Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1845-08-14
letter from Peter w. s'arke.

! AS | am now about to leave this world. and
must shortly appear before just and holy God,
one who cannot err nor be mistaken, one who
judges in righteousness and in truth, who | must
give an account to for all nv actions and deeds,
before him who will condemn me if what | here
say is not true, to the place oftoment forever and
be eternally tormented. God knows my innocence,
and l am perfectly willing to abide his decision,
trusting in him as just judge, for he knows all
things that is done whether by day or by night.
feel now, as am about to be offered up a sac
rifce upon the altar Of my country to satisfy the
prejudices of an excited community. that 1t IS a
duty which owe to myself. my family, my friends
and country that should now make brief state
ment of facts, and have them published to the
world before leave it. What shall say shall be
strictly true.
| The murder is as much mystery 10 me as it is
to any man living. Who it was that planned the
murder or committed it do not know. 1t is all a
mystery suspect no man living of having COM
mitted or being concerned knew nothing 10
suspect any one, or that would lead to the dscov-
cry of the murderers.
| now solemlv declare before heaven and earth,
that am entirely innocent of the murder of any
knowledge of it whatever; that no person ever in
timated in any way to me such thing that they
wished or wanted John B. Parke or John Cashier
dead, killed or robbed, or anything of the kind
that never on that farm, or in that house, or
in that road from the crossroads to the creek, be-
tween sundown and sunrise, till the next week af-
ter the murder, in my life, that have any recol-
lection Of; that | never knew that there was a
sink hole any where about that farm or road till
Tuesday morning after the murder that if Joseph
Carter knew of it he never told me; that when
Linden G.. Lyman told me of the murder on Tues
day morning, was the first that knew or heard of
the murder or of the snk-hole that was at home
that night all night from dark till about nine o.
clock in my shop and in my house from nine o.
clock till daylight the next morning, that my wife
had been sick about three months, and my young
est child was sick that night. that | had to set up
with it till midnight; that never seen Jesse Ii
ger to know him till about four weeks after the
murder that he was an entire stranger to me at
the time of the murder, and never spoke to the
positively false and that he knows it, that the evil
dence of Mrs. Martenus is also false; that her or
no other person ever heard me say what she test-
fled to- and that can prove it to the satisfaction of
any unprejudlced man; that did not see Joseph
Carter or Abner Parke, or any other relation of
mine except the inmates Of my own house that
night; the first time that ever seen the sink-hole,
was on Tuesday morning after the murder, be-
tween nine and ten o'clock that the people may
say all they can, they cannot make me guilty in
any way in any shape. The conrts may con-
denim me and cali me a hardened wretch, and
wicked murderer. They must all recollect that
they have Judge supreme, as we'll me; the
same judge, the same God, and the same Media
tor; that they must appear before the same court
in Heaven that must that they must give an ac-
count as well as me and if they have done wrong
they are answerable for their own conduct my
conscience is perfectly clear of all guilt, and that
| have done my duty to myself and to my country
throughout the whole of my prosecutions, with
clean hands that have injured no man, clear from
the blood of all men to appear IN the court Of
Heaven. | have been indicted on suspicion, tried
and condemned upon prejudice and perjury to die!
to die the death of d martyr, not the death of a
criminal.
| freely forgive them all, and pray that God will
show them all the error that they are in fore he
calls them to leave this world and may God for
give them and be more merciful to them than they
have been to me; and hope and pray they will
seek that forgiveness from God that will wash the
stain my blood from their never-dying souls.
any person should attempt to pass off on the
public any confession of mine, contrary to this
statement, it will be forgery. This will be my
dying speech and dying breath, and speak the
truth can say nothing else.
The whole history of my prosecutions in due
time will appear in a brief form before the public,
to give every one an opportunity of judging for
themselves OF the evidence of presumption.
BY publishing the foregoing in your paper you
will confer favor on an innocent and prosecuted |
citizen of New Jersey.
PETER w. PARKE
Dated, Mercer Jail, Aug. I'd, ls45.
A Tailor, il has been decided in a Boston |