.”". as ‘a

At precisely 1:30, the Sheriff said ‘Look ‘out boys," at the same time
cutting the rope nat sipported the two fall oes and with one ‘dread

crash the work of death was done, the doors give way, letting the

two unfortunate men fall from time to eternity, prepared or

unprepared.

Se, B |

* Thus ended the earthly career of the two brothers whose pathways in

life ran so nearly together Here the gazing and perhaps trembling

thousands, witnessed the verification of that law which says:

"Whosoever shedeth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed," and

>

saw two men in the vigor of youth and prime of life pay the penalty.

for the violation of that ancient and divine law, handed kx to
Moses by God himself, which says, "Thou shalt not kill"

. Cookeville Chronicle

-HIS LAST LETTER

On Tuesday night the 26th inst. his last night on earth, Joseph ~ = dpe ee
Brassell, wrote the following letter to his aprents and family. ; Core

COOKEVILLE JAIL.
March 26th, 1878

My Dear Father, Mother,
I wish as my last testimony, to say to you all that what you did for:

me in this awful case you.did thinking I was innocent. I have often

told you so and though I would rather lose my soul than acknowledge it; sas

but my soulis precious and I can not go hence with a falsehood on

my lips. I do not want you all to think hard of me for telling@it. ee

to you befor now. I want to meet my God in peace and can no longer

assert my innocence. cat expect to go to heaven; my trust is in Jesug —

; rage eo Spee 4
f é Se RN Ee ae Fe <j ed atta
: SS BIA ep git te eg alc s


“tly Savior. I hope you all will meet me there, I want you all to

‘A boy who doesn't know exactly how it's done, don't know any thing,

Brassell

¢ 3 faliy }
3 ;

attend church, to keep the sabbath day holy; lead a new life from
this day, be teiendly with those who swore falsely against us,
forgive that you may be forgiven, I have no ill will or malace
toward any one erteerth Meet me in heaven for I am doing ali.
Gan Eolas there. a

f-

j
i

Bice

Joseph Braswell.

ebpaeagtee-&

--There is not a boy in Cookeville, from the age of five years up,

sia ete Ma tices

but what can tie what they call a "hanging knot," since they ,
witnessed the execution of the Braswell boys, on the 27th, tieing
hanging nots, and having sham executions are all the go with them. |

in Cookeville.

Cookeville Chronicle

$#4

25%, aul OVERTON’S TENNESSEE REPORTS, VOL, I.

Upon the whole, it seems to us that the two pleas to
which the plaintiffs have demurred are defective in sub-
stance, and that neither of them furnishes any legal de-
fence to this scire facias; we are, therefore, of opinion
the judgment of the Circuit Court be reversed; and, it hay-
ing been made to appear to us, that there is such a record
as that stated in the sicre facias, the plaintiffs ought to
have execution against the sheriff.

KNOXVILLE, May, 1814.

“JAMES BRICE v. THE STATE. -

Where the jury, under an indictment containing several counts, one
of which is good, and the others bad, return a general verdict

of guilty, the Court will give that judgment which the 1]
authorize upon the good count. aw would

If a statute, although passed in colonial times, is consisten
the Constitution, and upon the face of it is perpetual, yon viak
ciary are bound to give it effect in every case which falls with-
in its provisions, until the legislature choose either expressly or
impliedly to repeal it. [Acc. Egnew vy. Cochrane, 2 Head, 329,

citing this case.]

Appeal, in the nature of a writ of error, from the Cir-
cuit Court of Blount County.-White, J., delivered the fol-
lowing opinion of the Court:—Jameg Brice waz indicted,
convicted, and sentenced in the Circuit Court for having
stolen a negro slave. The indictment contains three
counts. The verdict of the jury is general, not confined to
any particular count.

[255] Various exceptions to the proceedings have been
taken, and much argument employed to show that the
judgment of the Circuit Court should be reversed.

First, it has been insisted, that, as the finding of the ©

jury was general, not confined to any particular count,
if it should be proved that any one count be bad, the judg-
ment must. be reversed. The, Court understands
the law to be otherwise; that each count is as a
several indictment, and if any one count is good, although
each of the others may be bad, yet it will give that judg-
ment which the law would authorize upon the good count,
supposing no other to be contained in the indictment. In

2°2

BRICE 0. THE STATE. Qew, 2

this respect the law of England was different in civil and
criminal cases. By a statute of Tennessee, the law is now
in civil cases ag we understand it to be in criminal. 2
Doug. 730; 2 Ld. Ray, 889.

Second, it was urged with much earnestness, that the
statute upon which this indictment was framed was passed
in North Carolina, in the year 1779, and is not in force in
this State. And, to support this position, several reasons
have been assigned. First, that this statute was passed
during the revolutionary war, when the crimes which the
statute was intended to suppress were frequent; and that,
the occasion which gave rise to the statute having ceased,
the statute itself ceased likewise.

No doubt the turbulence of the times in which this stat-
ute was passed put it in the power of those who were really

' dishonest to practice thefts of this description with much

greater hopes of impunity than could be entertained in
times of tranquillity and peace; and no doubt the frequency
of offenses, such as desvrvibed in the statute, brought the
subject to the notice of the Legislature, and induced them
to pass it. But in the statute itself there is no limita-
tion, no time fixed when it shall cease to be in force.
How then can the judiciary cease to regard it as the rule
upon the subject to which it relates? ' It would be en-
tirély a new idea to say, that when a statute was passed to

- punish crimes at that time frequent, and when that stat-

ute or sense of propriety had made offenders against its
provisions rare, the judiciary should consider the statute
a nullity, upon the maxim, “cessante rabione cessat et ipsa
lex.” That there is such a maxim all will admit; but few
can seriously suppose it applicable to such a case as this.
When the subject upon which the law is to operate ceases,

then the law itself will [256] likewise cease. Perhaps the °

Legislature, if consulted, might say the very circumstance
of there being but few offenders at the present day is ow-
ing to the provisions of the statute itself. And if it has
been attended with such good effects, it ought to be con-
tinued in force, under a hope that it will ultimately pre-
vent altogether the commission of such crimes.

In Tennessee there is a statute inflicting a severe punish-

273

“Tet foz ATne uc Saassouuey, SeTTTaAssey ye pesuey feqtyM Ssowep “HOTU

vas
—~

256, Zo« OVERTON’S TENNESSED REPORTS, VOL. II.

ment on those who are conyicted of horse-stealing. The
very reason of passing this statute was the frequency of
such offences. Now, they are less frequent; will any one
argue, therefore, this statute is not in force? Suppose the
judiciary to sanction such an idea, what punishment would
hey inflict upon the offender? Would it revive some old
statute or go back to the common law? In such a case
it would be without any guide but what its own discretion
would furnish, This would at once put it in the place of
makers not expounders of the law. The argument in the
case supposed ought to have just as much force ag in the
one before the Court. The truth is, if a statute is consist-
ent with the Constitution, and upon the face of it is per-
petual, the judiciary is bound: to give it effect in every
case which falls within its provision, until the Legislature
choose either expressly or implied to repeal it.

Secondly, it has been said this statute is not in force, be-
cause, in one of its sections, there is a provision that the
clerk of each county court shall at stated times read the
act publicly in court, and that this ceremony has never
been used in this State. The Court thinks, with the coun-
sel, that the object of this section was to make the act
more generally known to the citizens than it would be
if promulgated in the ordinary method only. But it is
far from believing the Legislature ever intended to put it

in the power of the County Court clerks to determine .

whether this act should be in force or not. There is noth-
ing in the act itself that countenances such an idea. If
the clerks fail to do their duty, there is a penalty in the
same section against them. Make them pay it. Still the
law is in force. Any other construction would lead to
strange absurdities. In some counties. the clerks might
read the act as required; in others it is neglected. Then,
according to the argument, the statute would be in force
in the first class of counties, but not in the latter. And
still the statute, from its words in other parts, seems in-
tended to operate throughout the whole State.

Thirdly, it has been urged, that although this statute
may at this time be in force in North Carolina, yet it is
rot in [257]force in Tennessee. Because by art. 10 and
sched. to the Constitution of this State, no law of North

274

BRICE V. THE STATE. rs
Carolina is in force, except such as is consistent with our
new form of government, and had been before in force and
use in this part of the country; that this statute had not
been in use, and therefore, is not these that was enforced
by that provision.

In 1779, when this statute was enacted, what is now Ten-
nessee formed a part of the State of North Carolina, and
continued to be a part of it until ceded to the United
States in 1789. During ten years, then, it would seem,
this statute must have been, legally speaking, as much in
force and use here as in any other part of North Carolina.
In the Act of Cession, there is a provision that the laws
of North Carolina, so far as is consistent with our new
situation, should continue in force. The territorial gov-
ernment continued until the year 1796, when a constitution
was formed, and Tennessee became a member of the Un-
ion. In that constitution and in the article referred to,
the members of the convention provide for a continuance
of all the North Carolina laws which had been in force
and use, and were not inconsistent with our form of goy-
ernment. It has not been pretended, and, it would seem,
can not be with propriety, that there is any provision in

this statute inconsistet with our form of government while >

a territory, nor since we became a State. But the argu-
ment is, that it must be shown that this statute was in use
as well as in force, during the territorial government, other-
wise it is not one of those enforced by the constitution.
Upon this point the record is silent. It does not show
whether any individual was indicted under this statute or
not, during the territorial government. Nor do we con-
ceive it necessary such proof should be afforded. ‘This
State is not in the situation of a State adopting the laws
of some foreign country, which laws must be proved, in
order to. enable the courts to know what they really were.
In all our different changes we retained those laws to
which we had been accustomed, and with the provisions
of which we are presumed to have been acquainted, with
the exception of those that were inconsistent, first, with
the territorial, next with the State government. And it
really would be a novelty to call for proof, in every case
that depends upon any law except a statute of Tennessee
275

+
‘
4

rf
‘i, ,
midi

+

; ae.
5 gt ria

ust ei
nat atte, .
fasbasSCag WEE Ne
FURR RE TRE  §

PAR SS
ye ae

wae oY

THE VICTIMS — M

“FS

at Mak H

2 SK oe

og - >y. om ‘ :
EAE at eheas
Tae

3

enry Snoderly,

in. muddle age when this photograph wos taken arcund
the Civil War period, were. both slain by wouid-be ;ob-
bers. This is the only picture in existence of the couple
and is owned by o great-granddaughter, Mrs. James
W. Irwin, Point 19 Rd., Andersonville.

‘: £2

Williams, D“D. Anderson and?!

Coram Acuff handled the casc.:

Much footwork
was done by by Jud Reeder, a
Knoxville detective.
had it at the time that Reeder

for the state,

Rumors:

convinced Cox's father that’

voluntary surrender would aid

in the defense, since the ac-°
cused pair would have the:

$199 reward money advancea
be the Snoderly famube ana
{ho state.

The stolen horses, aharednned

the pair, were fnund and

rocirned. Samehey tthe word
af the reward money reached
the pair as they hid aut om
Bovd County, Ky.
Sult Taliawed them to Virginia,

3
H "
| aad fer isdie

-r"4. -
see. Pur-

.t

Sat 1834 somiumer

‘

~ Knoxville foaled

they came bv boat down the

Powell River to Clinton and
their surrender followed,

Magistrate Dennis Leahy of
both, how-
ever, and instcad of frecing
them on weak alibis — three
months to the day following
the double murders—he
ardered them held for triat at
Maynardville, The grand jury
returned the murder indict-
ments June 25 and the trial
brezan June 28 with
W. OR. Flicks refusins 3. cnn-

finuanec.

Judge

JURY ACTED QUICKLY
Jahn Spoderiv. a son of the

miller, meted as praseciiar,

and aiuorney S, G. Boiskett ace

fented the accised nay Witte

$item?

er eee

bh ES: S%

fas,

iis

Y ness afier witness tracked the
pair by the hour from Ball

Camp Rd. in Knox County to
within sight of the Snoderly
log house and mill,

Lucinda Snoderly, Serena
Pile and Sam Gwinn, the

grandson, identified the pair.

as the killers. Gwinn recalied
his grandfather, secing the in-
truders as they entered, rose
from a chair near the fire-
place, threw up his hands and
said, ‘Oh Lord! What. shall
we do?"’ Those were his last
words, —

The jury was quick to find
both defendants guilty of mur-
dering Henry Snoderly and
fixed punishment as death by
hanging. Circuit Judge Hicks
set executton for Dec, 24, 1894.

Sill Rice, tlustriaus pioncer

‘af Union County, was only 19

years oid when the hangings
occurred. He had told a
grandson, John Rice Irwin of
Norris, what happened.

Staniey, upon hearing the
executoan was to he Christmas
Eve, chad. remarned: "The
judec aims to make a Christ-
mas present of us toa the
devil." A 16-foot high plank
fence was built to shield the
scaffold fram public view be-
cause of a Jaw forbidding pub-
le hangings. Just before 4
p.m., Stanley and Cox were
brought from Union County
Jail here and anton a new
spring wagon. Officers, armed
to the teeth, escorted the
wagon to the scaffold.

GAVE AWAY TOBACCO

“Stanley made a liltle talk.
He said, ‘Men — hoys,' and
then he sort of choked up,”
Sul Rice said) “His mouth
quivered. “Men—boys, drink-
ing whisky and carrving a
guns What brought me here.
} hone none of vou have to go
the wae Vin goin’?

“Then Stanicy pulled out a
hie fvist of chewing tobacco,

t te ¢

+ Or geht Vittie end of the

RO ee EO SE RR Sm ee OT

s

>ye

lakes Ge Qa ry

—  -isaes r we warren 9 3
ET ake MR

Shae

te th ;

WHERE THEY SLEEP — John Rice irwin kneels
by headstones.of Serena and Henry Snoderly, buried
in Snoderly Methodist Church cemetery within sight

of the slaying scenc irwin is a relative.

twist. Then he held up the rest
of the tohacco and asked, ‘Is
there anybody that wants the
rest of this? I have no morc
use for it.’

“From out of the great
crowd an old = mountaincer
walked up to Stanley and took
the tobacce. He thanked him
kindly for it.”

As the wagon approached
the scaffold, planks began to
fly in all directions. The
crowd had crushed the stock-
ade so it could wiincss the
double hangings.

Sheriff John Sharp, secing
the walls tumble down, said:
“The judge sentenced the men
to be hanged at 4 o'cieck, and
the hanging will go en even
if it is in full sieht of the
people.”

Stanley had twe fnal re:
quests. One was that the Cox
hoy not be hanged. saving he
had nothing ta do with the
killings. His other reeuest was
that the song, “In the Sweet
Bye and Bye” ke sung. The
first requesi wan clesend thie

second given—with the entira
crowd joining in the singing.

noy's ROMY CLAIMED

Brice Longmire, Union
County tax assessor, turned
to Sill Rice and said: ‘See
that old man with his hea
hung down, not a-trying te
sce the hanging? Well, thats
the Cox boy's father. They're
a ftxin' to hang his boy rch:
now.”*

A deathly silence settled on
the quickening darkness anc
some shouted:. “There thes
gnt’’ The two bodies swayed
from their ropes, and then
Cox walked through the crows
and claimed the body of his
son.

Manev had lured the two te

Snoderlys hame on
Creck. but ther oz
nateing. Monew had birce
them mite surrenderig.
iman and a bov had killed anc
heen killed for casy moicy
which newer ever saw,

And Union County's fore
mont turder case was at a"
oid,

Henry

Pincds!

DE ce a ae

poy an


wpris

hy’

Hiunyed berore fear ¥¥ as ut.

me AML 2h 9h 7
sFebrua ry Murders }

Tite
ae a

Mews-Seatinel Stet! Weiler ox?
MAYNARDVILLE, Tenn.—A
coid February rain was. fall-
ings on Hinds -Creek, the thick
‘darkness made ro by
y heavy fog.

The great log ‘caste of Hes:

ry Snoder ly was a haven from

the elements, and the family >

was gathered around a crack-
ling blaze of the open hearth,
areal the community mill-,
had-come to Hinds Creek
"ai Rig Sandy, N.C., when
he was only 21. And on this
forboding night, Feb, 8, 1894,
hefore Union County” was
formed, Henry at age 9

weasn'l loo tired to read from:

his well-worn Bible, ;
crena, 76, Henry's third
nie: their daughler Tarcinda.
Siurcierly, and) grandchildren
Serena Pile ‘and Sam Gwinn,:
5 py the. family circle.
SA: 7:30 p.m., young Gwinn’
arese and walked to the door,:
intent on checking the nearby
entili to see if Uncle John had.
qui grinding corn meal for’
* {he day.,
As Gwinn opened the door,.
- tse omen, one armed with .a
pistol and both masked, forced—.

+) their way inside. There fol

‘lowed, in the next agonizing
minutes; a‘ dastardly crime.
-which Is remembered by few
hut still causes shivers among
deserndants who have heard
the tale.

- MEN WERE DRUNK
‘the intruders were heal

. With drink, but chilled to the,
=. hae after | waiting .in “thes
'  wonds “for darkness {6 fall?
§ Both were out tn rob the pros--

perous miller and Methodist

header, &

Forow up your hands,"
‘dthe oldér intruder.
oHawry Snoderly raised his

[eosin arms above his hoary
herve! ‘and the armed handit,
hic «sion and mind blurred
hy osinonshine, theught the
pid van Avas reaching for vi
3 rifle i

en ee

THE VICTIMS <= Mr.

ms
ut :

ond Mrs. ey Snoderly,

in middle age when this, photograph wos taken around
the Civil War period, were. both slain by would-be rob-
‘bers, This isthe only. piciure in existence of, the couple

and- is owned -by a. great: gronddau
‘W. Irwin,’ igi J9 Rd.; “Andersonville

Williams, Be D. Asdefasa al
Coram Acuff handied the tase};
for the stalé, : Mich. footwork i
was. done by by Jud Reéder, a;!
Knoxville - detective, */: Rumors}:

jhad it at the. time that Reeder}
“convinced . Cox's! ;fathér « that?”
‘voluntary surrender. would aid’, !

‘in the defense;- “since the ace ti

cused pair would” have the!
$100 reward money advanced
by’ the Snoderly family and
“the state.

Ihe stolen horses, ahandoned
by the pair, were found and
returned, Samchoy7? the word
of the reward money reached
the pair as they hid out in
Boyd County, Ky, The purey
suit followed them to Virginia,
and finally that 894 summer.

trig

they, came hw boat down the

Powell River to Clinton - and »
their surrender followed,

ee di: |

) ness aller “witness bracken’ the

* words, '

oht ag Mesiz aa "A~16-foot high—pl

Magistrate Dennis Leahy of -
Knoxville fooled bath, hows |
¢ver, and instead of frecing |

them on weak alibis — three
months to the day following ©

>the’ double murders—he

ordered them held for trial at=

Maynardville, The grand jury

ments June 25 and the trial
began June 28 with Judge

* returned the ‘murder indict-

W. R. Hicks aolusing a conte?

finuance. ie?

JURY ACTED BilcKie ;
~ John Snoderly; a son of the
miller, “acted ©a8\ prosecutor,
and atlarney §,-G, Heiskcll de-

fended the ihe. accused pair, Wil

—s

-pair by the hour from Ball
Camp Rd: in: Knox County to -

i within ‘sight of the , Snoderly

log house and mill, } ‘
» Lucinda. Snoderly, Serena ~
Pile and Sam Gwinn, Ahe
grandson, ‘identified. the: pair i
as the_killers. Gwinn tecalled-

chis grandfathér, séeing the in-: $

{rudera._as they entered, rose
from, a chalr near the fire- |
place, threw up his hands and ~
said, “Ol Lordi. What. shall
Those. were his last.

<The jury: was “quick 10 find
‘both deféndants guilty of mur-
‘dering’ Henry Snoderly and
fixed punishment as death by |
hanging. Circuit Judge Hicks —
set ¢xecution for. Dec, 24, 1894.

Sill Rice, illustrious pioncer =

years old ep the hangings.

occurred, © “had told a
grandson, Soha Rice Irwin 6f *
Norris, what happened... ‘

Stanley, upon hearing the
executon was to he Christmas
Eve,’ had remarked: “The
judge aims fo make a Christ-
mas present of us to the”

fence was built to shicld the
scaffold from public view bes.
cause of a Jaw forbidding pub-
lic hangings. Just before 4
p.m., Stanley and Cox were *
brought from Union County
Jail here and onto a new
spring wagon. Officers, armed
to the tceth, escorted: the.
wagon to the scaffold, -

GAVE AWAY TOBACCO |

Py
“Stanley made a little. talk.
He said, ‘Men. — hoys,’ and
then he sort of choked up,"
Sill, Rice ‘said. ‘His mouth
quivered. .‘Men—hboys, drink-_
ing whisky and carrying a”

WW

pe

- WHERE TH EY SLEEP

John Rice Irwin’ kneels =
‘of Union County, was only 19 by headstonés. of Serena ard Henry: Snodeérly, buried =.=
-in’ Snoderly: Methodist Church cemetery , within aight me

of the slaying scene. Irwin is a relative: .i...1'°

3 “twist, Then he held up the =

of the tohacco and asked,
there anybody that wants the
rest of this? I have ng-more

use for It.t 3 et Be YS Be

-“Fronv: oul of ithe great

ank-—_crowd an. old” mountaineer —

walked up to Stanley and took
‘thé ‘tobacco. He’ thanked him |
kindly: for it. +2) 484 :
As ‘the wagon’ approached ,
the scaffold, planks began. to
fly‘ in’ all directions. The.
_ crowd had crushed the stock-. i
ade so it could witness the
» double hangings. 3

sa... Sheriff John Sharp, seeing ©

“the walls tumble down, said:
“The judge sentenced the men
to be hanged at 4 0’clock, and
the hanging will go on even
if it is in full “any of the
people.””
Stanley had two final res
quests. One was that the Cox”

; a hes to

second given—with the entire,
crowd joining in the singing.

_ BOY’S BODY CLAIMED:
' Brice Longmire, “Union

' County tax assessor, turned
‘to Sill Rice and said: “See
that old“mman- witit-his-head
hung ‘down, not a-trying .to
sce the ‘hanging? Well, that's

the Cox ee father, They’ re.
ang his boy, right |

OA. ‘deathly silence seltled on
the quickening darkness. and.

some shouted:.. ‘There “they
go!" The two bodies swayed

aii

from theit ropes, and then ~

~ Cox walked through the ctawd

and claimed thé body of is.

son,

Money had lured the two to
Henry Snoderly’'s home on
Hinds Creek, but they. got

nothing, « Moncy had luted

them into surrendering. A

"| gun is what brought me here, , hoy not be hanged, saying he) man and a boy had killed and
“J hope none of you have to 89~ had ngthing to do’with the © been killed for easy money,

the way I'm goin’,

“Then Stanley pulled out a
hig twist of chewing tohaceo,
ai add ndg, 957 i the. ee nd of —

killings. His other request was
that the song, “In the Sweet
Bye and Rye" be sung. The
First request was flenind, the

Which neither ever saw,
And “Union County's fore-
most murder case was at an

end:


corner across from Union

Maynardville Hotel, built just after the Civil War, prot prtatly
J se. Jolm Trick, for James Buckner. 2 Ee stage
Tat er owner, John P. Sharp, was sheriff of Union County when
Geeta ger ~ Cox and Stanley were hanged Dec. 22, 1894, for

and, because he was a sensitive person, the deed,

although it was official ow. bothered him for the
rest of his life. eee;

RF

ceere ne ce mantels,

; Bhé slug struck Henry ‘in the
cchest.* He pitched over dec,
\ his body coming to rest along-
+ side a bureau chest. a5
»«.Serena Snoderly ran instinc-
tively toward an outcr door,
and the slayer of her husband
«wheeled and fired again. ‘The
bullet struck Mrs. Snoderly in

“xthe back, and she diced where

*» she fell inside the door—only

- a few feet from freedom.

. The. two young -women {lsd
before the shooting, crossing
‘the creek and hiding for hours
underneath, the mill. Later
‘they -became separated. Lu-
cinda‘Snoderly finally emerged
and made her way to Uncle
-John’st' home.» Serena Pile
stayed'the night safely hidden

_ ina water-filled paeenet near he
: j amill.. ta

> Young: ‘Gwinn was forced
bg -the .-bureau~ drawers,
starting from:the bottom. He

. couldn’t open one because his
‘grandfather's body ~ blocked

~ him. The masked men de-

“manded ‘that Gwinn,: 20, dreg-
his grandfather's body aside.

View 4 > 3 t

_TWO MEN IDENTIFIED
“ef. caught the eye of ‘the
man who had his pistol] on me
-. off-of me,"; Sam.Gwinn was to
" testify Jater, *‘and I jumped in
. the dining Toom to the door.”
||. The gunman’s bullets missed,
bi cand. °Sam .raced to Uncle
‘John’s to alarm the family and
“the ‘farming community, ‘
- The’ killers were soon gone,

stabled:at the Snoderly barn.
“Still intact, however, was the

j= mone “the ki! Hers hed-eougt

—$106.75 -and $11 in separat!
rolls and Incked in a bureat
‘drawer. — Lucinda  Snoder]
had carried the key with he

The killers had left a trail,
a Tenderfoat Scout could hav
followed — from Ball Camp
community, Powell and Halis
Crossroads in Knox County t
Hinds ‘Creek, not far froia
Maynardville. They ord
afoot, they were hungry and
begged for food, and each

wore -days-old beards. Br-
sides that, each was know
by residents on whose doors

: Jong hike, - > ist
- Peace officers immediately”
‘launched a search for Joha
“Stanley, an older man with &
scar running from his fore-
head and ending near the
right ear, and Clarence Cox,
15-year-old Ball Camp resi-
<dent who had Lead up vit
Stanley. » Ree y £

HID IN KENTUCKY S
The shocking crime greeted
the good farm folk next day,
‘and many had unwittingly

. helped the killers by pointing
the way to Snoderly Mill, One

man even drew a map for the
killers, ‘
Mehr P.. Rodgers, Re

With this, fhe man fired an’

however, as were two horses [

ogi “vith the daughters:

when she fied. : |

the pair had knocked on their |

Vic Weals, "Home Folks", The Knoxville
Journal, Aprit :8,»1951%5 pe lA. ew
i+ Stanley & Cox were held in the Knox Co.
-. Jail for their safety since feeling was
running high in Union County, Their trial
“was June~28,29 and ods b gee was held LD 2
~ Maynardville. = ae

¥ uc

ae Judge Hicks said chy Mn seei ng then NT

.had rather this cup would pass from me, but

ee the sheriff will fix an enclosure within

‘one mile from the jail, at Maynardville, a

place suitable to himself, and on the c4th
- day of August 1894, he will hang both of |

you by the neck unt are dead! dead!

-in cutting the ropes,. two: men feil in unson, ~
one lived.ten minutes the other.eleven ai
y minutes before bedng paonounced, pames cs

~My grandemother was present ‘for anex hanging,
‘Sheriff John P, Sharp, she was a bretherin-
law to her, having married a sister of my
-grand-father, Hugh A. Butcher, LuDusky
pebutcher. At least two of John P, Sharp's
_ daughters still live in Virginia, After

the 1959 article appeared by Vic Weals at
left, these daughters protested the fact that.

Weals had claimed that the sheriff was bdtered
_by his act in hanging the two men. They said
that it did mt bother him at. all. ¥I have

yother. and_shee—
pis:

pve bounty of white or black Sebel is-
_reported that many slaves were present in
Union County but ce oe trouble ever. came

: : age

"Union. county was Cheatedt: in n 1850, nt
to what is said agi: ie tea ari cie

Bors

. Willjam G,. Tharpe,

Union County Historical society,
+P. 0. Box 95 ee.
“Maynardville, TN 37807 |


rebruary Murders. Stirred’ Union® County: in’ 1894 **

~nRIELARD VARBROUGH
Ptawe Semtinet Steff Waller
“OAVYNARDVILLTE., Tenn.—A
February rain was fall-
-soon Hinds Creek. the thick
rhoulish by

Gariaess made

ty AVY ing ’
The ereat Ine house af Hen-

We OS sidpy teal aven {ro

iy deriv was a haven fr mn
- eooments. and the familv
it eathered aratnd a crack-

sc Ctiaze of the open hearth.

we ihe reniEntry aul. - she feil inside the door—nniy however, as were two harecs ty
o> PA ernie “to Hines aa a few feet from freedom. cesbilest ne thet Oke slain. a] re
Rie Sond f-G.. “when ‘Ay ‘ ge. es :
mike OP Se ee The two young women fIrd Still intact, however, was th:
- WA AV oT And On ins before the shgoting crossing moaeyv tho iéites+t ec be rach? *e
fnss tp ysks ace toh? tel. S&S YSAA e - eget ita is Seats #3 rae
OT ate S the creek and hiding for hours —$196.75 -and $11 in separaic ?
rtere i! 1’ i eat tv wa + . F eae
ss oe a ungerneath the mill. Later rolls and Incked in a burea .
Siig tenes they became separated. [.u- drawer. Lucinda Snoderly

yaad ‘no tired '9 read fram

citearn Bible,

b' petri. Ft, Henry's third
Liry pinks dauglter Lucinda
Speke and erandchildren
Pye and Sam Gwenn,
eifhstel 1

bapiert on checking the nearby

“wukl see if Tincle John had
Srrichiinee

thy tot

corn meal for

Cawinn apened the doa,

“yen, ane armed with a
boty ad bath masked, forced
’ inside. There fol-

ny
Min the next ageing
Apr a dastardivy crime
pee An

ds. remembered bv few
ses shivers ainnig
have heard

za ’
whe

iene

<N WERE DRUNK

TAg& intruders were heavy

hist drink, but chilled to the.

after waiting in the
for darkness to fall.
ere mit tao red the pras-

engl ? MED th eichies
ane Aerhrdis

family eircic.

7:je pm. veoung Gwinn
aud walked in the door,-

-

erena Snederly ran inetin

timely toward an outer door,
ani the siaver of her hushanei
whecied and fired again. Tie
huiiet struck Mrs. Snoderly in

. the back, and she diced where

cinda Snoderly finally emerged
and made her way to Uncle
John's' home.. Serena Pile
Staved the night safely hidden

- in-a water-filled ditch near the

mill.
Young Gwinn was forced to

‘dump the bureau- drawers,

ae

Starting from the hattom. He
couldn't open one because his
frandfather’s body blocked
him. The masked men d>-
manded that Gwinn, 20, drzg
his grandfather's body aside,

Fe d TWO MEN IDENTIFIED
TPUEK DCA EY an
He Pichea over Pee

“I caught the eye of the
man who had his pistol on rre
off of me,”. Sam Gwinn was to
tesufy later, “‘and I jumped in
the dining roam to the door.”

. The gunman's bullets missed,

and Sam. raced...to. Unc'c

"John’s to alarm the family and
' the farming communitv.

The killers were soon pone,

had carried the key with her
when ste fled.

The killers had Jeft a trati
a Tenderfont Sceut cnuld has -
folinwed — from Ball Camp
community, Poweijl end Halis
Crossroads in Knox County 17
Hinds Creek, not far fron
Maynardville. Thev wer->
afoot, they were hungry anl
begred for food. and eac1
wore davs-ald beards. Br-
sides that, each was know
by residents on whose doors
the pair had knocked on their
long hike.

Peace officers immediate],
launched a search for Jok-
Stanley, an older man with 4
scar running from his fore-
head and ending near th>
right ear, and Clarence Cox,
}5-vear-old Ball Camp res-
dent who had teamed up witn
Stanley.

HID IN KENTUCKY
The shocking crime egrecte}
the gnnd farm folk next dav.
and many had unwittingiv
heiped the killers by pointin:
the wav ta Snoderiv Mijl. On-
man even drew a map fer the

killers
Qn

John P., r+ §

Rodgers, J. €

Cua of

by Ore
ny A Judge And Jury cae

The building being torn down in Maynardville,: on

corner across from Union County Courthouse, is

‘| Maynardville Hotel, built just after the Civil War, probably
by John Irick, for James Buckner.

later owner, John P. Sharp, was sheriff of Union County when

Cox and Stanley were hanged Dec. 22, 1894, for:

oh the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Snoderly in

gHines Valley. Sharp cut the rope at this hanging,
and, because he was a sensitive person, the deed,
s although it was official duty, bothered him for the |
= Test of his life.
The old hotel housed many a judge and jurv|
;in its more than 90 years of existence. The tearing |

down is to make way fcr the new Maynardville |
, State Bank, ; |

|

*16Qgl *22 *0ed uo Seassouuey

‘atTtapseukey ye peduey *(9[ ATUC x0g) Seqtym yqoq Suyor *AWINVIS pue feoueTeTO *x00

4

a

THE VETO.

Passes the Dis-
Attorneys’ Bill
Substitute,

y With Little Ac-
ied In the Gen-
Assembly.

‘ed Adjourned Until
rainst the Wishes
@ Majority,

r Severs Takes Things
| Hands and Reles
wrdingly,

4AND TAXATION.

i

|

‘pt. 9.—iSpecial))—Short
Fe Tule again to-day, and
idifes myniceck he Temnscracy,

until Monda

By

‘diciary Comnrittes gave
ion on the Attorney bill,
vetoed ty the Governor
8. lhe cpinion wound
ding that the! bill be
reand copies of the re-
“1 printed and ithe bill
commended and) will be
louse to-morrow!
tedistrictiag billiand the
Cities and. Te

quietly in the
6 Judiciary
disturhed,

in the Senate
on, Cockrell, Gallaway,
oertz, Huff, Toube, May,
nan, Parker,
Wall. F
o 3, on Fiseal Courts
345, introduced Ty ML
le parpos of pal
ment, were giveh second
*, Chairman of ne Ja-
ee, submitted
& dill and tha

'S Veto relating thereto.

read, and on
806 copies we

is correet, i
a, law ound
Further, that the *
"CEnOr “Wag pot! correct,
i was only kills

Sin, of the
iad reported.

morn- }
wishes of a majority of |

-tponing : ES

nmenagren a a

consider a aubject not embraced in the
mall. Col. ‘Taylor said it wax out. of
the question ta hold that the eo
could not change tts — any tine

Mr. Severs nad te the

House adjourn anti) Monday merning,
at 10:30 o'slock., On a vive Yooo vote
Mr. Severs, evidently: itt « ere
hieod, declared the motion carried in
the fate of a loud demand fer the ayo
and noes, and in the faces of a vote
that had been taken a few minutes bet
‘ore showing that #fty-four members
were opposed to adjourning watil Mon.
day, while thirteen farared ft. A nate
her of embers crowded around ker
Moora aii censured him fer ha¥
called @ soan te the chair whe wou
make ‘such an ar paling. tha:

PY pay declaring thet he had ac ides

Severs would act t a8 he did.
THEIR REPORT IN iN FULL.

om neces

Opinion of the Judiciary Committee of 3

the Attorneys? Bill,
Frankfort, Sent.
following is “the repert in full e¢ the

\ Judiciary Conimittes om the At}

torneys” hill: and. the Petition “of the
. thereto:

iz the 1 see |
sion, &s ey 4
torneydveneral, Attorneys for the Common- f
a a for the. coun and }

f the same Db SO
ant to lechonei Was aso referred “a commur.

cation from the pes Na? oF “relation to.
the same subject, received by the ‘Sesats

pak the: Sth’ in Si of this 3 / Submit the
owing §

At us date of the clamatton, Aveuit
19, 1892, the Di « i Wes ino the

hands cf the Governor, ahd, 90. ee te ste fb
known 6. your eommitten, -

baa the subject of Executive @sapproval,
5 oe s
September G that said Din. was ot ae

provet or. vetoed prict to ihe. oe
Jorgen. ARG nn teak Nae 2K

wiste pt

ae State,” the Pence in’

ing i secsion a
this Sct reached the Senate torr the fest
time through P si comimrokat.on
tember the 5f

If the veto. of the over ©
rected to be entered upon. the secret
register’, was effectual aa such. if was x
elusive as to the tate of the bi
the Dill was in
sibject of oe
By cection 4S of
vided that © f sens bet

chair, and the members RY |
him Mr. Bartman ort, ea, toy

q = (Special) The 5

had not bean f
the: ecommusicaion of |

by the CaPrernor W

fact of “the Spr Shall, ay :

es creas *

ae ee =

«

ie eblee ih |


Taken from THIS IS

WASHINGTON COUNTY, 1818-1968
pub. by the Sesquicentennial
Committee of the Historical
Society of Washington Co., IL

TWO NEGROES HANGED AT NASHVILLE IN 1892

‘There are a few senior citizens residing in Wash-
ington County who will recall the sensational murder
of Marcus Deitsh at Richview on the night of Decem-
ber 26, 1891. Deitsh was an itinerant peddler who re-
sided at Richview and hawked his wares in the area. A
Russian Jew by birth, he was a familiar figure to
many. He was genial, well liked, and didn’t mind the
name of “Mike, the little Peddler,” that his customers
pinned on him. He did a flourishing business.

" Then one morning his body was found in a path-
way near his boarding house, his skull bashed in, and
his throat cut. Evidently he had been murdered for
his money, as he usually carried a sizeable sum
on his person. _

In the course of time the guilty parties were

arrested, Tom Davis and Henry Dickerson, two ne-
groes who lived in Richview. They were lodged in the

county jail at Nashville, and the long prosecution be-

gun. They were finally sentenced to be hanged, and
before going to the gallows, made a full confession
of the crime.

They had waylaid Deitsh, beat him down with
clubs, before they robbed him. Later, fearing he

might regain consciousness, they crept back to the
scene and cut his throat with a jackknife.

The two were hanged at 11:29 a.m., Saturday,
May 14, 1892, from a scaffold built within an en-
closure in the courtyard at Nashville. Sheriff Sam
White was in charge of the hanging.

An Earlier Death Sentence

While this was the first judicial execution ever
held in Washington County, it was not the first death
sentence imposed here. In 1862, James Ambrose was
sentenced to be hanged in Nashville for the murder
of an uncle in St. Clair County the year previously.
Amos Watts was then State’s Attorney, and Salem
Goodner was sheriff. Ambrose had killed his uncle
with a shotgun. The county jail then stood in the
southeast corner of the public square, and as the scaf-
fold was being erected in sight of the condemned man’s
cell, he swore repeatedly that it never would be used.
He was right in his belief, for the day before the
execution, Gov. Yates of Illinois commuted his sen-
tence to life imprisonment. He was pardoned eight
years later, and returned to work as a carpenter. But
ironically, he was caught in a falling wall soon after-
ward and killed. |

79

uo Sesgcauses SeTTTauseN peduey Ssyoertq SAaueH *NOSUMWOIC pue Swo] “SIAVd


ee

EEE ages
Ri tee,

2 qpicture in police files, ~~<

she wil

“the identified
= Hbgigidentified them

iat SEO: ae

iWi a
e QP recvrs r OR

obert Lo n-

f night,
| Crenshaw, ~ Negro, ~ of “' N.
jSeventh st., was identified by his
qvictir« as the man who forced her
submiissi late Wednesday night
_jhear - th<7, East Washville ap-
2: proaches te Memorial

“.jlice said. Ce Shae
| Crenshaw, whaserve
«terms for robber

about noon ye after E
: 20¢ they|:
“spotted him on “Chute,” Aicle
Sepia o +: eee enth Street near}:
Main street, Detectiv ‘FP
Ritter said. . ce" Mes on pean?
# McMahon ‘said-- acker

reami
-jand apparently the
~f2Way McMahon said... {+25
‘The detective said the woman
yas very sensitive «and " fainted!’
after she identified. ‘Crenshaw’s}

man

AW Te

‘

ee’

~;, “But she wants to do her |
{keep him from ht etnie

| te him,” McMahon

. hes gh

of the b

: to Cren-'-
at police headquarters and’ ”.

26 his, police

SE ae aera, ,

‘To Workhouse Guar

ct,

j brick would be charged with mur-

i ‘Wynne McGrew, of Pulaski, and
{irvine | McGrew, of | Washing-

mtn

Injuries Are Fata

+ PEERY FR Fig pee a

ye
di
MES TE PSG lone spesess:
seeruny x, | a""Niata over

{-| Was struck over the head Saturday }
4morning with’ a pick. by a Negro’

prisoner, George tHambrick, died:
in. General Hospital early this!

-| morning. ‘Sse: Mya Reas

‘The Negro, who~ escaped after:
attacking McGrev, was captured. -

dlater in the day by Sheriff Claude,
Briley. -The Negro was found by:

the sheriff and about 35 city and?

