The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-04-20 00:00:00

3T-F

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At a Court of Oyer and Ternii:ier and Gard Deli-
very, held at Canadarqua, in and for the County
of Ontario, on Wednesday the 23d day of Febru-
ary, 1803. Present, BROCMIOLST LivitgosroN,
Esq. one of the Justices of the Suprezi.e Court;
Tistortnr Hossttu, Esq. First Judge of the
Court of (7o:nrnon Pleas; MOsti ATW A TER,
• Esq. one of the Judges of the Court of Common
Pleas.

George, otherwise called Ste :armed George, a war-
rior of the Seneca nation of Indians, was set to
the bar for the murder of John Hewitt. Previ.ns
to his arraignment, William Johnson was sworn to
interpret into the Indian language the substance of
the indiftment.
The indictment was then read and interpreted to
the prisoner. It charged the murder to have been
committed on the Vsth day of July, one thousand
eight hundred and two, at the town of Northamp-
ton, in the cf.aoity of Ontario, by stabbing Hewitt
in the breast with a knife, of which he died in the
space of two minutes.
The prisoner pleaded Not Guilty. The Jury be-
ing sworn, Horatio Jones, a person well acquainted
with the Seneca tongue, was sworn well and faith-
fully to interpret into that language all the evidence
which might be given during the trial.
Jor_Tli Palmer was sworn as a witness for the peo-
ple. He knew the prisoner, and had also known
John Hewitt, the deceased. On the twenty-fifth
day of July, one thousand eight hundred and two,
a little before sunset, William Keeler, William
Ward, and the witness, were lying together on the
ground at a small distance from a house in the town
of Northampton, in the county of Ontario. While
in this situati:m the prisoner passed by, about two
yards from them : when opposite to them, he said,
" God damn"—He went on about two rods, and
returning near where they were lying, repeated the'
same words. Nothing, as the witness heard, was
said to him by the party on the ground. He
went on as before about two rods, and returned
to them a third time, when Ward or Keeler said
he had a knife. Ward and Keeler sprung up,
and ran four or five yards. The prisoner went on.
The witnev, seeing his knife, get up and retreated.
The prisoner still went on. The witness followed
the prisoner with a view of taking his knife away,
having first taken a small stick from Ward. When
within two or three yards of the prisoner, the latter
turned round and made a stroke at him with his
knife. After making the 'troke at him, the witness
struck the prisoner with his stick, when thereupon
he made two more stabs at him. After the third
pass, the witness and prisoner both fell. The wit-
ness when he got up retreated, and the prisoner fol-
lowed him about four rods. They then separated,
and the prisoner went on into the house of a negro,
called Joe Hodges, where lie remained a minute or
two, after which he came out with his knife drawn,
and sleeves turned up, which circumstance he had
not observed before. He walked five or six yards,
in front of the door, and then made stand and said,
"lam a man." At this time William Ward and
Timothy Janes came up, the witness and Janes had
no sticks or weapons of any kind ; Ward had one
which was not very large. The prisoner continued
jumping up and down, with his arms extended, say-
ing, "he was a man." Janes having no weapon
went away, saying he was afraid of him. The pri-
soner was passing backwards and forwards, before
Ward and the witness. The witness at length re-
treated about four rods, but previous thereto, the
prisoner came forwards and walked round them.
While in this situation, one Case Patterson came out
of another house and went towards the Indian, hav-
ing in his hand a club of about two feet and a half
in length, and half an inch thick. The prisoner
also advanced towards Patterson, an engagement en-
sued between there, but the witness knew not who
we the first blow, but Patterson rather drove him.
ring the scuffle, the witness left him to look for a
weapon ; the prisoner and Patterson about the same
time went round one end of the house, so that the
witness lost sight of them about one minute and a
half. At that instant the deceased passed the wit-
ness on a run with a stick or club, and went towards
the prisoner. Ward was then wounded, and had
been so abort: one minute after the prisoner came
up to the witness and the others, who were lying on
the ground ; the witness saw Ward was wounded;
about three minutes after he received his wound :
about two minutes after Hewitt had pas:A the wit-
ness, he w'cnt up to him and heard him exclaim,
" that he was a dead man—he has killed me." He
expired about two minutes after. Hewitt knew
Ward had been wounded before he went after the
prisoner, as Ward had previously gone into the
house where he was when the witness 'came back
after searching for a weapon ; the prisoner was al-
ready taken, Lut he does nut know whether he then
had a knife.
The prisoner was not drunk. Ilewitt was wound-
ed on the right breast ; the wound appeared to he
deep, and more than an inch s-ide. This was the
Aortal Wound ; he had others in the back.
William Ward being sworn em the part of the
prosecution, testified, that the prisoner Fused
Keeler, Palmer, and himself, as they were lving
on the ground, twice, saying " God damn you.
When he came up the third time, at the distance of
about a rod or 'a rod and a half, he drew a knife.
The witness told Palmer he had drawn his knife,
and sprang up, as did also Keeler, who had a stick ;
Palmer did not get up so soon. The prisoner struck
at Palmer with his knife, but the stroke fell short of
him about two feet ; when the witness saw Keeler
with a stick, he desired him to knock him down.
Keeler said he had rather the witness should do it ;
upon which 'he took the stick from Keeler, and fol-
4owed the prisoner, who retreated, The witness
then threw a brick at him, which hit him on the
back. The prisoner ran about eight rods, and kept
shaking his knife, as if to aggravate him. Palmer
had already taken the stick out of the hands of the
witness, with which he struck the Indian. The
prisoner stopped suddenly ; he struck at Palmer and
Palmer at him • several passes were made between
them ; Palmer' slipped, and fell. The witness then
came up and struck the prisoner, bat not a heavy
blow. The prisoner wheeled round and stabbed
him in the chin with his knife ; the blood flowed
procusely, and spirted out nearly the length of his
arm. Case Patter-eon, and Janes then came up ;
Patterson asked the witness for his stick, saying he
would pursue and'eake him. The witness stood
still, as he felt uneasy, and considered the wound
dangerous. The prisoner ran off: Patterson and
Janes took a short cut down the hill and followed.
The witness went to Chapin's store, and shortly
after heard them hallow, " Item he is—here he is."