The weekly Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1852-1855, 1854-04-20
"wednesday Even'g April no, 1854

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one Of intense interest TO the House Of X p.
resen,aiiy. s. The ape ial C mmittee to
" HON had been referred the duty Of inyes.
%Iiguting the charges OF cruelty, by the dep
uty Warden Watson, upon q negro convict
in the Penite ntiary, made their report to the
House. This report and the TESTING, " were
read at the Clerks desk. They disclose a
Tale OF outrage and cruelty. such az has
never before been brought to light in Ohio,
and which. for the sake Of common human
ity, il is hoped may never find q parallel in
our history.
We will state the substance of those doc
pments that the public m y understand the
leading facts Ms they appear on the record.
The committee find that, IN March last, this
neg O prisoner was by the order OF Watson,
thrown into a dark cell, with no hlur but
the earth, I at the bed and all the bed
clothes were removed, that the cell was at
least seventy feet from he stove, that sfter
he had been thur confined for some doys,
Watson ordered him out. had him stripped
to the skin. and ordered one . tho guards TO
give him Ten la.hes with q cat. This was
done with such vigOr as to cut the back Sc
%verPly, and cause the blood to how. After
the whipping. he was put back into his cold
dark cell. aud ifrthat condition, without bed
or bedding, lie passed three days, when
Watson again tonk him out, and whipped
him severely, himself. Again he was per
back. his shirt GOV red with blood. to pass
three DAYS Of suffering on the ground. The
third time he was taken out and whipped
with the cat, by Watson. The foi nth time
he was taken out, stripped, and was told
haR 20 Ia III - -. T.. l. III ~
money, which Watson claimed had been
stolen from him, he should be whipped ev-
cry dav till his term Of imprisonment expir-
e. The negro du ing all these fipggings,
protested he kn ~ nothing Of the muney =
He was not logged again, hut fJr sixteen
days in the cold weather, with no bed but
the earth, and not q particle Of bed clothes,
he was kept confined in IA darkened cell,and
fed en- corn bread aud water.
The Committee had two physicians. mem
bers ofthe House, called TO ex min" the
back Of the prisoner, and they report that it
was badly cut up; that tweity prominent
gashes through the skin were appurent;
that his injuries, together with his expos
ures, would have been sufficient to have pro-
duced the death Of a person OF only ordinary
endurance.
The committee recommended that the
Warden discharge Mr.. Watson from his
service.
The testimony was voluminou7, and its
reading was listened to with great interest
by the House. As a basis for operations
they examined the prisoner, under oath, and
his testimony is given in full. He relates
the substance of the foreg ing, and the tes-
iimony of others torroborates m in every
essential particular. AS there was a pre-
tence that he had been whipped, &C., tor
having stolen shoes, a pair Of drawers, a
saddle tree, bride bits and stirrups, a clnthes
brush, &c, in his possession, he was inter-
rogatrd about the manner in which he be-
came posse. sed of them. This he explain
ed in detail. The committee, to test his
truth, examined the person of whom he said
he had pro ured them, and fou ID a s~atisfac-
tory explanation in all the cases except the
birdie bits and stirrup s. But thers was not
a particle Of evidence to prove that a single
%srticlp had been stolen. His history Of his
whipping, the number of blows, his expos
urc. &c, was sustained by others fully.
Efforts have been made to create the
opinion that this whipping was inflicted as
a punishment for having taken these arti-
cles in his Possession, against the rnles OF
the pri on; and the "Btdct boot," as il is
called, has been made to assume this ap-
peara 'ce. But Nj. Peters, the RApresen-
%tative from Marion, ~tss,iies that Watson
told him he had punish d TIL negro TO make
him confess that he had stolen the money
md that he would whip HIM til his time
was out, If he did not tell him where he had
put it. Other Witnesses testify that Wat
son said tn 5 punishment was TO force u con-
%fession from the prisoner.
In all this investigation there Is not a
particle OF evidence to show tat the negro
stole the money or indeed that Watson ever
lost my money.
DimTock, the Warden, was sick part OF
the time, and the whipping, he says. wa
do e without his knowledge. There is n
ru c that not more than nine blows are Ia
be Civ n tn any prisoner, and vet Watson
administered twenty nine without consult.
ing any me-. VIII n NJ. LrnoX returned
7 from Tennessee, he was told Of this Outra.
geous case, and he at once inquired into it.
j Mr.. Dimmock said the object was to com
pei a cOnfe sim from the prisoner, ant
. Watson urged that it he could give him d
= few more cuttings he thought he would con
{ fess. When Lennox ordered a bed put in
the cell, Dimmock Refused to do so, and il
was some time before the director could az.
: conplish this much Cor the relief of the pris'
| oner. The testimony tends to show that
4 Dlmmock is n weak, inefficient man, no
: naturally bad and wicked but easily con
=; trclled, md that Watson did so control him
n and conducted just as he pleased about the
prison.
r The fullest chance was given to Dim.
: mock and Watson To explain their conduct
= The committee expressly told them thai
they would examine my witnesses they
5 should see fit to desire, but they said they
Z had no more witnesses to exam ne. Mr.
5 Watson at one lime called Mr.. Dimmock
h The commit ee told him if he had Dimnocl
sworn, he mnst be examined generally il
relation to this transaction. Watson de.
IF sired to cunine his answers to one or tw
points, andwhen told this could not be done
o he consulted with his advisers, aud after de
tanning the committee an hour, he declin
d ed to have Mr.. Dim,nock sworn,
Such are some ufthe fncts, as disclosed b.
the report and the Testimony in this extra
d ordinary case, They cannot fail to max,
n profound sensation all over the State.
The House recommi ted the report to tn
committee, for the purpose Of embodyin,
some Of the facts in their report which ha
been omitted. When again before tn
House, they will be ordered to be pIintet
and th"n the public can form an opinion c
f. the merits of the case from the official re
:. cords w q re. erva futhor cnmmcntn iii