}county patrolmen hiding under ai
-rock ledge on Cumberland River./;

Hambrick was placed in county?

{jail cnarged with two counts ‘of:
dassault with intent to commit mur-}

der; the first for siriking McGrew’

]with a pick and the second for:

shooting at another man, E.“A.}
Elrod, 618 Stoclielt Street, driver}
of a county K n-

injured. nee ce | -
“ County “officia am~:

met

der. ay * eta it er 5 o4

The Negro was serying a three-

year sentence for housebreaking |

and larceny. “suhws(ineeaeriiees
ss Se yee

“A native of Giles County,’ Mr.

} McGrew moved to Nashville, 28;'

years ago and was employed by the ;
Gray and Dudley Foundry for eight”.
years before joining the Davidson j"

s ir fi ne Sy
i been made early this morning~ yes
"Survivors include his wife; two*

daughters, Mrs. Sam Jennings of.
Mt. Juliet and Mrs. Lewis Eddins,°
of Murfreesboro; sister, Miss Estelle}
McGrew, of | Pulaski; brothers,’ .

o

n, D. c, lat ie eh Aare

Eee ieee
pestis Sp arbors a

©

anttar”  RaG Sanred once ERS ;
ees Sapa Ser.

ot

County Highway Department. Sec p
“He was a member of the East)”


DEAL, John, white, elec. TN@ (Shelby)

The
$40.°9 MU

Victim of a brutal strangler, the body
of Mra. Elizabeth Summerfield, 60-
year-old Memphis widow, was found
in her bathtub by investigating officers.

Rt Ro Ea oe

OUSED by an ominous trickle of water through the
living room ceiling on that afternoon of May 20, 1933,
Roy. Roland, a roomer at 1370 Union avenue, Memphis,
called others and investigated the apartment of Mrs. Elizabeth
Summerfield. Breaking into the bathroom, they found Mrs.
Summerfield’s body in the overflowing tub, strangled to death.

SOMERS NED Rt ea

Sa SICH

September 15, 1934.

ave RTH Re
BS ae at fi

Hastily summoned, Memphis sleuths went into action to
determine a motive for the murder of the 60-year-old victim.
But there were no leads. Apparently it was a clueless case.
Then investigators heard rumors that the woman was reputed

_to carry large sums of money on her person.

Detectives promptly began to check the activities of other

a meee

DARING DETECTIVE,
January, 1936.

ROMA Te DUR eMC cc ge ae ea

1 Suspicions aroused by water seep-
- ing through the ceiling from Mrs.
Summerfield’s apartment, roomers
investigated her suite (1, above).
Breaking into the bathroom; shown
at left, they found the body of
the strangled woman in the tub.

Q Convinced that robbery had mo-
tivated Mrs. Summerfield’s death,
detectives trailed a suspect to
Beale street, left. There. they
found that he had betrayed signs
of sudden wealth, leaving a trail
of “murder money”—a trail which
‘was: to end in electric chair.

Photo at right, above, shows the

3 quiet home on Union avenue where

a calloused murderer struck down’

an unsuspected victim in broad

daylight in one of the most shock-

ing crimes that the city of Mem-
phis has ever known.

DARING

Uy BRN EAS,

occupants of the
boy, aroused st
cafe. Taken in
conflicting stor:

He had stran;
and then placed

‘One of the
scene, Detec
D. Miller of

t
telaging the |
Summe
DETECTIVE


A HISTOR Y.OF

PUTNAM COUNTY

nothing near so much as the one that Ieads from Stratsburg
to Be dford in Pennsylvania. About forty miles from Nash-
ville we met an emigrant in a carriage, followed by their
slaves on foot, that had performed their journey without
accident. Little boards, painted black and nailed upon -~
trees, indicate to seavelees the distance they have to go.’

In the year 1800, when the Goodpastures crossed the
Wilderness the road was neither so good nor so safe as
when Michaux traveled it, although even then, it was not
considered prudent to travel it except in parties, on account
of roving bands of Indians, one of. which he met before he
reached South West Point.

F. A. Michaux, the eminent French naturalist, made a_

tour of scientific investigation through this country in 1803,
and his observations, quoted above, indicate that the Walton
Road was no mean thoroughfare in its early days. Moses

Fiske was his traveling companion.
Moses Ses the surveyor of the Walton a was born

He first seitied at Kneceille but ie lived in PA ae
Sumner and Smith counties. In 1805 he laid off the town
of Hilham, in Overton County, where he established the
Fisk Female Academy, by legislative authority. The Ten-
nessee Historical Magazine says of him that “He was scholar-
ly and he carried on an extensive correspondence with his-
torical and antiquarian societies.”

Putnam County has more miles of the Walton Road than
has any-other county through which it passes. Beginning
at the Cumberland County line, the railroad very nearly
parallels it on through Monterey and Bilbrey to the vicinity, .
_of Brotherton. Here the railroad works around to the north”
“to find gradual descent from the first bench of the moun-
tain by way of Pardgon, while the Walton Road, running a

34

fe

cnn pc nem me 8 a

A = HISTO RY). OF
!

little south, proceeds to a rather precipitous descent at Buck
Mountain. The railroad and the old highway are again in
close proximity near the fairgrounds, north of Cookeville
and do not deviate more than a mile at any point until
“they” reach Baxter. “Here the railroad is about one mile
on the south and continues its divergence, while the Walton
Road runs slightly nort of west in the general direction .of
Ensor, Gentry and Chestnut Mound, following the main
ridges to reduce grades, to its terminus at the old Waltc:
Ferry, at Carthage. ee

PUTNAM COUNTY

THe Braswett Hanaina—Perhaps the largest crowd
that was ever assembled in Putnam County, variously esti-
mated by old citizens at from ten to fifteen thousand pco-
ple, was in Cookeville on the 27th day of March, 1878, to
witness the public execution of Teke and Joe Braswell,
brothers, convicted of the murder of Russ Allison more
than three years previously. This shocking crime occursed
at the Allison place, a well-known stand on the Walton
Road, about one mile from Baxter, on the night of Nav.
29th, 1875. Dop Johnson and Doll Bates were along, is
the latter was sentenced to twenty-one years in the peniten-
tiary. Johnson made a full confession and escaped pve St
cution. It is not our purpose, after fifty years, to paracte
the harrowing details of this foul crime, neither would “i
‘Teopen the question of the guilt or innocense of the sti ;
but in the interest of historical accuracy we must at east
make passing mention of this conspicuous event—the first
and only legal execution ever carried out in our county.

~

THe Gunrer Traarpy—A deplorable tragedy of en
War times that has been invested with a fiction or romanc
not warranted by the facts, was the slaying of two men

85

PUY eT

eduey ‘seqtyum fydesop » eszcep “TIaMevEG

ML Sat TTASHOOD P

es

i tiger ceca oat

LOPE ehh oe

ire abet

pena coe ae

emg He

Nines

“*yue

S$€Z_yoreyl

ie eles

se TES a


STL RT Lees
. S3arasura ogy | *
fu a
Be
The Hanging : &
An awful hour of my life was when I witnessed the execution of ,
two brothers, by hanging, for the murder of two brothers, near Cook- yy
ville, Tenn. One of the young men on the gallows confessed that ” ; Bes:
whisky and the love of money had brought them to that hour. He f Aes
warned young men to let whisky alone. The gallows was erected in i i
& cove, at the head of a hollow. It was estimated that fifteen thous- ; Be
and people gathered to witness the scene, but when the trap fell | F es
' they scattered like sheep with a dog in their midst. They hung 28 i SM
minutes, I remained and helped take them down and put them in Be
: their coffins. ‘ There were not much, if any, over one hundred men, f a
and no women, present when they were taken down, I was among ae Bs i"
: the few who witnessed the whole Scene, and helped to take them : Bo
_ down, but I have never wanted to see anything of the kind again, f ee
pans ren “ P| Sip
ZA, we 2) CAerse nal Ke i
’ 4 pan s es
* Y , L ; aoe
. ge A : “ig an “tr Pe Se LY). Kei 7
Creme A Jheeclleelecy P % a “7 Kafa ® Qrehervs) ’ eae
a —Araaull Pangisig 2
“ig mi oe ; oy 2
a MIB IVUAD Bo
eS And rtmtinlt po tAak ROIS
. CLK Lt/21 LINLLC4 0a Mia hcteotitey J ANY any, EE
vy A . ; 3 .
4 Aeesrding CZ Lradillon rata Gr atk a ——- &
4 fit rad on fire 2. AyD -Ze yeivete_._
a eG EI ae eh ts ree ised pia niet is niet
iw My ney ae _ ea ger ae wats
, 4 2 ——-
gt : oi el
¥ os 7
q he ttn , az f $ A ital . ; badd PO enn eid ee eee es Ser


eCkevitel

oO

saa a


BRAWELL. George and Joseph, whites hanged Cookeville, Tgane, 3-23-1878,

- —A uf
| phrar ¥.
Deca CL Xd Fe 9 ene tgs,” é.£ oe

(

THE BRASWFLL BOYS

eA ee bi
yay kN ms eran S
,2 " : C oa
bo J @
All my friends — and near re = la - tions ;

Lee es
G i Jy@e bl [pe
¢ ba L } Loud Vous
i. wr
a
Come and lis - ten to my Song ;
—_
ts ~ fe
sarin S rata ras a j -
; w } ma _ —— sant _
~a> We
I will sing a - bout the Bras - wells
ee fi : ee * f. we i ¥
se CZ a aa LZ ry
“ea, =—< jon” —<—- : "
. é 7
The . men that were hung !

The events related in this song actually occurred just
as told in the song. The scene of the murder was in
the south-west part of Putnam County, Tennessee, near the
corners of Smith and Dekalb Counties- , and the hanging
was at Cookeville, Tennessee.

The words and niusic of this song are by many people
credited to Parker Glenn, an itinerant craftsman who rode
on norseback throughout the rugged valley of the Caney Fork
River during the last quarter of the nineteenth century ;
repairing clocks and watches in the homes of the people,
He was perhaps our nearest approach to the minstrels of
ancient England and Scotland, and was always ready to make
and sing impromptu songs on any subject or occasion. Ho
cften conversed in rhyme, and was reported to have talked
on one occasion for more than two hours in rhymed and
measured sentences which he made as he talked. There
are yet (1940) living a number of persons who can remomber
him as an old man with a heavy long gray beard, who rode

up to the gate of the farmhouse and asked ebout the condition

of the Seth Thomas clock, a piece of equipment found in
almost every home in those days. He was usually a welcome
visitor, and spent the night wherever he happened to be
in the late afternoon.

The sony i8 known and sung throughout the valley of

‘the Caney Fork. Jt is given here as remembered by Mrs.

McDowell, with a little help from others.



NOME at, George Cannon : PLACE — CITY OR COUNTY DOE & MEANS
: Tenn, State Prison (Shelby) E. 3-30-19)3
DOB OR AGE RACE OCCUPATION RESIDENCE 161 Short Third | sen
(26) 27 Black Memphis

RECORD

GATE 2230 AM

Murder 5-8-19))2

VviCTiM AGE Reet METHOD
,
“n1te

Roy ‘“oods 21

MOTIVE

Service station holdup
;

SYNOPSIS

"Police announced today that Robert George Cannon, 26, negro, of 161 Short Hird had confessed he
shot and killed Roy “oods, 2leyear-old Firestone employee, early saturday in a hotdup—at—the-Spur-
filling station at 2nd and Auction, Cannon was docketed on charges of murder, two charges of asaault
to murder, and twh charges of Carrying a pistol... he pleased puitty -at—arrainnment—to—aii charges
and was held to state, ...S,uire Yhillips in arraigning Cannon advised him of h&s constitutional
rights—and the-sertousnessof pleading suiity+eafinst—desrresemurder charze, Cannon tald the
Souire and reporters that he was guilty and that is 'the only way I can say it.' Asked by reporters
who-he-s hot Mr, Uosds, Cannon replied: 'Tjust don't know why I shot that boy but I did, I mess they
will give me the MMH hot seat for it,' Capt, “ilbur Miller, Set. Wibenga and Set. Hillin took
Cannon's written confession, They said that Cannon said he shot Woods becuase he was 'a bit too
slow about getting out of the car he was in.' ‘The negro was caught running from the scene of the
crime, lhe police had barely received the radio broadcast of the killing when Officers Crawford
and Boatright spied the negro,: They caught him within 8 minutés after Mr, “oods vas shot. the
youth died at 2:30 AM Saturday at St. Joseph's Hospital, With woods at the time he was shot, accord-
ing to Capt. Miller, were fart arnold, atso a Firestone emtyee, Dorothy—hite—and FayHayes,—tthe
bosy were taking the girls home,) Cannon today pHeaded guilty to holding up the Spur Station at
3rd-and Cathoun-on-Hey4—and-sluceine theattendant, Boots French, over the head with a wrench,
MEMPHIS PRESS-SCIMITAR, May 11, 1942. Note the account of crime in issue of 5-9 is too faded to
read,_Evidently Cannon holding up station and boys had stopped there for gas while taking girls
home. He ordered them from car and "oods was slow in complying.

LAST WORDS

EXECUTION

PRANK NEWTON OFFICE SUPPLVmOOTHAN


, CANNON, Robert, black, 27, elec. Tenn, SP (Shelby) 3-30-19)3

Y

Silvan Oe ec ‘ ems \
. ac * RWiciy \s
_ ‘

MOOGA NEWR FREE PRES CHATTANOOGA, TEXN,, TURANAY. MARCH 20}

Naat ; Pe + bee =e sete Seen ‘i
. a 4 , t 2 P * : : Ti Pu 4 ts “ hee n ee ae
3 ‘ : ; a ,, , - r} “ di En 7 s
‘ ; 4 yo $ r e Ra a g . Paes
: Bes, im M 2 Sc ag Te . 4

APolk Slayer Insists any
“Innocence to End |: 4

do NASHVILLE, March 30 (Pt
: William Hedden, 44, of Polk Coun- Q
ty; and Robert Cannon, 37, Shelby
‘County Negro, convicted slayers.
‘died calmly in the electric chair at
the state penitentiary) here today,
‘lone maintaining his: innocence to
jthe last, the other confessing his
guilt. . ; - 3

| Hedden walked to the chair un-
aaatated. was strapped that 6:05!~
a.m. and’ pronounced «dead three

minutes later. He stolidly denied ’
his guilt until the end, asserting oma 4
that the “lies of state's witnesses”
\ ey Po
are ngs ee Ne

4
‘

were sending him.to his death. = -
Tne Negro previously had: con- ‘ ee

fessed to the. May,” 1942," slaying pa eem—————EE FRET REPRE REESE f
of Roy Lg eae sae ade a sap

Font o on oldup. Cannon Y's MEN ELECT OFFICERS — New officers elected by the Y‘s Men's Club to
f- showed little emotion in the death pictured. sestecale to right, ore Claude Hearn, vice-president; Gordon

chamber, He waa pronounced dead : we ang nN, e-presicent,; = :
me tat 6:18 a.m. three minutes after |; 7 —R=Gitkeson, past president. Standing, left’ to right, EL. Bee
Bs he had been placed in the chair. _ rector; W: A, Campbell, secretary, and Bill Leber, treasurer. Three newly-e!
eink convenes ateths Sh wile were not present for the picture ore Dr. E. F) Huckaba, Dona!d Kling
murder’ 0 rs. rline a ishbach. : ‘
Glowan near Benton, Tenn., Nov. {oe ee aati tees Ker :
18, 1941. He also had heen indteted| put me to death in the morning wish I knew somethin : s
; ‘ g else to ,
: forthe Slaying ot i era chowsi ee a crime I know nothing abouts;do to help him that is leggl and Squire Wimp
an’s 14-month-old son. 'But I have no fear of death. 1 am ‘hi demned Negro’ In Arm
eas: — The Supreme Court recently af- ready to go if it is the Lord's will. spade NS Raitt te eee Rena
> Forrest, |firmed the conviction of both con-|I have nothing to say-- tr um: ready: to go." “Friends of Squire
*?"* taemned men and Gav. Prentice ‘An a last: letter to his mother,| Roth men ig | Wim member of
wn . prison officials said,| Pee,
£ the @ir \Gooper, who interviewed both Mrs: Mary Hedden, 72, of near/ had embraced the Catholic faith|County Court ‘who
in. eight | Hedden and Cannon and witnesses Archville, Heédden™ said” he felt! since their. confinement’ to prison tne army, have been
He in the case two weeks 8£0, de-|safe’ and “like-the Lord has tor-\c . Kee
mry T2 | cuned to intervene given all my sins.” I sheen: priests remained’ withing ta in the stati
2 : them throughout th bine *
aver from | In the death: cell: last night:| Hedden's attorney, R. R. Wedd Ths east Gish © icemp, Capes Ky
according |Hedden, referring to witnesses atlof Etowah, said last night that he} Growth of Singapore was due to, ment for s kiiney &
{hia trl. declared thet “their lies nad “exhausted every legal re-| the commerce resulting fram open- | Pte. who is @ corpor
tput me here. They are going to'source in behalf of my. client) I\ing of the distant Sues Canal. ‘he hopes “to de ov!

cm ri

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TRIAL

APPEALS

LAST WORDS

EXECUTION


Preyer

EP TUT ENON SE TUE Te Soe POET ETE ET, See Te Me PeN TT PETS eg TE err pbikhicees a yeetrs TT A é ™ eink lida iditen ii ears rl peer eee

130 Tenn.

not related to any issue in the guilt-deter-
mination phase of the trial. We see no
error in these rulings.

[10,11] Appellant insists that the sen-
tencing to death of a defendant who did no
more than “accompany the killer on the
underlying felony” is grossly disproportion-
ate to the defendants moral guilt and is
cruel and inhuman punishment. ‘Felony
murder” can be the aggravating circum-
stance which justifies the imposition of the
death penalty. See Presnell v. Georgia, 439
U.S. 14, 99 S.Ct. 285, 58 L.Ed.2d 207 (1978);
Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262, 268, 96 S.Ct.
2950, 2955, 49 L.Ed.2d 929 (1976); Cozzolino
v. State, 584 S.W.2d 765 (Tenn.1979). How-
ever, if the evidence in this case showed
that appellant merely accompanied Strouth
to the Budget Shop and waited outside in
the get-away automobile as insisted by ap-
pellant, we would give serious consideration
to holding, as did Justice White in Lockett
v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 621, 98 S.Ct. 2981, 57
L.Ed.2d 1000 (1978), “that death may not be
inflicted for killings consistent with the
Kighth Amendment without a finding that
the defendant engaged in conduct with the
conscious purpose of producing death... .”
98 S.Ct. at 2985. But the evidence indicates
that appellant’s activities exceeded the
mere accompanying of Strouth and driving
of the get-away automobile. After the rob-
bery and murder, two sets of footprints
were found outside the rear entrance of the
Budget Shop. Both sets of footprints were
spaced so that they clearly indicated the
persons making the prints “were running”
as they left the shop. At the approximate
time of the robbery and homicide, appellant
and Strouth were observed on the roadway
near the mouth of the alley leading from
the Budget Shop running toward the home
of appellant. Immediately on reaching his
home, appellant collected his girlfriend and

2. If the jury unanimously determines that at
least one statutory aggravating circumstance
or several statutory aggravating circumstances
have been proved by the state beyond a reason-
able doubt, and said circumstance or circum-
stances are not outweighed by any mitigating
circumstances, the sentence shall be death. If
the death penalty is the sentence of the jury,
the jury shall (1) reduce to writing the statuto-

615 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

left Kingsport, taking no possessions with

him. Further, appellant admits taking a -

“few” dollars from the robbery proceeds
and used them in getting away from Kings-
port. We think a jury reasonably could
find from this evidence that appellant was
an active participant in the robbery and
murder of Mr. Keegan and was not, as
appellant claimed, waiting for Strouth in an
automobile.

In the remaining assignment of error,
appellant insists that T.C.A. § 39-2404(g) 2
is unconstitutional in that it “creates the
presumption of death if one or more aggra-
vating circumstances are proved, creating
an unlawful shift in the burden of proof to
the defendant.” T.C.A. § 39-3404(g) is also
attacked on the ground it makes death
mandatory under certain conditions and
does not allow the jury the opportunity to
show mercy. Appellant also insists that
T.C.A. § 39-2404(i)(5)—one of the aggra-
vating circumstances found by the jury—is
unconstitutionally vague and_ overbroad.
We see no merit in either instance.

[12] In this state, a trial on a charge of
first degree murder is a bifurcated proceed-
ing, with the jury first determining the
defendant’s guilt or innocence of the
charge. Where it is found that the defend-
ant is guilty of first degree murder, a
second proceeding is held before the same
jury to determine the sentence—either life
imprisonment, or death—to be imposed.
T.C.A. § 39-2404(a). The jury may impose
the death penalty only upon finding that
one or more aggravating circumstances list-
ed in the statute are present, and further
that such circumstance or circumstances are
not outweighed by any mitigating circum-
stance. T.C.A. § 39-2404(g). The burden
of proof rests upon the state to establish
the aggravating circumstances beyond a

ry aggravating circumstance or statutory ag-
gravating circumstances so found and (2) signi-
fy that there were no mitigating circumstances

sufficiently substantial to outweigh the statuto- /

ry aggravating circumstance or circumstances
so found. These findings and verdict shall be
returned to the judge upon a form provided by
the court ....

STATE y. DICKS Tenn. 131

Cite as, Tenn., 615 S.W.2d 126

reasonable doubt and the jury must specifi-
cally find that these outweigh any mitigat-
ing circumstances before they are justified
in imposing the death penalty. T.C.A.
§ 39-2404(f). These separate determina-
tions must be put in writing and given to
the trial judge along with the sentence of
death, thus assuring that the jury has gone
through the correct analysis in arriving at a
death sentence. T.C.A. § 39-2404(g). This
direction to the jury by the legislature of
this state meets the requirement set forth
in Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 192, 96
S.Ct. 2909, 2934, 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (1976) that
a jury be given guidance in determining
punishment when the death penalty is a
possible punishment.

Since the members of a jury will have
had little, if any, previous experience in
sentencing, they are unlikely to be skilled
in dealing with the information they are
given [in the sentencing hearing] ....
It seems clear, however, that the problem
will be alleviated if the jury is given
guidance regarding the factors about the
crime and the defendant that the State,
representing organized society, deems
particularly relevant to the sentencing
decision. Gregg v. Georgia, supra, at 192,
96 S.Ct. at 2934.

The procedure described above is the sug-
gested procedure of the Model Penal Code
§ 210.6, Comment 8, at 72 (Tent. Draft No.
9, 1959), noted with approval by the United
States Supreme Court in Jurek v. Texas,
428 U.S. 262, 271 n. 6, 96 S.Ct. 2950, 2956 n.
6, 49 L.Ed.2d 929 (1976). And, it has been
held by this court to satisfy the require-
ments of the Constitution of the United
States and the Constitution of Tennessee.
See Houston v. State, 593 S.W.2d 267 (Tenn.
1980), cert. denied, —— U.S. , 101 S.Ct.
251, 66 L.Ed.2d 117, petition to rehear de-
nied, —— U.S. ——, 101 S.Ct. 797, 66
L.Ed.2d 612 (1980); Cozzolino v. State, 584
S.W.2d 765 (Tenn.1979).

[13] This procedure was followed in the
instant case with the jury finding three
aggravating circumstances and no mitigat-
ing circumstances.

[14] The argument by appellant that
T.C.A. § 39-2404(g¢) makes death mandato-
ry under certain circumstances and does not
allow the jury the opportunity to show mer-
cy, and as a result is unconstitutional, does
not comport with our assessment of the
effect of the statute. We pointed out in
Houston v. State, supra, that:

T.C.A. § 39-2404(i) and (j) set forth the

aggravating and mitigating factors to be

considered by the jury in the sentencing
hearing, with the admonishment that any
factor, not just the specified statutory
factors, may be considered in mitigation.

These circumstances are presented for

the jury to consider and “weigh” in exer-

cising its “controlled” discretion in deter-
mining what sentence should be imposed.

The jury is not required to return a man-

datory verdict of death. It must consider

mitigating factors. As to the charge that
the statute is vague because [it allows]
the jury to “weigh” aggravating and mit-
igating circumstances, it must be borne in
mind that the weighing of evidence is the
normal function of the jury. And, where
the jury is given adequate guidance as to
what to consider, the requirements that
the jury weigh aggravating and mitigat-
ing factors shown by the evidence does
not make the statute vague and, conse-

quently, unconstitutional. See State v.

Pierre, 572 P.2d 1338, 1847-1348 (Utah

1977), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 882, 99 S.Ct.

219, 58 L.Ed.2d 194 (1978). (emphasis

supplied)

[15] Appellant also urges that T.C.A.
§ 39-2404(i)(5), one of the two aggravating
circumstances found by the jury, is uncon-
stitutionally vague and overbroad. The
section of the statute under attack is as
follows:

(5) The murder was especially heinous,

atrocious, or cruel in that it involved tor-

ture or depravity of mind.

In Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242, 255-
56, 96 S.Ct. 2960, 2968, 49 L.Ed.2d 913
(1976), the Supreme Court of the United
States considered a similar attack on the
constitutionality of an identical aggravat-
ing circumstance set forth in the Florida


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132. Tenn.

death sentence statutes. The Court held
that the aggravating circumstance, as con-
strued by the Florida Supreme Court, was
not impermissibly vague. The Florida Su-
preme Court had construed the provision to
be directed at “the conscienceless or pitiless
crime which is unnecessarily torturous to
the victim.” State v. Dixon, 283 So.2d 1, 9
(Fla. 1973). In Tedder v. State, 322 So.2d
908 (1975) the Florida court recognized that
the provision was directed by its legislature
at something “especially” heinous, atrocious
or cruel, 322 So.2d at 910. The trial court’s
instructions to the jury in this case are
compatible with these constructions by the
Florida court, which we approve. Further,
as pointed out by the state in its brief, “the
factual circumstances which the jury found
in the instant case, the nature of the slit-
ting of the victim’s throat, support such an
interpretation.”

Having again concluded that the Tennes-
see Death Penalty Act is constitutional and
finding no prejudicial error committed in
the trial, the judgment entered in the trial
court of death by electrocution is affirmed.
The date of the execution is set for July 15,
1981.

FONES and HARBISON, JJ., concur.
BROCK, C. J., dissents.

BROCK, Chief Justice.

. I concur in the affirmance of Dicks’ guilt
of first degree murder, but I dissent from
the sentence of death for the reasons herein
set out.

I

Article I, Section 16, of the Constitution
of Tennessee provides:

“That excessive bail shall not be required,

nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and

unusual punishments inflicted.”

The Eighth Amendment to the Constitu-
tion of the United States, applied to the
states through the Fourteenth Amendment,
contains a like prohibition.

Although this Court has never declared a
statute to be void because it is in violation

615 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

of the cruel and unusual punishment prohi-

bition of Article I, Section 16, of the Ten--

nessee Constitution, it long ago declared its
authority and power to do so. In Brinkley
v. State, 125 Tenn. 871, 143 S.W. 1120
(1911), the Court stated:
“However, we think that the profession
generally understands, and the clear
weight of modern authority is, that the
courts have such power under section 16
of the Bill of Rights, and in a proper case
presenting the question, it would be their
undoubted duty to do so.” 125 Tenn. at
382-83, 143 S.W.2d at 1122.

Moreover, we are not bound to construe a
provision of our own state constitution in
the same way and to the same effect as the
United States Supreme Court has construed
a like provision of the federal constitution.
A majority of this Court expressly so held
in Miller v. State, Tenn., 584 S.W.2d 758
(1979). In the Miller case we refused to
construe the ex post facto provisions of
Article I, Section 11, of the Constitution of
Tennessee so as to permit the application to
the defendant of a death penalty statute
which had been enacted after the commis-
sion of the homicide in question, although
the Supreme Court of the United States in
Dobbert v. Florida, 482 U.S. 282, 97 S.Ct.
2290, 53 L.Ed.2d 344 (1977), had held that
the ex post facto provisions of Article I,
Section 10, of the Constitution of the Unit-
ed States did not prevent the State of Flori-
da from applying a Florida death penalty
statute in similar circumstances. Speaking
for the Court, Mr. Chief Justice Henry stat-
ed:

“However, as to Tennessee’s Constitution,

we sit as a court of last resort, subject

solely to the qualification that we might
not impinge upon the minimum level of
protection established by Supreme Court
interpretations of the federal constitu-
tional guarantees. But state supreme
courts, interpreting state constitutional
provisions, may impose higher standards
and stronger protections than those set
by the federal constitution. It is settled
law that the Supreme Court of a state
has full and final power to determine the
constitutionality of a state statute, proce-

STATE vy. DICKS Tenn. 133
Cite as, Tenn., 615 S.W.2d 126

dure, or course of conduct with regard to
the state constitution, and this is true
even where the state and federal consti-
tutions contain similar or identical provi-
sions. (Citations omitted.) Thus, al-
though state courts cannot interpret their
state constitution so as to restrict the
protections afforded by the federal con-
stitution, as interpreted by the United
States Supreme Court, they may expand
protections on the basis of a textually

identical state constitutional provision.
* * * * * *

“We do not accept the holding of Dobbert
as a matter of Tennessee constitutional
law.” 584 §.W.2d at 760.

To the same effect see State v. Kaluna,
Hawaii, 520 P.2d 51 (1974).

II
I concurred in the majority opinion in
Cozzolino v. State, Tenn., 584 S.W.2d 765
(1979), which contains the following state-
ment:
“Without detailing the precise scope of
the protection afforded by that clause
{cruel and unusual punishments clause of
Article I, Section 16, of the Constitution
of Tennessee], we hold that it places no
greater restriction on the punishments
that may be imposed by this state than
does the federal constitution.” 584
S.W.2d at 767.

In so doing I erred. But, I think it better
to confess and correct that error than to
perpetuate it! I am unable to agree that
the protection provided by the cruel and
unusual punishments clause of Article I,
Section 16, of the Tennessee Constitution
must be reduced to the uncertainties and
contradictions contained in the decisions of
the United States Supreme Court involving
the death penalty over the past ten years.

In Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 92
S.Ct. 2726, 33 L.Ed.2d 346 (1972), the Court
struck down the death penalty as then ap-

plied on the ground that its imposition was

capricious and arbitrary and, thus, unconsti-

1. Cozzolino was granted a new sentencing
hearing which resulted in his receiving a life
imprisonment sentence. I did not participate

tutional. Nine separate opinions accompa-
nied the 5 to 4 decision. Justices Brennan
and Marshall found the death penalty to be
cruel and unusual under all circumstances,
and thus, unconstitutional. Justices Doug-
las, Stewart and White condemned the
death penalty because it had been applied
discriminatorily, “wantonly, ... freakishly,

. and so infrequently that it did not
serve any public purpose ....” Stewart,
J., at 408 U.S. 310, 92 S.Ct. 2763. Chief
Justice Burger and Justices Blackmun,
Powell and Rehnquist dissented.

Four years later, the Court held for the
first time that a state could inflict the
death penalty without violating the Eighth
Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and un-
usual punishments. Gregg v. Georgia, 428
U.S. 158, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 49 L.Ed.2d 859
(1976). A controlling plurality of the jus-
tices approved death penalty statutes that,
in their view, narrowed the class of crimes
for which the death penalty would be im-
posed and guided the discretion of the sen-
tencer.

Since Gregg v. Georgia, supra, however,
just how much discretion the jury should be
allowed in imposing death as a punishment
has been a constant source of difficulty for
the legislatures and the courts. On the one
hand, notions of equal protection, due proc-
ess, and fundamental fairness indicate that
juries across the country should impose sim-
ilar punishments for comparable crimes
committed by comparable criminals. On
the other hand, notions of compassion, indi-
vidual justice and fairness indicate that it is
“Chjighly relevant—if not essential” that
the sentencer consider particular circum-
stances such as the background and person-
al characteristic of each defendant. Lock-
ett v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 586, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 57
L.Ed.2d 978 (1978) [opinion of Burger, C. J.,
quoting Williams v. New York, 337 U.S.
241, 247, 69 S.Ct. 1079, 1088, 93 L.Ed.2d
1837 (1949)]. In my opinion it is impossible
to reconcile this tension between consisten-
cy (sought to be achieved by guiding the

in the decision of Houston v. State, Tenn., 593
S.W.2d 267 (1980).

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134 Tenn.

jury’s discretion) and individual justice (at-
tempted by allowing the jury to exercise
discretion). The states’ failure to achieve
this delicate balance has forced the Su-
preme Court to overturn a number of death
penalty sentences. See, e. g., Woodson v.
North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280, 96 S.Ct. 2978,
49 L.Ed.2d 944 (1976) (statutes providing
for mandatory death sentence for certain
offenses) (too little discretion); Roberts v.
Louisiana, 428 U.S. 325, 96 S.Ct. 3001, 49
L.Ed.2d 974 (1976) (statutes providing for
mandatory death sentence for certain of-
fenses and for submission of lesser-included
offenses not supported by the evidence) (too
little discretion in specifying sentence; too
much caprice in specifying crime); Lockett
v. Ohio, supra (statute listing exclusive mit-
igating circumstances) (too little discretion);
Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420, 100 S.Ct.
1759, 64 L.Ed.2d 898 (1980) (unconstitution-
al application of statute listing aggravating
circumstances) (too much discretion); Beck
v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625, 100 S.Ct. 2382, 65
L.Ed.2d 392 (1980) (statute precluding con-
sideration of lesser-included offenses sup-
ported by the evidence) (too little discre-
tion). The difficulty in striking a coherent
balance between discretion and statutory
control was pointed out in Lockett v. Ohio,

supra, by Mr. Justice White, who chided the
plurality for its “about face” since Furman.

438 U.S. at 622, 98 S.Ct. at 2982 (White, J.,

concurring in part, dissenting in part, and

concurring in the judgment). And, Chief

Justice Burger, reviewing the Court’s

recent death penalty cases, conceded that

“The signals from this Court have not, how-

ever, always been easy to decipher.” Id. at

602, 98 S.Ct. at 2963 (opinion of Burger, C.
J.).

I am not able to decipher “the signals” of
those decisions and thus, make no prediction
whether the current Tennessee death penal-
ty statute, or the infliction of the death
penalty in this particular case, can stand
muster under the Eighth Amendment as it
might be construed by a majority of the
Supreme Court.

Our General Assembly has made a good
faith, conscientious effort to write a death
penalty statute that complies with recent

615 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

decisions of the Supreme Court. However,
I have reached the settled conclusion that
the death penalty violates Article I, Section.
16, of the Constitution of Tennessee because
it is a “cruel and unusual punishment.”

In an opinion by Chief Justice Hennessey,
the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachu-
setts in District Attorney for the Suffolk
District v. James Watson, —— Mass. —,
411 N.E.2d 1274 (1980), has concluded that
the death penalty statute of that” state,
equivalent to the Tennessee statute in ev-
ery material respect, is invalid as a cruel or
unusual punishment prohibited by Article
26 of Declaration of Rights of the Constitu-
tion of Massachusetts because: ‘(1) the
death penalty is unacceptably cruel under
contemporary standards of decency, and (2)
the death penalty is administered with un-
constitutional arbitrariness and discrimina-
tion.” Id. at 1275. I find the reasoning
and conclusions of that opinion to be irre-
futable. I believe it will stand as a land-
mark decision and by followed by the courts
of many other jurisdictions in the years to
come. I shall refer to it and quote from it
extensively in this opinion.

THE DEATH PENALTY IS A CRUEL
AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT

A. “Cruel and unusual’”—the standard.

It must be conceded, of course, that at
the time Article I, Section 16, of our state
constitution was adopted in 1870 it was not
considered to prohibit capital punishment.
Capital punishment was employed before
its adoption and has been employed since its
adoption. But, as noted by the Supreme
Court in Weems v. United States, 217 U.S.
349, 378, 30 S.Ct. 544, 551, 54 L.Ed. 793
(1910), a constitutional provision “is enact-
ed, it is true, from an experience of evils
but its general language should not, there-
fore, be necessarily confined to the form
that evil had theretofore taken. Time
works changes, brings into existence new
conditions and purposes. Therefore a prin-’
ciple, to be vital, must be capable of wider
applications than the mischief which gave it
birth.” As noted by the Supreme Court of

STATE y. DICKS Tenn. 135
Cite as, Tenn., 615 S.W.2d 126

California in People v. Anderson, 6 Cal.3d
628, 100 Cal.Rptr. 152, 493 P.2d 880 (1972),
cert. denied 406 U.S. 958, 92 S.Ct. 2060, 32
L.Ed.2d 344 (1972):
“The framers of our Constitution like
those who drafted the Bill of Rights, an-
ticipated that interpretation of the cruel
and unusual punishments clause would
not be static but that the clause would be
applied consistently with the standards of
the age in which the questioned punish-
ment was sought to be inflicted.” 493
P.2d at 893.
See also Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86, 101, 78
S.Ct. 590, 598, 2 L.Ed.2d 630 (1958), in
which the Supreme Court observed that the
Eighth Amendment “must draw its mean-
ing from the evolving standards of decency
that mark the progress of a maturing socie-
ty.” Therefore, when the validity of the
death penalty is drawn in question, judges
cannot avoid the task of determining
whether the death penalty continues to con-
form to the “standards of the age.”? If it
falls below that standard, it is the duty of
the court to declare it to be invalid. Ever
since Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch)
137, 2 L.Ed. 60 (1803) that has been the way
such questions have been decided in this
country. The courts have no more authori-
ty to defer to the judgment of the legisla-
ture in determining what is a “cruel and
unusual” punishment than to defer to that
branch of government for a determination
of what is “due” process of law or what is
an “unreasonable” search and seizure. In
each of these instances, the determination is
a judicial one which, in our jurisprudence,
resides with the courts and cannot be avoid-
ed.

What considerations enter into a determi-
nation whether the death penalty does or
does not comply with contemporary moral

2. “If we look back at history, we find that
capital punishment was once thought to be
the only just punishment for thieves, adulter-
esses, heretics, and forgers. The sentiment
of justice went so far as to require the robber
to have his bones broken and his still living
body left to expire tied to the spokes of a
wheel fixed on a pole on a scaffold. We now
find such punishments revolting; we use the
death penalty only to remove life, and we

standards? Clearly, there is not unanimity
of public opinion either favoring or oppos-
ing the death penalty. However, public
opinion, although relevant, is not conclusive
of the issue.

“If the judicial conclusion that a punish-

ment is ‘cruel and unusual’ ‘depend{ed]

upon virtually unanimous condemnation
of the penalty at issue,’ then, ‘[IJike no
other constitutional provision, [the

Clause’s] only function would be to legiti-

mize advances already made by the other

departments and opinions already the
conventional wisdom.’ We know that the

Framers did not envision ‘so narrow a

role for this basic guaranty of human

rights.’” Furman v. Georgia, supra, 408

U.S. at 268, 92 S.Ct. at 2741 (1972) (Bren-

nan, J., concurring), quoting from Gold-

berg & Dershowitz, Declaring the Death

Penalty Unconstitutional, 88 Harv.L.Rev.

1773, 1782 (1970).

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachu-
setts has correctly pointed out “... that
what our society does in actuality is a much
more compelling indicator of the acceptabil-
ity of the death penalty than the responses
citizens may give upon questioning.” Wat-
son, supra, 411 N.E.2d at 1282.

The last person executed in Tennessee
was William Tines, on November 7, 1960.
There was one execution in 1959 (Thomas
Rutledge). There were none in 1958, two in
1957, and none in 1956. There were four in
1955. There were none in 1954, 1953, 1952,
or 1951. No executions were carried out in
the four recent administrations of Governor
Frank Clement, Governor Buford Ellington,
Governor Winfield Dunn and Governor Ray
Blanton. Reciting a lack of executions in
Massachusetts since 1948, Chief Justice
Hennessey of the Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court in District Attorney for the

perform the operation in the seclusion of a
prison chamber. The point is that justice isa
relative concept that changes with the times.
A sense of justice must exist among all peo-
ple to regulate their living together. This is
an immutable requirement of social life, but
what justice means is not immutable.” Sel-
lin, “The Inevitable End of Capital Punish-
ment,” in Capital Punishment 241-42 (T. Sel-
lin ed. 1967).

age 94 * wes


128 Tenn.

the possibility of a Bruton! violation inher-
ent in the fact that each of the defendants
had given investigating officers a state-
ment implicating the other. Appellant also
was granted a change of venue from Sulli-
van County, where the crime was commit-
ted, to Greene County. On trial, appellant
was found guilty of murder in the first
degree. In a subsequent hearing to deter-
mine the sentence to be imposed on the
defendant, the jury found the following
statutory aggravating circumstances:
The murder was especially heinous, atro-
cious or cruel in that it involved torture
and depravity of mind; and
The murder was committed while the de-
fendant was engaged in committing or
was an accomplice in the commission of,
or was attempting to commit any first
degree murder, arson, rape, robbery, bur-
glary, larceny, kidnapping, aircraft pira-
cy, or unlawful throwing or placing of a
destructive device or bomb.”
The jury also found that “there [were] no
mitigating circumstances sufficiently sub-
stantial to outweigh the statutory aggra-
vating circumstance or circumstances,” and
sentenced appellant to death.

Appellant does not specifically question
the sufficiency of the convicting evidence.
He does question rulings by the trial judge
on the admissibility of evidence in the guilt-
determination phase of the trial, evidently
on the bases that photographic evidence
admitted tended to inflame the jury, and
that statements by Donald Strouth and tes-
timony of a psychologist, which were ex-
cluded, tended to show that appellant did
no more than accompany the killer of James
Keegan. Appellant also insists (1) that the
sentencing to death of a defendant who did
no more than “accompany the killer on the
underlying felony” is grossly disproportion-
ate to the defendant’s moral guilt and is
cruel and inhuman punishment, and (2) that
sections of T.C.A. § 39-2404, dealing with
punishment for first degree murder, are
unconstitutional.

[1,2] The photographic evidence admit-
ted over the objection of the appellant con-

1. Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88
S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968).

615 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

sisted of “before and after” photographs of
Mr. Keegan, and a photograph of the de-
fendant. Appellant insists the photographs
of Mr. Keegan created a vivid picture of
life and death for the jury, were without
evidentiary value, and were clearly prejudi-
cial. We find no prejudicial error in the
admission of the photographs, though it
would have been better had the “before”
picture of Mr. Keegan been excluded since
it added little or nothing to the sum total of
knowledge of the jury. The other two pic-
tures, however, were relevant to material
issues in the trial and were not inflammato-
ry. The picture of Mr. Keegan taken at the
scene of the homicide, and which does not
show the neck wound, was a_ necessary
predicate to proof that Mr. Keegan was
unconscious at the time his throat was cut.
The physician, who so testified, did so part-
ly on the photographic evidence showing
the position of Mr. Keegan’s body and the
absence of blood on Mr. Keegan’s hand as
shown in the photograph, and partly on the
description of the wound.

[3] The photograph of the defendant
was relevant to the issue of identification.
Barry Willis identified the coat shown in
the photograph as the one appellant was
wearing when he was seen by Willis on
February 14, 1978, in the vicinity of the
Budget Shop. Further, there was evidence
that relatives of appellant had burned a
long, green coat in the “dead of night,”
after police officers had come to their home
seeking information concerning the appel-
lant. It was the coat shown in the picture
and the coat appellant admittedly was
wearing at the time of the homicide.

[4] Appellant sought to call Donald
Strouth as a witness in his behalf. When
the trial judge excused Strouth from testi-
fying, appellant sought to have admitted
into evidence, through Barbara Davis,
statements by Strouth which appellant con-
tends were against penal interest. These
statements were excluded by a ruling of the
trial judge in a jury-out hearing. These
rulings by the trial judge are assigned as
error.

STATE y. DICKS Tenn. 129
Cite as, Tenn., 615 S.W.2d 126

Appellant insists the trial judge erred in
not forcing Strouth to testify or, at least,
forcing him to claim his Fifth Amendment
privilege in the presence of the jury. At
the time of appellant’s trial, Strouth stood
convicted of the robbery and murder of
James Keegan and was under a sentence of
death. His case was on appeal to this court.
In a jury-out hearing, the trial judge deter-
mined that Strouth had not testified in his
own trial, and was going to exercise his
Fifth Amendment privilege not to testify in
appellant’s trial. As a consequence, the tri-
al judge excused Strouth from taking the
stand. We see no basic error in the trial
judge’s action.

[5-7] The calling of a witness who will
refuse to testify does not fill the purpose of
compulsory process, which is to produce tes-
timony for the defendant. United States v.
Roberts, 503 F.2d 598, 600 (9th Cir. 1974).
But if it did, where there is a conflict
between the basic right of a defendant to
compulsory process and the witness’s right
against self-incrimination, as in this case,
the right against self-incrimination is the
stronger and paramount right. Frazier v.
State, 566 S.W.2d 545, 551 (Tenn.Crim.App.
1978). See United States v. Johnson, 488
F.2d 1206 (1st Cir. 1973); United States v.
Wyler, 487 F.2d 170 (2nd Cir. 1973); United
States v. Beye, 445 F.2d 1037 (9th Cir.
1971). Further, a jury is not entitled to
draw any inferences from the decision of a
witness to exercise his constitutional privi-
lege against self-incrimination, whether
those inferences be favorable to the prose-
cution or the defense. Bowles v. United
States, 489 F.2d 586, 541 (D.C.Cir.1970).
See also United States v. Johnson, 488 F.2d
1206, 1211 (1st Cir. 1973), wherein the court
points out that:

If it appears that a witness intends to

claim the privilege as to essentially all

questions, the court may, in its discretion,
refuse to allow him to take the stand.

Neither side has a right to benefit from

any inferences the jury may draw simply

from the witness’ assertion of the privi-
lege either alone or in conjunction with
questions that have been put to him.

The court also noted in Johnson that the
cases saying it was not always reversible
error to call such a witness to the stand fall
short of establishing that the practice is
either desirable or mandatory. 488 F.2d at
1211 n. 5. See generally, Annot., 86 A.L.
R.2d 1448 (1962).

[8] Appellant also insists that the trial
judge, having excused Strouth from testify-
ing, erred in excluding testimony of Miss
Davis relative to her conversations with
Strouth. This court has recognized in prin-
ciple that declarations against penal inter-
est, made by an unavailable declarant, are
admissible in criminal cases where the dec-
larations are proven trustworthy by inde-
pendent corroborative evidence that be-
speaks reliability. Smith v. State, 587
S.W.2d 659, 661 (1979). But, appellant did
not seek to have Miss Davis testify as to
statements made by Strouth, but sought to
have her testify as to impressions she
formed from conversations she had had
with Strouth. These impressions do not
come within the exception carved out of the
hearsay exclusion rule to permit the intro-
duction of declarations against penal inter-
est, and the trial judge properly excluded
such testimony.

(9] Appellant also insists the trial judge
erred in refusing to allow Dr. David MeMil-
lan, a clinical psychologist, to testify in the
first phase, the guilt and innocence phase,
of the trial. Dr. McMillan had administered
a battery of tests including the Wexler
Adult Intelligence Scale, Gender Gestalt
Test, Rorschak Ink Blot Test, Thematic A
Perception Test, Incomplete Sentence Blank
and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory. From these tests, Dr. McMillan
proposed to testify that appellant “is a
weak, moody, fearful person, and is a fol-
lower instead of a leader.” No contention
was made in behalf of appellant, nor could
Dr. McMillan testify, that appellant was
insane or incompetent under the test set
forth in Graham v. State, 547 S.W.2d 531
(Tenn.1977). The trial judge concluded this
evidence would be admissible in the punish-
ment phase of the trial, being relevant to
mitigating circumstances, but that it was

¥Y (oF Ai fe A eth A

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$a ¥ UX 5

*

t
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COURTS, PUBLIC OFFICES AND MEN OF LAW 207

court in 1868 and sent
cal that he aroused quite a bit of sympathy. He

ippealed his case but before the hearing he escaped to Kentucky. He

rehended and returned to Knoxville. He was given a second
he crime had taken place in that

of Loudon County in

at the May term of
such a handsome ras

was app
trial and the judge ruled that since t

art of Blount County that was cut off as part
1870 that the case must be tried in Loudon County. Murphy was taken

- to Loudon County for trial and the same judge again ruled that since
the murder was committed in Blount County that it could not be tried
in Loudon and threw the case out of court. Murphy later met his match
in Campbell County and was killed in a brawl.

Accounts of two duels have been preserved through A. B. Gamble
who was an eye-witness to at least one of these duels. In 1845 a barbe-
cue was held in Maryville in honor of Sam Houston who was on his
way to Washington, D. C. to serve as State Senator from Texas. The
barbecue was held at the old campground at the intersection of Harper
and Aluminum Avenue, and was largely attended. In the course of the
afternoon a bloodless duel with pistols was fought between Jim Wolfe
and Frank Reeder near Broadway Viaduct. About two years later two
Maryville College students from Alabama met with their seconds near
the same spot and fought with pistols without serious injury.*°

CHANCERY COURT
There was no Chancery Court held in Blount County until 1852.

Equity cases arising in Blount County were tried in the Blount County

Circuit Court in 1810 and 1811, and before the Supreme Court
‘Je from 1813 to 1822. Between

of Errors and Appeals sitting at Knoxvi

1822 and 1824 equity sul in the Circuit Court of Blount
County were tried by 4 Court of Equity held at Knoxville by one of
the judges of the Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals. From 1824 to
1831 such cases were tried in a Chancery
Roane County. From 1831 to 1833 equity cases in Blount County were

tried at Madisonville, in Monroe County. From 1833 to 1852 the Chan-
cery Court at Madisonville and the Chancery Court at Knoxville had
concurrent jurisdiction in Blount County equity cases. In 1836 the

Circuit Court was divested of jurisdiction in equity cases involving
more than $50, but since

1852, has had the power to decide all equity

‘es did not object to its jurisdiction. In 1852 Blount
County was created as a separate Chancery district and provision was
made for the court to be held in Maryville.*

6
The Chancery Court is chiefly a court of equity but also has con-
siderable concurrent jurisdiction with t

he Probate and Circuit courts

over the appointment and supervision of personal representations and
the partition and distribution of estates as well as concurrent jurisdic-
38 Dr. John A. Goddard, History of Maryville, in Maryville Times, April 9, 1902.
A 1811, ch. 72, sec. 4; Acts, 1813, ch. 77, sec. 35

36 Acts, 1808, ch, 49, Secs: 1, 5; Acts,
Acts, 1838, ch. 116, sec. 12; Acts, 1852, ch. 345, ch. 152, sec. 9.


25, «08 OVERTON’S TENNESSED REPORTS, VOL. Il.

that such law had been in use in every form of govern-
ment under which we had lived. To give this statute ef.
fect, we do not deem it necessary to know that [258] any
man was indicted under it during the territorial govern-
ment. Every criminal law of North Carolina that was in
force during the territorial government may be said to
have been in use likewise. So long as the citizens con-
formed their conduct to the precepts of the laws, they
used them. If they did those acts which the laws required
they should perform, and abstained from the commission

of: those which the laws forbade, they used the laws.

To make the law in use, it is not considered essential
that there should have been an offender to whom the vin-
dictive part was applied.

Fourthly and lastly, it has been insisted this statute is

not in force, because it is repealed by a statute of our own,
passed in the year 1807. It is said to be repealed by this
Act of Assembly, because the General Assembly have
there inflicted a different punishment for larceny, and that
this is larceny; therefore the latter must repeal the former
statute. That there is no express repeal of the Act of 1779
by expressly mentioning it, or by any particular description
of it; we are therefore driven to the necessity of comparing
the provisions of the two acts with each other, and by that
means forming an opinion whether the same crime with
which the prisoner is charged is embraced in the latter
act, and, therefore, the first is repealed. One'thing seems
very evident, that several of the crimes mentioned in the

Act of 1779 are not noticed in the Act of 1807, and so far —

as respects them the Act of 1779 is certainly not repealed.
Taking off a slave by seduction, forcibly taking one away,
and taking off a free person with a view to sell him as
a slave, are crimes by the Act of 1779, punishable with
death, and are not mentioned in that of 1807. Now if we
suppose the Act of 1779 still in force as to the offenses
mentioned, and repealed so far as respects the crime of
stealing a slave, this consequence will follow, that for
seducing a slave to depart for the sake of gain, or taking
one away forcibly, or taking off a free person to scll as a
slave, will be punished with death, while the crime of steal-
ing a slave will be punished as a larceny of personal goods
276

UES eo ras Sortie naan,

~ ee see”

BRICE UV. THE STATE. 2bo, <59

with a punishment much more mild. Although slaves are
by our law personal and not real property; yet in many
respects they stand in a different situation from ordinary
personal goods. They are by most people supposed to be
morevaluable than any other description of personal prop-
erty; and we all know that, as they are rational beings,
the crime of stealing them is more easily perpetrated, and
is much more aggravated than that of stealing personal

-property of [259] any description. We are therefore sat-

isfied the Legislature when they passed the Act of 1807
did not intend to repeal that of 1779. There will be suf-
ficient matter for the Act of 1807 to operate upon without
affecting slaves; and, as the punishment for this offense
was not left the same with ordinary larcenies by our laws
as they stood before 1807, we believe the Legislature did
not intend to change their situation at that time in any
respect. Notwithstanding the reasons assigned for sup-
posing the Act of 1779, not in force, we believe ourselves
bound to consider it in force, and will proceed to an ex-
amination of other errors relied upon.

Third, it was urged that no value or price for this negro
is stated in the indictment.

The reason why this is necessary in an indictment for
larceny is, that the Court may see whether the crime is
grand or petit larceny, and thereby know how to proceed
with the trial, and what punishment to inflict when the
accused is convicted. Additional reasons can be assigned
under our Act of 1807; and we have no doubt that, if
this were an ordinary larceny under the statute last named,
an indictment which alleged no price or value could not
be supported. But in this case we do not think the ob-
jection of any avail. The Act of 1779 says nothing re-
specting the value or price; if it be a slave, the property
of another, no matter whether it is worth one dollar or
one thousand; the crime, mode of trial, and penalty are
the same.

Fourth, it is said this indictment is repugnant, and
therefore erroneous. The repugnance hinted at, for it
has not been distinctly stated, is that the indictment
charges the prisoner with seducing and stealing the slave,
and that these are distinct crimes by the statute, and ought

277

259, 260 OVERTON’S TENNESSEE REPORTS, VOL. II.

not to have been blended in the same count. Suppose it to
be true, that two distinct crimes can not be charged in
the same count, still we believe this objection not well
founded. For, to us it seems evident, in this indictment
the seduction is only stated to show the manner in which
the theft was perpetrated. Suppose this to have been un-
necessary, still it will not vitiate; “utile per inutWe non
vitiatur.” There is surely no repugnance in the two state-

ments. Seducing the slave, a human being, to.agree to-

the theft might be one of the most effectual means of mak-
ing the contemplated theft successful. Where an indict-
ment is bad on account of repugnance, it must have some
statement of facts inconsistent with each other. That is
certainly not the case in the present instance.

[260] Fifth, it is said the record does not show that the
Circuit Court received the indictment from the grand jury.

In our opinion it shows that fact as clearly as is usual;

and, upon reading the record, no person can doubt the

fact of their having received and acted upon it.

In the last place, it has been insisted that the indict-
ment, in describing the offense, ought to pursue the werds
of the statute, which it does not in this case, for in the
indictment the word carry away is used, whereas in the
statute the word used is conveying away.

The general position here assumed is certainly sanc-
tioned by authority. But upon examining this statute,

the preamble and enacting part, and considering the whole.

together, it appears the Legislature itself, in this same act,
in describing this same offence, sometimes uses the word
convey, and sometimes the word carry. Waving then it-
self, in the most unequivocal manner, shown that it viewed
the words as synonymous, we consider ourselves bound to
understand them as the framers of the statute did.

After the most attentive examination we have been able
to give this subject, we are unable to see any error in these
proceedings which would, in our opinion, justify a reversal
of this judgment; therefore -it_must be affirmed. The de-
fendant was afterwards executed, ae

278

3 a ama Ss “— js it ght aay

JACKSON . DILLON’S LESSER. ‘26u, od1

~ KNOXVILLE, May, 1814, :

PARSON'S ADMR. v. WILSON AND STEPHENS.

Vhere the object of a bill is to discover the contents of a paper al-
leged to be lost, or in the hands of the defendant; and, after
such discovery, to have a decree for the amount due the complain-
ant, an affidavit must be filed with the bill, and the omission will
be fatal on demurrer.

A bill for discovery only need not be sworn to.

In Equity.—Overton, J., delivered the following opinion
of the Court:—This is a bill for discovery and relief, to
which Stephens has demurred, because the complainant
has filed no affidavit with his bill.

Where the object of a bill is to discover the contents
of a paper alleged to be lost or in the hands of the de-
fendant, and after such discovery to have a decree for the
amount due the complainant, an affidavit ought to be filed
with the bill; because, if the paper was in the complainant’s
own possession, his remedy upon it would be at law; and
as the complainant wishes in equity that relief which, ex-
cept for the loss of the paper, he would be entitled to at
law, he ought to render it probable, by his affidavit, that
he had in truth lost the possession of the evidence of his
right, as is [261] represented in his bill. If the bill sought
a discovery only, the affidavit would be unnecessary. As
there is no affidavit, the demurrer must be allowed. 1
Ver. 180; Mitf. 112; 3 Atk. 17, 182; Hy. Ch. 155; 1 P. Wms.

541; 1 Ver, 342.

CARTHAGE, June, 1814.

‘JACKSON vy. DILLON’S LESSER.

Supplementary affidavits ought rarely to be admitted on account of
the danger of perjury; but their admission must, from the nature
of things, remain a matter of sound discretion with the Cir-
cuit Court. [See 1 Tenn., 105, 211.]

The Court will always give an easy ear to the reception of affidavits
respecting the loss or non-production of original papers which
are required to be registered, and which have been actually reg-
istered agreeably to law.

The legislature has the constitutional right to validate imperfect

279

BLOUNT COUNTY, TENNESSEE. [er cer |

* apts Pe ey a ne Raye t t ;
ee ~ i eed ME Te OE sae a ee MT oe
% A nr te Bk hos. Pe : oe a Ror Bs ae 4 eo >
“¢ furs. * - aS Fs ge ‘ sonic StS ie ye a! me af. et ees iti, CRPige
mea” 4 " x P pata, Se Si ET it S 2 - ee
Bg RS SEM eae ra eg PM, ‘> aye Bat aah
a : ‘ MS er ea get ee ow Honk deg. 4 oe Rahs Thad go oe B me
Ce nie . ‘ yo et é wv 2 00 a0 Soe _ 9 £ Ge ee, kd fe os ard a ; Be We i
watt aa en eee He pees Geter ke Ue, Adelle 2!

206 HISTORY OF BLOUNT COUNTY

‘ impose and also for pies. cases which had been appealed from the

- lower courts. Appeals from the District Courts were taken directly to
the State Supreme Court at Nashville, which reviewed the evidence as
presented in the District Court and then sustained or over-ruled the
decision of the court.**

Up to 1336 the Circuit Judge was appointed by the General Assein-
bly and held office during good behavior. He, in turn, appointed the
clerk under the same terms. From 1836 until 1854 he was appointed for
a term of 8 years. The clerk was elected bv popular vote tora term of
+ years. Since 135+ the Circuit Judge has been elected by popular
vote.”

A special act of 1917 increased the salary of the Circuit Court Clerk
from $750 to $1800. In 1929 the clerk was allowed to retain up to $600
of the fees collected by him as clerk of the Criminal Court. Robert
Houston, son of Major James Houston was one of the first clerks of
the Circuit Court. (Dr.) Azariah Shelton was a later clerk.**

In 1925 a special act was passed which has relieved the Circuit Court
of all criminal jurisdiction since that ume.™

There are no preserved early papers of this court. When the court-
house burned the second time in 1906, tew of the Circuit Court records
were saved. The criminal Rule Docket from. 1852-1924 is about the
only surviving court record.

Dr. John A. Goddard and Major McTeer have left us the storv of
/ Blount County's three hangings which are related hereinafter. The first
' hanging was that of a man named Brice who was convicted of stealing

slaves on the strength of a North Carolina law passed in 1779. The case
was appealed to the Supreme Court but was affirmed and Brice was

i hung July 20, 1314. ;

The second hanging was Henry Lunsford on the 26th of September
1928, for killing one Thompson. The story goes that Lunsford had
struck Thompson on the head at a log-rolling with a hand spike.
Thompson went about his work for a month before he died suddenly
from the effects of the blow.

The third hanging was Charles Cox, a Negro slave, October 25, 1839.
David Humes owned Cox’s wife and had her whipped for some mis-
demeanor. Cox was angered by this and sought revenge by firing a shot
at Humes through the window while he was engaged in a checker
zame with Billy Hackney. The gun which Cox had used had been
Borrowed from a free Negro, Andy Tedford, who was acquitted of
being an accessory. All three of these hangings took place on top of
-he hill ac the head of McGhee Screet.

About 1368 John Murphy shot and killed one Lunsford. He was tried

31 Acts. 1809, (Sept. ses.), ch. 49; Const., 1934, Art. 5, secs. 1, 3, 13, P A, 1836, ch.
> sec. 3; Const., 1370, art. 6, secs., 1, 3, 13.

22 Acts, 1909, Sept. ses., ch. +9, Const., 1934, art. 6, sec. 5

3 Acts, 1993, ch. 255; P A, 1917, ch. 628; P A, 1929, ch. 62.

4 P 4, 1925, ch. 15; chs. 58, 109.

ccaniieeiiieednat
a? poo, spt : r: ee ; “a,
4 a : ok OE Et ES wets sf Pig A f ce) Se
ode oy x v ent # ee " + Sy oe Be Mt 3 weit, i: Se

3 ’ ee OE a “
are ty ify YS Mak Sis y oer ‘gts ,
Pirate. ba aA Pat 4 pk gt a oa TL ia # &:


(Porter-Cole Jackson» Tenn. P-2)

An arrest was made Aus. 10 or 11 within 12 hours after the

robbery was discovereds the best I can interpret from news
2 re : , LKi

clippings. However, the:stories do not say which man was arrested

first. sthe first man arrested was held secretely until the

ones man-was. arrested shortly afters the best I can determine.

: Both admitted burglarizing the Coke plant, taking

/

/ f

f

‘about $300 from a cash drawer in_the plant after taking the

keys from Vernons but each blamed the other for hitting Vernon
1 on the head. An iron bar with which Vernon was hit was found

f

weg ok a few days later by the superintendent of a cemetery across the ie fae

road from the Coke plant. © ae mee oe hh Ba
: eh ; 4

el pistol taken from Vernon was recovered along with
some of the money. Cole worked at Coke plant and lived nearby.
Porter had been in reformatory (story does not say when nor why.)

res)

Hope this helps and would be interested in outcome of proposed ~ igs
book. ; ! Bie:

Jimmy Mizell» Jackson» Tenn.» Sun


HISTORY OF

OBION COUNTY

Towns and Communities
Churches, Schools, Farming, Factories
Social and Political .

k

Assembled and Edited by
E. BH. MARSHALL

Vy Orakilp

Beginning with Goodspeed’s published in 1887, proceeding
with Alexander’s Reelfoot Lake in 1925.
Personal effort and interview.

originally printed in 1941

Reprinted by
H. A. LANZER CO.

Union City, Tennessee

Subjitted by H.A. Nohsey,
Attorney at Law, P.O. Box
1, Union City, Tenn. 38261
(Past President of Obion
“County Historical Society)

area pO

npn eter OEE! ea AB

bib

ba

TROY COMMUNITY

ONLY ONE LEGAL EXECUTION IN THE COUNTY

Joe H. Robey, assigned to the Obion County branch of W. P.
A. in the department providing for the “Copying of Historical -
Records,” reveals the fact that only one death sentence, through
the legal process of trial by judge and jury, was rendered with
final execution of defendant by hanging—only one in the history
of Obion County.

This was the case of the State versus Tom’ Conder, who was
brought for the last time to trial at the March term of the Circuit
Court in the year 1889, and found guilty as charged of murder
in the first degree. ;

The circumstances were involved in the charge that Conder
had formed illicit relations with M. J. Riley, wife of the murdered
man, Jack Riley, and that Conder on the day of the murder found
them at home together, and proceeded with the help of 4s.
Riley to remove the husband from his wife and property by death.

The killing of Riley occurred some time in the afternoon,
probably soon after dinner when the murdered man was in his
chair taking a nap. It was evidently a conspiracy, for the reason
that Conder was seen leaving the Riley home soon after the gun
was fired. The shot was heard some distance away, and Riiey
had been shot from behind, it is supposed from evidence, the cir-
cumstances of which were that one of the conspirators held the
gun and the other operated the trigger to fire it pointed at Riev.

Evidence was circumstantial but sufficient for the verdict
of death. Mrs. Riley was arraigned for separate trial immediately
and found guilty as an accomplice, and semtence of ilfe-imprison-
ment imposed.

Conder was hung at Troy on the 10th day of May, 1589. in
an inciosure of frame work provided for that :urpose, on wrat
was known as the “Public Commons,” that being at the time
suited for the occasion :

The Riuieys lived in the county about
of Troy. Concer Was also a resident of thal part<i th

POLK STATION

Polk Station is on the Illinois Central Ratiroad three and
one-half miles southeast of Troy. It was begun im 1372, and was
named for James Polk, whose father, John Poix, settled there
and opened a farm in 1833. It was known on the railroad as East
Troy.

Some of the family names of Polk community include Polk,
McDonald, Cunningham, Brown, Anderson, Neel, Baker, Buch-
anan, Wilson, Moffatt, Bennett, Peery, Hamilton, Stewart, Pryor.

four o¢ fire tiles weet
4.

95

*690T SOT Aew Seuuez *° i
| W ZL £°0D uotqg Sfouy pasuey fseuouy, “yaqNoo

2 Ro LOE TN

ve a


COOK, Robert, black, harged Tennessee State Prison (Hamilton) on November 17, 1911,

"Robert Cook, the negro convicted in bhe Hamilton County Criminal Court on the charge
of murdering an old negro man, William Houston, will pay the penalty for his crime at
daybreak this morning on the scaffold at the state penitentiary, Cook, up to the end
maintained his innocence.and when seen Thursday night in the death chamber, said that
he wasready to meet death and that he had no fear. In the early part of the evening
the negro laid on his bed and shivered and groaned as though ,very cold. The scaffold |
on which he is to die is situated in front of the cell in which the man was confined |
and a.blanket, hung from the ceiling, kept the gruesome sight from the eyes of the
doomed man, Cook talked freely of the incidents relating to the arrest and trial, and.
as he talked his nerve came back to him, After relating his story he said: 'I am
absolutely innocent of the charge brought against me, but I am not afraid, I swear

to heaven that what I have said is true and as I have to answer in person in a few
hours for what I say, it would not do me any good to tell a lie,' He told how, on

the Sunday night the crime was committed, he had gone into the city to avoid arrest

for not working the county road, and that the next morning in Chattanooga, he had
ridden on the car with the elder son of the dead man, and that it was through him

that he learned the details of the killing, “hen the officers came up to make the
arrest, the negro said, they, without saying a word about surrendering, opened fire
sith the their revolvers, The first bullet hit him in the leg and he was knocked

down, and while he was laying on the ground, two more shots were fired, He said he
then got to his feet and ran, He told of how as he passed under the bridge, under
which it was claimed he hid the money that had been taken from the murdered man, an
officer shot at him as he went under and as he came out, At the trial, Cook claimed,
he wasneverallowed to testify in his own defense, and that the only witnesses that he
had were three that came to the trial out of curiosity,

"Late Thursday evening, Cook wrote a letter to his old mother in Chattanooga, telling
her that he is innocent of the crime and had no connection with it. When he was con=
fined in the deathcell, the prisoner did not know that the scaffold on which he was

to die was in the room with him, as the rope was twisted up so he could not see it
under the edge of the blanket that was hung before it, During his narrative, in some
way, the rope was jarred and the end with the death-dealing noose swung down 90 the ne=
gro could see it, When it fell, the doomed man started back, crying: ‘What's that?!
And, as he realized what the noosed end was far he said, 'My Godj I didn't know it

was so close,' He looked at the rope awhile and turned to the reporter of THE TENNE-
SBEAN AND AMERICAN and said: 'You can't realize what it means to be in here waiting for
the few short hours that are left to slip by and know that when day breaks you have

got to dies! Every effort was made to make the negro confess but he to the end main=
tained his innocence,

"Governor Hooper, after a full investigation into the crime, annofinced Thursday night
that he would allow the law to pursue hits course, He had already granted a 10 days!
respite in order that he might look personally into the evidence of the condemned man's
guilt. While Cook was convicted on circumstantial evidence, the proof was very strong.
It was brought out that his victim, William Houston, was a hard-working citizen, who
had accumulated a little money, and it was known that he carried a roll on his per-
son, When the attempt was made to arrest Cook he ran, Subsequently a sum of money

was found in his possession that corresponded with the sum stolen from Houston, The
record shows that the crime was committed about daylight, and that on the same day

Cook bought a new suit of clothes, Bloodhounds, placed on the trail, tracked the
assassin to appoint where Cook boarded the street car on the day of the murder,

"Cook's kanging is the second instance since Gov, Hooper assumed office that the extreme
penalty has been invoked, Napper M###HXd Byrum of Wilson County, a white man, was

the other man to hang, Three men condemned to death have had their sentences commuted
by the Governor," ‘TENNESSEAN, Nashville, IN,11-17-1911 (12-1, )

"Promptly at daybreak, Robert Cook, the negro convicted for the murder of William Hous-
ton, was &@dd from his cell on to the gallows at the state penitentiary, there to pay
the penalty for his crime, At the last minute before the trap was sprung, the negro

declared his innocence, While standing on the death trap, Christian C, Menzler, the
negro's spiritual adviser, said to him, 'You have only a minute to lives won't you
make a con fession?! Cook answered, 'I am innocent of the crime with which I am to

die, but I am ready to meet my God.' The negro passed most of the night in song and prayer,
but slept a .few hours in the early part of the morning, ‘hen he went to the zallows
it was with a firm step, and he bade the guards goodbye in a cheery voice, At no

time did he show fear of death, and he met his execution with the firm belief that

his soul was at peace, The trap was sprung at 6:15 a.m, by Warden G. W Rimmer, It
was seventeen minutes before he was pronounced dead by the prison physicians, Drs,
Black and Anderson, Before leaving his cell, the negro gave Mr, Menzler three letters
to deliver, one to his mother, one to his sweetheart and one to Mr, Elliott, jailor

of the Hamilton county jail, In all 3 of these missives he declared his innocence,
The body will be kept at the penitentiary until Sunday and if none of Cook's relatives
claim it, it will be buried by the state," TENNESSEAN AND AMERICAN, Nashville, IN,

1-18-1911 (2-64)


BLAIR, Anthony, black, hanged Morristown, Tenn., 9/26/1879e..

a! sae hab a } J
‘ : i
* 5 i 4. eae: oot ~~ 4.AamnM
m4 YVINS PNTILAL 44 ~ OY met 2b: eid
"inthom “lair, colored, wes hanged at -lo >
eee te KAKYERKE on Sont. Of 2 1579. for the murder oj
fn EAT e ae ; TAS ii ae ‘4@ eG : a
ea: 3 , tandnuchter. dulv 13. 167°, tar
. xr. 1. yg ve Nay eh. > 3 Pi ae ata - soak
Lie Le lalker , NLS Svepansu suey ans 4
“OW 1. . ee £
| ’ 4. %.. _% mee oes ts ae ‘ 48 1K 8 NY VAY Ort
| ee A. ” ,%U g cu fe f {> OS ~ . on
convictic he prisone :
panies F mn + ‘hi ale
“Ww dea tay o4 ret eles Cy are cyt =O P VOM 63 27 a +, e Cc ‘ry oO
WW UN Le . .
L ee, |
LAS. TeSor ce
ss r 2) °
Y * anal aires in ee v, wr a : 7 "> ra ~ 4
i —) an 4 La ? 4 ‘on Ws odes " 3 4 @ e 3 9? OU Yo : “ay ~~

‘leged. ‘1l-treatment,. Biatr’s wife previously left hixh |
for the same reason and ‘persistently refused to live:
“with bim again. On the way from Greene county to
Russellville he declared his intention: to “ wade in.
| blood up to the chin or make the girl return.”’¢ On
‘Tuesday, the Goth of July, he put in an appearance at
| the house of W, 5. Donaldson, where the girl was em.
| ployed, and “Urged: her to return: She refused and)
| Blair left. On the: following night, aa the girl in com- |
| pany with others was returning from prayer meeting,

i he accosted her and ordered her to go with him; She:
“again. ‘refused, when Blatr seized her arm and at-

| tempted to take her by force, while sho continued to.
| | remonstrate with him,. declaring she would rather die |
| than return, Becoming more enraged at her porniat.
ent refusal, the. fiend drew & pistol from’ his pocket
and fired, inflicting. Awo wounds upon the girl, from.
the -nffectn of: which - <ahe Bled on the pateraas
following, Aes
* After the commission ‘ot the cried Blair auccended
ia cacaping, and remained at large twenty-four hours;
At the preliminary exétuination his counsel entered s
plea of guilty, and tha prisoner’ was: remanded to
Hamblen penny where extra: guards were ansigned
to duty to protect: him should a mob attempt his
execution, . He: was tried at the Angust term of the
i Circuit Conrt, Judge Rone’ preaiding. "The sentence
Was then'’pronouuced “which wan to-day carried oat,
Hie conneel anaonnerd. that ‘an appeal to's bigher
, tribunal wae unnevesery, aa the decision of the court
below would without doubt be aMrmrd.


woes yuu aro ucud,

~ Wirtrs G. Carront, you have also been tried, and

found guilty’of murder. _You selected a minister of the
Gospel—amiable, inoffensive and credulous. You -fuund:
that he had money, and tu make it yours, you thought of his
destrnction You frequented bis housc—ingratiated your-
self into his confidence, and induced him to believe that you
had hid treasures in the river bottom. After much prelim.
inary management, you induced tim to buy your pretended
silver ore—and with this view to take the money with
which he was to pay you, and accompany you nlone to tho
place you had represented the treasure to bo. While you
were going through the river bottom, in an unfrequented
place, as he rode before you, your deadly aim was tnken,
your gun waa fired, and he fell dead at your. fect.—You ri-
fled his pockets ofthe money he had taken with him, to pny
for your intended silver ore, and you fled. You went to the
verge of civilization in Arkarans—sold your gun, changed
your name--permitted your beard and hair to grow, and
went without a hat--vainly hoping to clude detection. But
‘your sin found you out,’ and you were apprehended, and
brought back to the county of Sumner, where you commit-
ted the murder, and by a jury of that county, you have. been
found guilty. There is no error in the record, and such in
the strength and forco of the testimony, that your counsel
have not thought proper to urge a plea for your innocenco.
The law pronounces that you too muat die.

ZRBADIAN Payne, you have been found guilty of the

u of William Coltart. in the county of Franklin, on
HAS Nas of June, 1840,

Your youth-~just developing into manly beauty, your Ap-

parently ingenuous countenance, and your sensibi ity, are
all calculated to excite the sympathies of the court, They
would seem to indicate that you were destined Tur better
things, Unfortunately for you, and for the country, carly
discipline was wanting, by which to reatrnin the lururiant
passions of youth, and induatrious habits, by which to aim-
‘ify ite wants, and (nroivh the means of lawful enjoyment,
Sear dissolute habits required the experiditure of money —
and you were reckless enough to rewulvo upon obtaining it,
atevery hazard. With this view, you joined yourself to
the deceased asa travelling companion, You found he
had money, and you determmed to tnke his life, and make
the treasure your own. While journeying together, andon
hie part, doubtless, in the full confidence of social compan.
se AN je sect upon him with the ferucity of a beast of
prey, an
ceeded in cutting his throat, eo that he died, Having por.
acesed yourself of hia a you fled. In the wilds of
Texas, whero you supposed the murderer would find n ao-
cure refuge, you sought to avuid detection. But justice
overtuok you. You were apprehended there, and brought

back to the county where you did the murder, and have

.

been tried and found guilty, This court finds no errur in
the records, and so plainly wae your guilt made to appear,
that the evidenee has not heen certified to thin court,
Your crime ia of the deepest dye. Your victim a youth
like yourself, one would have thought that your natural
feclings of humanity would havo rebelled agnitat the horrid
lemnptation, and withheld your hand. ‘I'he Judgment of the
Jaw je that you muat die.

And now, in each of your cases, the most deliberate and
cold blooded purpose wan manifested; without the ‘Tenant
Provocation or anger, and in every case instigated hy the:
cursed lust for money, ‘To ottain avine trifling sum, the
one deagroys an innocent female—the other an inoffensive
minister of religion; and the last a youthful travelling com-
panion, Coinening in the charmer of your guilt—the
J'igment of the Jaw dooma you to a like punishment,

Uefors your execution the Court will appoint you a short
time for preparation. Let this time be employed with the
most carnest solicitudes. You are soon tu appear hefore a
tribunal, where falechood cannot avail, and where justice
cannot be eluded. Let penitence and faith, prepare you for
hat lade awful triel; for enormous as ie your guilt, it does
not exceed the mercies of God, in Jesus Chrint. Employ
all the meansto bring your hearts in deep humility, and
hearty confession, to hia mercy peat. Engage tho services
advice and prayers of the Reverend Clergy of tho rity, and
ket your remaining days, be days of penitence, and your
nights be nights of devotion and prayer,

And now, Archibald Kirby, Willian G, Carroll, and Zeb.
adiah Payne, the judgment of the law is, that you be taken

to the'prison from whence you came, there to remain until.

Friday the 10h day of February, and on that day, between
the hours of 10 o'clock in the morning, ‘and, 2 o'cluck in the
evening, you be taken to the public galluws, within one mile
gf thie city, and hung by the neck until you oro prap, And
may God have mercy on your svule, Oo:

with your knife, mangled his jaw, and finally suc. |


e

~ painful interest—tha fi
“member of tho ber, delineating the awful scene int
: prome
- doom of the three above named murderere—the last, the
|. impressive and solemn sontence itself pronounced by Judge
Green on .the occasion. __ se Mars wo
>To the Editor of the Republican Banner, ae Sone
.' The room of.the Supreme Court, this morning présented .
* a scene of unusual interost,
Court has no altractions for the crowd. ‘I'he judges and
some halfdozen lawyers upon en average compose the max-
- imum of the persons to be seen in that ordinarily quiet tem-
ple of Justice, This morning however, furmed an excep-
| tion,
overflowing.’ The murderers, Payne, Carroll, and Kirby,
| were taken into the court house by the Sheriff, and svon
afler the judges appeared and took their sente upon the
~ bench, and the solemn and awful duty the coart had to per.

3

, innocent bloud they had: shed. ‘Tha eases of. Payno and
“ww Carroll had been previously decided, but sentence had nut

SENTENCE OF THe MURDERERS, PAYNE, CAT:

¥  ROLG, & KIRBY, bs
ra Which are peniant beluw will be read with’
ret

mM ld and high! ed

yanold an ighly reapect
oy 8u.

room attendant ‘on the annunciation of the

’

. 1 ,

The ordinary husinene of the
Long before the court met. the room was crowded to-

form, had produced a marked effect upon their countenan.
cee It was nothing less than as urgans of tha Law, to say
to three poor, wicked members of our: raca that their daye
were numbered; that the law required theie lives for the

n pronounced. ‘The argument itv the ense of Kizhy was |

“' coneluded.on Monday; and the opinion of the court was,

“now to be delivered.
“lengthy and, nble review of the evidence in the CAse, clearlyy

This Was done by Judge Green, jn a

demonstrating the guilt of the prisuner—and concluding”
with the expression of the unanimous opinion of the court,

approving of the verdict of the jury, and afirming the judg.”
ment of the circuit court. The Judge then addressed hin.

self to the prisoner, and reminded him of the atrocity and |

enormity of the crime of which he was convicted=-the murs
der of an innocent and unoffending female, whu had never
done him an injury, and that tov fur a pitiful bribe, TIein,
like manner addressed himself to each of the other prisun.
ers, briefly referring to-the prominent anid leading fucts and
circumstances of each cnse, and concluding with Pronoin.
cing the sentence of the Law, that they be hung on Friday,
the 10th of February.

The whole scene was one of unsurpassed interest--in-
deod it was sublime. ‘The deepand profound sensibility of
tho judge, inspired him vith more than hia usual eloquence
and pathos. A death like stillness pervaded the large,
crowd of spectators, broken only by an occasivnal sigh ura
sob frum—not the prisoncera—the apectators,

I have been in courts for nenrly 45 yenra--1 never wit.
neseed such a scene hefure, and hope never tu withers such
another. Three fellow creatures, murderers, ne brought
into court tugethor and kenteneed to be hung on the same
gallows, onthe samo day. ‘The court, in. ty opinion, do.
serves the highest credit fur theie firmness in disregarding
the tochnical ubjectiona that wero made in each case, not
affecting the merita, And it isto be hoped that the igno-
minivus punishment that awaits theso unhappy men will
havea salutary influence upon suciety. Uheir doom, in sent.
ed. There will be no pardon, of commutation of pubishe
toent, fur the best of all rensons, there is wut thes iglitent
ground for itin either case. - '

oo A MEMBER OF TITE BAR. |
Jan. 18, 1843.

lite. FEE LAL

\

CARROLL, Willis Green, wh, hanged Nashville,
ey Pie glee paar tess ch fo py 1 spears viens, aS
“, ote 7 Brom. t ashe meer. .,

TN 2/10/1843,

>

~ BENTENCE PRONOUNCED RY JUDGE GREEN,’

|, evidence against you, we azo satisfied that you are guilty of

- pealed to this courtand have had here the assistance of ab

' destroy, or Whose destruction would benefit any person wile

ding w pay tho price of blood, Jt is‘not, therefure, fit-that
/) you should

—@ ferror to evil doers who might he tempted to fullow in

{

+ Axcuipatp Kinny, you have been tried, and found guile
ty of the murder of Polly Hunter, onthe night of the 1th of
May last, by a jury of the county of White, You have a

*

counsel, We have investigated your case as it is presented
in the record, patiently, and thoroughly, We du not find
that any errur was committed inthe procaedtings of the cir.
cuit court; and upon a full view of all tha circumstances, in

the charge. ; _
Your victim was an unoffending frmale.—-Stimulated, -
moat probably, by a reward bestuwed from soma ereon
who was interested inher death—you were induced to act
the part of acold blooded: assnssin, «Seon after dak. on
Wednesday night the Ith of Muay, you’ approached her
dwelling, armed with the deadly rifle, A light wasin the
‘room, and you saw her, in the midst of her ferhale friends, |
"sitting around the candle, engaged in cheerful conversation,
You approached silently, and stealthily, the window near
Which she ant, and fired your gun upon her through the
‘glase.—-Y our aim wax but too sure... he fatal ball had
d ite work of death, and ina few Moments, she was a
Ufeless corpse, You have shown in this transaction that
fou have a heart utterly vod of social duty, and fatally bent |
on mischief, Awa terror to others, and a menns of safety
to the community, the law pronounces that yuu must die,
If you were permitted to go abroad jn the community, no
man's life would be safe, whom you might be tempted to

gu at large, @ terror to mankind; and the law
deems that it is fit that you suffer an ignominious death, oe

our steps, And the judgment of the Jaw is, that you be
hanged by the neck until you are dead, :

totem ( Cannons

vo Dive nben Yan petal ’

p00)

Mths Agere Ar


A ORUEL MURDER

|
J peporr SHERIFF SHIPR SHOT BY

| BICKS CARMICHABL,
|

‘Ke Gasps Onee or Twice and fs
_ Dead.

,

°

Details of the Tragedy---Re-|
; Wards Offered---The Coun-
try Being Searched for

the Murderer.

Oas of the crueiest murders ever com-
mitted in East Tennessee oceurred near
Fiat Creek churcea, on the Powell's Val-
/tey railroad, about ffteen miles north of
| this city, Sunday morning at 11 o'clock.
| It was the killing of amefficer of the law
|in the disvhargze of hiedetk. $-v O
: For the past few days Deputy Sheriff
|D, A.Shipe has i:alin his poaseation a
warrsRt ior the arrest of a colored man
isamed Hicks CermsPaentbarged with
iTonhery 1 Morcan coMuty.
| After some little iffert:yation the offi-
vor ocated Lis mig fu ioe haan & Fos
we..’3 Velley rail-
feocstruction, Sate
pe. Who hal been |
Fury in the ertm-|

tere awetion ol tis
rou, now hn course <
; aro ay 2ternoon os
) Sa. Moo the eran
Vinal court, wees t

tees’ ew

piaty seurtaee in the
ePPVe SD ails above
1 MAS EisFhtention to vo over
Pintclav and make
WOT He started to
W@ way os cured ex-
BO 89 g0 with him
as an 3:{, . \
_ Pre ravros work¢ivere reached at 11
71 Ges ATs Lire tent iy which the outlaw
Wes eAS TM tote, BPne deputy sherul
Med Cornea entered the door and inquired
ae the man they fivere bunting, He
Was there aud iu a cil, rather pleasynt
G:NIC-r asked whasheLarge there was
agdide? fain, ‘
oR Fiber” replie
“Then read your
mand made by Carm
tung on a bed nendif#
_ This the cficer pr
it proved his #

OUN DEATH FW aRRiNt
£2 he never complecae ft.

Shipe, in £oIng Over the authority of
arrest given him by Baw, hesitated In
idl 88 it be diedify

eud the meaning. up
ratnerto Lis side and bebind eto bg
sist in the completion «of the paper.”

Carmicl.ael no doubt thought of his
past recor! ard the erjarcs he had com-

watted, ait Kuew tlyat captura meant
Wwpry-Nient and perhaps death, Huy
ance aad finding

MAUL AL tO fake Du ct
*ha the ‘Meo had co:nw to make him
their poser, be, wita a dare devil de.
‘erminatior, grizst-a pistol in each hare
and with the Waty ol a tiger sprang at

Etastatecwrs?
thee y, |
10 the raircad work
the arrest,
j tS SC UME ated oe:

athe officer.
ant’? was the de-
bael. who was sit-

4 zarment.
ded to do, but!
4

the men, Wy... thacd he piace -
the pistol acanst ripe's breasts and
Bred. An inanongpahle inatant later
with his other pimfol: a ball was sent
Lthraneh Coram's eOat. (In w pertielly

‘\the pistol against Snipe’s breast and
P ;

j inde state theBend

ertninaticn, sez} a/pistol in each hand
and with the agiity of a tiger sprang at
the men.:' W.t.. Lug. leit hand he. place i

fire], An inanpreciahle instant later
with bis :other pistol. a ball was sent
‘hrouch Coram’s coat, ‘In a partially

LEAPED FROM TIS TENT
and fled with tie speed of'a hound to
the forest uear oy. As the murderer

tarred to go Coram saapped hia pistol
several times, but it faiiedto yo otf. The

5S

Jepaty sheriff grasped twi¢e and died,
(rhe ball which wag a laree;one havirg
jentered his breast just téthe right cf
‘the heart. rae
Phe exuitement created vy the killing
‘was 20 intenee in that eeection that the
iueuple eo far forgot themsae! ves ag n0¢. to
igive immediate porauit, and.it was some-
Htine alterwarda whes “Dec” Myxratt and
'‘us son had armed tnemselfves and were
rao the trail, :
' The officer's sad fate was soon noise!
“hragghout that vicisity aud a cum.
ber oF ;

ARMED MEN ,
‘Vare soon scouting in every direction.
information reached the city eboat.the
uriddle of the afternoon aud excitement
here waa intense. Men and boys in
large nntnbders gecure? all kinds: of fire
arms aod by eight o'clock Snnday night
‘uly one hundred persons were in pur-
suit. fj ;

TUR fr

' An inquest was h@d over Mr. shipd’s

|remains at the reftdernce of Mr.°

| Auit, Dear ov. In jhe aheence of Coro-
, ner Burkhart, “Sgnigp 3. J. Tarver offici-
jated in that capacity, He summoned

jas & jury, G. S. Rcderson. J. W.C.
Zackery, R. K. Rut¥erfor!, M. H. Ratb-

eriord, G. A. Zacke +, James Graves and

H. L. Caldweth :

W.A. Coram,

Price Lockilen

enk Dinsmore and

‘Were examined as
itnesses, and relatad'su stantially what
iagiven above. ff -
he verdict wag; 3th
Shipe came to his dy

Ggath by a pistol shdt
| from a He aces of o& S Hicks Carmichael
co.0 o Ve . | :

' A cofin was takeg#from the city and

the remains after feng properly cared
|for by friends were faken bo 8 Earns of
the a few mips distant. :

} The funeral tool place at Hopewell
church yesterday 4

gterynoon, and scores
of men, women andichildren were in at-
tendance to pay hompr to a man well
worthy of it.

THE DEAS OFricer:

Deputy Sheriff Sipe was a man -
hapa. thirt -five v@%ry of cre ewan
appointed 2 ch he held
at the time of his dihth by Sheriff Lanes

{over a year ego. g character
made Lorie : * wherever, he was
known, and his ty as @ trot.
worthy and effici ficer is known to
many. ‘Dece: ‘any other
official spent the "most of
life on years he be-
came something of, an apd waa

renders his death: slowly sad fs the fact:
that he leavesa wi'e/onr small children,
& mother anid invaljd sister, al] more or
leas dependent appa him af a liveli-
hood.
STILL: AT LARGE. | aa
Nothing definite was learned from the-
pursuing parties Sunday night, and yee |
terday morning the interest. in tha trag-:
edy had increased so that more men |
started heavily armed to hunt the {ugi- |
tive from justice,’ | |
The first positive information tha treach- |
ed the city about Carmichal's course alter!
the killing was received yesterday alter-|
noe. He went! eevera! miles farher
up tye road, sold his t.me to a friend
and disappeared, going in the; direction

of Cumberland Gap.

Sheriff Lones and his party passed:
that way several hours afterward and
were last night no doubt on the ryht |
trail. . |
Uptoalate hour last oght none of
the pursuing parties had returued to the
city, and it waa impoesible to | ascertain
any detiaite information about ;the mur-
derer.

CARMICHAKL, THE NCADERER,
ig a rather intelligent looking bright
mulato,t woes clean shaved, id perkaps
twenty-tive years of age and weighs
about two hundred poands; kas a
rireckled face and rather fine features for |
one of his disposition. He ia said to |
wanted in Alabama for murder and io
Morgau ceunty, this atate, for robbery. |
His heme is near Rankira’s vpot,
(heke cuusty, or hia people tive there,
rather, Some ime siace Carouchasi
wag iG Hickory couaty, N.C. aad ia
said to have left there because he bad:
viowate! the law, Revent’y he has been |
working in a mwarble quarry near Straw: |

at Deputy Sheriff |

| Artadly

unable to do hard manna} Isbor. What

|: ace seh

herry Piains, aud cn the Puweli’s Valley |
road, . |
i A brother of Caruichael ja reported

‘aa having been hung for marder. acd he, |
fearing a iike fate, a3 determined not to

be taken alive.

The fullowiug oficial
REWARDS

Have been otfere? for the rourderer’s ar-
reet, Which wilin all probatility be du-
plicated by the governor:

“] wil! pay one bradred dollars for the
arreat and delivery to any jail in Ten-
nessee of Hicks Carmirvhae', colore 1, who
murdered 1). A. Shipe. deputy | sheriff,
May 20th, ISss) J. K. Losex,

Eheriff Knox County.
Knox county will pay two hundred
and fifty dollars for the arrest and deiiv-
-ery tothe sheriff of said county Hicks
Carmicheal, who murdered D. A; Ships,
D 8.,in this couaty or the 20th day of
May, Is$s.

T. A. Rann), Chsimman.

ALA

lar 4

Zeut


se

STILL AT LARGF,

Another dav Las passed and the crue!
PADS Pouce Sherif D. AL Shine,
hee not vet been caught. Ef ur}
Shoe people of the city: have!
‘i % « 4 * 2 . .
Riticg ty hear gsonething ded rite |
Phe muck wawmed Caralelael. :
Shey have been cisaptoointed. 4 |
fof the hnanticg parties have re-'
guid athers gene out, Nu posi-|
; agOrciation as to tLe whervabouts |
@tlaw is at hand. Many rumors |

: uued circulation nahout his acs,
tious ga presence, but moet of there
are nogouht without foundation in fact.

Latag Monday evening, while Sherif

-Lonealind Landon George were hantj@y

along Big Poweil’s vallee read for me
trace rhe murderer, they happened
in at Me works of Dunavant any there
becam@ engaged in conversaticA abont
ithe. kifieg, when Hubbard Jones, the
| Cook, .#imarked that he had Aiven Car-
l michug EW to get aay on/ Jones was
limmme Biely ‘placed under arrest and

ire Dickson, who
tt and he went to

' Governor Tay! arty age telegraph-
ed Attorney G Nelson that be bad
offered a} addjdona: reward of S360 for
Carmichfei's /arrest. ' Thia rakes 2650
‘Teward for the munierer of Shipe and it

| removed =from the animal. creation,’

18 hopdd “cis ‘will be an addizicnai jn:
Ceative ty ‘ard efeciing ‘an arres®.
é . —

—

} Wuosoetir sheddeth man's blood,

by-tian-eball his bluod be shed, The

old Moadicilaw will be ‘enforced to-day
against... "Hicks Carmichael. Two!
months ‘agg; he killed deputy shéritt |
Shipe, while’that officer waa in,’the
discharge ‘of his duty. Iustiee has!
been swift in this case, too swift it is
‘thought: by many. No attempt at
delay was‘made. No appeal waa ta-
ken from thé'léwer courtsand execu-
tive clemency has bot been sought, so
farasweknow. The wretch who is
to pay with bis life the penalty of his
terrible crime, is oaly a few degrees

He is. perhaps more animal than’ hu-
man. He-has no intluental. friends to.
intercede if'his behalf. The law kas
taken Its, gétirse swiftly and surely,
All feeling-of resentment is gone and
‘the poor wretch meets his awful fate,
jauid a sort ‘>f' sympathy is felt for him.
The cringinal classes of the community
must be taushethat murder is a crime
and thatumuftleér must he pnished,

Hereafter kis to be hoped. no mur.
derer will Zhe allowed tu. escape
because ! f bee bus mure Imoney
or friends ‘than Hicks Carmichael
had, . 7st!


be as i a Milo, ¥: =

rf oA LI at | DOK & Mtane
yeh A De La bP 3, TL EN ED ete

OR —- | j OCCUPATION DE AL EE pe: BEN
cee La f ie i i Zee tilly Bee, eee he

RECORD

OTHER

MOTIVE

ee y 2, dhoy .
LL Cive dep asute op eptiscttony D iE A eae LA GIES
i felt Saal but pridhath=) a ee Vas Lining Dette
PAOD SS Lite UB. wed ty OOH evs Cr (Ean
Chauhincd [EE ee. Ca 4 Lud ig Che wally Lp 2 Lif — wD
PAK L ft BE ye Be Koad t Hey fave Fis Pend. Deat YATE

LO Cot ly OTM. bs 7 ST DY. fad tailed AOL, held Jas.
Gs (2d. fea Aa. 2 oP Cts VS wae es ae Ang A ho Litrz fered #
tet Le sal b. AldobdeD Abe bo £Y Fi aa. filers L LPG plinth.

pry: ‘4 bik 4 ot flr Y Of Vas: Heme. Mar Ap hnon02t om
& Ue e ee Leds Ae Kid @ ap ‘gecespessst YTD gy Ae los LD eo

Ley, file ly AAthid tur oe MeanLbaggileusde Se Lu fesceding
slid ad seklid kits G0 hash tltal WE GND oo ae CA“z p> ~

BET AX oiteey Mkt wu Licwepcce. tL OC l Atal, oe eee AGL Powis

Be A
Le ee CMe Lies Cnt ces ta Lig ve Lec hat eS:
(ssaa Gull; of beth Gi. VES Ibe hleghld rfl tong vhuifpialha

APPEALS

fag abe Our Le M0 te L IR eee pe Past uD gh baded

LAST WORDS

EXECUTION

SOURCE

PRANK NEWTON OFFICE SUPPLY-OOTHAN

July 16, 1946.
t ‘ i
Reyorend He ll, Sales a
_ Clarksville 7) pa ar
Tennessee - a oe
. : Le : ‘ ; , = . ;
cosa Brother Saloss | oe

. ‘mis will acknowledge reoeit? é& your letter
| of July 12, in. referencs to Billy Dickorsons

si “rettined this prisoner's case vory care~
“fully and talked with him, I regret that I was
not in a position to Z grant Buecutive clemency.
“Wath all ‘good wishes, I ara

. Very troly Your's,

_ , ‘Jai MoCord

way


JAMES ©. NOLAND
ATTORNEY AT LAW
| SUITE 3
DANIEL BUILDING fae
CLARKSVILLE, TENNESSEE

June 15, 1945

/

Honorable Jim McCord
State of Tennessee >
Nashville, Tennessee

cha
Dear Mr. Govenor: | _

| _ I-understand that the ‘execution, of. Billy Dixon.
has” been set for the l6th of July by. the ‘Supreme Gourt. -

_. I wasone of. ‘Dixon's. attorneys. of cecord in’
this. case and I and the Sheriff of: this” county would .
“like to, witness the execution. :

| piease advise . me as to wether or not. this. is.
aie.

ARMIN GO HSER 8G

nial: as 8% Gatien aranemenna Seeen! owt on eo, SES! cotemepeneeneses ery, singerely, OUTS,

~ James. 0. Noland...
Nel jt ener

‘JON:nje


- flonorable Jonas Oe Nolend
Clarksville |
fee sprcsicigted ‘=

Doar Ure Tolends

“this. will aolmowlodge recoipt of your
(of Jano be

-

-T have nott fied tits, Swat ford, Dowty Warden
at the State Prison to admit you end the Sheriff

‘Billy Dixons

of Montgomery County to witnoss tho execution of

* With-Idindest regards, I am

Sincerely,
eo re at Jim licCord
| Governor

letter

oe
pes
. ef
?
Py SS
7 _
Le ao % .
a Of ae
. ~. pas 6 es
a Sead
. Z
. Vo¥o-
? ad
_ : iow
2 “S
: eae
bal pa
Oh
ted
y
' De tie
,
7
ae «
NV


{was %
ne. a most infec a m1 honda he- ae will presice and where.—
Vi "2 UBC, Uury : A
sar ' ah a deal of truth in (the; relahives Seine ent and|
0 ng ‘when a man takes a aiymen ts of Tee ety wilt judg -
tart downhili ever rybody wiilfversed, Hoping to re As re-
th elp him aon: by giving him | in : “ag B. nei OU all
alin neaye Cugonnit mysélls An]
dans { find it so in my casc— tiony Blair’ i ‘ iat nbs ay
owe wn nee re P| on he at cit
ee ny enemies} ON ‘the pages of this}
ane or "anxious to see me) small booklet ppc! be
hung. « L have iis CuunuTAlly: | Hekar's cir . ub-|
however, My Cod and mysell| iisher
alone know just how wean al thanks to ul
man T ‘am. ted belt appEcl jation
“There are people who will} labors iy Tiber: ally patroniZine
never give the devil his Aue the Works by pare: e f One
ither e are some ciel in my Case, io the | bask
Mand they Say Tam so mon. Jrous- \thetr Mhusinys
\ly mean | frat} wall eet alli tis kind
‘my just dues and Vie devil with: bes
st. Let such erucl remarks pass|
inte. not! LiNeness. They , don {i St
know whether 1o™ Wor nol. Lnink bade)
hey might be geceived. Pos:|He angins isa! taing “inewable %
sibly. .1 might iske the, other aid crowds af meople
track and be< at {hem to hear’ _gathe “with es: it ‘Ther efore,
in the end. At least t hope gg. 0! x oceasiGhysy
The Lord saith: ‘Te chat belie: Pwo trues al “pusines® Hells
th an Me, i will in No wise cast MY | "Se aid prot)
out.’ theres ! . of jinsert-i

“te there not seme consalay te their . issue
nf day he i wadlicions mai}

dion i these wards for a
if {ink there 13.
‘eaint, dewsl or

srhaps, some. of the pious

Lee itt

from san aati sa A FE

ame ‘sti ater me nts. that, 1) mite yoodness if atiicapemt tik
: ip ¢ S-

1

——

Some oi. the rcors fol}
Shannon ape Go: 19 ated)
ue corn of Main Stret:

sow who are troullPh a han
ny welfare CAB ue don't: an « Suncom: railroad - |
{V3 ays? i Cyst gale. ©

7
vs’

sean thore kind aad da
sil LCOea and the lave ost anil cheap

Sppistian, advisers eye

Ne during My at yes $8 variety. in Morristown, C.
sad to. whom tT owe a Iastiney y q hole kRSC ed
“eht of gratitude and oluri| the ov fof furniture: lo-
ayy syygore thanks. ut hose, rner of Mam and Wen=
xho manifest 2 deep interes in, VY veh “eehenest funn itur
my conviclion, earthly 4 ane “tu m Mo! PISLOWT: 3.5. Mi ier
ure punishment and whe, ‘ine’ - isilor. counlty pre:
justly and unchristian!y . Tote ice ake itt. exchang?, for};
“marked that. 1 would go” hell, work, a: snecialty

Lward at the first drop of ‘the, Mortime! ‘Thompson houses}
sign. OY acne and } Landscape
P

rope.

rest will admit | fama pad mar , inane 9) Rowe—-cupli-

bee. VOTY badaman. or. OF Mes Knoxvillg; prices on cool

‘would, never. 60. amitt ec Ae cf GVes ay ll creas ~jarge and)

| criine 1 did. Well, _ betore sit yutter Gans tet We tE.|

eave this wert rid, T will ove my-|Parker's da lkerVes and Restaurant!
ays Eroc Saleat

iself credit, for some Be od points rae als
Sd anew ek Bac eevee never in jae yes. as sed by AS whats. shocs|

os enares


Ale Nias Sea

eptéiber 26,

Uneisrene

EER MS

Daily Gazette-Mail : " Sunday, November ll, 1956 apres o 6

aces And Places”. 4 se bs See fe Bee gia loach —
“Antay Blair b AND CNT

: , :
“+ Maggie: ‘Now you'll go, G-d d-n-
you!’ That is also false — J
never used such language. 9.
“Scott swore that -I-said that
T would have Magzie or: drink
her heart’s blood. It is false. I
never made such remarks. .I
simply said I would rather see”
oad eMties ane fay jews and die and
Both. Bert: Witliame < hat 1 would foliow her to the
a porn Bert Wiluams grave, than to see: her go
— re helastray. For on her mother’s
s

ISStON

By HOWARD LL. WL”

See So nope eee

made about my

‘sneaking off’ when { saw Sq.
Donaldson coming up to. the
house | have only to say that it
jis false.= ' 224 e3 iy
“In the first place TI did not
enter the kitehen as was stated -
by Mrs. Donaldson on trial, but
was sitting on the porch when .
+ Mr. Donaldson came up. 1 had

FW been i

ANTH
OME 2B (coon
ELA INTC

AP
a

Morristown, Hamble, (County, Tenn,

SHEL [Oy tsTDiigsi ea,
;

Poy the mnyder nf Muyzie Blais, hi [Cd Catugiter, ‘near Russell. |

“ville, on the night of « Oth, 1879;. ee

.

ny: URNS Pies MAT Spa a tS g
oh A Above is the Frontispiece of ic eae

; the Pay of Anthony luir’s: Hanging
iba hice tae Se tse ere

7 %, ve
© he

ie

» Booklet : Distributed

sof pee EAL pl , ou eye. ut } vi Charlie. Carmichaei was: ve ha ‘
as Ne pe Hales ot route 3, A 4 Tsitting in'the wagon.’ then™sor! acter. Fevas nevi charzea : ST i i ues id 8 Been
nas me permis lg {UP and went down where they! thefs in- my lites ‘nor prosecutj few others. But the prize ad-|;
were. and spoke Ww them. I talk-|ed for any violation, of civil la vertisement is:" AT.’ Newman,) /°~
ed several ininutes and did jou Until this time. [was never ar Pure mediea! liquors sold in Jif
seare-solf nor sneak off as stat-|resied’ by any public officer be’ 4 gallon packzges —whole-
nied on the witness stand. jfore. { always attended to mySele prices = Sood , Whiskies
1d} say this much for the; Own business, yl. was always told beer, fine wines, the. best}
benefit. of Lee Seat ar! Rertha! kind fo my. family, “spa! ign at, Cucters, eracKers, | etc.)
tha ik the lone! Lavlor:, (1) It the old Devil has| “Ihave never . intentionally ‘On Hanging Occasions” I’ Hang!
If there is anything in thre) any claims. upon liars. in this: insulted ‘a white man or wo. /Fiees Very Law, Come and jet}:
§ uy thts - he has a dead mortgage) man, but was always ever ready Hang yon on to a’ Drink or
their. blac’, souls, (2) that! to obey and respect their com“ Pint of bure mnodical whiskey! .
heir hearts are as foul and mand. 1 have always showed a,.¥24 50, in such a blaze of du.)
ot Ree AS, hell the Devil and) kind and vespectful disposition ious glory, we bid pert 1
We contended) 2! his angels, (3) that no one) toward my “own color, . when mem ary oF Antiy at
a hone per et has acted as they have to-| they were so jnclined’ to doh® must be remembered as al”
ge i wards me should cver expect) likewise to me,’ I have always Prominent citizen of Hamblen!
rs county if for no other reason|

t. Ant'ny Blair . : +
was hung, and from the i (40 prosver in’ this worid orj had a conteinpt for gossipers, :°''MlY, ; i
| By m the day of reach heaven when they’ die;'and have never soreke evil Wine duc er he enjoyed!
: ‘slinction of being: the on-!
man ever hung in M

his execution j © ;
n no. fruit ever 4P1(4). that if my spirit should re-| ports. 1 never garried a pistol
*

‘

x
yt
at
ee

peared on the tree, 6... . ;
The Vontesaign P Bieler turn lo this world and haunt before, never indulged in whis-!
Pictured in. foday's “Fages! ant terrify them, they uced not; key drinking, n card playing + ae
4 and Places” js the front paste oli a pap rieed: I will do so if I)nor anv yice w. atsoever since
The Late eg eoklet entitled! tney wilt diol paler ey, les!’ connection with the church:
“The. Life and Confessions ofl ney Will’ die per, urers, double last but not least — I never”
Anthony. Blair.” ven is this] penned: and’ will go into, the}made a direct nor indirect
feolumn by Mrs:: Glenn Moody! evil’s clutches and remain) Statement to any one {iat “I
of Morristown. .- Followime aretha forever unless. they! would be satisfied to die and”
the highlights of us contention eadih Tepent of their damna-/Icave this world if I could kill
Testimony op Satisfied with thel trom my wraneeerg coe miveness| titee persons before pita 3c
[testimony of some’ of the wit! OMY gracious Lord. “f{{~ “This is an honest statement ~ :
Inesses. ‘They do pot do me jus Altitude Toward Maggie jof facts whethe
4 tice. They are unfit to. appear}, “With regard fo my ravish-/9T false. T desir
jon the witness stand, and they|it' Maggie, cither before or/all Chtistians ir
fPetiured themselves before *ler shooting her, I deny the/trust they may
leaving it, For the enlighten-| Charge and pronounce it false {o/ heaven. A jury ‘of my country-
ment of my friends, I will state} fhe last. I entertained for her|men have found me guilty of
here that Bertha Taylor ana}that fecling and respect that is| the crime for ‘which I ‘stood. in-
Lee Scott were both prejudiced| “hatacteristic of @ Hatural par-| dicted; for this 1’ enteriain not
{against me, 1 am satisfied, anal ent. Indeed 1 should have beenjthe slightest. feeling of yesent-|'
[swore falsehoods. This is the|® brute had I done otherwise, I/ ment. F now bid farewell to the
‘ruth, as God in heaven knows| ap i from the time} Country of my birth, my friends
t. Bat ; aye: alah op ls in herland my_relative rene :

ee as

ie Bertha said that I said to She came into my hands in her{ ant my tetativds, oS
: agzic: G-d d-n- you, I've gol, Maney up to the time she feft TT trust Tostiell he prepared
cil hing -in my ,Pocket _ to/my house, that 1 treated cher as| fo mect its exeeution;

make, you 80. Itiis a lie — Ii kind. and fatherly us a parent} beable, with»:
era ultered a word o Fcan also prove. that} perfect” cot

| nows it Also, af as mean asmun as wasibhefore q@:


| BLAIR, Anthony

Blair, a Hamblin Co,, Tenney black man, was a self-taught lawyer who,
after he had married her mother, raised his step-daughter, Maggie
Walkery as his own child, After Mrs. Blair died, the girl, then 16.
years-old, continued living with him for a time during which he for.
ced her to perform the functions of a wife, including those of sexual
relations, Finally, the girl fled to the vicinity of Russellville
where she obtained employment as a domestic servant inthe home of a
white family, On July 29, 1879, Blair followed her to Russellville,
stating on the way his intentions to "wade in blood up to the chin or
make the girl return." When he called at her employer's house, she
refused to have anything further to do with him and he left. The

next evening, he accosted her and some of her friends as they were ree
turning from a prayer meeting and demanded againkthat she return to
him, When she again refused, stating that she had rather die than to
do so, he drew a revolver and shot her, inflicting a fatal wound,

_ Blair managed to escape but, was captured 2uepears later, At his trial
he admitted killing ghe girl but denied that he had ever been sexually
familiar with her and said that his only concern had been parental,

He refused to apply to a new trial and strenuously objected to any

appeals, He was hanged at Morristown, Tenne, on Sept. 26, 1879.

DAILY GAZETTE-MAIL, Morristown, Tenn., Nov. ll, 1956 |
GALVESTON DAILY NEW, Galveston, Texas, Sept. 27, 1679
NATIONAL POLICE GAZETTE, Oct. 11, 1879 (7-3) .

BLATR, Anthony

Blair, a Hamblin Co., Tenn., black man, was a self-taught Lawyer who,
after he had married her mother, raised his step-daughter, Maggie
Walker, as his own child, After Mrs, Blair died, the girl, then 15-
years-old, continued living with him for a time durine which he for-
ced her to perform the functions of a wife, including those of sexual
relations, Finally, the girl fled to the vicinity of Russellville
where she obtained employment as a domestic servant in the home of a
white family, On July 29, 1879, Blair followed her Lo Russellville,
stating on the way his intentions to "wade in blood up to the chin or
make the girl return." When he called at her employer's house, she
refused to have anything further to do with -him and he left. The

next evening, he accosted her and some of her friends as they were re-
turning from a prayer meeting and demanded againkthat she return to
him, When she again refused, stating that she had rather die than to
do so, he drew a revolver and shot her, inflicting a fatal wound,
Blair managed to escape but was captured 2h-pears later, At his trial
he admitted killing the girl but denied that he had ever been sexually
’ familiar with her and said that his only concern had been parental,

He refused to apply to a new trial and strenuously objected to any

His

Bad Partisg Botwees the Qondemaed
Man and His Wits.

He Sheds Tears Whea Bidding Fel-
low-prisocers Farewell.
ee
The Terrible Deeds of thp Morrows
_ ead Dr, Bellamy,

Other Ettontions That Have Oocour-

red in Montgomery Gounty.
Crasagbyitie, June 14.--Wm. Mor-
row was a'bere thig afternoon for,
the murit |: Dick Overton. He
walked op the Id a$2 o'clock. Mr.

Johnson ealid ; 1, yow are about to.
leave thig world. Are you prepared to
die?” Marrow answered: ‘'I am, and
do not fe¢r death,” Mr. Johnson then
asked if the written statement previoa:-
ly made was correct. He replied that
itwar. De. Sears «ilsred prayer aad
Mr. Jphnoeon led the prisoner on the
trapand the black cap was adjust-
ed. He maid be had no further
stetement: opake,. aad gk
ill toward no’ man. He stood tirm
and «aietly directed the ocheriff
how to errange bis hands.
The trap was sprung at
2:14, the body falling six feet, and
breaking the neck. Ife died without a
struggle tifteen minutes afterward.

AT THB J Alban

There was but Little excitement here
last night. Large numbers visited the
jail thropgh curiosity, but) were all
refused admittance. The mumber of
witnesses to the execution will not ex-
ceed the provisions of the sof provid-
ing for private hangings. That is, six
outsiders allowed the sheriff, besides
his deputies, and tbree aliowed the
doomed man, Morrow selected Mesears.
Johnson apd Savage apd Dr. ears.
The decree of the court péentencing
Morrow todeath fixed the bour of exe
cution between 2 and 4 o’clack, but by
mutnal copsent thd drup was spruog at
Zo'clock. The gallows were erected in
the jaily-ard. betweem the old and new
buildings. ‘lhe drop wassix feet. The
rope used was a three: quarter éea gran,

tm
we

purchased a few days agoin Nashville.

UNWILLISG WITNESS E8,

Mr. Johngon said to-day that he,, Me.
Savage and Dr Heats hid cogstantly
attended Morrow since his coriemaoa-
tion and the unpleasant duty tievol ved
upon them tp witney the ¢x¢cution
“When this is over we whl sleep well
to-night, feeling that we have dis-
charged opr whole duty as Coristians
for the sak@ of humoity,” said Mr.
John<on, ‘anid | paly hope othera will
re-tas enaily as we will, gepecially the
Clarksville correspoodent.cf the Nash-
ville American, who Bred a parting
shot into the dying man.”
KHIR LAST Nia.

Leaving Mr. Joh nj the reporter
hege all loaked

4
repaired to jhe jail,
<i ¢ Seep |

dark and, gloomy 6a
lamp which) ahone th the bars o

the doomed man’¢ = dell window.
John Osborne apaictant = jailer.
ponded to the reporter's call and
the jail. He de-

promt |
ye the irépdrier to enter
Ny a few min

P APRAID TO D1

peat a restless night apd

ig intervals, during which

mhers were disturbed and

talked to a guard about

ma, eaying he preferred to
# willing to meet his end, as
preferable to life og eto
| greatest regret was leav
n, whom he feared wou
p esid his father had failed
rent’s part by him, and, he
worst enemy. This morning
the ¥ wr looked haggard and serv-
ous. He ate a light Freak fact after
whigh ke was shaved and dressed. At
9 o'clock Rev. Dr. Sears and his attor-
cey, Mr. Johmeon, visited Morrow and
spent several hours in private conver-
sation «6with) «obim. Small crowds
collected around the jsil, but no one
was admitted. Little or no excitement
prevailed. The doors were opened at
12 o'clock for the choaen witneeses and
closed vi taro cag ee abet om
@ general lee te) mp or the
doomed mas. Tre eaninssion bereto-
fore made will not be made public un-
til sfter the execution. In parting
with hib fellow-prisoners Merrow wept
bitterly.

FAREWELL. TO WIFE AND CHILDREN.

Morrow ste a. hearty dinner at 12
o’clock. After expressing himeel! as
refreshed he said he would say only a
few words on the scaffold. He wrotea
letter to his wite and children bidding
them an affectionate adieu and admuna-
ishing them to meet him in beaven
He said he felt deeply grieved to leave
them in this unfriendly world and
stated that he wanted his children to
have their rightful part co! his father’s
estate, as he had been the cause of his
death and always treated him uo-
kindly. He concluded with a hope of
awakiog in heaven and eaid it was
sweet orest in hope ol angels BOVeEring
over him in death. Large crowds,
mostly vegroes, collected about the
jail, and «twelve guards armed with
shotguns, were stationed at the en-
trance.

MISTORY OF TWO MURIEERS

The deeds of the ellamy cave mur-
derers constitute one of the most onter
teresting chapters in the historg of
crime ia America. The boldness with
which their lawless acta were planoed
and executed, the maoner in which
their guilt was prover, the stremuoas
eflorts they made to escape punishment
and the commotion created by their ex-
meure have few paraihl-. Kassom
Maitow: the father of the man who to-
day met with an ignominivus end, is
sixty-sever years old, of good appear-
anceand plain dress. His faiily con-
nisted of three sons, William, Charles
and Kenjawin, aod one daughter, whu
married Dr. Peter F. Bellamy, son of
the late Rey. Jesse Bellamy, 1), The
Morrows were in very comfortable cir
cumstances, owning considerable real
ea'a'ein Montgomery county, and be-
ing respecid by a wide circle of ac
quaintacces. Nearthe home of Rare
rom Morrow is a very large cave,
which ij said to ba as extensive «a the
Mammoth cave in Kenthcky, glihough
it has only been explored two miles.
‘Vhe entrance is very narrow, but the
chambers are numerous and quite wide
insce nia places. It was once a favorite
place of resort during thse summer sea-
soo, but has got been visited much
rince the discovery of a «dead body
which had been placed in it by the
band, who used it as a means of ¢ over-
ing up their crime. Acslide at the
right hand side of the cavern runs
back a long distance and ends at a
deep chasm. (pon this the murderers
placed the remains of their victim,
which was speedily carried out of wight,

THE ARRKATRA.

lo June, L884, J. W. Pachand called
upon the atiorney-general of Moat.
omery county and gave him some in:
ormation regarding Kansom Morrow,
Wa. Morrow and Dr. Bellamy, which,
with testimony that wasafierward se-
i d,, {led to their arrest ant
n

gat for the murder of James

in 1883) Pach-ad
4 long been cogyisspt
ose whom be pogucesd,

lored,'in 1877, and of Dick’

i

FISH STEAM

6 EP RE Pe: fe

» 1M fing
3 { ah

oe pene
'

[ lll ‘os

4

SHIR

als ce aa gi es

his brother Charles, he ‘carried tbe | man (berry’s peaceful diqoeitior On

body of (Overton into the cave and |
piaced it on the slide. Wao. Morrow
told Mer. Pachand that he killed ()ver-
ton becaurehehad attempted to com
mit rapeon his daughter -The cases
sgainst Kansom Morrow and Charies
Morrow were onolle prossed and
William was convicted and sentenced
to hang January 30th, I8k>. He ap-
pesied to the supreme court and that
tribunal atirmed the jidgment of the
lower ccurt, and reset the day of exe:
cation for April 16:h. Morrow was re-
manded to Clarksville, and upon ap-
plication, Gor Bate granted a reepite
of siaty days, txing today for the ex-
ecutior
APPEALS TO THE GOVERNOR,

Petitions a-king the governor to par-
dou or comtoute the sentence to life
iuiprisounent came from 3,000 citizens
cf Montygcemery county, but the gov-
erner, on Jdnne Leth, declined to grant
the reqnest Ransom Morrow and
Bellary appealed to the supreme court,
which, on March 14th, granted them a |
new trinh  Peilamy had bis second
trial teveral weeks age, the supreme
court having ruled that be wh¢ entitled
toa teverance. [ne jury disagreed,
and were diecharged. He and Ran-
som Morrow are therefore yet to be
tried for the murder of Browa,

PX FOCUTIONS IN MONTGOMERY COUTURE

The Banner isindebted to the editors
of the excellent and enterprising To-
bacco Leaf for the appended intoraa
tioh regarding other legal executions
in. Montgomery county: Four other
legal hangings are koown t> bave
taken place in the coanty pince tts
formation dhe condemned in eich
case wasa negro, Morrow beirg the
first white man to be hanged tn the
county, and the secood known to be
hung since the war fork:l tog a negr >.
Nhe last of these Jegal executions was
in 1853, jost thirty years ago, when
Kiias Adama, slave, was bung for ao
otttrage upon Mrs Bristow, aa aged
woman who lived in the Furst district,
near atate jine.

took A SRE RAL.”

The year previous John Harbest, a
yourg freanezro, who was hung for.
murdering “Aunt Mannab,” an old
free negiess who made hers Jiving by
celling cakes inthe town. She lived on
the lands af Hon Cave Johason, not
far from the King place, oo (ireenwood
avenue. Ben murdered her with an
axe, believing ‘hat ehe bad maney, but
he secured — only about ° forty,
cents. ‘To hide his crime ha carried
the body to the ravine in the rear.
of the King plvce and gave it atiallow.
borial. It wassoon unearthed and his
crime brought to light. Both of. these
negroes ite tried before Judge Tar-
ner at the same tern) of thecqurt. Ben}
Was senten¢ed tiret, aod at the epnelu-

‘her senses, tock her dving

Sbegro, aod his crime was dastard: 9 nil

sion of the j 1dge’s sentence he lovked
him in the wy@ and said with @ seady |

voice, ‘I take a repeal oo thay” When
Elise, who waqyaite old, apd spac
of yolos, ad oe esoral fon Bes |: a,

a

the morning of the murder the Miltoma
were pavsiog Cherry's term enil sae
the old man working in Bistheld. The
elder Milton called out that now was
a gol me to settle! ecorea, aad

the two advanced of Cherry,
who retreated and warned them
off. Finally Cherry wae ccmpeiled to

use his revciver, woundhog the elder
Milton in the arm tiis antagonists
then closed ian on him and attacked
him with hoes Cherry turned and
ran towards his residence, calling to
his wife to bring out the shotgun.
Wo. Milton headed hint off and got to
the house first, (ast as Mrs. ( herry
stepped ont of the door with the gun.
Milton feiled her with a handsjike that
he found in the vard and se:zed the
gun Meantime Berry: Milton came
up and held Cherry wotil William
knocked him bown by adezen blows on
the head. Cherry becgedt for his life
but Wiliram beat bin with the band
spike onc the g doman’«e head was in
ajeliy, Mes Cherry, who bad regained
husband as
head igo her Jap, wre britally
theust aside. Cherrs ‘showed some
wyoasof jifeand the elder Moiton tid
Perry to Huieh jim the did so be
crushing bis ekeli. ‘The Miitons hid
in the aeighborkuod for several weeks,
Hoally escaping to Texas, where (hey

were capinred. se
CAME PRL:

NEW ORDLPFANS, June Jt --d unries
Campbell, alias “Red, wae banged at
Pointe a dia Hadhe, Plaquermivons par
seh, to dav, for the murder ¢ f CLeedore
Fuplevieh, in Chat paris, August Lic,
ISst)0 Campbell was a beptal looking

beat

CHARTS

naprovoked Vaplesich owas thot
downon oa counire cond after words

with Catmaplhe dowhich did met anpount
even (oR quarnel Alth®ugh the ere
cation waa private, the Jinie vidlage

was crowded wish poople from tha ad-
Joining country

EUROPEAN EVENTS

Great Jrowds Wongrezated Arqund
the Pa:iement Duileings.

Ob cal ons er

Nearly Sev o Hucdred Naw (Clases
of Obolera in Spain,

Lonvon, Jane 10. There wag ag-
other conference of conservatives = this

morming-in the residence ofthe Mag-.
quince! Salisbury. As heretofore, all
preeoot were pledged tg recrecy, \The
marquis, in an open letter, writes that:
“the imputation that the aonser¥a| |
desire war with ‘Russi is ridigul
The necessity fdr such o

conservatives say, le dug


of the TENNESSEAN AND AMERICA. ‘twas the prison bult on a part of theCockrill farm?"
was theonly wrds spoken by the condemed man, These were said as he came in sight of
-the gray walls of the state property, At the. death house he had no.request to make in &Rs*

Rice's questions, All he wanted was a "Good, substantial
AUKK BKFH AUK XHEXASK Sai AKG KXHKAAXAKX AUAAAMMYXMUK supper," but he asked for no special
dish, He had a gold watch and $3.70, These he said he wanted to turn over to Reve Rxsads
Freeman, He wanted his children to have the money."

SLORY OF CRIME
"Byrom was a farmer of Wilson County, hwere he had lived for several years, He was 50
years old, The wife, of whose mrder he was convicted and sentenced to hang, had borne
him twelve children, eleven of whom were living at the time of the tragedy. The murder
was committed on.a night early in August, 1910, and was a most atrocious one, Mrs. By=
rom was. sitting at the window sewing on a machine, making some clothing for her children,
when Byrom came to. the window and asked to get in. He had been evading bhe officers of
the law for some weeks on account of a mrder committed by his brother. He was wanted
as a witness, As he stood at the window she told him somthing, he said, that angered
him into irrationalism, He drew his pistol from his pocket and fired. Saddling his mule
from the stable nearby, he fled, The shots he fired were fatal. His wife died fifteen
minutes afterward, Byrom admitted these facts on the witness stand, He also admitted
that he had been an incessant drinker for thirty years. It was said that he, had S&#xS7ER
AXXXXXX forfeited the affections of his family and that his chédren feared him, Byrom
was sentenced to hang Nov. 22, 1910. He was twice respited by Gov. Patterson," TENNE=

SEAN AND AMERICAN, Nashville, Tenney 3-15-1911 (1/h.)

"Lebanog, Tenn,, May 11, 1911-One of the most important murder cases to come up for trial
at this termof the criminal court was settled this afternoon by the defendant, Thomas By-
rom, agreeing to plead guilty to murder in the second degree and took the maximum pen-
tence of twenty years in the penitentiary, About a year ago Byrom shot and killed W, L.
Puckett on the raan near Silver Springs, and was tried on the charge of murder at the
last danuary term of court, The defendant plead self-defense and the unwritten law,

The jury failed to agree and the case was continued to the May term of court, Public
interest has been centered in the case, more particularly because of the sad fact that
two brothers were in the same jail at the same time for different alleged murders, The
other brother, Napper Byrom, paid the death penalty for murder in March," TENNESSEAN,

Naskville, Tenn., May ll, 1911 (2/1.)

4,

¥BRXESXXAK answer to Warden


BURCHFIELD, Ben, white, ll, elec, Tenn. (Sullivan) 1-1-1925 .-

“yy

Ney

‘Rick Patterson |
|

Kingsport Times-News

Kingsport, Tenn. 37662 |

July 4, 1974

W. Espy, dre
Pu Oy Box: 2:7

Headland, Ala.

Se Sal

Dear Mr. Espy,

Ben Burchfield was executed at sunrise on Jan. ll, 1925 for the
slaying of his wife, step-son and three other persons including an
infant on Nov. 26, 1922.

Delia and Charles burchfield, Mrs. and Mr. J. W. Smith and their
daughter Ruby were bludgeoned to death in Smith's store in bristol, Ténn.
and the store was set fire, according to our reports. Burchfield was :
a“rrested the same day in Johnson City and claimed until his death no 4 a
knowledge of the slayings.

Burchfield was an indigent defendant. The only evidence linking
him to the crime was blood found on articles of clothing found at his
home, and testimony that he had threatened his wife who was living Le
'tin another household!! according to reports of @™F that equ era.

Gov. Austin Peay met with the prisoner in his cell shosxtly
before his execution and refused ''to interfere with the courts.'!!

EM Ae A

Burcehfield's trial was in Jan. 1923.

I am interested in this story for an article in conjunction
with capital punishment, still an issue in Tennessee. Our old papers
are recorded in microfilm and revroducing them is an involved process.
Once we have completed it, I will forward to you at least a copy of
the article.

I am interested in confirming that Burchfield was the only
Sullivan Countian executed in Tennessee. Would you please let me know
the source of your information.

I hope to do more detailed research into the case, including a ease
court transcript. If there is any specific information you require, Pees

please let me know. I hope I have been of help to you. Thanks for Piaas

the tip. cag
Dla PHD

Reporter


~ BYROM, IT. F., 53+year-old white man, hanged, Tennessee State Prison (Wilson) on 3815-1911,

"Tl, F. Byrom, alias "Napper" Byrom, aged 53 years, the condemned wife murderer, hanged at
the state prison yesterday morning at sunrise, went into eternity with a secret in his
heart. Six hours before the execution: he made a confession to Warden Rice, admitting
that he killed his wife, and telling in a measure why, but what she said to him at the
window and why: he fired the fatal shots just at the time he did, Byrom would never tell,
After passing a peaceful night, in which he slept soundly, the execution took place at
6:10 o'clock, - Without a quiver, without a word, save 'God bless you all,' he walked
steadily onto the scaffold and the word was given, At 6:28 o'clock W. G. Black, prison
physician, pronounced the man dead. His neck was broken by the fall of four feet,
Present at the last sad duties were Sheriff Herralson of Wilson County, from which the
man was sentenced to hang; Warden Rice, Assistant Warden Gillenwaters, and several depu-
ties, Reverends W. H, Freeman of Wilson County and G E, Kinney of Trevecca College,
Nashville, and Doak hompson, a brother-inelaw of Byrom, The body, was taken in charge
by Combe & Davis, undertakers. ,1t was carried back to his home in Wilson County and
buried beside his father at S Springs, The cash he had in his pocket he gave to
Rev. Freeman, His gold watch he left to one of his little boys, The hanging cast a
gloom over the officials and the entire prison. Warden Rice reiterated his extreme pppo-
sition to capital punishment. He says it is a relic of uncivilized mitinns, ‘I wish |
you would state in your story,' said Warden Rice, -'that I am still opposed to capital |
punishment. I have superintended seven execution s sire I have been here, am I have
never yet seen a man hanged but that I believed the poor fellow wasua degenerate, a
lunatic or suffer&ng from a diseased mind, I believe the time will com within the next
15 years when an intd ligmt public will shudder at the thought of such punishment. I
am speaking now after over 20 years' experience with criminals, and I believe my conclu-
sions are based on a thowough knolédge of criminals of every sort, I have lived on the
outer edge of the criminal class in this state and I am speaking my convictions whin I say
I am against capital punishment and fhat it ought to be abolished,'" TENESSEAN, Nash»
ville, 3-16-1911 (6=1). ,

"It was a silent procession yesterday afternoon that carried 'Napper' Byrom, the condemne
wife murderer,from the Davidson countyjail to the state penitentiary where he was to be
hanged by the neck until dead. No words were spoken save an occasional question and a
reply in monotonese No smile played on the face of the condermed many the sheriff, the
deputies or the newspapermen in the death wagon, It was the last ride of one of the
number, This morning at sunrise the execution took place, Friends and re ighbors of
the condemned man, pleaded to the last, but Gov. Hooper hdd signified thathis intention
was not fo interfere with the course of the law. Byrom spent his last night in the
‘death house', just to the rear of the prison walls, ,Two guards kept the death watch,
Rev, Will H, Freanan of Mt, Juliet, the condemned man s religious adviser, visited the
prison last night and remained to a late hour in the tell, He was also visited by Rev.
Grover C, Kinney of Trovecca College. It seemed that Byrom had something on his mind
that he wanted to tell, Several times he was on the eve of making a statement, but re-
frained, Once he said a prayer and then declared that God had told him not to say any=
thing for the newspapers. The coolness of the man in facing death wasremarkable to a
degree. Hewas visited at thejail in the afternoon by friends and relatives before going
to the death house at theprison, To his brother-in-law, Doak Dthompson, he gave final
instructions as to the disposition of his body.
"tYes, I would like to have it well cared for,' he was saying to Thompson as he settled
his elbows on the iron bars at the county jail. 'I want you to have good, strong boards
placed over me, I have dug many a grave myself, I always saw that thetimbers used were
good, So now I don't want any "shoddy" stuff in mine,""I have made arrangements with the
um ertaker to come out and get your body," Mr, Thompson was replying. mt will have him
com out and dress you and have your body prepared to be taken back to Silver Springs
(Wilson County} there to be buried beside your father." "I prefer to dress myself," put
in the condemned man, "I had thought that I could do that better than anybody," "No, I
have ankanged with the undertaker for that," replied Mr. Thompson, "Well, I submit to
what my friends think best," was the only reply.
"On departing Byrom embraced all the prisoners in his section, Kx He expressed a, desire
tto meet them in the hereafter. Then followed the silent trip to theprison. In the
automobile were Byrom, the sheriff, Deputies Turbeville and Warren and a representative

66

The woman under detention admitted
that her name was Nettie Ozment, and we
found that she had once been arrested
for public immorality. She told us that
she was only Mr. Guston’s housekeeper
and couldn't help it if age (8 sometimes
referred to her as “Mrs. Guston.” She
withstood a mild grilling without making
the slightest deviation from her previous
version of events surrounding the tragedy.

Nettie Ozment convinced us that she
did not know who killed Mrs. Summer-
field and was sent home with all due
apologies for the inconvenience she had
suffered. ’ ; :

First there had been insufficient evi-
dence to hold the colored house boy. John
Deal. Then the attic dweller, Jim eMay,
had established a sound alibi. Now the
landlady had won exoneration. The web
of circumstantial evidence would not hold
Guston much longer unless more scarlet
threads were found to entwine him! Were
we wrong in believing that the killer had
been a member of the household?

Just when it began to appear that days
and possibly months might pass before
we would be able to answer the puzzling
question of who killed Mrs. Summerfield,
the sound of near-by church bells was
broken by the pounding of knuckles on
the door of my private office. -

“COME in.” I called, pushing back the
pile of data which | had been comb-

ing for something in the nature of a

clue that might have been overlooked.

The door opened and John Deal stepped
into the room, followed closely by the
towering figure of Sergeant Caldwell. The
Sergeant, holding the cook by the belt,
propelled him to a chair. It required no
expert deduction to tell that something
had happened to alter Deal’s status since
we had turned him loose the night before.
| glanced from the ebony-faced prisoner
to the grim-visaged officer and saw a tense
expression on both countenances.

“So you've heard from the ‘shadows’
we had tailing John last night, eh, Ser-
geant?”

“Yes, sir, it looks pretty bad for John,”
Caldwell replied. “I brought him in again
when the men on that assignment made
their report of his movements last night.
| can see now why he was so ready to slip
us a hint or two against Mr. Guston!”

Sergeant Caldwell then explained that
the colored suspect who had feigned grief
and sympathy for the murder victim had
spent the greater part of the night in
reckless carousal on Beale Street-—Mem-
phis’ counterpart of New York’s famous
Harlem—and that he had spent money
freely during the night's revelry, remain-
ing away from the tragedy house until
well after dawn.

Sergeant Caldwell handed me a_ten-
dollar bill, bearing serial number HO796-
99604. which had apparently been wet
quite recently. Deal, a trace of fear in
his shifty eyes, silently squirmed in his
chair.

“lim Mulcahy, proprietor of the Pana-
ma Café at Beale and Fourth, turned in
this bill after we learned that John had
bought a package of cigarettes there and
got change for it last night. | think it’s
Mrs. Summerfield’s money,” the Sergeant
asserted.

“Where did you get this ten-dollar bill?”
] asked the prisoner.

For reply, John Deal gulped and _ his
gaze shifted to the floor. The glib tongue
with which he had answered our inquiries
the night before was strangely still. His
expression registered inability, rather. than
stubborn refusal, to speak.

“Why did you kill that woman?” I
persisted in a persuasive tone of voice.

“1,” he stammered.

Master Detective

“Look here, John,” | urged, “you
couldn’t stay at home last night because
your conscience hurt and you were afraid.
It was an awful thing to strangle that
poor woman to death! You'll never rest
with the secret of that crime on your soul!
We've got one of the bills you took from
her—some of the money you spent in try-
ing to drown the thoughts of that terrible
deed up there in the bathroom... "

The mention of that scene so freshly
seared upon his memory gave the prisoner
an involuntary start. I knew that his taut
nerves could not stand the strain of words
that conjured up a long procession of
mental pictures portraying his ghastly
activities. Here was no dull-witted, un-
imaginative criminal. [| knew by the
shrewd manner in which he diverted sus-

icion upon discovery of the crime, that
Srtn Deal was anything but dumb. So |
continued to dwell upon the gruesome
aspects of the case.

“T’m not a man that talks about

his white folks,” said John Deal

(above), “but ... it’s my duty to
tell all I know”

“You choked her, and then threw her
body into the bath tub, didn’t you, Johne”
He tried to look me in the eye, then
turned his head. “Why don’t you tell
us all about it?” I persisted.

“Wat will they do to me if I tell
you the truthe” he finally asked.

| informed him that any statement he
might make would be used as evidence
against him in court, and that I could not
predict the punishment that would be
meted out to him. | pointed out to him
that others had been brought under sus-
picion, and explained the enormity of
causing innocent persons to suffer for a
crime in which they had taken no part.

“I__did it—I did it, alone!” John sud-
denly exclaimed.

Then—at the hour when thousands of
God-fearing people in our city were turn-
ing toward home at the conclusion of their
Sunday morning services — John Deal
blurted out the confession that branded
him a human coyote. For treachery,
brutality and cruelty | have never listened
to the admission of a more diabolical
crime.

He began by telling us that he had
heard that Mrs. Summerfield always
carried $1,800 in a money-belt around her
waist.

“I thought, by killing her, that | could
et the money without anyone ever know-
ing it,” he said.

‘There was a box of permanganate of
potassium in the house, and | first tried to
give Mrs. Summerfield enough of that
poison in her coffee yesterday morning to
make her sick. I thought if she became
suddenly ill after breakfast | might have a

chance to take her money without any-
body knowing who got it. | puta little of
the stuff into her coffee and took it to her
room about eight o’clock.

“She tasted the coffee and called me
back, saying that it tasted like there was
lysol in it. 1 took a little sip out of the
cup and told her it tasted all right. Then
I went back to the kitchen and got an-
other cup and took the coffee-pot to let
her see me pour it. She drank that last
cup, which didn’t have any poison in it.”

‘So when your plan to poison Mrs.
Summerfield failed, you decided to try
another way of getting her money, did
you, John?” Sergeant Caldwell inter-
posed. “How long did you wait?”

“Yes, sir. I waited until after lunch,
and then about one-thirty, | went up the
front stairs to Mrs. Summerfield’s apart-
ment. That time, my nerve failed me.
| had to have some excuse for going up
there, so I asked her for two aspirin tab-
lets. She gave them to me and | went
back to the kitchen.

“I didn’t know what to do, so [ went
to my own room in the basement. Then
I went back to the kitchen, and all the
time, my mind kept telling me that she
had plenty of money on her. Something
kept telling me to go and get it!

J WENT back upstairs, this time using
the back steps, and knocked on the
door to Mrs. Summerfield’s apartment. She
came to see what I wanted. | showed her
a piece of paper to get her attention after
I stepped inside the room. Then | put my
hand over her mouth, and at the same
time grabbed her glasses off her eyes and
pitched them on the bed.

“| kept my, hand over her mouth and
dragged her into the bathroom, kicking
the door shut so that her screams could
not be heard. She then said: ‘My son
needs me. We have no money— ”

The remorseless killer calmly continued
the details of his brutal crime, stating that
he hurled his victim into the bath tub,
ignoring her piteous pleas for mercy, and
had then gone back downstairs to wash
the dishes. He knew that the woman
was either dead or dying, and he wanted
a little time to get his nerves settled be-
fore. searching for the money that had
inspired his deed. He declared that rob-
bery was the sole motive, and this fact
was fully verified by autopsy surgeons.

“| was too nervous to wash the dishes
then,” he continued, “but after a few min-
utes | got up enough nerve to go back
after the money. | got all the money |
could find and then took a key from Mrs.
Stevens’ apartment and locked the body
up_in the bathroom...”

_So this, at last, was the answer to the
riddle of how the murder had seemingly
happened behind a locked door. John told
us that Mrs. Summerfield was already
dead when he went back, and added: “I
turned on some more water.”

“How much money did you take, John?”
I asked.

“I took one twenty and two ten-dollar
bills, all there was in her belt, and kept
the money in my shoe for awhile. Then
I put it under the carpet in the kitchen.
I later took one of the ten-dollar bills and
got it changed at_the Panama Café. This
morning | put five one-dollar bills with
the thirty dollars. left under the carpet.”

We went back to Union Avenue, and
John Deal led us straight to the hidden
money. The twenty and ten-dollar bills
were still damp from having been sub-
merged with the body in the overflowing
tub. But that wasn’t all; John volun-
tarily opened a leather hand-bag in a
closet and produced a wet bath towel
which had been overlooked in our previous
searches. He told us he had placed this

May, 1937

towel over h
smothered her
he had not t
identified the
manganate wh
deadly intent.
Returning t
our prisoner :
admissions of
ing and witnes
Quianthy,
Moore and C:
Brassell and |
are representa
this written s
murderer tolc
that he had t
shrewdly figu
might lead to
Following h
County Grar
brought to t)
degree murd
Judge Phil W:
Court. The
handled by L
Lain, who pre
tially outline:
fession.
Defense att
clude admiss
their plea wa
ceeded in ba
sions from e°
come of the
ent, with us
circumstantia

ALTHOUGC
stand an
the belated «
to gain cred
was rendered
ty. Then fo
for new tria
appeal to th
This process
tion.

Finally, 01
September |°
tragic dram:
walls of th:
John Deal »
and marched
A. W. Neele
to die.

“No, sir,”
to die with
he repeated
time of his
the chorus
Passes Awa)
over his fa

Two cha
silenced the
man who so
beth Sangst
late—THAT

Thus was
cloud of su
cent of any

SEND
MACFA
SCHOOL
@ Accep
tutions ¢
school co
accepted
your boy
or busin
square-s!
ing mar


stifle outcries.
sked Mr. Rol-

wife from the
‘ocery just be-
yath tub,” the

1 was spending
were eager to
ike his appear-
ccupants of the
already intro-

the

duced, it was learned that Jim LeMay, single, and about
forty years old, lived there. He had been last seen by
the other boarders about noon.

The ladies and Ray Rolland told the detectives that Le-
May earned his living by doing odd jobs and playing the
mandolin in beer parlors. He had moved to the Union
Avenue address with the Gustons some four months pre-
viously. Little was known of his history.

They said he had been around the house all morning,
working in the kitchen. Part of the time he had been in
Rolland’s room cleaning a shirt and pair of trousers for the
latter. He ate his lunch alone in the kitchen, while Rolland

Room 25

(Center) Detective Sergeant A. L.

Moore, one of the first officers to

reach the scene of the crime. He

was not deceived by the killer’s

shrewd cunning. (Left) William

Guston, proprietor of the house of
tragedy

Locked

and the ladies lunched with Mr. and
Mrs. Guston in the breakfast room.
One of the boarders recalled  see-
ing LeMay leave the house between
twelve and one o'clock that  fate-
ful afternoon, but he had said nothing
of where he was going or when he would
return.

Me: LEMAY, in the minds of the de-
tectives, became something of a
mystery man. Sergeant Miller motioned
his partner aside when their preliminary
check of available information was com-
pleted.

“We've got to find this fellow LeMay and trace his move-
ments,” said Miller.

Beyond hearing of the awed group in Mrs. Summerfield’s
apartment, the detectives talked in low tones while the am-
bulance attendants removed the body to a morgue for fur-
ther examination.

When the stretcher bearing its pathetic burden was car-
ried away, John Deal approached the officers. The ordeal
of becoming a spectator to a scene of violent death had not
robbed him of his composure as it would most men under
similar circumstances.

age org’ John addressed Sergeant Moore, “I’m not a
man that talks about his white folks, but I just believe in
a case of this kind it’s my duty to tell you all I know.”

“That’s right,” Sergeant More encouraged him. “You
shouldn’t hold back anything that will help us get to the
bottom of this case.”

“This ain’t a respectable married couple that I’m work-
ing for, but the boarders don’t know it,” whispered the ser-
vant, “Folks who'll do one wrong may do another!”

The colored boy’s tip gave the detectives their first
hint of a “skeleton in the closet,” and added substance
to the hunch that sinister hands within the household
might be tinged with guilt. The information gave im-
petus to our desire for a complete story from the absent
landlord.

Detective Sergeant O. P. Caldwell, of the Homicide
Squad, reached the scene a few minutes after John Deal had
confided his secret to Miller and Moore. He was quickly
apprized of developments up to that point. The detectives
marked time while awaiting Guston’s return by re-checking
the few doubtful clues already found, and searching for ad-
ditional evidence to confirm the theory of murder. None
of the occupants of the house was permitted to leave the
par. and the woman known as “Mrs. Guston’” was

ept under constant surveillance.

After making a meticulous examination of the two-bed-
room apartment and private bath of the late Mrs. Summer-
field and her son, Sergeant Caldwell left the house and went
to the undertaking parlors to view the body. Sergeants
Miller and Moore were left in charge.

Sergeant Caldwell’s methodical examination of the body
conclusively banished the suicide theory. The following
excerpts from his report convinced us that it was a case of
cunning murder:

“Discoloration of the neck and bruises on left side of
throat indicate severe external pressure! Bruise now visible
on bridge of nose! Three scratches, apparently made by
finger-nails, two on right side of nose and one on left! Slight
contusion on upper lip! Trace of blood found in right
ear!

These significant discoveries, coupled with a statement
from Mr. Trewolla (who had helped remove the body) that
the woman’s head had been found submerged at the foot
of the bath tub in an unnatural position, where she could
not have reached the faucets, sent Sergeant Caldwell hurry-
ing back to the house which he was now certain had shel-
tered a strangler.

Meanwhile, the absent landlord (Continued on page 64)


64

“Then I hit him over the head with the
butt end of the gun. The stock of the
gun broke, and then | hit him on the head
a couple of times with the barrel. | picked
up some stones from the field and threw
them at his head. Pretty soon he didn’t
move any more, and | was sure he was
dead.

“I picked up the pieces of the stock of
the gun, and carried them in my hand,
and ran back to the woods and hid the
gun again. Then | went home and watered
the horses before | went into the house.
When | got a chance to do it without my
father or mother seeing me, | threw the
pieces of the gun-stock into the stove and
burned them.”

Prosecutor Rapp asked the prisoner re-
peatedly if Mrs. Cerwinka had known of
his plans to kill her husband. He insisted
that she did not, and that she knew
nothing about the murder. The youn
widow was nearly prostrated when we tol
her of Hawley’s statement. Prosecutor
Rapp questioned her again, and then al-
lowed her to return to her parents’ home.

AFTER the confession was signed, Haw-
ley took Undersheriff Osborn to Sha-
ron township, and turned over the broken
rifle, which was still hidden in the woods.
While they were gone, Coroner Ganzhorn
reported that the autopsy conducted by
Doctor C. Howard, of St. Joseph's
Mercy Hospital, Ann Arbor, had revealed
that the rifle bullet had lodged in Cer-
winka’s liver, and that the blows on the
head had caused his death. The farmer’s
right arm also had been broken, probably
by a stone.

We later found that the casts of the
footprints fitted Hawley’s right shoe ex-
actly, and the shoe was worn through
in the center of the sole. The young
man admitted that he had worn the
blood-stained overalls when he had killed
his best friend, but he did not be-
lieve it was Cerwinka’s blood on them.
We finally decided that Cerwinka had shot

Master Detective

at a rabbit or a bird while he was out
that Sunday morning, thus accounting for
the va cartridge in his rifle.

Floyd Turner was returned to his home
that afternoon. | was glad that my be-
lief in his honesty and sincerity had been
vindicated. He was absolutely innocent
of any connection whatsoever with the
crime.

But the case was not over, by any
means. On Monday, December 3rd, Haw-
ley was taken before Judge George W.
Sample, in Circuit Court. His mother and
father had a long talk with him at the
jail before we took him to the court-

ouse. He repeated the statement he had
signed, from the witness stand, and then
made a dramatic charge.

Without any warning, the prisoner sud-
denly cried:

“Celia Cerwinka said if 1 would get rid
of Mike she would marry me!”

The widow was sitting in court, and
Hawley looked straight at her when he
made his accusation. She seemed about
to faint, but she recovered her composure
and the hearing continued.

Hawley then charged that the young
wife had told him this while they were
sitting alone in the Cerwinka car one
evening at Pleasant Lake. Mrs. Cerwinka
threw her arms around him, he charged,
and kissed him several times. He knew
then, he related, that he was in love with
ther, and he knew, too, that he would kill
her husband!

When the hearing was concluded, Judge
Sample sentenced the youth to spend the
rest of his life in the State Prison, at
Jackson, Michigan, Prosecutor Rapp or-
dered Mrs. Cerwinka arrested on a charge
of conspiring to murder her husband.

The widow, protesting her innocence,
was arraigned before Justice Jay H.
Payne on December I1th, and pleaded not
guilty. On December 18th, awley re-
peated his charges at her examination be-
fore Justice Payne, and she was bound

over for trial in Circuit Court, although

her attorney confused Hawley on the wit-
ness stand, and the youth admitted that
he had lied in his accusation. Hawley told
us later: “At first | thought I would take
the rap alone, and then I decided she was
in it Just as much as | was.” Mrs, Cer-
winka was kept in the county jail for
several weeks, and finally was released un-
der $5,000_bail.

While Celia was still confined in a cell,
Miss Bena Cerwinka visited my office. She
requested me to visit her late brother’s
farm and gather a bowl full of blood-
soaked earth from the spot where Mike
had died. In this bowl, she insisted, |
should plant a flower. When it was in
bloom, I should show it to the widow.
If the flower wilted when she touched it,
that would be certain proof that Celia
was guilty. This, of course, | refused to do.
_ Mrs. Cerwinka’s trial began before a
jury in Circuit Court on April 7th, 1935.
Hawley, brought from Jackson prison to
testify, again repeated his charges, and
Celia took the witness stand in her own
behalf to deny that she had any connec-
tion with the murder.

It is interesting to, note here that a
Michigan statute provides that all parties
in a murder are equally guilty with the
one who does the actual killing. There is
no lesser charge. This law was proposed
several years ago by Harry S. Toy, then
Prosecuting Attorney at Detroit, and now
Attorney General of Michigan. It was
passed by the, legislature and proved an
effective weapon in combatting gangsters
in Detroit.

Finally, on April 10th, after deliberating

-three hours and twenty minutes, the jury

returned a verdict of not guilty and Mrs.
Cerwinka was freed. She returned to her
parents’ home and now she is employed
as a maid in the home of a physician.
Hawley is serving his sentence in Jackson
prison, and the most baffling murder mys-
tery to confront me during my three terms
as Sheriff of Washtenaw County is a
closed chapter.

Horror in the Locked Room

returned to his home. He did not seem
especially startled at the tragic news which
the detectives imparted in a manner cal-
culated to test his reaction. Sergeant
Caldwell asked him to account for his
movements during the period between the
time Mrs. Summerfield was last seen alive
up to his belated return to the boarding
house. : : 3. ‘

Guston readily complied, beginning with
an account of his trip to the curb market
with the woman whom he referred to as
his wife. He explained that upon their re-
turn to the house, “Mrs. Guston” had sent
him to a near-by grocery to obtain some
goods not available at the market where
they had shopped together. His story up
to this point tallied perfectly with the
statement given by the woman.

“Did you enter the house upon your re-
turn from the curb market?” Sergeant
Miller interposed.

“No,” Guston answered, “I only carried
the bundles to the kitchen door for my
wife, and then turned back.”

“But surely, it didn’t take you three
hours to go to the grocery?”

If the trio of detectives thought that
blunt thrust would shake the equanimity
of the landlord they were wrong. Guston's
hazel eyes met their concerted gaze with-
out a quiver.

“No,” he answered, evenly, “it only took
me a few minutes to go to the grocery.
But after | got there, I happened to re-
member that this was Saturday, and a

(Continued from page 25)

colored man who owes me some money
had promised to pay it if I’d see him at
the Swayne-Latham Tire Company—”

“So you went to Swayne-Latham, eh?”
Sergeant Caldwell interrupted. “Well, that
shouldn’t have taken much time. Their
place is right on the next corner. I'll have
to take you down to Headquarters.”

William Guston offered no objection to
being taken into ere 4 for questioning,
but he stated that his absence from home
could be accounted for, as he had arrived
at the tire store after his debtor had fin-
ished the day’s work and departed for_his
home in the Orange. Mound section. The
locality to which he now alluded is situ-
ated about four miles distant, in the east-
ern suburbs of Memphis. The statement
failed to change the Sergeant’s decision to
lock him up while the investigation was
continued.

When Guston was brought in about
eight o'clock, | was at Headquarters study-
ing the preliminary reports and directin
a search for Jim LeMay. I deferre
further interrogation of the boarding house
propia: and accompanied Sergeant Cald-
well on a return visit to the crime scene.

There we went over the ground again
with Detective Sergeants Miller and
Moore, but found no additional evidence.
The occupants were each called upon to
repeat their stories, and the re-check
brought no variation that would help
solve the enigma. Ten o'clock that night
found the dragnet which we had spread

for the mysterious Mr. LeMay still empty.
1 then ordered “Mrs. Guston” and her
colored house-boy, John Deal, taken to
Central Headquarters for further ques-
tioning.

We were convinced that Mrs. Summer-
field had been murdered by someone in-
timately acquainted with the premises. It
seemed most probable that a member of
the oddly assorted household had com-
mitted the crime. Who, then, among them
was the guilty person? By tracing the past
activities of each, we hoped to find some-
thing that pointed the finger of guilt at
one of these. There was nothing in the
refined widow’s quiet life to cause anyone
to wish her harm. So, obviously, the killer
must have coveted her small store of
wealth.

WE believed the victim would have
made some outcry if the murderer
had not been a person of whom she had
no fear. Her past life was without blemish
and no one of doubtful character could
be found among her close friends. But
what about her newly made acquaintances
at the boarding house, including those
who might have moved in and out dur-
ing the brief period the widow had spent
in that new environment?

A little over four hours from the time
the call reached Headquarters, we were
holding three persons in custody and seek-
ing a fourth—Jim LeMay. | decided not
to rush matters too much in questioning

May, 193.

Guston a

he had s! —

he knew

bring Job |

Guston”
quarters
The y
showed 1
on suspic
tribute «
sible tow
After ta
ordered
parted—:
Althou
leave Hi
straint, t
so recent
clean. U
lish his
structed
ment.
“Here’:
said Ser:
the file
was bus)
In the
was an .
The fi
Gustin |
“7” inste
5 feet, €
ruddy c¢
hair; all
cept rig)
He had
and acqi

EXT

nect
kit of <
he was
pany.
ag aft:
been di
erty to

cember
Tenness
minate
paroled.
“Well
one ma
things t
close to
bery!”
“Yes,
never <i
ex-conv
Follo
tentiar)
next en
rested |
check—
As “V
again o
violatin
disorde:
Final
Gustin”
1932, o1
ment o
He hac
bated s
in Atla
to Pre
connect
With
career
ered in
rapid-fi
frank,
anythin
Summe
had tol
wavere
movem


the wit-
ted that
vley told
uld take
she was
{rs. Cer-
jail for
‘ased un-

in a cell,
ffice. She
brother’s
f blood-
‘re Mike
isisted, |
t was in
2 widow.
uched it,
iat Celia
ed to do.
before a
‘th, 1935.
drison to
‘ges, and
her own
’ connec-

2 that a
ll parties
with the
There is
proposed
‘oy, then
and now

It was
roved an
gangsters

liberating
the jury
and Mrs.
ed to her
employed
ohvsician.
1 Jackson
rder mys-
ree terms
nty is a

ill empty.
and her
taken to
her ques-

Summer-
meone in-
emises. It
vember of
had com-
jong them
ig the past
find some-
f guilt at
ing in the
ise anyone
. the killer

store of

ould have
murderer
m she had
ut blemish
icter could
ends. But
juaintances
ling those
{ out dur-
had spent

1 the time

we were
‘and seek-
ecided not
juestioning

May, 1937

Guston and the woman. Instead, because
he had shown an inclination to tell what
he knew about the case, I had_ officers
bring John Deal to my office, while “Mrs.
Guston” was ordered held in the matron’s
quarters until morning.

The young house-boy was calm and
showed no resentment at being detained
on suspicion. He appeared willing to con-
tribute every scrap of information pos-
sible toward helping us solve the mystery.
After talking to John a few minutes, |
ordered his release and he proudly de-
parted—a free man.

Although John Deal was permitted to
leave Headquarters without official _re-
straint, the slate upon which his name had
so recently been written wasn’t yet wiped
clean. Until we could conclusively estab-
lish his innocence, detectives were in-
structed to keep tab on his every move-
ment.

“Here’s William Guston’s police record,”
said Sergeant Caldwell, as he handed me
the file which he had hunted up while |
was busy with John Deal.

In the light of present circumstances, it
was an arresting document!

The first entry read as follows: “Wm.
Gustin (the name being spelled with an
‘i” instead of an “o”), age 32 (in 1923),
5 feet, 634 inches; 131 Ibs; slender build;
ruddy complexion; hazel eyes; chestnut
hair; all fingers missing on left hand, ex-
cept right thumb; occupation, salesman.”
He had been charged with a misdemeanor
and acquitted.

NEXT he had been picked up in con-
nection with the theft of a doctor’s
kit of surgical instruments. At that time
he was a chauffeur for a local cab com-
pany. Confessing that he had kept the
bag after it was left in his cab, he had
been dismissed after returning the prop-
erty to its owner, who refused to prose-
cute.

Other entries were:

“Wm. Gustin, arrested March 26th, 1923,
charged with larceny—acquitted.”

“Wm. Montgomery Guston, arrested De-
cember 10th, 1924, larceny, sentenced to
Tennessee State Penitentiary on indeter-
minate sentence of three to five years;
paroled, June, 1926.”

“Well,” I paused to remark, “at least
one man who seems capable of taking
things that don’t belong to him was pretty
close to the scene of this murderous rob-
bery!”

“Yes, and I’ll bet that Mrs. Summerfield
never dreamed that her landlord was an
ex-convict,” Sergeant Caldwell added.

Following his release from the peni-
tentiary on that larceny conviction, the
next entry showed: “W. M. Guston, ar-
rested July 2Ist, 1927, passing worthless
check—dismissed.”

As “Willie Guston,” he had been arrested
again on August 12th, 1932, charged with
violating the liquor law and operating a
disorderly house—dismissed.

Finally, under the name of “W. M.
Gustin” he was again arrested in October,
1932, on a charge of forging an endorse-
ment on a Government check for $57.50.
He had confessed and was given a pro-
bated sentence to the Federal Penitentiary
in Atlanta. He was still on Federal parole
to Probation Officer Blaine Danley, in
connection with this latter conviction.

With the official record of his criminal
career at my finger-tips, Guston was ush-
ered in and questioned. His answers to
rapid-fire interrogation were apparently
frank, but he vehemently denied having
anything to do with the death of Mrs.
Summerfield. He stuck to the story he
had told the officers at his home and never
wavered from the detailed account of his
movements during the evening. His alibi

Master Detective
lacked corroboration. Guston was unable
to name a single witness to vouch for his
whereabouts at a given time.

“Just because I’ve had a few brushes
with the law, don’t get the idea that |
killed that poor woman. You've got me
wrong this time.” Guston said, again and
again.

It was obvious that nothing would be
gained by prolonging the interview, so
Guston was returned to his cell. It was
getting late, and I decided to go home for
a badly needed rest while the men on night
duty continued the search for Jim LeMay,
the mysterious attic tenant who hadn't re-
turned to the murder house.

On arriving at Headquarters early Sun-
day morning, I learned that two radio
squad car officers had brought Jim LeMay
in for questioning. He had returned to
his lodgings about midnight and they
locked him up without a chance to com-
municate with other residents of the board-
ing house. I sent for him immediately.

“Tell me,” I asked the forty-year-old
bachelor, “exactly what you did between
noon Saturday and the time of your arrest
last night.”

Before the mild-mannered Mr. LeMay
could answer, my telephone rang. It was
Sergeant Caldwell calling. He informed me
that two reputable ladies, upon_ reading
the sensational account of Mrs. Summer-
field’s death in the early editions, had come
forward with information of great value
in establishing the time element of the
case.

The Sergeant reported that Mrs. M.
Foltz of 594 Vance Avenue and Mrs. Syd
M. Lerner, wives of prominent citizens.
and friends of the victim, had said that
they passed the Union Avenue address at
1:35 p.m. and saw Mrs. Summerfield sit-
ting at the window of her upstairs apart-
ment. The ladies had waved to each .other.
Thus it was established that the murder
had occurred within an hour of the tragic
discovery made by Mr. Rolland. We later
verified the correctness of the time element
placed by Mrs. Foltz, which was a material
factor in accounting for the whereabouts
of the various persons who might have
gained access to the slain woman’s room
without causing an outcry. I was glad
to get this information before LeMay
made a statement.

“yest describe your movements be-
tween, we'll say, about one o'clock
and five yesterday afternoon,” I resumed.

“Well, at noon,” said LeMay, “I ate
lunch in the kitchen while Mr. and Mrs.
Guston, Mr. Rolland, Mrs. Stevens and
Mrs. Summerfield ate in the breakfast
room. Just before lunch, | cleaned a shirt
and pants in Mr. Rolland’s room and
helped with the kitchen work.

“Right after lunch, | changed clothes
and left the house—it must have been
about twelve-thirty then, and I walked
two blocks to Madison and Crosstown,
where | caught a street car and rode up-
town. The first place I went after reach:
ing the business section was to Mac’s Bar-
ber Shop.”

LeMay said he carried his mandolin
with him, and mentioned the names of
several persons he met on the street and
while getting a haircut. His statements
were quickly verified and the man who
had at first been given the glamor of a
“mystery figure” was promptly eliminated.

Now that Jim LeMay was known to be
entirely innocent, William Guston’s pos-
sible connection with the crime had to be
sifted to a finish. Our next move was to
confront the woman with what informa-
tion we had gathered; it being our theory
that if Guston held guilty knowledge of
the deed he had likely shared the grim
secret with her.

65

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STATE OF TENNESSEE
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
CLARKEVILLE, TENN
JULY 12, 1945

Honorable Jim McCord
Covernor of Tennesseé
Nashville, Tenn.

We the colorad citizens of Montgomery County do here

by beg that a commutation be given Billy Dickerson (colored)

fs

who is charged with rape and comademned to die in the Electr

Chair July 16, 1045.

Be it known that some of the best citizens of this
Count; endorse this movement, although it do nos carry their

sienatures due to the lack of time.

09

This case impresses me to ask this favor "IN THE

une)
a
(Sp)
ry
w
69
<
/
ct
ey
i
uw
oO 4
@)
4

NAKE OF THE LORD JESUS ©!

Yours respectfully,

Cc

S


Bi | Dixon
Tights

| St+R

Cev. Me Cord popers
| +E ox lod Pe. >


def oh oh toed 5 ir ré &

ERHAPS the most cruel
and degraded of all crimes

is the violent ravishing of
helpless women. So vile is it that
several states have made it punish-
able by death, even though no per-
manent harm may have been done
to the victim.
_And yet, in spite of this legal
* penalty, very few white men have
been executed for rape in America!
This is a condition that deserves
exposing. It may explain the recent
‘outbreak of sexual crimes in the
city of Washington, which so
shocked the nation. The sex fiend
needs a strong deterrent; only the
fear of punishment by death is
strong enough. Because of lack of
this fear, things have come to such
a state that our legislators have

actually considered setting a ten
p.m. curfew for unprotected wo-
men employees in Washington.

Negroes have, of course, been
hanged for rape often. Too often,
unfortunately. Our legal: system
provides that a man is innocent
until proven guilty. But unfair dis-
crimination has frequently reversed
that completely, so that a Negro
suspected of rape is often deemed
guilty unless proven innocent. And,
on occasion, ignorant, hate-mad-
dened mobs have decided “Guilty,”
without waiting for proof. “Lynch
law” is not the answer to the sex
fiend problem. The answer is a fair
trial, a cool, thoughtful conviction
—and the inexorable execution of
the convicted criminal.

(Continued on Page 49)


is tired.

ever have
nawald?” ?
nred him  - )
» a fight

for him

sted?”
ny fuss.”
ome ad- a

. We do
cre Em-
ew York
the infor-
nawald in

ight. The
anawald's

badly.”
| ‘est 78th

AM team

| med cops
building.

crossed,
his gun in
* rooming
|

tan Came

‘ald live

here?”

“Oh yes. He’s upstairs now. He
is painting his room for me.”

She stopped when she realized
they were the police:

“Oh, what has he done now?

- He’s a good boy but he has such

a bad temper.”

“What room?”

“On the third floor. But,
won't hurt him, will you?”
quavered.

They shouldered their way past

you
she

- her.

Morgan twisted the knob of
Hanawald's room and slammed the
door open. Here was their quarry.
Tall, broad-shouldered, he looked
down at them in mild surprise from
the step-ladder on which he stood.

“You're Frank Hanawald?”

“Ya. What is?” He laid a paint
brush down.

“You’re under arrest!
down off that step-ladder.”

He started down peacefully
enough. Just then one of the police-
men noticed a closet.

“What's in there?” .

“Leave it alone, you dirty—”

They stared at Hanawald in
amazement. He who had been so
calm, looked insane.

They opened the door. The closet
was filled from the floor to the
ceiling with newspapers.

“I told you not to...” Hana-
wald teetered on the step-ladder.
He grabbed a can of paint and
threw it at one of the cops. The
ladder tilted and dropped Frank on
the floor. He raced for Morgan on
his hands and knees like a giant
crab. He caught Morgan around
the legs and pulled him to the
floor. He was screaininy

“Tl kill you! Ki i You aii

One cop, blinded by (We paint,
clawed at his eyes. The oiuser one

Come

ts
bot

ee
Be

The only exception io iis should
be in cases where mental derange-
ment exists.

The sex fiend draws lustful plea-
sure from the horror in the eyes of
his victims, from the feel of soft,
cringing flesh shrinking away from
his touch, from the pitiful pleas and
struggles of his helpless playthings.
He delights in their cries and tears.
As he wreaks his lustful will, his
passion-crazed mind pays no heed
to their pain, or to the shameful
degradation they will feel after-
ward. He must be stopped! And
he can be stopped — by fighting
lust with fear.

-RARE DETECTIVE

drew his gun but feared to uve it.
Morgan and Hanawald roiled
across the floor. Hanawald pitied
out a knife.

“You fool! What good do you
think this will do?” Morgan
gasped. Frank held his gunhand.

Their clothes were wet with
paint. Morgan managed to force
his wrist and gun into a puddle of
paint. It worked.

Frank’s wrist grew slippery with
paint. His grip loosened. Morgan
snatched his hand loose and
brought the gun down on Hana-
wald’s head.

He slumped on the floor. A
grotesque paint-spattered figure
who had imagined himself a Napo-
leon, a super-man of crime.

Every newspaper, and the closet
was jammed full of them, con-
tained reports of kidnappings. Kid-
nappings in every part of the world.
Accounts of successful and unsuc-
cessful abductions. On the margins
of the papers Hanawald had made
notations in German.

The successful crimes he had an-
notated: Good, must remember
this technique. The kidnappings
that had failed had notes saying:
Fool, dumb head! Such mistakes,
I will not make.

Morgan’s first
phone Julius.

move was to

“Hello, Mr. Reddling? You can

sleep peacefully tonight. We caught
him!” -

“Oh, thank God. I don’t know
how I can ever thank you enough.”

Reddling got even for his week
of torture. Hanawald confessed. He
was sent to Sing Sing.

With time off for good behavior
he will be out in 1968. Perhaps in
thirty years he will realize that not
even the world’s greatest kidnap-
per is greater than the law.

SEX: Ciks BS MUST. STOP!

Continued from Page 7)

We shall describe some of the
outstanding cases in which white
men were executed for rape. There
should be many more than there
are.

Perhaps the most horrible sex
crime in American history occurred
near the staid town of Concord,
New Hampshire, some fifty-six
years ago. Although the criminal
was charged with murder rather
than rape, since he had killeu sis
victim after assaulting her, (uis
case deserves mention as an excel-
lent example of the utter bestiality
typical of the sex fiend. More
clearly than any theoretical argu-

ment could, it shows the need for
stamping out such crimes.

In 1875, a French - Canadian
named Joseph Lapage came to the
little village of Suncook, near Con-
cord. A strangely behaved man
who spoke English with a strong
accent, he soon became known as
an irresponsible, untrustworthy,
obscene woman-chaser. . Several
young girls were forced to repulse
his advances. Shortly after his ar-
rival, the’ pretty schoolteacher,
Marietta Ball, was criminally at-
tacked and murdered in the woods
near Suncook. Although the au-
thorities suspected Lapage, they
could prove nothing.

Then, a year later, the really hor-
rible crime occurred. Josie Lang-
maid, a lovely seventeen-year-old
schoolgirl, left her home early one
morning to-go to the Academy at
Pembroke. It was 8:45 and she was
late. As she came out of the woods
near the school she started to run.
She had -no premonition of the
danger before her. Suddenly a
figure loomed up in front of her
—Lapage! His face was distorted.
Before she could utter a sound,
he clamped his hand harshly over
her soft mouth; threw his other
arm around her, and dragged her
into a near-by field. The next few
moments were: a horrible episode
in the fading gasp of a young life
soon to end.

When the girl's distraught
father, searching for her that
night, found her in the field, he
saw a hideous sight. As a news
account of the time described
it: “The body was headless and
lying upon its back. The clothes
were cut so as to entirely ex-
pose the body .. .” The girl had
been horribly mutilated.

Near the body lay a broken ear
ornament and a bent comb. The
poor girl had put up a gallant fight.
Close by was a heavy club. Eighty
rods away, bruised, gashed and
marked with the imprint of a boot-
heel, the searchers found her
head. '

This time they produced enough
evidence to pin it on Lapage. The
bootheel mark fitted his boot. He
had been seen near Pembroke about
the time of the attack. Then he
was seen again later, with blood-
stains on his trousers and legs,
which chemical analysis proved
similar to the victim’s. A bloody
razor was’found in his closet, and
witnesses testified they had seen
him carrying a club similar to the
bludgeon found near the girl’s
body.

With little delay, the jury found
him guilty, and he was sentenced
to be hanged.

) we aa eo ' Brassell

insisted, telling ase that there was no hope for them now, and fo

tell him all about it. Deputy Sheriff Boukmad here read the opinion of

the Supreme Court and the death warrent in their cage. ‘Their feet were 2
then fastened together by means of a rope tied around the shkiect and |
their hands tied behind them. The white caps were then placed over

their faces, and Sheif Bohannon put the rope around Teke! ss and Dep.

i

| ‘Sheriff Bockman around Jo's neck. oe : | : 3
continaad on next page. | |
All things were ready, and Sheriff was about to let the drop fall,
when they asked him for a few minutes longer, that the caps might be
removed from their faces and they perm tted to once more: look upon the —
immence throng surrounding them. |

Their porieet uae granted and the Sheriff told then he would give them
‘every minute the law allowed. After the Caps were taken off Joe looked Bis

at the crowd and said; Boys let this be a warning to; youd: ‘Here Mr.

tsbell again SREY Ome rec and asked Teke to tell him the trouth, and

put the question, "Wasn't you at my house that night?" Teke Cid. not,
answer. Mr. Isbell, but turned to the audience and pee MALL of..
you in hearing, listen! I have this to say. I am an innocent man, and

have got to die for what some one else has done, I am paying another

man's just debt." ‘Mr. Isbell then asked Joe if Teke was in the crowd
that was at'his house that night. . Joe replied:':,.."Don‘t press me: on
that." The caps were now being replaced and Mr. Isbell still continued >

to press the question on Joe, when cries of disapproval were heard
all through the crowd, saying, "Don't press him too far; | coreg ey:
When everything was arranged on the scaffold and the Shff. getting

down, Teke said, 'Let u know when you go to let us fall? chee

Sheriff said, You have only 5 minutes." Here both stooped to see
how far they would fall, saying they wanted it to be sure to peek thei

(More)


«

62 diameter’ to be occupied by the reporters, ministers and officers. ‘of |

vie : 3 e) a NP ae e) Brazell

A confident that Johnson was the man that killed Russell Alitcen. Bates

Mehoe at the dog. After they had left the house a few hundred yards,

they peonnes and were talking about what they had ‘dene when Bates and the

FOUL Uh person Br ocaaea to go back and kill all the family, as* ney had.

a heen recognized and he and Johnson refused to gO They did not go

there for the purpose of murdering but..to: rob afd expected | to get the

money from Mrs. Isbell. Here the ministers four in number, entered the

cell: for the purpose of holding religious exercises Wee the doomed

men whose earthly course was so nearly ended, and we bid them both adieu

and took our leave.

mae Rs ig ew minutes before 11 o'clock an almost inpenetrable guard consisting

of “about two hundred armed men were stationed along the street Shaper

|

from the jail up to the public square. At 11 o'clock, the prisoners

>

were brought from the jail and placed in a wagon containing their ~~
coffins, and which was to convey them to the place of execution. Just ce

“in front of the wagon were a number of the guards whose business it was

to clear a way through the [large] throng, and immediately in the

. rear of the wagon was who represented the press. . Just back of them

was Amanda Brassell, on horse back ready and waiting with the Qn

ing populus, to march in Agrees no prosession to the place where her

doomed brothers were to Look for the last time upon earth and earthly
things. The word was given and the immense throng moved slowly on,
with little or no disturbance, to the place of death. At about
11:30, they arrived at,

THE GALLOWS .—
which had been erected about one half mile South West of ‘Cookeville..

The guards soon succeeded in clearing a ring, some 20 or 30 feet. in

ee ea
PL i

execution.

(MORE)


‘He said that we were there to witness the verification of that divine

ae) | ee eae @ BRASSELL AOE

While the scafold and ropes were being made ready Amanda Brasseli |
[got down] from her horse and embraced her brothers weeping as though
her afflictions were more’ than her soul could bear.

The prisoners requested her to leave the spot and witness to their
execution. : :

All ese ae preparations were complete; and the prisoners slowly
and calmly ascended the scaffold where they found themselves in the
bare of about 15 thousand people. :

They jere followed and joined upon the scaffold by Revt J. P. Mc
Fervin and his brother T. S. McFerrin. The lagler ‘cepned religious
services by reading Paul's 3rd epistle to the Romans’. Rev. J. P.
McFerrin then offered a fervent prayer in their behalf, pricy Ghich
he made a few pointed petarke well suited for the solumn occasion. |
law which says, | aM 4 ,

The wages of sin is death. ,

Thanked God there forgiveness of sin, and that he could preach a sts Nae

gospel that could save every body. Am A man need not be damned because 4513

4 a ; , Pree oe Ro ae |

he is a murderer drunkard or adulterer. 3 eae

Though our sins are as scarlet, there is an atonement which can make
them as white as ENS Warned all young men eapeciabie against @rinking#
keeping bad company &c, and sighted the two unfortunate men as an’
example of the end to which it inevitably leads. He would say nothing
oonterHine the prisoners as they had a message, to deliver, and he
hope they would say Something that would sink deep into the hearts of ---—~—-

those who heard them, that they might be detered from the path of sin

Praying the blessings of the Most High upon his bearers he bid them «|

4 cf i.

adieu. :


\
crimes which our law punshes with death. ee
‘me your attention. I am here today, and what is it for? Murder--

ee) 4 e) Brassell

Rev. McFerrin was followed by Revt. John it. Nichols; who said that

occasions like this was not brought about by the cee acer ay of a day,

but that little sins were at the foundation' the heginkte of OBE

His remarks were principally eddredsen to those. who have the training
Of: children, beseeching them to train up their children in the way they oe
should go. At the conclusion of his remarks he bid the prisoners

adieu, and commended them to the all prevaling mercy of God.

An appropriate humn was then sung by the ministers, followed

with prayer by the Rev. T...s. McFerrin at the conclusion of which the

aye ete left the scaffold, and ae prisoners were informed that if they |

had anyihiiia to say they should Goeak. Joe arose and [said]

ear

\centlowen and Ladies--I will say a few words to you, if you'll give

a,

BS ac PER 0 eens

£ 4 eet a
Be ghee ah aa ee he

What is the cause? drunkness wickedness and the love of money And there

are hundreds here to day traveling the same road--going to perdition..

I will give you some advice. Boys don't drink whisky. Young men, take

warning sons this It has brought me here, and it may put you in they
same condition if you follow my course. pe qed to one another Go
to meeting and’ keep the sabbath holy, I bid you all farewell and want
vou to meet me in heaven" | ane ee Sas
eke said" This isa columnar hor. It: is told: me*I must die. I am
ready, prepared and willing to die. After a considerable pause he
continued:: "I hope to meet you. all‘in heaven.”".. He kept: his posit
on with his face towards the crowd for some time as if he XHKRKEGR Chee
intended to say more, but did not. Mr. Isbell here approached the
scaffold and asked if they were not both at his house the night ©
Russell Allison was killed. Joe said. "Yes I was there eke 7?

said he was innocent and knew nothing about it. The man still? 3


COLE, .. Carl Leonard, and PORTER. Lee Habits blacks, elec. Tenn, SP (Madison) 7=2-19)1, °
rae ee (Porter-Coles Jackson» Tenn. P-1)

Willie Lee Porters 21, Jackson» Tenn.
carl Leonard Cole» 19» Jackson» Tenn
both black~men convicted of killing U.S. Grant Vernon» 575

“night watchman at the Coca Cola Bottling Co. plant in Jackson

on Aus. 9» 1944. \

trial Sept.16, 1940; through Sept. 21; (ended Saturday noon)

in Madison County Criminal Court. verdict suilty and death

i: ote sentence. appealed up to Tennessee Supreme Court and affirmed
Porter executed 5:35 asm. Aus. 24, 1941
aa Cole at 5:45 a.m. Aug. 24, 1944 |

Oe ge Although I do not know of any investigating officers still

te an around Jackson at this times the District Attorney General

then was David P. Murray» who retires from that post on

-- ——

a Sept. 1» 1974 (next month) and he handled the prosecution.

His office telephone pincer ae (901) 427-9181 209 E. Baltimore
Sts Tack eon 38301 eH :
The Police Chief at the time 1s the Gan who now is Madiror
County briminal Gaurt Jude’ Andfew Ts Taylor: (901) 424-6850 ™

Courthouses Jackson» Tenn. 39301.

4

Vernon was hit on his head with a piece of iron as he

. punched a time clock at an open fSarage of the bottling plant

a f ' 3 : ie

at 44 P.M. Aug. 9, 1940. He cee found lying on the ground:

fey

at 5:30 a.m. Aus. 10 by Leonard Helms a salesman for the company;

x ree

and died in a Jackson Nocp ital at noon Aus. 10.

ss ' § ¥ « ald ee be z “ oP hy, < ” 14 ‘f . ine :.

|

Ie Tee omen aT

"ASSOCIATED PRESS Mon A

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Inf the heart of the Bible
Belt, some religious leaders are appalled that
‘Tennessee's first execution in 40 years is sched-
‘uled to fall in the middle of the holiest week on
the Christian calendar and at the beginning of the
Jewish Passover.

Condemned child killer Robert Glen Coe is set
to die by injection Wednesday, the first evening of
Passover and four days before Easter.

“How ironic that during a week in which we
celebrate the merciful nature of God and a God

willing to die for his people, that a court extends |

no mercy and in fact chooses to take a life for a
life,” said David Buttrick, a professor at Vander-
_ bilt University Divinity School in Nashville.
The justices of the Tennessée Supreme Court
acted expeditiously, choosing a date one week
from when a federal court lifted Coe’s stay of exe-
“Sution, said court spokeswoman Sue Allison. But
religious leaders say the timing shows insensi-
culty and even indifference to the state’s people,
aaa and beliefs.
clemet Don Sundquist, who has refused to grant
cming  ) !0F Coe, would not comment on the
timing. “~~

Be a) a

le Belt
Ce

yer L / 7 ~ L000 “The sadness and mn cao be lost on a)

anyone that the state should participate in the

taking of a life as Christians prepare for the rer >

Jews around the world are commemorating reli-
gious freedom and God's lifting us out of slavery,”

tion Micah.

<u
~ v

cognition and resurrection of their Messiah, and S

said Rabbi Ken Kanter of Nashville’s Congrega- R

Members of both faiths are expected to join
protests this week, including ecumenical worship
services sponsored by the Tennessee Coalition to

Abolish State Killing and a prayer vigil Tuesday )

evening outside Nashville’s Riverbend Maximum

Security Prison.
After midnight, Coe is scheduled to go to the

cross-shaped gurney and injected with lethal
chemicals at 1 a.m.

murder and rape of 8-year-old Cary Ann Medlin ’
in the small west Tennessee town of Greenfield.
Prosecutors said he lured the girl into his car,
raped her and killed her after she told him
“Jesus loves you.” .

He originally was scheduled to die last Oc-
tober, but stays of execution were granted three
times as part of Coe’s appeals.

Tennessee executes first >”

death row inmate

in 40 years

ASSOCIATED PRESS Wed P APRI-. (fo 2-000

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

— Ten-
nessee executed child killer
Robert Glen Coe by injection on
today, the first person to be put
to death in the state in 40 years.

In the last month, Coe had
twice come within 16 hours of
being executed. Both times, fed-
eral courts blocked his execu-

Coe, 44, was executed for the
1979 rape and murder of an 8-
year-old girl.

Tennessee was the only
Southern state that had not exe-
cuted anyone since the U.S. Su-

- os preme Court reinstated the
death penalty in 1976. The last
execution in Tennessee was

tion so they could review h
is
mental competence, A federal
appeals court found him men-
tally competent and the U.S. Su-

Ppreme Court denied his lat
appeal on Tuesday. —s

A state Supreme Court ga
ve
the final approval for the ea.
tion early today.

A4 San Francisco Chronicle seseceses

ASSOCIATED Press
——_

he

executed child-killer Robert Glen
bon >y injection yesterday, the first
person to be put to death int
In 40 years, ne state -
9 ae 44, was executed for the’

e an
old a murder of an 8-year-

Tennessee was the only Southern

mentally

Preme Court denj l
peal Tuesday. Nea’ his latest ap-

A state Sy
Preme Court gave t¢
final approval for the execution un
y yesterday, overruling a lower
court that had issued a temporary

injunction oy j
aD er the execution meth-

Coe’s case has been in
een in the legal]
’ em for more than 20 years snes
€ confessed to raping and killing

Cary Ann Medlin j CG i om
western Tennessee n Greenfield in

NATION

| First Execution in Tennessee in

He told authoritj
. es that he had
NASHVILLE, Tenn, — Tennessee ‘she sey wae wae her, but then
€ told me that Jesus loves:
Ss me,

and that is when | ot
decided to kil] her” em)

THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2000

40 Years

Before he died Coe said. “
. ; aid, “I for-
give the state of Tennessee for ma
dering me for something I did not

do. I’m not guilt is cri
: y of th
that’s the Ced’s ae crime, and

a.

death chamber, where he will be strapped toa Sy

Coe, 44, was sentenced to die for the 1979 Ly

|


San Francisco Chronicte Witse,,

OF | | ' ee —
eaders Say Execution’s Timing Ignores

Religious

ASSOCIATED PREss

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In the
heart of the Bible Belt, some reli-
gious leaders are appalled that Ten-
nessee’s first execution in 40 years is
scheduled to fall in the middle of
the holiest week on the Christian
calendar and at the beginning of the
Jewish Passover.

Condemned child killer Robert

Glen Coe is set to die by injection
Wednesday, the first evening of
Passover and four days before East-
er.

“How ironic that during a week
in which we celebrate the merciful
nature of God and a God willing to
die for his people, that a court ex-
tends no mercy and in fact chooses
to take a life for a life,” said David
Buttrick, a professor at Vanderbilt
University Divinity School in Nash-
ville.

The justices of the Tennessee Su-

Preme Court chose a date One week _

- Meal.

after a federal court lifted Coe’s stay
leaders ~

of execution. But religious
say the timing shows insensitivity |

‘and even indifference to the state’s |

People, culture and beliefs.

For Christians, the week before |
Easter is traditionally a time of wor-
ship services, church-produced Pas-.
sion plays and Easter egg hunts for °
children.

For Jews, Passover begins at sun-'
down Wednesday with the seder

“The sadness and irony cannot be

Maximum Security Prison.

After midnight, Coe is scheduled.
to go to the death chamber, where
he will be strapped to a cross-shaped
gumey and injected with lethal

| chemicals at 1 a.m.

Coe, 44, was sentenced to die for
the 1979 murder and rape of 8-year-
old Cary Ann Medlin in the small
west Tennessee town of Greenfield.

He originally was scheduled to

_ die in October, but Stays of execu-

tion were granted three times.

lost on anyone that the state should} r=

Participate in the taking of a life as |
Christians Prepare for the recogni-
tion and resurrection of their Messi-
ah, and Jews around the world are.
commemorating religious freedom
and God’s lifting us out of Slavery,”
said Rabbi Ken Kanter of Nashville’s
Congregation Micah.

Members of both faiths are ex-
pected to join protests this week,
including a Prayer vigil Tuesday eve-

.

ning outside Nashville’s Riverbend

MONDAY, APRIL 17, 2000

iced |

His lawyers argue that Coe is in-
sane and executing him would vio-
late his constitutional rights. Last

week, they asked the Sixth U.S. Cir.

cuit Court of Appeals and the US..
Supreme Court to reconsider Coe’s’

competency and Tennessee’s meth-

od for determining it.

While some death
porters regret the timing of the exe-|
cution date, they say two decades of!
legal wrangling aren’t fair to the;
girl’s family and weaken the state’s,
enforcement of capital punishment.,

ear eee

penalty sup- |

ie

s

ey

ioe | inci ” said
_ ‘We have separation of church fect the principle of the law,

Week's Holy Overtones

‘chairs
and state in this country, and one state Rep. I tclary Commitee .
patticular religious belief doesn’t af- "the House UA8Y =a

i


CARUTHERS, Nathan, black, hanged at Memphis, Tenn., Aug. 6, 1901.

"DRFATH PENALTY: PAID BY NATHAN CARRUTHERS, WHO MURDERED MEMPHIS WATCH-=
MAN: ACKNOWLEDGES BUFORE DEATH THAT HE PLANNED CRIME ALONE AND HAD NO
ACCOMPLICES, (Special to the Banner). Memphis, August 6, Nathan Caru-
thers, colored, convicted of the murder of Charles Neebe, an old white
man, was hanged here this morning in the jail yard. The trap was sprung
at 12:02 o'clock, and 12 minutes later he was pron ounced dead by the
vhysicians in attendance as a result of strangulation. Carruthers spent
an uneventful nieht, and this morning the time before his execution was
spent in preparing himself for his death. He was baptiaed yesterday
and said that he was confident that he was going to heaven, He walked
without assistence, and on the scaffold advised everyone to profit by
his example and lead better lives, He acknowledged this morning to
Sergt. Perry of the local police force that he had planned the murder
entirely and that he had no accomplices, John Shaw, under sentence for
criminal assault, was to have been hanged at the same time with
Carruthers, but he was granted a respite several days ago by Gov, Mc-
Millan. The trap was sprung this morning by ‘Sheriff Slackwell.
"CARRUTHERS! CRIME.
"The crime for which Nathan Carruthers paid the death penalty this morn-
ing was committed on the night of June 7, 1901. An old white man who
was a watchman at a lumber mill on Wolf River was found dead, his skull
crushed by a blow with a heavy club. The motive for the crime was rob-
bery, as everything in the old man'spockets had been taken, Yergt. Perry
of the local police force worked up the case, and about a week later
arrested Carruthers in Covineton, Ténn., on whom were found several gold
pieces like some that Neebe was known to have had. Carruthers had been
loitering around there for several days previous to the murder, but
disappeared immediately after. “hen put on trial he acknowledged the
crime, but claimed self-defense. He was convicted and sentenced to be
hanged. Carruthers escaped from the jail some time ago, but was cap-
tured later." BANNER, Nashville, Tenn., August 6, 1901.


1490 Tenn.

ly and arbitrarily.5 Again, I quote approv-

ingly from the opinion of the Massachusetts

court in Watson:
“We know that, each year during the
decades of the 1930s through the 1960s,
thousands of persons were convicted of
criminal homicides in states where death
was an authorized punishment for those
crimes. However, death was inflicted in
only a minute fraction of those cases.
‘When a country of over 200 million peo-
ple inflicts an unusually severe punish-
ment no more than fifty times a year, the
inference is strong that the punishment is
not regularly and fairly applied. To dis-
pel it would indeed require a clear show-
ing of nonarbitrary infliction.’ Furman
v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 293 [92 S.Ct.
2726, 2754, 33 L.Ed.2d 346] (1972) (Bren-
nan, J., concurring). No rational basis
can be offered to explain why the few
were executed and many others were not.
It cannot be said that only the ‘worst’
offenders were executed. All murderers
are extreme offenders. Fine distinctions,
designed to select a very few from the
many, are inescapably capricious when
applied to murders and murderers. As a
consequence, the death penalty is ‘wan-
tonly and ... freakishly’ inflicted. Fur-
man v. Georgia, supra, at 310 [92 S.Ct. at
2763] (Stewart, J., concurring).” Watson,
supra, 411 N.E.2d at 1283-84.

I also agree with the Massachusetts court
that while unguided jury discretion is intol-
erable, statutory guidelines cannot cure
that uncertainty entirely; the subtle dis-
tinctions in the elements of crimes can be
virtually impossible to define with certain-
ty.

“As Mr. Justice Harlan wrote in McGau-

tha v. California, 402 U.S. 183, 204, 91

S.Ct. 1454, 1465, 28 L.Ed.2d 711 (1971):

‘Those who have come to grips with the

hard task of actually attempting to draft

means of channeling capital sentencing
discretion have confirmed the lesson

5. See, generally, C. Block, Capital Punishment:
The Inevitability of Caprice and Mistake (1974);
Block, Due Process for Death: Jurek v. Texas
and Companion Cases, 26 Cath.U.L.Rev. 1
(1976).

615 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

taught by ... history .... To identify
before the fact those characteristics of
criminal homicides and their perpetrators
which call for the death penalty, and to
express these characteristics in language
which can be fairly understood and ap-
plied by the sentencing authority, appear
to be tasks which are beyond present
human ability.’

“A basic criterion, for example, in ‘chan-
neling’ the death penalty decision lies in
the choice between first and second de-
gree murder. Mr. Justice Cardozo said of
the distinction between degrees of mur-
der, that it is ‘so obscure that no jury
hearing it for the first time can fairly be
expected to assimilate and understand it.
I am not at all sure that I understand it
myself after trying to apply it for many
years and after diligent study of what
has been written in the books. Upon the
basis of this fine distinction with its ob-
scure and mystifying psychology, scores
of men have gone to their death.’ Cardo-
zo, What Medicine Can Do For Law, in
Law & Literature 100-101 (1931).” Wat-
son, supra, 411 N.E.2d at 1284.

I think the Massachusetts court is correct
in its conclusion that even if guidelines
could cure the arbitrariness in the jury’s
determination of the crime and the sen-
tence, the death penalty still would be arbi-
trarily inflicted because of the unguided,
discretionary powers exercised by others in
the judicial process:

“Power to decide rests not only in juries
but in police officers, prosecutors, defense
counsel, and trial judges. (Footnote
omitted.)® In the totality of the process,
most life or death decisions will be made
by these officials, unguided and uncurbed
by statutory standards. In any given
case, decisions rest upon such considera-
tions as the level of public outcry.

“Furman stands indifferent to the exer-

cise of the prosecutor’s ‘untrammeled dis-

cretion.’ For reasons which may be valid
in the context of his duties, but which do

6. 1 would add Governors to this list.

STATE v. DICKS Tenn. 14]
Cite as, Tenn., 615 S.W.2d 126

not assist evenhandedness, the prosecutor
in a homicide case may forego a first
degree murder indictment and seek an
indictment for second degree murder or a
lesser charge. Also, in a first degree
murder case, perhaps pursuant to plea
bargaining, the prosecutor may in his un-
curbed discretion nol prosse that part of
the indictment which charges murder in
the first degree. Similarly, the judge
may dismiss the first degree murder
charge, in his sole discretion, pursuant to
accepting a plea of guilty to a lesser
offense.”
“We do not think that our comments
denigrate the general administration of
criminal justice, or the good will of those
who administer the system. It can be
said that these officials must necessarily
have these discretionary powers in the
exercise of most of their functions.
Nevertheless, the criminal justice system
allows chance and caprice to continue to
influence sentencing, and we are here
dealing with the decisions as to who shall
live and who shall die. With regard to
the death penalty, such chance and ca-
price are unconstitutional under art. 26
..” Watson, supra, 411 N.E.2d at 1285
(footnote omitted).
“We have a response to those who might
argue that our comments as to arbitrari-
ness and discrimination apply as well! to
all punishments, not merely to the death
penalty. While other forms of punish-
ment may also be arbitrary in some meas-
ure, the death penalty requires special
scrutiny: for constitutionality. ‘The pen-
alty of death differs from all other forms
of criminal punishment, not in degree but
in kind.’ Furman, supra, 408 U.S. at 306,
92 S.Ct. at 2760. (Stewart, J., concur-
ring). Accord, Commonwealth v. O’Neal,

- Two of our recent cases serve as examples:

Cozzolino v. State, supra, and State v. Berry,
592 S.W.2d 553 (Tenn.1980). Both Cozzolino
and Berry were convicted of first degree mur-
der and sentenced to death. On appeal this
Court ordered new trials. Upon the second
trial, after a change of venue, Cozzolino’s pun-
ishment was fixed at life imprisonment. After
Berry’s case was remanded for a new trial, his
counsel and the prosecutor made a plea bar-
gain that resulted in a sentence of life imprison-

369 Mass. 242, 249, 339 N.E.2d 676 (Tauro,
C. J., concurring). ‘(T]he penalty of
death is qualitatively different from a
sentence of imprisonment, however long.
Death, in its finality, differs more from
life imprisonment than a 100-year prison
term differs from one of only a year or
two.’ Woodson v. North Carolina, 428
U.S. 280, 305, 96 S.Ct. 2978, 2991, 49
L.Ed.2d 944 (1976). Our society’s failure
to bring evenhandedness to the entire
spectrum of criminal punishment calls for
great and persistent effort toward im-
provement. However, we are not re-
quired to abandon all such punishments
on constitutional grounds. At the same
time, the supreme punishment of death,
inflicted as it is by chance and caprice,
may not stand.” Id. 411 N.E.2d at 1286.

See also Furman v. Georgia, supra, 408 U.S.
at 286-300 and 287 n.34, 92 S.Ct. at 2750-
2757 and 2751 n. 34 (Brennan, J., concur-
ring); Lockett v. Ohio, supra, 488 U.S. at
604-05, 98 S.Ct. at 2964-65 (opinion of
Burger, C. J.).

I would apply the foregoing reasoning to
the Tennessee death penalty statute and
hold that is is a cruel and unusual punish-
ment prohibited by Article I, Section 16, of
the Tennessee Constitution because, inevita-
bly, it is arbitrarily and capriciously im-
posed.®

Conclusion.

The death penalty issue is a very compli-
cated one; much more could be said about
the subject than I have said. I adopt the
following conclusion from the opinion of the
California court in People v. Anderson, su-
pra, to wit:

“We have concluded that capital punish-

ment is impermissibly cruel. It degrades

and dehumanizes all who participate in

ment. Same defendants, same crimes, same
cases; but very different sentences resulted
from the second proceedings.

8. I have treated arbitrariness and capricious-
ness of the infliction of the death penalty as an
aspect of its being “cruel and unusual,” as
most courts have done. In my opinion this
objection may also be considered as a lack of
“due process.”

AMA

- gee

.

138 Tenn.

scendence that Christian thought attrib-
utes death to the fall of Adam, and the
New Testament proclaims Christ’s victory
over death. 1 Corinthians 15:20, 26.

* * * * * *

“The condemned must confront this pri-
mal terror directly, and in the most de-
meaning circumstances. A condemned
man knows, subject to the possibility of
successful appeal or commutation, the
time and manner of his death. His
thoughts about death must necessarily be
focused more precisely than other peo-
ple’s. He must wait for a specific death,
not merely expect death in the abstract.
Apart from cases of suicide or terminal
illness, this certainty is unique to those
who are sentenced to death. The State
puts the question of death to the con-
demned person, and he must grapple with
it without the consolation that he will die
naturally or with his humanity intact. A
condemned person experiences an ex-
treme form of debasement.” Watson, su-
pra, 411 N.E.2d at 1289-92 (Liacos, J.,
concurring) (footnotes omitted).

In a footnote, Justice Liacos further states,

“My argument that the ordeal imposed on
the condemned is cruel and unusual pun-
ishment does not depend on the existence
* of lengthy delays between sentence and
execution. Two months—or, for that
matter, one day—of torture offends the
Constitution. As C. Duffy, a former
warden of California’s prison at San
Quentin has described, ‘One night on
death row is too long, and the length of
time spent there by [some inmates] con-
stitutes cruelty that defies the imagina-
tion. It has always been a source of
wonder to me that they didn’t all go
stark, raving mad.’ C. Duffy & A. Hirsh-
berg, 88 Men and 2 Women, 254 (1962).”
Id. at 1291, n. 5 (Liacos, J., concurring).

4. “The principle that a severe punishment
must not be excessive does not, of course,
mean that a severe punishment is constitu-
tional merely because it is necessary. A
State could not now, for example, inflict a
punishment condemned by history, for any
such punishment, no matter how necessary,

615 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

D. Unnecessary killing is cruel.

Finally, the death penalty is absolutely
unnecessary as a punishment and, there-
fore, is cruel.4 Society would be adequately
protected from the condemned murderer by
his permanent imprisonment; killing him is
not necessary.

Our law recognizes only one instance in
which a deliberate killing is justified, viz.,
one may kill another in his own or another’s
necessary self-defense. This being true,
how can the whole body of individuals mak-
ing up “The State” be justified in killing a
person when it is unnecessary to do so for
the protection of the people of the state?
See Capital Punishment, 56 T. Sellin (1967
edition). By any modern concept of the
term “cruel,” the deliberate and unneces-
sary killing of a human being is cruel,
whether done by an individual or by the
State.

“In society where the force of all is mobi-
lized against one, what principle of jus-
tice authorizes it to impose death?

A victor who would kill his captured ene-
mies is called barbaric! A man who
butchers a child whom he can disarm and
punish seems like a monster! An accused
condemned by society is like a conquered
and powerless enemy; he is weaker be-
fore it than a child is before a man.”
Robespierre (quoted in Hornum, “Two
Debates: France, 1791; England, 1956,”
in Capital Punishment 65-66 [T. Sellin ed.
1967]).

With respect to the question whether the
death penalty is necessary, the Supreme
Court of California, in holding that its
death penalty statute violated the “cruel or
unusual” punishments clause of its state
constitution, said in People v. Anderson,
supra:

“The People concede that capital punish-

ment is cruel to the individual involved.

would be intolerably offensive to human dig-
nity. The point is simply that the unneces-
sary infliction of suffering is also offensive to
human dignity.” Furman v. Georgia, supra,
408 U.S. at 281 n. 26, 92 S.Ct. at 2748 n.26
(Brennan, J., concurring).

STATE v. DICKS Tenn. 139
Cite as, Tenn., 615 S.W.2d 126

They argue, however, that only ‘unneces-
sary’ cruelty is constitutionally pro-
scribed, and that if a cruel punishment
can be justified it is not forbidden by
article I, section 6, of the California Con-
stitution. We need not decide here
whether our Constitution permits the in-
fliction of ‘necessary’ cruelty as punish-
ment for crime, because respondent has
not demonstrated that the death penalty
can be justified as necessary to any state
interest.

“In seeking to justify continuance of cap-
ital punishment, the People argue that it
furthers three of the four acknowledged
purposes of punishment. Respondent
concedes that death is in no way rehabili-
tative, but contends that capital punish-
ment may be legitimately imposed in ret-
ribution for serious offenses, that it
serves to isolate the offender, and that
the existence of the death penalty acts as
a deterrent to crime. None of these pur-
poses is shown to justify so onerous a
penalty as death.

“Although vengeance or retribution has
been acknowledged as a permissible pur-
pose of punishment under the Eighth
Amendment (Williams v. New York
(1949) 337 U.S. 241, 248, 69 S.Ct. 1079
[1083], 93 L.Ed. 1837), we do not sanction
punishment solely for retribution in Cali-
fornia. (In Re Estrada (1965) 63 Cal.2d
740, 745, 48 Cal.Rptr. 172, 408 P.2d 948.)
We are fully aware that many con-
demned prisoners have committed crimes
of the utmost cruelty and depravity and
that such persons are not entitled to the
slightest sympathy from society in the
administration of justice or otherwise.
Nevertheless, it is incompatible with the
dignity of an enlightened society to at-
tempt to justify the taking of life for
purposes of vengeance.

“Admittedly, isolation of the offender
from society is a proper and often neces-
sary goal of punishment and death does
effectively serve that purpose. Society
can be protected from convicted crimi-
nals, however, by far less onerous means

than execution. In no sense can capital
punishment be justified as ‘necessary’ to
isolate the offender from society.” 100
Cal.Rptr. at 167-68, 493 P.2d at 895-96.

I find that I am in agreement with the
views thus expressed by the California Su-
preme Court. Life imprisonment without
parole is an alternative that serves the
functions of severely punishing the criminal
and permanently protecting the society
from the possibility of a repeated offense.

Some writers have attempted to justify
the death penalty on the grounds that socie-
ty needs to kill some criminals in order to
deter others from potential crimes. After a
century of debate, investigators and schol-
ars are in disagreement, at best, about
whether the death penalty in fact does de-
ter crime; indeed, some argue that it has
the opposite effect. To prove that the
death penalty, in particular, is a deterrent
would require more than proof that the
possibility of punishment, in general, deters
crime. The proof would have to show that
there are potential crimes that are not com-
mitted because of the existence of the death
penalty and that they would be committed
otherwise. Such an inquiry, by its nature,
would be highly speculative. In any event,
my view is that, for the reasons discussed
herein, the death penalty is a cruel and
unusual punishment for the person upon
whom it is inflicted and is, therefore, un-
constitutional. Were it positively shown
that the death penalty has a deterrent ef-
fect on others, it would still be unconstitu-
tional because it is a cruel and unusual
punishment for the person upon whom it is
inflicted. In other words, deterrence, or
the lack thereof, is irrelevant to the consti-
tutional issue whether a particular punish-
ment is cruel and unusual. Deterrent ef-
fect cannot save a cruel and unusual pun-
ishment.

E. Arbitrariness and capriciousness of
the penalty.

I am convinced that it is inevitable that
the death penalty will be applied capricious-

ATTY GP

“yEiRS

t
ws


142 Tenn.

its processes. It is unnecessary to any
legitimate goal of the state and is incom-
patible with the dignity of man and the
judicial process. Our conclusion that the
death penalty may no longer be exacted
in California: consistently with article I,
section 6, of our Constitution is not
grounded in sympathy for those who
would commit crimes of violence, but in
concern for the society that diminishes
itself whenever it takes the life of one of
its members. Lord Chancellor Gardiner
reminded the House of Lords, debating
abolition of capital punishment in Eng-
land: ‘When we abolished the punish-
ment for treason that you should be
hanged, and then cut down while still
alive, and then disembowelled while still
alive, and then quartered, we did not
abolish that punishment because we sym-
pathised with traitors, but because we
took the view that it was a punishment
no longer consistent with our self re-
spect.’ (268 Hansard, Parliamentary De-
bates (5th Series) (Lords, 43d Parl., First
Sess., 1964-1965) (1965) p. 703.)” 100 Cal.
Rptr. at 171, 493 P.2d at 899.

I would hold that the death penalty, un-
der all circumstances, is a cruel and unusual
punishment prohibited by Article I, Section
16, of the Constitution of Tennessee.
Therefore, I dissent from the imposition of
the death penalty in this case.

Ww
© £ KEY NUMBER SYSTEM
T

STATE of Tennessee, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.

William Edward GROSECLOSE and
Ronald Eugene Rickman,
Defendants-Appellants.

Supreme Court of Tennessee.
Feb. 17, 1981.
Petition to Rehear Feb. 27, 1981.
Petition Denied April 27, 1981.

Defendants were convicted before the
Shelby Criminal Court, L. T. Lafferty, J., of

615 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

first-degree murder, and they appealed.
The Supreme Court, Harbison, J., held that:
(1) evidence sufficiently supported guilty
verdicts against codefendants; (2) grenade
detonator was admissible through testimo-
ny of witness, despite the fact that witness
who was to have established relevance of
detonator did not testify at trial; and (8)
jury did not act arbitrarily and capriciously
in imposing death penalty on defendants
while sentencing codefendant to life impris-
onment.

Affirmed.

Brock, C. J., concurred and dissented
and filed opinion.

1. Homicide @253(1)

In prosecution for murder in the first
degree, evidence sufficiently supported
guilty verdicts against codefendants.

2. Criminal Law <438(7)

Two photographs of murder victim
were not inadmissible on ground of grue-
someness and prejudicial effect where pho-
tographs, taken at distance of several feet,
showed very little detail other than location
of the body, photographs’ contents did not
approach gruesomeness of oral testimony
given by several witnesses, and photographs
were probative to show position of body in
vehicle at time of its discovery.

3. Criminal Law <=698(1)

Grenade detonator was admissible
through testimony of witness, despite the
fact that witness who was to have estab-
lished relevance of detonator did not testify
at trial, where none of the defendants
moved to strike the grenade detonator from
the record nor testimony of witness pertain-
ing thereto, defendants’ counsel cross-exam-
ined several prosecution witnesses about
grenade detonator and initial objection to
its admission was never renewed nor was it
mentioned in motion for new trial after
verdict.

4. Criminal Law <= 1169.2(1)
Statement by police officer implicating
defendant after statements given by code-

STATE vy. GROSECLOSE Tenn. 143
Cite as, Tenn., 615 S.W.2d 142

fendants had been ordered redacted and all
references in each to any codefendant delet-
ed was at most a technical error and was
merely cumulative and repetitive to more
damaging testimony where statement was
merely an introductory remark to which
objection was immediately made and sus-
tained, cautionary instructions were given
to jury, and statement came late in presen-
tation of case long after other witnesses
had testified directly implicating all of the
defendants in the murder.

5. Jury 110(14)

Trial judge did not improperly excuse
jurors for cause based on their qualifica-
tions with respect to death penalty where
defendants did not exhaust their perempto-
ry challenges and there was no basis for
reversal with respect to examination of the
jurors.

6. Criminal Law ¢ 1166.11

In absence of supporting affidavits or
other evidence that prejudicial or reversible
error occurred during final summations of
counsel, failure of court reporter to tran-
scribe final arguments of counsel was not
reversible error where trial counsel, who did
not represent defendants on appeal, fully
approved of transcript of the record on
appeal and must be deemed to have ap-
proved its abridgement.

7. Criminal Law ¢ 1208(1)

Trial judge’s failure to complete and
supply a report to clerk of Supreme Court
concerning codefendant did not constitute
error, even though such report is required
in all cases where death penalty is sub-
mitted to jury for consideration, whether
imposed or not, where a report was later
filed with the Court. Supreme Court Rules,
Rule 47.

8. Criminal Law @800(2)

Defendants were not entitled to jury
instruction defining the term “mitigating”
during murder trial where word was part of
common usage and not a legalism beyond
the understanding of ordinary citizens com-
posing jury panel.

9. Criminal Law 1166.11, 1166.16

In murder prosecution, trial court com-
mitted no reversible error during impanel-
ing of jury in allowing contact of prospec-
tive jurors with persons who had already
been excused from panel and viewing by
jurors of defendants in handcuffs where
incidents were referred to very briefly in
the transcript and none were documented
by affidavits.

10. Homicide 354

Very essence of the statutory proce-
dure under which death penalty may be
imposed is the requirement that jurors con-
sider each case separately and individually,
and that they consider aggravating and
mitigating circumstances in each case;
their decision is not to be reached in an
arbitrary manner, but, on the other hand,
jury is certainly not required to impose
death penalty in every case involving a
conviction of murder in the first degree.

11. Criminal Law 983

Jury did not act arbitrarily or capri-
ciously in imposing death penalty on de-
fendants while sentencing codefendant to
life imprisonment where jury found aggra-
vating circumstances against both defend-
ants which were clearly sustained by the
proof, including facts that murder was mur-
der for hire and that it was particularly
brutal and atrocious and where codefendant
had absence of prior criminal record, duress
or domination by another person, was
youthful and demonstrated contrition and
remorse.

12. Criminal Law o> 1213
State death penalty statute was upheld
as constitutional. T.C.A. 39-2404.

13. Criminal Law @1208(1)

Supreme Court Rule 47 was deemed
sufficient in face of challenge that it did
not afford meaningful or realistic compari-
son of cases arising under death penalty
statutes so as to prevent arbitrary or capri-
cious imposition of that penalty since by
any standard of comparison, where public
policy of a jurisdiction, as reflected in its
statutes, authorized death penalty, facts
and circumstances of case justified action of


136 Tenn.

Suffolk District v. Watson, supra, made this

statement:
“The complete absence of executions in
the Commonwealth through these many
years indicates that in the opinion of
those several Governors and others who
bore the responsibility for administering
the death penalty provisions and who had
the most immediate appreciation of the
death sentence, it was unacceptable.” Id.
411 N.E.2d at 1282.

The above recited experience in Tennessee
leads me to a similar conclusion.

I now point out certain aspects of the
death penalty which, in my view, render it
“cruel and unusual.”

B. Finality of the penalty.

The utter finality of the death penalty
may cruelly frustrate the cause of justice.
Once the prisoner has been put to death by
the state there can be no relief granted
although later developments in the evidence
of the case or of the controlling law may
show, conclusively, that the penalty was
mistakenly inflicted. Again, I quote from
the opinion of the Supreme Judicial Court
of Massachusetts in the Watson case:

“The ‘irreversible finality of the execu-

tion of a criminal defendant,’ [Common-

wealth v. O’Neal, 369 Mass. 242, 276 n. 1,

339 N.E.2d 676, 695 n. 1 (1975)] (Wilkins,

J., concurring), could frustrate such ef-

forts to see that justice is applied equally

when changes in the law occur or when
new evidence is discovered. While this
court has the power to correct constitu-
tional or other errors retroactively by or-
dering new trials for capital defendants
whose appeals are pending or who have
been fortunate enough to obtain stays of
execution or commutations, it cannot, or
course, raise the dead.” Watson, supra,

411 N.E.2d at 1282.

“The calculated killing of a human being

by the State involves, by its very nature,

3. The reality of the danger of convicting and
punishing an innocent person is shown by our
case, Forbes v. State, Tenn., 559 S.W.2d 318
(1977). Forbes was convicted of rape and
served five years of a very long sentence in the
penitentiary before he was pardoned recently

615 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

a denial of the executed person’s humani-
ty. The contrast with the plight of a
person punished by imprisonment is evi-
dent. An individual in prison does not
lose ‘the right to have rights.’ A prisoner
retains, for example, the constitutional
rights to the free exercise of religion, to
be free of cruel and unusual punishments,
and to treatment as a ‘person’ for pur-
poses of due process of law and the equal
protection of the laws.” Furman v. Geor-
gia, supra, 408 U.S. at 290, 92 S.Ct. at
2752 (1972) (Brennan, J., concurring).

“T shall ask for the abolition of the pun-
ishment of death until I have the infalli-
bility of human judgment demonstrated
to me.” Thomas Jefferson (quoted in E.
Block, And May God Have Mercy ... 1
[1962]).

C. Infliction of Pain Upon The Prisoner.

The death penalty is now unique in its
designed infliction of both mental and phys-
ical pain upon the prisoner. This was point-
ed out by Mr. Justice Brennan in Furman v.
Georgia, supra, at 287-88, 92 S.Ct. at 2751,
as follows:

“Since the discontinuance of flogging as a

constitutionally permissible punishment,

Jackson v. Bishop, 404 F.2d 571 (CA 8

1968), death remains as the only punish-

ment that may involve the conscious in-

fliction of physical pain. In addition, we
know that mental pain is an inseparable
part of our practice of punishing crimi-
nals by death, for the prospect of pending
execution exacts a frightful toll during

the inevitable long wait between the im-

position of sentence and the actual inflic-

tion of death.”

See also, People v. Anderson, supra, 6
Cal.3d at 649, 100 Cal.Rptr. 152, 493 P.2d
880.

The barbarous nature of the death penal-
ty and especially of the mental cruelty

by Governor Alexander after the police and the
prosecuting attorney acknowledged that a mis-
take had been made and recommended that the
Governor pardon Forbes. One shudders to
think of the fate of forbes if rape had been
punishable by death.

STATE v. DICKS

Tenn.

137

Cite as, Tenn., 615 S.W.2d 126

which it inflicts upon the prisoner has been
vividly expressed by Justice Liacos of the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, as
follows:
“The imposition of the death penalty is
disguised by the language and technique
of abstraction. ‘Indeed no one dares
speak directly of the ceremony. Officials
and journalists who have to talk about it,
as if they were aware of both its provoca-
tive and its shameful aspects, have made
up a sort of ritual language, reduced to
stereotyped phrases. Hence we read at
breakfast time in a corner of the newspa-
per that the condemned “has paid his
debt to society” or that he has “atoned”
or that “at five a. m. justice was done.”’
A. Camus, Reflections on the Guillotine,
in Resistance, Rebellion, and Death 132
(1960). Consistent with the views of Ca-
mus, of authorities cited elsewhere in this
opinion and of the majority, are the expe-
riences described by Henry Arsenault, a
convicted murderer sentenced to death in
this Commonwealth. See Arsenault v.
Commonwealth, 353 Mass. 575 [233
N.W.2d 730], rev’d 393 U.S. 5 [89 S.Ct. 35,
21 L.Ed.2d 5] (1968). See also, Common-
wealth v. Devlin, 335 Mass. 555 [141
N.E.2d 269] (1957). Arsenault is present-
ly an inmate at the Massachusetts correc-
tional Institution at Norfolk and has sub-
mitted a brief pro se as amicus curiae.
His brief tells his story.

“For over two years, Henry Arsenault.

‘lived on death row feeling as if the
Court’s sentence were slowly being
carried out.’ Arsenault could not stop
thinking about death. Despite several
stays, he never believed he could escape
execution. “There was a day to day chok-
ing, tremulgus fear that quickly became
suffocating” If he slept at all, fear of
death snapped him awake sweating. His
throat was clenched so tight he often
could not eat. His belly cramped, and he
could not move his bowels. He urinated
uncontrollably. He could not keep still.
And all the while a guard watched him,
so he would not commit suicide. The
guard was there when he had his night-
mares and there when he wet his pants.

Arsenault retained neither privacy nor
dignity. Apart from the guards he was
alone much of the time as the day of his
execution neared.

“And on the day of the execution, after
three sleepless weeks and five days’ ina-
bility to eat, after a night’s pacing the
cell, he heard the warden explain the
policy of the Commonwealth—no visitors,
no special last meal, and no medication.
Arsenault asked the warden to let him
walk to the execution on his own. The
time came. He walked to the death
chamber and turned toward the chair.
Stopping him, the warden explained that
the execution would not be for over an
hour. Arsenault sat on the other side of
the room as the witnesses filed in behind
the one-way mirror. When the execu-
tioner tested the chair, the lights dimmed.
Arsenault heard other prisoners scream.
After the chaplain gave him last rites,
Arsenault heard the door slam shut and
the noise echoing, the clock ticking. He
wet his pants. Less than half an hour
before the execution, the Lieutenant Gov-
ernor commuted his sentence. Arse-
nault’s legs would not hold him up.
Guards carried him back to his cell. He
was trembling uncontrollably. A doctor
sedated him. And he was moved off
death row.

ee The raw terror and unabating
stress that Henry Arsenault experienced
was torture; torture in the guise of civi-
lized business in an advanced and humane
polity. This torture was not unique, but
merely one degrading instance in a legacy
of degradation. The ordeals of the con-
demned are inherent and inevitable in
any system that informs the condemned
person of his sentence and provides for a
gap between sentence and execution.
Whatever one believes about the cruelty
of the death penalty itself, this violence
done the prisoner’s mind must afflict the
conscience of enlightened government
and give the civilized heart no rest.
“Death is the ‘king of terrors.’ Job
18:14.... So deep is the fear of death
and the corresponding desire for tran-

MAA

Hl fe nws

um ‘ ' . =

‘

The Maryville-Alcoa Daily Times, Monday, May 24,1954 |

Be

ys

CAPTURED STILL — Early law enforcers are pi
Drinnen, T, B. Ivens of Etowah, deputy marshall “revenuer”, Ham Harmon and
Sheriff H. B. Webb. The still coil, it is said, was a copper heat coil taken from the old
Shea engine at Townsend. The picture was taken in front of the present jail building. °

Mrs. J. E. Carson loaned it. ‘
. : e¢ @

Se 3

ctured above, left to ‘right, Norman |

| convicted by a-jury of Blount Coun-

-|preme Court and on May 27, 1814,

the court of last resort affirmed
‘the circuit court and sentenced the
: <n to be hanged on July 20,

The late C. W. C, Norwood died
March 26, 1888, being in his 95th
birthday. A few years before his

death I asked him about the Brice
case, and he told me that he was
well acquainted with it, that he
jwas a member of the company
that served as guard at the execu-
tion and witnessed it, He said the
hanging occurred in the_ hollow,
west of the residence of Capt. W.
Y. C, Hannum (this would :be near
the Louisville Road just past the
Sunnybrook section). He said, as
I have also heard from others, that
| while Brice was convicted, he was
not really the guilty man, but that
another conducted the business and
Brice was used to accomplish the
work, that the one who was the real
guilty party was never caught, I
have forgotten the name of ‘the

5”) Dale ae Scrat

ty, the case appealed to the Su-.

Was the son of the Henry Lu
who was hanged on the cha
killing thesman named Mur}
1828, In any case John Murph
sentenced to be hanged and a
ed to the Supreme Court, but
jail before his new trial. .He
to Kentucky and' was ca}
there several years later by
J. Perry Edmondson, then :
of: Blount County, who in cor

‘with John C. McKenzie, we

Kentucky and brought M
back to Maryville. In the :
time, Dr. Goddard relates, L
County was created and the
tion -where the murder was
mitted was cut off to the
county. The case: first apr
before the court in Maryvillk
the judge ruled that he coul
be tried in Maryville becaus
crime was committed in wha
now Loudon County. He was
to Loudon for trial and owi
the peculiar chain of circumst
in his favor the. same judge h
before in Maryville again rul
could not try him because the
der was done at. the time
that section belonged to FI
County,. and the case was tl
lout of court...) 0.0 4
On Oct. 25, 1839 Charles C
slave, was hanged for killing J
Humes who owned the wife of
Humes had whipped her a
retaliation Cox shot him throu
window as he sat at a card.

{with William. J. Hackney,

Sheriff William Wallace per
ed the unpleasant duty that
Lunsford and Ccx into etern

The Blount gallant of the
to 1910 period might have
the ‘Heller with a:pistol’ po
fiction has led us to believ«
might even have had a gun
on his index finger caused by
ing the trigger of his Colt’s
peater, but court records. show
if he got caught he spent
months in jail, regardless o
prominence of his family.)
well-known names are on the
ets for “pistol carrying.’ .

The story of Norman: Loud
a dying legend now. Only .a
old-timers in Maryville, men
were here when it happened, *
of him, Ed Long, former depv
Blount County, told us abot
This is the way it happen:

On Aug. 25, 1911 J; H. Cler
city officer, accompanied a -
ty deputy to the home of .
Wear or Loudon on Railroa
to arrest her son, Norman, {
attack on Cliff Grimes at Th
son Bridge. When called um
surrender Loudon: fatally shc
ficer Clemens, after which h:
caped’ up’ the’ railroad em!
ment, : i

Within two hours practi

every able-bodied man in-

ville was searching for Im
who apparently. had disappe
from the face of the earth, J
it wag learned he-spent the:
in a.brush pile’ inthe Plair
section, crossed Tennesseé ‘}
at Toole’g. Bend the next day
stayed for,a few days in F

Ville mad ith ae pullman, po: pen Sap


wets i
es a

+
aie

Se, nt men een

ti

¥

REWARD NOTICE — The above reward notice for the.
arrest of Norman Loudon’ was: preserved ‘by ‘the -late_
Sam M. Everett, Mayor of Maryville at the time of the
*shooting of J, H. Clemens, It was ‘loaned to: the Daily ~
_ Times by Mr. Everett's sews ny iis Charlie Timmons.

(Continuied From Page 3)
wagons, buggies and carriages.
“ Hitching Dobbin to the jail hitch-
ing,post. they hied away’ to town
where, just as they do today, they

stood onthe. streets or leaned ..a-.

gainst a buiiding and. solved t\.2
eroblems of the world. .Meanwhile
their ‘‘wimmin-folks’”’ like as not
* made the acquaintance of the
- sheriff’s wife and ‘possibly helped
her with preparations for midday
‘dinner, checking occasionally on
their babies who, smelling of dried
milk and wet pants, slept on one ot
the four beds in the sheriff’s best
room. Meanwhile the young fry
Yan circles. around the jail and

‘were chastised by their mothers

for minor: depredations or threat-
ened with their fathers for major
‘ones, At noon a huge meal was
served to all comers - free of
_charge, of course. Court days must
also have been a tial for the
sheriff’s wife.

In 1866 Maryville suffered an
‘epedimic of smallnox. Several
cases broke out among the inmates
of the jail and the guards who
had not: had the dread disease left

immediately. Records of the Blount
County Court show that the court
was instructed to appoint n e w

Blount's 33 Sheriffs

| gunsda: one. condition of their’ ap-
pointment being’ that they “must
have had smallpox, Two of the
three who received appointments
had contracted smallpox while in
the army during the War Between
the (States. -They “were Joseph.
Broady, grandfather of Mr. Thom-
as F. Broady, and J. N. McGin-
ley. The, third was William Wal-
lace: Old jail records tell that af-
ter: an outbreak of fever or any,
contageous disease in. the. jail the
floors were washed down with vine-
‘gar and wild mint. .

Both Dr,. John A, sGoddard and
Maj, Will A. McTeer wrote of the
three men of Blount County who
tmet their fate - legally, that is -
at the end of a rope,

In writing of.the first legal- pale.
ing in Blount County Maj,.McTeer
said, ‘‘There is perhaps no paral-
lel in the history-of the United
States to the first. hanging in
Blount County. James Brice was
the: man. hanged, and he suffered
the penalty under a statute that
was never enacted by Tennessee.
He was convicted of stealing Neg-
roes under a statute of North Car-
olina passed in 1779 I have: heard
the story of this case ever since

I was a child, Brice was tried and

Money Troubles?
Let Us Arrange An
Easy Loan for You. From $15
OUR SERVICE IS
FOR WORKING ,
PEOPLE. to $50
Blount Brokerage Co. —
107/2 E. Broadway' Phone 3997

jJover the -‘awful...scene; :

=e

ve paul My duudioiusd wWillh au
hand spike at a log rolling, but
was able to walk home. and attend

day’ of the ‘execution .of. Lunsford
he: sang from the gallows the old.

should we start and fear to die,”
and so on. But. the strange. part
of this. gruesome spectacle, so old
folks say, a white dove hovered

Toole (colored), ‘who belonged’ at
that time to the Tooles of Mary-
ville and is still living in Mary-

| ville, was a witness to that execu-

m more than 70 years ‘ago.’ °

About. 40 years" later, in 1868,
John Murphy, handsome - * part-
Cherokee, was.tried for killing a
jan named Lunsford, who had in
a fight at a country dance, gouged
an eye out of Bill Yarber, brother
of his sweetheart. It is said that
the Lunsford killed by John Murphy

to his work. for a month before:
jhis death. It is said that upon the

hymn that’ begins like’ this -' ‘‘Why"

Newton}.

$35.00 to $125.

Yes,- our prices for 1
Sypqweiters range * betw
figures, . -

We' hive: a complete Selec
of all makes, — Stanc
: : and Portable.

Come on in and look
rr OVERS:

UP TO 12 MONTH!
TO PAY!
Won't Write? Call W)

— WHITE
Office Machin

Bittle, Building Phone :

Prottitt's Beauty Salon

“s Thelma Cratitree

We Are Happy
To Announce
That a

‘Is with: Us

goin aa . ze

“Miss Crabtree’ 3 Many. Friends Are Welcome Te

re » Call For An Appointment.

Permanent Wave Specia

Reg.
$12.50 . °
Value |

30

Use, Your Regular i -

_Proffitt's Charge Account

For Appointment — Phone 2843

PROFFITT’


>
BEN 3ROWN. Hanged, Nashville, Tennessee, April 15, 1887

"Nashville, Tenney \-15-1887-There was mich about the Ben 3rown hanging today calculated to make
the average observer doubt his cuilt, Not only the protestation of innocence, but other circum-
stances, Bill Brown, his brother, hho turned State's evidence and whose testimony convicted
Ben is believed to have at least had a more prominent part in the murder than Ben, and his conduct
today strengthéned that belief, He refused to see the execution and was very nervous as he
stood out of sight of the scaffold in the jail door, He told Mr. Ben Beazley, who it will be
remembered, arrested Ben Brown, that he would like to make a statement if the Sheriff would
allow it. This was while Ben Brown was saying on the scaffold that Bill Brown had lied, Bill
said to Mr, Beazley: "Been will be in hetl as soon as the frop falls." After the hanging, Bill
was asked what was the statement he desired to make, Bill said that 3en had not told the truth;
M that he could only have asked him a few ouestions, It is believed, however, that he, at least
® momentarily, entertained the idea of confessing and saving his brother, However, he checked
, himself and did not speak, Services were held in the cell of the condemned this morning and the
sacrament administered, Brown's family then visited him. Before 10 o'clock several hundred
people were standing around the jail, and as the hour of execution approached the number grewe
: The State law reauéres executions to be private-so-.that only reporters and a few others designated
by law were present, Brown walked up the steps of the scaffold with a pretty firm step and took
his séat beside Mr, Nason, The condemned man, being asked if he had anything to say, stood in
the center of the platform upon the trap and in tolerably firm voice said: [They have gobbled
me up by false swearing. My God knows it. Bill liked and knows he lied, but I have prayed my
Father in heaven @@B@@% that he mgy bless his soul and make such a man of him that he may tell the
truth when he is in court the next time, I consider this (looking about the scaffold) only a
ssgtewicaised:suctgann: depot. I am here to get a ticket, which will take me without delay to heaven, God bless you
all, and farewell, Meet me in heaven. Heaven is my hope and trust and God is my Father." Rev,
Luke Mason then arose and asked: "Did you have anything to do with the murder?" Brown answered:
"I had no concern with Frank ‘rnold's murder,! adding immediately after, 'exceot I want to say,
that Frank left on Monday and I saw him on Tuesday. On Friday Bill said he had knocked hell out
of him," At 11:17 the rope holding the trap was cut by Neputy Sheriff Chickering and the body
dropped quickly downward, ‘t first the struggles were not violent, but after a few seconds, Brown
began drawing up his legs and twistins about, showing that his neck had not been broken by the
fall, After a slight lessening of the struzzles, they were again renewed, and it was over five
minutes before motion ceased, At seven minutes after the drop, the pulse was still beating at
ninety beats per MMMBMM minute but irregular, At the end of 15 minutes he was declared dead and
in 23 minutes the body was cut down and taken to Corbs undertaking establishment. There was
great curiosity to see him, and several thousand people went, ‘Some one connected with the house
laid out the emaciated body of a pauper who had died at the county asylum, and hundreds criti-
cised it as Ben Brown's until the Sheriff heard of the matter and raised a row and ordered the
original Ben Brown brought out, Bill Brown is still bo be called as a witness in cases against
Nelson and Boster Joslin, accormmlices in the crime, and many think he will weaken and confess
his own part in the murder when brought into court again,
"The murder of Frank Arnold was one of the most deliberate, cold-blooded affairs that has ever been
conceived and carried out in this State, About 6 miles from the city and a mile east of Belle
Meade farm, lived a quiet old colored farmer named Frank Arnold, Just over a hill, on the
€ north side of which, in the adjoining place, lived Zen Rrown, Arnold owned his little cabin,
which contained one room, and lived alone with a boy, Noshey Lane, whom he had adopted,
Stretching back from his own cabin were four acres of land, lhe mhole place was hardly worth
int 8200, Not far off was a “arm on which was living the Joslins and Simon Fox, who was their half-
brother, These were the children of a woman with whom Frank Arnold had had a law suit, She had
lived with his brother, and after his death, retained the farm Frank Arnold tried to dispossess
her, out it was found that she had a life interest in the place, and he lost the suit. All these
four men were wont to associate together and at some time early in Noverber, 16885, they had their
plot well arranged, On the nicht of Nove 9 they went over the hill to old man Arnold's house
and called him out and asked him to go hunting with them. Ee consented and got his gun, Lane
was in the house and theold man told him to havethe sweet potatoes, then in the abhes, roasted
nicely against his return, The boy stayed by the fire all nicht but ‘rnold did not return and
vas never seen again alive, On Jan. 18, 1886, Fusene Holt was going to work when in the tanbark
to the side of Zelleville, about a 100 yards north of Cunningham's tannery, he made a discoverye
The was an arm protruding from the bark, Seven pieces of a body were dug up, but in vain was
the head sought. Ren Brown had a brother, Bill, an ex-convict. He was suspected and the Browns,
Nelson Joslin, Foster Joslin, Simon Fox and Robert Maclin were errested. Bill Prown turned
ct ' i f ring story of the crime. On Monday night, Zen Brown, ‘elson
State's evidence and told the following story e

> a,


and Foster Joslin and Simon Fox were over close to old man Frank Arnold's house and Ben went in,
returning shortly returning with the old man and his dog, They all went down the lane and across
the reilroad, Uncle Frank walked between Ben and Nelson Joslin, when the reached the thicket,
Simon Fox, who was walking in front, carryingea gun, fired it at Uncle Frank, but he did not fall,
only turned around, and as he did so, Ben hit him on the head with an iron bar, and after a short
struggle, Frank fell to the ground, having been stabbed by one of the others, The witness, who
claimed he was hired toratch, and received two bucketsfull of meal and a peck of turnips for his
services, continued the sickening story, told how the old man's body was picked up and carried
down in the pasture where a grave was dug. R efore being lowertd into the hole, the victim
croaned, when Ben struck him another blow on the head with the iron bar, the following night

the body was:removed to the stable, decapitated, dismembered, loaded up in the wagon and brought
to the city and buried in the tanbark where it was afterward discoverdd Simon Fox died this

week in the penitentiary where Macklin now is and the others are still in jail awaiting their

trial," . ;

ILLE COURIER JOURNAL, Louisville, Ky., -16-1887


CRAFT, FERRY, LYSAUGHT AND KNIGHT eS
Whites, hanged, Nashville, Tenn., 1-26-1866,

See Military. Tarboro Southerner, 2/10/66 2:3 gives good
account of this Case. Crime was murder of ‘old Mr. HefFerman’ durin
the Course of a highway robbery. The four executed persons are identi Fied as
George Crabb alias Craft, age \%, of Chilie NY

James hysaught, age ‘hot quite re of Augusta Ga.

Thomas Ferry, no age aiven, 0 ennessece

James Knight alias ti ai, age \1, of Washington DC. (who would gai ore vif

They rode tothe gallows in two wagons Which were each drawn by fsue white.

money for prostitutes,

horses. They were Seated on their coffins. Crime was committed because they needed —


Vic Weals, "Home Folks", The Knoxville
JOUBNOD , hPrid: OF 1O01l, pe BLA

Stanley & Cox were held in the Knox Co
Jail for their safety since fceling was
running high in Union County. ‘Vhoir trial
was June 28,29 and 30, and was held in
HMaynardville.

Judge Hicks said in sentencing them, "J
had rather this cup would pacs from me, but
the sheriff will fix an enclosure within
one mile from the jail, at Maynardville, a
place suitable to himself, and on the eth
day of August 1894, he will hang both of
you by the neck until you are dead! dead!
dead!

An appeal delayed the hanging until
December 2c,

Knox County sheriff assisted John Sharp
in cutting the ropes, two men fell in unson,
one lived ten minutes the other eleven
minutes before being pronounced deadececs

My grand-mother was present for this hanging,
Sheriff John P. Sharp, he was a brethevrin-
law to her, having married a sister of my
grand-father, Hugh A. Butcher, LuDusky
Butcher. At least two of John P, Sharp's
daughters still live in Virginia. After
the 1959 article appeared by Vic Weals at
left, these daughters protested the fact that
Weals had claimed that the.sheriff was bdtered
by his act in hanging the two men. ‘They said
that it did wt bother him at all. I have
talked about this with my Mother and she-
sides with the daughters.

We have no record of other executions in
the county of white or black people. It is
reported that many slaves were present in
Union County but that no trouble ever came
about.

t
Union County was created in 1850, contrary
to what. is said in the Yarbrough article.

Hopeful that this bit of data will aid you
in ydur compilation,
Sincerely,

RAVI
william G. Tharpe, President
Union County Historical Society, Inc.
P.: On.78ox 95
Maynardville, TN 37807


bo Sita

matinee

COX, Clarence, and STANTEY, John

Both white, hanged at Maynardville, Union County, Tenn.,
on December 22, 189), for the robbery murder of Mr. and
Mrs, Henry Snoderly, aged couple (he was 90 and she was
76) on Hinds Creek on Feb, 8, 1894. Snoderly was the
community miller and a Methodist lay leader. Cox was

- only 15 at the time of the murders. See newspaper account
from Knoxville AMMHMXX News-Sentinel, -22-1967, provided
by William G, Tharpe, Pres., Union County Historical Soc-
iety, Inc., Box 95, Maynardville, TN 37807, Filed in
TENNESSEE * NWU #* BOUND,

According to Atlanta Constitution of 12/22/44 Cox was
aged 26 and Stanley aged 23. Richmond Dispatch of


(2/23 describes beth as ‘men' and Says thar Cox's
father tuened them beth in for a $400 reward, Also
ogtees On Oats oF vickims-

Best newspaper Source would probably be Knoxville thowgh. |
Nale does not have.


BRASWELL. George & von whites, hanged at Cookeville, Tenn., 3-23-1878.

J

“THE HANGING [This was probably copied from an Barly Crossville,

Cumberland County paper @ +¢8f=Fee47]
1373

Saturday April 13 [?]

_ We promised < our readers, last week that as our account of the ‘short

4 \
time we had to prepare it we would try: it again this week, and now

proceed to comply with our promise.

We were awakened from our sleep Wednesday oening to find the
streets of Cookeville almost unpassible with the Immense throng that
had gatheree and were anxiously waiting £6 witness the execution. of
the two bandits whose crime, trial and execution excited the mind of
the public to a greater extent than any like oecunrence known in the
records of our State. In fact it is without a paralel, two brothers
hanged on the same gallows for the murder ‘of two brothers.

We, in company with Sher reporters, visited the Wail Wednesday -
morning, and asked admittance into the cells which was granted, and soon
we were face to.face with the aie men who, in a few hOure, were to

be ushered into eternity the «realities of which we all, sooner or

later will have to try. While in the cell Teke had but little, or.

-nothing to say concerning the crime, except that he was innocent. Jo —

said he had, all the time, been denying it but that it was no longer

of any use, and that he had acknowledged it all the night Before.

That he was in the crowd that went to Mr. Isbells house on that
memorable night, and: killed Russell Allison. The crowd was composed
of four persons, himself, Robson JOnnson Dell Bates and another
person whose name tle did Bot reveal. He was asked if T was not

that fourth Person, whereupon Tate interrupted by saying that Jo did

not propose to say that he was along, and Jo gave no sieges ae Jo

it te

nome iibed that he was under the influence of liccers and SNe! not ‘femember

firing but one ball, he was the man that shot at Mis. Isbell. “He was oe

(More)


ee ee ee enn Fae ae

ee ee ea, ee ee ee eS eee

en en Ree a ate adh ted

ee ee ee Be

fe. eee ee a ae eee ee

ew eee ee

13.

13.

14a»

15.

16.

17.

19.

20.

21.

22.

fe.

G2

When they climbed upon the scaffold,
And the guards surrounded them,
They were joined by McPherrin,
Who opened up prayers for them.

The third chapter of Romans,

It was read to them that day there,
And after private convevsation

They poured out their souls in prayer.

Death, you know, it is the wages
You receive for what you do :

You must learn that in the future ete
You must face all that you do."

"Do not drink a drop of whiskey ; er
Do not kill or rob a man ;

It was for the love of money
That I on the gallows stand."

"We know these committed murder,
Ry taking others' lives away ;

So now, in this solemn hour,

We must take these lives today."

Then said Joe in a cold voice,
"Gentlemen and ladies, too,

If you'll give me your attention,
I will speak some words to you.”

“I am here upon the scaffold ;
Here before you all today ;

And what it is for is murder."
Were the ere that he did say.

“What caused me to do this murder,
It was whiskey and money, too 3
If you drink a drop of whiskey,
Money , then, might tempt you, too."

Teak said, "It is a solemn hour,
And it tells mo I must die ;
I. am ready and a-waiting ;
I'm prepared and willing to die."

Then,as Able came on the scaffold,
Shaking hands with them thore,

They woro dolighted at his presence ;
Seomed very glad to moct him there.

He said, "Joe, were you at my house
On tho night the mrder was done ?"
“I was thore , and I am guilty."
Was the answer Joe made him.

Toak was low and fair-complected,
Joe Was tall and ‘very noat ;

They wore pale and vory silent,
When their lips did seem to meet.

nde tire a6) oan ee ae Pe ae Te ee ee ee eee ant a PT IP mi


3

24%. They listened to the death sentence,
| Which was there read to them then,
Then they tied their wrists and ankles,
And placed cans upon then,

25. One said,"Jesus, Lord, have merc
Will you be with me today ?"

The other said, "Lord have mercy

On them that swore mp life away ,"

a

26. The door fell and left then swinging

There betwixt the earth and sky.
It was for a dreadful murder,

These two men did have to die.

: 7 27. They were cut down and placed in their coffin,
q Delivered over to their friends,
Who were there for the purpose,

To receive them at the end,

j ; 28. Hear this song while you are livi
‘a i , : Before you at the Judgment stand ;

You by this might take a warning ; hs
Live and die a sobor man, :

>

29 Do not keep any bad company ;
I advise you not to take your dram 3

; Or you might be like these.two brothers vy
j - That did on the Scaffold stand.

The above version was obtained from Mrs. Eden Hash,
; (Daisy Arnold Hash), of Snithville, Tenn. , R.F.D. 2.


Le

Re

Se

Se

os

6.

7.

8.

10.

il.

Gl

THE BRASWELL BOYS

A” a a

All ny friends and near relations, .
Come and listen to my song ; Re

I shall sing about the Braswells ; ~~
The men that were hung. 7

wee

The twenty-ninth of November ,
Bighteen hundred seventy-five,
Was the night they did the murder,
For which they had to give their lives.

They said "Dear father and mother,
I hope you'll remember me,

When we're dead and gone forever, Oa
And our face no more you see."

“When I rise and fly to glory,

I shall meot my sister there ; oe of
I shall live and sing forever ;

Shall we know each other there 2?"

"For the Judgment Day is coming,
We must meet before the bar ;

We must meet the ones we murdered ;
Shall we know each other there ?”

"We have lain so long in prison ;

In our attempts we never fail ;
God will aid and will assist us

For to break the Nashville Jail."

When they started from that prison,

And the guards surrounded then,
"Teak," said Joe, "We're lost forever ;
Our escape is very slim."

“Dear parents, sister, and brother,
For my soul do understand,

I am bound for to acknowledge
That I ama guilty man.’

"I want you all to go to meeting,
And lead new lives from this day,
For I expect to go to heaven ;
I can with you no longer stay."

Bohannon placed them in a wagon,
They were neat and very gay ;
Their coffin was a seat for them
To the place where they hung that day.

They had a sister and a brother,

That did seem so very nigh ;
They followed them down to the valley,
_ Where they were so soon to die.


A lew minutes alter be usd arcee Airs
Lones tuok up
CARMICHAEL'S BREAKFAST,

It consisted of an abundant supply of
fried chicken, biscuit, ached eggs,
sauce, conve, etc. After devotional ex.
ercises a biessing was asked by Car-
michael and the three kneeled around
the meal. Ada:ley JocgnaL was used

yin the middle of the cell fora tabdle-

cloth.. The murderer had but litte ap-
petite and only ate afew bites .{ chicken
and bread with a sup of coffee. During
the mea. he engaged in conversation:
with the reporter and apparently had
moze nerve than at any time
puring the night. The meal completed

VISITORS COMMENCED COMIXG,

and the frst to cail were some old friends
from Cocke county. (ue of these re
marked wale present that Hicks bad al-
ways been a good boy and ne hated to
see him Cie.

A number of curiosity seekers from
all over the county commenced coming
in early, in the hope of getting a glance
at the murderer. The prisoner ex-

Terre:l continued dreasing Carmichael
for death. A reat new shirt, large coliar
with black ue, with a handsome black
cutaway suit aud glossy shoes completed
his toiiet. He looked more like a man
prepared for a weading than a funera,

Carmichael's mother was in waiting at

the jailor’s house in proper position.
Soe entered the jail and held a fareweil
conversation with her son. With her
were George Clark, colored, Dicy Smith,
toe mother of Carmichael’s six months
old baby boy and Bettie Taylor an old
acquaintance of the prisoner.
‘ Carm:chaci was visably atected and
sbed great tears of heart-felt sorrow.
His kina-people departed and he retired
to a curner of the celland there began
to break down, but was cheered up by
Watchinan Dobson.

Later he with his mates gang,
“Wher I am Dead and in my Grave
Don't Weep for me,” At lv o'clock
Photographer Stewart went to the jail
and took a negative of the prisoner, who
wacte:! three pictures,one for bis mother,
one for Dicy Smith and one for Bettie
Tayior.

the hands of Special Deputy Todten-
housen went of accidentaliv aud created
a ripple of excitement.

At bali past ten o'clock Rev. BJ.
Jores, Carmichaels sfiritual adviser,
was admitted to the jai!. He took a
Pocition in front of the doomed man's
celi and talked long and earnestly to the
prieocer who sat an attentive listener, a
visible amile passing over his counten-
ance at freqaent intervals when the
bright promises of the otner world were
tolu by the minister,

At eieven o'clock Rev. Jones retired
anc for some time the prisoner paced his
cel floor.

At 11:20 o’clock Mra. Lones gave the

y | #m dying this evening for Jesus. I feel,

During this preceeding a shot gun in
fab! a beantiis! doral crog
y»

Ne ted eee eredlies eae 8 sony ‘ . me 8
Fithian, the attending pbyeician, and
newspaper men were given seata around
the gallows. Rev. Jones read the lith
chapter of Job, followed by selections
from the Psalms hy Rev, Cunningham.
‘Thewntire body of witnesses joined
the ministers and prisoners in singing
“Jeaus Lover of My Soul.” ‘

A fervent farewell prayer was otfered
by Rev. Jones. Carmichael during this
time knelt over a chair and wept bit-
terly. 4

A tew verses of the hymn ‘There is a
Fountain Filled with Biood” gave the
pcisoner additionai nerve and De steadied
himself for his fate.

At 12:45 Jailer Hood unlocked the
cell door and Hicks Carmichaei stood
erect to have himself manacled fordeath.
An instant later and the great, pc werful
body of the coomed man was on tne
trap door. When asked if he wished to
say anything Carmichael replied “yes,”
and spoke in a clear tone as iollows:.

“I am going jast to heaven,” he eaid,
“I aon’t fear it; lam trusting in Him,
and thank Him Jorit. I want to.state I

—————————_—_—_—

that lam as bold as a lion aga no;
afraid to die. I feel tha: Iam bogdnd for
heaven and a soldier for Jesus. Though
I have been sadly scorned in thigi world,
I torgive every one. I give myithanks
to Sheriff Lones, his assis:anta
who bave shown me so wuch &
while bere. I expect to meet ye
heaven; meet me there. Farew
The prisoner's feet were tifd, Dr.
Fithian examined his puise and Sound it
abont normal. “I am going :
die no more" was sung dy Reys Jones |’
and Cunningham by reguegt. The
black cap wus then placed
doomed man’s head and tha
piaced about his neck. A ceé
stillness prevailed, which was bépken by
Sbend Lones asking Carmichaél if he
Was reacy, A faint ‘yes’ was the repiy,
The fatal trap was sprung at ond] aiclock.
The body fell four feet ard Harted to
turn siowly around, out was staldied by

———

the sherid. A siget movemerd$ in the
legs was ail the siznofa s le. At
the end of two minutes the tending
bysician found life still in ge body.

away. After banging eightee#fminutes
Carmichael was pronounced @rad and
his boly lowered isto a neat béki
furnishen by the undertakd&
Rule. Death had been caused/by appo-
plexy, resulung from the fail,

The black cap and rope
moved from their places and he toilet
of death wascomp.ete. Mrs, Ubnes bad
for the

which was used in Yu proper
place. The corpse looked ag if only
asleep. The execation proved a success
in every evepect fur neatneas and dir
patch. The remains were taken to the
yard and there seen by over one thou:
sand people in the etreete without.

The coffia containing the body was
taken charge of by Charley Carmichael,
a cousin ot the deveased, and remored to
the depot. There it was p-aced on the
east bound passenger train taken to]!
the former home of the » inf,
Cocke county, near Rankit?s. There /:

ne

the funeral and baris! will{take place |;


CaNMICHAEL, Hicks, black, 23, hanged Knoxville

—: tT Set : FS ae ee
TLE oe. uccess of those in pursuit but no! many ‘railroad works in tbe Carolina's!

Ee | | I " DRA LH ‘ab Lg came. . and Tennessee. _ Octaide of the roobery
: * 60-01 .4OgyXaceday morning Sherif? Lunes! committed by him in Morgan county, be |

4 ‘ Sia nt Pe mel acd: part arrested Hubbard Jones, aj iscuarged with no other crime, except)

amog|codk at Dunavan's camp on the same|that for which be was bung.
(R OUTRAGED LAW YINDICATSS?: iS eharyib him with Aiding Car-, He lett a mother, smai! brother acd,
aun sey O02 Hea toescape. Jones was brought] married sister, During his imprison-
HER WOUNDED MAJESTY eyo hae™ to't8e city, guarded until the next day| ment cone of these bas visited him ex-!

; lt eh ett release d. Anxiety increased, and! cept the former. Although never mar-

. st phe Aree positive information reaching ried, Cartuicuael lays ciaim to a babe,
ad The Murderer Follows His the city that Carmichael had deen dis-| row six Wontas old, whico Waa reventiy
' : .pvovered was sent ia Teurscay morning|taken by its mother to the ja for Sim)
Dead Victim folluwiog the murder. to Fee. {

- &

4 ‘

Bravely Met.

AOURNAL REPORTER SPENDS THR

MIGHT 13 JAIL

od With a “Trusty’? Acts As
The Death Watch, ©

ow His Last Night Was Spent
---Prayers, Singing, and
Readinz His Bible.

SHORT HISTORY OF TER CRIMS.

ge)

vs ope ud rumors bad prevailed that the
>» The Shadowy. -Eand---The
Hanging Without Acci-

dent or Tegeple-- ese ; ‘s tarned bis footete pe homeward. Qaietly

murderer tad been killed in Graioger
county, and that he tau aso shot acoth-

“4 ag ueputy sberit, Carmicnaei, trae to
° »” ind

izmiucts of the buman heart had

aud aitera circuitous roate he entered
the:? Beighberuood where his peopie
‘lived im Cocke county. There he was
given.évery assurance cf sustenance and
protection. The pursuing partied had
received a clu» and Carmichael knew

‘| that té'remain there meant capture adi

deatb.”
~. He “secnred the services of a friend,
Who alterward betrayed him, to escort

"J bim’toroug®: the bills to the mountains

of, Westera North Carolina, feelicg that
if he cvald cross the state line safety was
for the time being assured. On Wednes-
Cay aftefuoon Carmichael and the man

,| WDo betrayed him started on their per:i-

ous journey to a ano d region of
taletv. Messrs, W. F. Rodeers W.L
Jones, Jesse H. and W. T. Farnglee anu
John W. Adxins, citzens of Cocke
county, had orzanizad and ‘ate that even-
ing foncd Carmichael rear the railroad
with his friend. The Lbegr>, seeing bis
pag ani knowing res.stance ue-less,

ed. A few suuts were fre at tim but
withont aval. Later in the night Ad-
kins met Carmichaei in the wocda near
the French Broad river'ase) Ordered Lim
to eurrender. This request wars refused
and the negro made a threaiing move.
Acgkics wag willing to take no chance
and fired bis shot-gun. Carmuichsel bad
his breast Giled witn duck shot. Bieed-
ing and fu:nt, he ran to the river, took
of his aboes and swar: across.

“Faint frem the Icae of blood and
frightened he dragged himself to the
barn of Juin Rorex near by ard there
recreted himsel! beneath the hay. Ad.

‘| kins bad. been enterpriaing in his de:
| {érmination to afect « capture. Crossing

the river on a saw log was soon at the
barn and with others ofthe pamurershad
secured the “drop onCarnichael. The

leas’ and surendered only asxing tOat he
be Allowed to live.
Ly. BROUGHT To Exoxviure

-He was brought to Knoxville and the
excitement which followed, the tureat-
eneu Jynocbing, toe diagraceful conduct
of the: mob after the Prsoner had been
takeap away,and his return to the Knox:

peo- hac nl where be was guarded by a
t Creek church,

on milge north’ jof the city, were
| AR alle tol worship in that

momber of leading citizens are events
fresh in the minds of our readers and
need no nypetiion here. An indictment
hadibeen found against Carmichael by

murdeter knew toat resistance use.

The marderer never had the benesit cf:
school training, but bas learned to read
fairly well and can write. 4

HI3 LA&T LETTER, :
Written by himself recent!y to b's
mother, reads ag fo:lowe:

“Kyoxvitre, Jaly 17.—Dear Mother t
I take this opportunity af dropping you!
a few lines to lek you know I em wel!
You will find enclosed two gold dolla: i
One is for you: keep it as iong as yo
live. The other one I want you to kee
for the baby unti! it is oid enough Fl
take'the doliar and keep it itself. Te
the boy to keep the doj!ar as long as hi
lives, Lam prepared to meet my uoom
Meet mein heaven. Tel! Ckarley Ca
michael to be sure and come alter m
body. Fareweil.

Your 02,
Hicks Carsicoarn”
THE MCRUERKD CFFICER.

Deputy Sberid Shipe pase] the mo
of bis lie on the iarm. He was a
specter! citizen of the northern portia
of the county and never be.d.any oftici :

ition except that cf depaty sheriff

e was a kind fatoer and hraband,i
good neighbor and brave oficer, 3
left a wife, four sma.l chiluren, an ag
mother and an invaiid sister. They wu
all dependent, toa greatextent, on the
oftier for a livlibood. His death prov
@ serous blow to the members of th
household, but the generous people
Kocoxville and vicinity, tprough the m6
of the Jocrnar and othsr irtizenc
gave Over one thonsand dol.are to
nrely and sorrow-etricken family.

The prisoner passed bis

LAST NIGHT ON RARTH
in @ cool determined manzer. Soon
after dark be took a bathard as ue stood
erect putting on Lis under garments for
the grave be appeared every inch a man.

The bours rolled aronnd as they had
always done before, but Carmichael
seemed to more fuily sppreciate the
value of time. Atan eariy bour be en-
gaged in retigious devotion, stch as eing-
IDR, preying aod reacitg bis tinle. Bur-
ton Belmore and Wii Terrell), bis cell
mates, aseisted him with singing. ba

At half past eleven o'clock a Jccreaz
man went to the jail and found Corgeer
T. J. Burkhart and Watchman Frank |.
Dobson taking the prisonerin a suppiy
of bananas aud melon. The fruit eas
taken through the tars and placed on a
shelf in the cell where it remained co-
touched. The reporter found James
Melton, a white trusty, in the upper
hallway in front of Carmichael’s cell,

Lert TVs Cercle, = Get) at.


‘Continued from orst page. ]

Without the heavy fog that had set-
tled over that section of the city in the
early morn had acattered and beams of
daylight were stealing through the pris-
‘on bars. The electric light in the yard
went out and it was indeed a time for
| reflection,

At 5 o'clock dav bad dawned and shed
ita light in every cell. The reverve
prisoners, a dozen in number to the iefe
of the murderers cell had made tLeir
toilet and were petting acquainted.

Carmichael was tossing from Side to
side and was restiess. ‘His mates
were fast asleep. A half-dczen kindly
queries failed to elect a reply from Car-
michael.

A few minutes ‘ater and Watchman
Dobson kindly liberated the reporter for
a breathing spell.

An unusual quiet reigned anti! seven
o'clock, At that time Carmichael, with
his cell mates, arose. The murderer pat
on bis funeral garments and pronounced
them a fit. They were of black diagonal,
A few minutes after he had arcse Mrs.
Lones tuok ap

CAKMICHAEL’3 BREAKFAST.

It consiste:! of an abundant supply of
fried chicken, biscuit, ached eggs,
Sauce, Cofcce, etc. After derctianil ex-
ercises a D.essing was asked by Car-

the meal. A dailey JocgnaL was used
in the middle of the celi fora table-
clota, The murderer had but litt.e &p-
petite and only ate afew bites .f chicken
and bread with asup of coffee. Daring
tue mea. he engaged in conversation
with the reporter and apparently had
more oetve than at any time
puriog the night. The meal completed

VISITORS COMMENCED COMING,

and tne first to call were some old friends
from Cocke county. (ue of these re
marked woile present tnat Hicks cad a!-
ways been a good boy and ne hated to
see him Cie.

A number of curiosity seekers from
all cver the county commenced coming
in early, in the hope of getting a glance
at the murderer. The prisoner ex-
preased a desire to see all visitors if they

‘Terre:] continued dressing Carmichael
for death. A reat new shirt, large coliar
with black tie, with a handsome black
cutaway suit aud glossy shoce compleied
his toiset. He looked more like a man
prepared for a wedding than a funeral.

Carmichael’s mother was in Waiting at
the jailor’s house in proper position.
She entered the jail and held a farewell
conversation with her son. With her
were George Clark, colored, Dicy Smith,
the mother of Carmichsel’s six months
old baby boy and Bettie Taylor an old
acquaintance of the prisoner.

Carmichael was visably affected and
shed great teats of heart-felt sorrow,
His pine pers departed and he retired
tO a corner of the cell and there began
to break down, bat was cheered up by
Watchman Dobeon.

Later he with hie mates Rang,

DEAD! DEAD!! DEAD!!!

.| Dewspaper Men Were given seats atpund

michael and the three kneeled around

(I forgive every one. I give myfhanks

prisoner his farewell meal, bat he only
took a bite or twoo! chicken and a alice!
of tomato, ’ |

His last writing on earth was a note to
Watckman Dobson, written in a cieéar,
mancer, which read as follows: |

“Mr. Dobson: Please give one of my
photos to Bettie Taylor and seri the |
other two of them to my mother, Susan
Carmichael, Rankic’s, Tenn., and tell
mother to give one of them to Dicie
Smith, and oblige
Hicxs Carwicoar.”
THE FATAL NOOSE

Was fastened to the cress beam by
Sherif Lones and assistants at 11:50.
Carmichael sat at his celi duor ia full:
view of the performasce and watcned '
the rope intently as it was placed in;
proper poeition,

THE EXECUTION,

A few minutes after twelve o'clock
the attending ministers, Revs. B. &.
Jones, L. D. Cunningham and George

Christmas, entered the hallway. andj

with Carmichael joined in
RELIGIOCS EXERCISES +

for the last time. Tbe sheri:l, hig as-
sistants, relatives of Carmichael: and
Carmichael and Skipe, Dr. x!
Fithian, the attending phyeician} and

the gallows. Rev. Jones read th@}flith
chapter of Job, followed by selegtions
from the Psaims hy Rev. Cunningham.
_Thevntire body of witnesses jpined
the ministers and prisoners in iPying
Jesus Lover of My soci.”

A fervent farewell prayer was differed
by Rev. Jones. Carmichegel curing this
time knelt over a chair and welt bit-
terly.

A tew verses of the hymn “Thefp is a
Foantain Filled with Bicod” gage the|
prisoner additionai nerve and De e@adied

himself for hia fate.

At 12:45 Jailer Hood unlockdd the
ceil door and Hicks Carmivhaelfstood
erect to have himself manacled fo Neath.
An instant later and the great, p@wrerful
body of the coomed man was fm tne
trap door, When asked if he wighed to
say anythiog Carmichael repliec#f'yee,”
and spoke in a clear tone as ioLlot

“T am going just to heaven,” ea:d
“I aon’t fear it; lam trusting ist Him,
and thank Him forit. I want tofptate I
am dying this evening for Jesuail I feel
that fam as bold as a lion Sd no:
afraid to die. I feel that Iam bcfind for
heaven and a soldier for Jeeus, Phough

i have beer sadly scorned in thigfworid,
ta Sheriff Lones, his assis:ants ang
who bave shown me 80 much Mbidness
while here. I expect to meet you all in
heaven; meet me there. Farewell.”
The prisoner's feet were tied, Dr.1
Fithian examined his puise and found it
about normal. “I a:n going home to
die no more” was sung by kevs. Jones
and Cunningham by nest. The
black cap was then placed over the
doomed man's head and the rooee
placed aboot his neck. A death-lire
stillness prevailed, which was broken by
Sherif Lones asking Carmich mM oif be
was ready. A faint “yes was t repiy.
The fatal trap was sprang atongo’clock.
The body feli four feet ard ‘farted to
tarn slowly around, but was stemlied by
the sheri. A slight movement in the
legs was all the eizn of a straigzie. At
the end of two minutes the Altending
hysician found life still in the body.
-Xaminations were made at freyuent in-

tervale and life fonnd to he slowly ebbing
a


Coe nes TE aaae SEEM wrestlers tee a the cunts OL Os temlere and
‘Alteen miles norphtof the city, were| need no repetiuon bere. An indictment

‘wont to assembleté: worship in that had: been found against Carmichael by
‘Duihting PY terrible’ murder was com-| the eepon tk then in sesamon. The
‘kaitted. The new Knoxville, Cumber-| Prisoner was immediately arranged be-

ore thecourt Judge Logan appointed

land Gap & Lonisville railroad pamed Gen. R. N. Hood to act ag his counsel.

the church and thera‘were located the

The jury empanneled in the case con-

wuened. Lie reporter jougd sau
Melton, a white trusty, in the uppe
bailway in front of Carmichael's cei
The two were Jett by the guards and th

at outer doors closed. Never befor
ad the reporter had keya torned o
him, but it was s0 and as a prisoner b
aod Melton engrged each other tn cor

‘ Sk sisted of Moasrs, T.}0. Barnhill, M. W, | Versation.
works of Goodman a Foster. In the Huffaker, &. P. Angel, James D. Selb Positions were taken near Carmici
employ of thas: firm’ was Hicks Car. George L. Maloney, A.C. E. Callan, J. | 8el’s cell door, where his every actio:
michael. He Waa: Wanted in Morgan|©, Grant, A. W. Rose, John L. Hudi.| could be ‘ncted. The two parties meno
county for robbing a:store, on which| burg, M. C. Rose, Frank A. Dobeon and tioned above were in reality the ou:
charge a warrant wad ot for his arrest,| Ben Bell. - ps. ‘death-watchers,” as all the guards wer
‘the execntion.of whigh-was extrusted to} W. A. Coram, J. W. Adkins, Deputy without the walls and about Sheri:
Depaty Sheriff Shipe?:::- ') Sheriff Bornets, J. L. Householder and | Lanes’ dwelling. As the nour of twelv.

e bad been.on the ontlook for his|sheriif Lones were examined as wit-|*Pproached, the prisoner sat in a cha:

‘man some time and'jhad finally spotted | nemes for the state. Theirevidence was | 8tUdying in detail the 119th Psalm. Th
him at the worky méntioned. Deputy | conciusive as to the prisoner’s guilt, and | Clock in the court-house spire in slov
Sherif Shipe had“hdard cf the negro’a| he offered n0 witness in defense. The | 40d solemn tones tolled the death of a:
disposition, and fearing he might offer|attorneys made no argument and]old day and oshered in the une upor
resistance, the ser yicéa of Constable W.j Judge Logan charged tow jury.| Which the “doggennd must die. He heed
A. Coram were reds The twelve men retired and in just if-/ed it not, bat kept his eyes stead?!)

Approaching the\works the officers|tern mizutes returned and each mem. | xed on the Bible. Terrell had disrobe:

- foun Carmichael in: one of the tents. | ber announced his verdict that of mur- himself for bed and laid duwa, cut sep

He was sutung’om’s bunk mending a| der in the “tirstdegree.” Unmovedand|0t. “Bellmore contented hiase!f wit:

garment when the deputy sheriif entered | ticedless of the death edict being pro-|#Moking and writing a letter tu bis wit:

a SOOey eT followed bv his assistant. | nonuced upon bim, Carmichael sat with | im Norto Carolina.

Hicks Carmichae) here?’ was| ‘folded Lands aotil the jadge toid himto| At half pasttwe.ve the murderer wae
asked of the inmates.\:. " jstandup. Upon being asked if be had pcalied to the wissiow cf bis ceil by :
“Yes,” was the reply, anything to say why death sentence/gtard. He palled up two telegrama, for
“Then you are Whrisoner,” came from| should not be passed, toe prisoner ahook | the reporter both relating to bimwelt
the officers,» nay. hig head and in # mers whisper said] Repliesto the same wore writt:n onthe
“Please read your warrant and let me|“‘nothing.” Sentence was formally pro-| trapdoor of the gwiows, Atone o'clock
know what charge you have,” remarked | nounced and he wag remanded to prison | thé prisoner and nates were engaged in

Carmichael in a coo! bug’ rather pleasant | and a Geavy guard placed around him. |® serviee of wong. All Were good si ger:
manner, ae The trial bad lasted just two hours. The| od in the singing ofa number o! ‘| ee
“You are wanted’ for robbery,” ssid | demands of the ‘aw, ad the voice of the | the warderer jed with Gis fine bass vthce,
Depaty Suerid Shite i be opened the| people nad been sauseti-d ratuer summa-| He bad jaid down on his bed jor the,las:
warraot to read... Ha. commenced, but/rily, it is true, but legaily. cue Out was not then sieepy. di
never completed the paper, xs it proved le rasuer element of the city quieted] ““JOiny te joia the Angels,” Beadtifu
his own death warrant down and the prisoner was given ume to| Home,” “Sowing the Seed,” “Th ole
The deputy ia Roing over the au‘hor-| prepare for death. Ark is moving” and “Trouble ing} the
ity of arrest given im hy law hesitated Days passed and nights jollowed jn | Mind" were ameny the selections. 4!
at a sentence, as il he di not fully com- | qaick succession and Cartnicnaei fa:led Carmichael and Bellmore werejlec-
rehend its meaning.s This scheme of] to fuliy realize hia trne situation. Rev.|Flvyed in reading Bcripturai sei
Carmichael proved a successful ruse./B.J. Young, pastor of tie Eastport | !rom Revelauons, When the clocr
He reized two ugly tevolvers and, lion | Methodist Charch, with a trae meaion- |! 0, Terrell bad tried hard to zo to
like, seaped towarnt the men. Skot foi ary spirit, found Caraichael wandering | Datcoaid not, and was deepiy int
lowed shot in aick. succession; a cloud | "in Spiritnal darkness.” heiigiocs ser-| ia a novel. :
of smoke carled aboye, and death had!rices were often held and salvation} Toe doomed man was asked if h#hac
entered that litte tent A ball had ea-jotrred at the prisoner’s ceil, vat | AOY¥ fareweii letters to wire to any
feert mh breast and pierced his/ha refused aL Finally he professead| “Yes,” he repred, “oust not to-
heart. _ He fell» dead in the entracce, | religion and seemed resigned to his fate.| ‘Dotne hours pass quickly ty
breathing but twice before life wxs ex-| From that time the prisoner seemed | Vas asked by the reporter. ~
tinct. Coram better, bat aps Bok cheer{ui and asked for other prisoners to| “No, sir,” came the orm, clear
escaped. A bullet. bad passed through | be placed in bis ceil for company. This} At half-past two o'clock the ma
his coat pear a witel . request was granted and Carmichre] bag | R9t Upon bis knees and otfered a
Carmicta:]in «semi-nude sts te crossed | appeared more contented, lasting a hal! minuie. No word

the body of his victim With » boand and uring his two months cf imprison. |be beard, althuugh his iips we
ran toward the forgat’near by. Ooram| ment Jailer Bob Hood and Watchman! Moving quite frewy. Just then @ tear

snapped his revolrer.st the murderer| Frank Dobson have shown the prieoney| trickled down Hicks Carmichae
bat it failed to fire. =." every kindness and he remarked that/| cheek and he laid himself down
The excitement cansed by the killing! his treatment had been satisfactory. last tiue to sleep. A half

Was great and ureuit:of the marierer; B-tween them the officers. have hadj‘ater Belmore had undressed]! ard

lost eight of lor the time in sympathy | many varied and hard daties to per-|Jaid down beside Terreil. Th¢} lone
the murdered maa, form Since Catmichael’s conviction | cand:e that had been shedding i

The remains of the dead officer were | over Give thousand people have visited | rays over the cell was pat ont and
re ah | the jail and seen and conversed with|Jarkoess within. Carmichasl Pyyled
held by Squire! him:

THE MURDERER, _ 2
Hicks Carmichael was near 24 years of 3" a, =. in a distinct tone “Oh,

his
Weighed 200 poun was of Alin the cell with ; ;
qlee complexion ded had a Carmichael, having had
. physi ne. ” ie wae Weel tm th their fears decreased abou: a probable


“CLEVELAND, Os Tho. Lyon: Saaitvriuny Tena
j Trad Re ES B Me Airept Wade,  apectal to the Ban
SK 5 ga ‘ ame * aye. that: He ry Pi
Vhe ter is! vu “ee the A eRhant! pre- Jobs Ryans wer har
= the ets Of Lake Supertor to mui tain, pO ‘ a 3:
fasswiation thie yeat and agthemeot se hig w3
ytd price Or output, whe” ‘ton
he expectations ‘encouraged “by: navy,
trecent “Oxpreaslote trom bigh® kokrCog, |
Was not aurpr iste to thore who haye
Pheer udyised of the sentiment’ ‘of thes,
Amierehant firms. This ac ton ; e not nO}
(atenificant ax tt would have” ‘been. two! at ‘ Pash: Ot then,
“lmonths ago, a#’ in the menptime. tert, speech in which he ex

coutracts. involving | Lee “considerable! that
jamionis of ore, have been negotiated! ¢
leaving not more — than; 3,000,000 tona]t
jthat wilt: require {6 be fought. tn the; the
open market this year) ‘The. prices "of | :
YSO4 ore. unser these” ew ‘teray tons
tracts. are somewhat Jower than’ the! =*
$3.50 baae tentatively weletred toda the 1"
fesolution OF the merchant ore omen,’
Jedopted in iheir separite: Mieeting atid
(New York two weehké ago Btapderdd
*Mesaba Hesseters gre” understood | ta
Thave gone at about $3. These cogtracts
“are on a silding srale “based 6n_ ‘thal
{pig ifoo marke. Moré of: them are;
alk ely to be made. #> that ‘the neces. bla
pesty of an association agreement prom-|{:
* ete to grow ateadiiy leds, though the
jore men expect to keep up their er
- atiaation for ataltstiy Le Pare, Ore Poy.
for. 14 te Din “expected to come do Arie = .
‘before Jine 3, but. furhaces fa mort} Beanced: @ corpes ty
| tases are well tere arraee al Shem rates oe in twenty.
ow. lor weeks Beyond that: The Inke ities
; Veber tiruation f threatening? wane as thre
ir Me vances. on a dectiiiing magket, araiiy the
D5 see teeta dstermiped realetabes..;.
ee : Large Rall Sales, ;
Ge Rie ee ae rails trade Beat to ore, Is: the |
ex rt cron inlageating Yeatnte of the week.
tof Hasex of siandord sections for the week)
+ gt inciated 76000 “tons taken “by that wit
bese ilackawenus Aléel Company, and Mets 3
Rie. ivrione ty Une United Sratne Bteel Cori
» wre tetation. The New Tork Cetitval road].
£F a raced 0 1ee tone with werk tompany,
: “4th & (bisa ga val) youl of the eorporaten
ns Kept pols With Western: sda eet
‘ds ayant of fall operattt wettl ie
‘ ith a peer, “The YAgar Trordson mi! peo prom: ae
+h hyaet ales te ely a Naeitt aa we! eget of nen :
ry tate tis f ty. eet ware we
. ues Be ay bem tne vat! peewee be “a rttas, “a boner Jvdge wanted 4 Lites ase eons the pee
1 Mie! ye fav orn bie in Vee se ete npn reed Of Mealing “thaber.  Iudes eh |
oper RRA et te ns laen eel bbe sing hers played: Kivans and iis ta he grat
an tgp | REL apext eaters fp he oT ew hs eth bake a Fela iikthaptiators  repceet> the /
pea ttten bien ARE tas Pes jus wae es A ronae Wte. te ihe ‘eiterqaes mad |
y, a ehrhee a9 bet Ratt tf tie ate s bee: od to be shows the pardan. peeber,
r Meisog wsmoiiert, eh dest ste Lispicl. tx heat the why AO4 when a ehort tg! oe
tite ah wt ate tomy Wor wad Be be The, pete tithe ey ee wen vhost tad
Rr tam. hore ba Chea by nl? - ae: hx Poti. Bodin Aerize’ by
2€0.4 | Sayer pet: the aad tprop, ki pahagibe & poe ta toyed the peal Gar.
peg | : As ada - ete 2s nao


ing <

The ral: trafe, next tp: ore, the.
: “port Host Interesting feature of the. week:
te tak Sales of standard secthona tor: the weak y
BAS in inded 70.000 tana take by thal
Erar) Larkawanna Mice] (Omihpang, ap) 20,41
ee te TINY tetia by tha Un fred Hiwlew Ate@) (or
~ (aed [potatoes The New Vouk Central roa
, yay ol 10 1oha with. Wech Pormpany:
The Chicage rail moll! of the corporation,
- 8 Sahey hogy with” Weevern orders and}
Ps te abagved of full operatiod wath tate:
a + e inthe year (Tha Fdgar Thamson’ 191
S wig BR Aperaled to pay soy 2) A
BA tg RR : ee
a Whey the. FAY! he ratte
pat Liat Te Tay: tpble in ihe: werk'y dhe
trek ehenanente hoe been sald: ? Ia ottiert
jp “pdetay) Matera tines, as well as tn pur he ators » teaphed +
‘sae Che dollness hag been” masneds *r Rome late tw the aftergoon ‘aad -
eee. sentimental effert AY the ore aioae, warden! Bucher
op chatter 6 aston WT nit’ ‘be beip Tat, fy fied the way re ng
“jemiie of shat taay ba wail Ax ta the fr0 amie hose whe
eee. Stine co? ee baving Aner ay

ki , ‘
. = ital oe: Se eS jsebe day

ea WARE House

ae

a

) RNERSTER ae A owigptay heed:
thao omareboaer, oocrpled eo Me kin the garden

Usorwesy & Ge, and WOR Carpe hea ‘hee
aie bah ames feline pronto Abonages eR nome
De) Notice petey. Mond / Rin “ode medn: Sabet TES Bend lot tp Co
i ey cis Toate Stee aehaee a The wee SAR Bi om i i enlptater, tn:
Penk Drei Bt the piars fae. poet thw? ot the assault by rene ant
are leat a qiaetity ff pumates, to | Were shortly gherebes te
Wein GF door voles, Pe ta Se bettie ng | Teer sid. oot! brrray a
ptby, pine wae wet oon Bre ie hits tha | tyflnetrr, teat ton
2 mR There eed BD. loenrentd or) Wed the ake &
oud 1 i teleted tine foes Be aireat totinwed.

r ‘ teStow te the are -

that te:
cf hatin: fot: ware

pike CER i ioe’ way: =o. “ee
sie igen annt ele Yee grt ae freer Teer preapindd imaee
heat So ot 1% wer alent eae ee ae +f ee teat Ard

ete Toss iy pot ight’ ane oe
Ke? ih Par Sas haha wee.

© AY Brea tt 4

Pha fewida'! on 5 ad sseight: gid Pri St* cE

- ie J 3 hia s >» 4 ew aa “rin pot on. Rik,
BP ah So rae ord Seid mK, wre <4 Mie Binink Mer ont oe
pe a Pe Se

ag fay ty 3 ity pelea a tears
epg ¥ toes oe Fthy apt b et Aves erica mes
aes sie Pacis tos leat H&ukit prs ‘

1 Se Tee

oe

Baad ‘pate Se es Le Rat) i
¢ eee es cee eee 3: a: aay ine ym i$ an ae Ay “1. - hy Pe Fg
oy: at aie WK S4 Denes Saray
arte Bates 8 hh ene roo Xp apathy same hsb ae aes ¥ “2 ;


any-
le of
her

me
Was
_the
hen
an-
» let
last
it,”
Mrs.
trv
did
nter-

inch,
» the
part-

me.
g up
tab-
went

went
Then
the
she
thing

Ising
the
She

{ her

after

t my

same

» and

and
king
‘ould
son

nued
that
tub,
and
wash
yman
inted
1 be-
had
rob-
fact
1s.
lishes
min-
back
ney |
Mrs,
body

o the
ingly
1 told
ready
i: “I

ohn?’

dollar
kept
Then
tchen.
ls and
This
with
rpet.”’
and
idden
bills
sub-
owing
olun-
in a
towel
‘v10Uus
1 this

May, 1937

towel over his victim’s face after he
smothered her with the sugar sack that
he had not troubled to hide. He also
identified the package of potassium per-
manganate which he had tried to use with
deadly intent.

Returning to Central Headquarters with
our prisoner and the exhibits, his verbal
admissions of guilt were recorded in writ-
ing and witnessed by Detective Lieutenant
Quianthy, Detective Sergeants Miller,
Moore and Caldwell and Messrs. Morgan
Brassell and R. G. Harris. The last two
are representatives of the local press. In
this written statement, the self-confessed
murderer told of the expensive jewelry
that he had tossed aside, because he had
shrewdly figured that if he took it, it
might lead to his apprehension.

Following his indictment by the Shelby
County Grand Jury, John Deal was
brought to trial on the charge of first-
degree murder, June 8th, 1933, before
Judge Phil Wallace of Division 1, Criminal
Court. The State’s case was masterfully
handled by District Attorney W. T. Mc-
Lain, who presented the evidence substan-
tially outlined in the killer's signed con-
fession.

Defense attorneys astutely battled to ex-
clude admission of the confession, but
their plea was overruled. Had they suc-
ceeded in barring the killer’s own admis-
sions from evidence at the trial, the out-
come of the case might have been differ-
ent, with us forced to rely solely upon
circumstantial evidence.

ALTHOUGH the defendant took the
stand and repudiated his confession,
the belated denial of guilt was too weak
to gain credence with the jury. A verdict
was rendered that carried the death penal-
ty. Then followed the customary motion
for new trial, and that being refused, an
appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
This process automatically stayed execu-
tion.

Finally, on the morning of Saturday,
September 15th, 1934, the final act of this
tragic drama occurred behind the high
walls of the penitentiary at Nashville.
John Deal was led from his cell at dawn
and marched to the electric chair. Warden
A. W. Neeley asked him if he was afraid
to die.

“No, sir,” he replied, “but | don’t want
to die with a lie on my soul...” and
he repeated the confession made at the
time of his arrest; then started singing
the chorus from: “God’s World Never
Passes Away,” as the black hood dropped
over his face.

Two charges of electricity forever
silenced the voice of John Deal, and the
man who so cruelly murdered Mrs. Eliza-
beth Sangster Summerfield learned too
late—THAT CRIME NEVER PAYS.

Thus was William Guston, once under a
cloud of suspicion, proved entirely inno-
cent of any connection with the crime.

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126 Tenn.

STATE of Tennessee, Appellee,
v.

Jeffrey Stuart DICKS, Appellant.
Supreme Court of Tennessee.

Feb. 2, 1981.
Rehearing Denied May 4, 1981.

Defendant was convicted before the
Criminal Court, Greene County, Edgar P.
Clahoun, J., of first-degree murder and was
sentenced to death. Defendant appealed.
The Supreme Court, Cooper, J., held that:
(1) admission of photographs of victim be-
fore and after murder and of defendant
was not prejudicial error; (2) excusing ac-
complice from testifying was not error; (3)
testimony of. witness as to impressions she
formed in conversations she had had with
accomplice was properly excluded; (4) re-
fusal to allow clinical psychologist to testify
in guilt and innocence phase of trial as to
defendant’s personality was not error; (5)
evidence supported finding that defendant
was an active participant in robbery and
murder of victim and was not, as defendant
claimed, waiting for accomplice in an auto-
mobile; (6) sentencing procedure under
death penalty statute, in which jury may
impose death penalty for first-degree mur-
der only upon finding that one or more
aggravating circumstances listed in statute
are present, and that such circumstance or
circumstances are not outweighed by any
mitigating circumstance, is constitution-
al; (7) death penalty statute does not re-
quire that jury return a mandatory verdict
of death since jury must consider mitigat-
ing factors; and (8) aggravating factor,
found in death penalty statute, that murder
was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel in
that it involved torture or depravity of
mind is not impermissibly vague.

Affirmed.
Brock, C.J., dissented and filed opinion.

615 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

1. Criminal Law <>1169.1(10)

Admission of photograph of murder
victim before homicide was not prejudicial
error, even though it might better have
been excluded since it added little or noth-
ing to sum total of knowledge of jury.

2. Criminal Law <1169.1(10)

Admission of photographs of murder
victim after murder was not prejudicial er-
ror in that photograph was a necessary
predicate to prove that victim was uncon-
scious at time his throat was cut.

3. Criminal Law ¢1169.1(10)

Admission of photograph of defendant
in prosecution for murder was not prejudi-
cial error in that photograph was relevant
to issue of identification of defendant by
means of coat defendant was shown wear-
ing in photograph.

4, Criminal Law <508(7)

Excusing accomplice from testifying in
trial of defendant for murder was not error
where accomplice had not testified in his
own trial and would exercise his Fifth
Amendment privilege not to testify in de-
fendant’s trial. U.S.C.A.Const. Amend. 5.

5. Witnesses ¢=2(1)
Calling a witness who will refuse to
testify does not fill purpose of compulsory

process, which is to produce testimony for
defendant. U.S.C.A.Const. Amend. 5.

6. Witnesses <=297(1)

Where there is a conflict between basic
right of a defendant to compulsory process
and witness’ right against self-incrimina-
tion, right against self-incrimination is
stronger and paramount right. U.S.C.A.
Const. Amend. 5.

7. Witnesses 309

A jury is not entitled to draw any
inferences from decision of a witness to
exercise constitutional privilege against
self-incrimination, whether those inferences

be favorable to prosecution or defense.
U.S.C.A.Const. Amend. 5.

8. Criminal Law @=419(1)
Testimony of witness as to impressions
she formed from conversations she had had

lc Sa enls Withe A ar

STATE v.

with accomplice did not come within excep-
tion carved out of hearsay exclusion rule to
permit introduction of declarations against
penal interest, and was properly excluded.

9. Criminal Law <=474

Testimony of clinical psychologist as to
personality of defendant was properly ex-
cluded from guilt and innocence phase of
trial where no contention was made in be-
half of defendant, nor could psychologist so
testify, that defendant was insane or incom-
petent under appropriate tests.

10. Homicide ¢=354

Felony-murder can be aggravating cir-
cumstance which justifies imposition of
death penalty.

11. Homicide ¢234(8)

Evidence of two sets of footprints
found outside rear entrance of shop where
owner was robbed and killed and of witness’
observation of defendant and accomplice
running from alley leading from shop to-
ward defendant’s home was sufficient to
support finding that defendant was an ac-
tive participant in robbery and murder of
store owner and was not, as claimed, wait-
ing for accomplice in an automobile.

12. Homicide 351

Sentencing procedure under death pen-
alty statute, under which jury may impose
death penalty only upon finding that one or
more aggravating circumstances listed in
statute are present, and further that such
circumstance or circumstances are not out-
weighed by any mitigating circumstance, is
constitutional. T.C.A. § 39-2404(g).

13. Homicide 354

Sentence of death for murder of store
owner during robbery was not improper
where jury found three aggravating cir-
cumstances and no mitigating circumstanc-
es. T.C.A. § 39-2404(g).

14. Homicide e351

Death penalty statute does not require
that jury return a mandatory verdict of
death under any circumstances, and so is
constitutional. U.S.C.A.Const. Amend. 8;
T.C.A. § 39-2404(g).

DICKS Tenn. 127
Cite as, Tenn., 615 S.W.2d 126

15. Homicide 351

Aggravating circumstance, under death
penalty statute, that murder was especially
heinous, atrocious or cruel in that it in-
volved torture or depravity of mind, is not
impermissibly vague. T.C.A. § 39-
2404(i)(5).

James H. Beeler, Kingsport, Larry S.
Weddington, Bristol, Richard Maxwell, Bart
Durham, Nashville, J. Lawrence Smith,
Asheville, N.C., for appellant.

William M. Leech, Jr., Atty. Gen. and
Reporter, Robert L. Jolley, Jr., Asst. Atty.
Gen., Nashville, for appellee.

OPINION

COOPER, Justice.

This case is before us pursuant to T.C.A.
§ 39-2406, which provides for review by
this court of every case in which a death
penalty is imposed.

Appellant, Jeffrey Stuart Dicks, was
found guilty of murder in the first degree
for the killing of James Keegan in the
course of the robbery of the Budget Shop in
Kingsport, Tennessee. The Budget Shop is
a second-hand clothing store. Mr. Keegan,
the owner, was known to carry a substan-
tial sum of money on his person to be used
in the business. On February 16, 1978, Mr.
Keegan’s body was found on the floor of his
place of business. His throat had been cut
and there was evidence of a severe blow to
his head. Death was due to the throat
wound which, according to medical testimo-
ny, was inflicted while Mr. Keegan was
unconscious from the head injury. A
search of Mr. Keegan’s person and his busi-
ness establishment revealed that Mr. Kee-
gan’s money had been taken. Appellant
and Donald Wayne “Chief” Strouth subse-
quently were arrested and indicted on a
charge of murder in the first degree (mur-
der in the perpetration of a robbery.) The
defendants were tried separately, to avoid

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