Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1857-02-13
Confession of West, the Murderer OF
his Wife at Philadelphia.

snail cndeaVor to give you a brle
history of my life. 1t has been repre-
scented in the papers that am an En-
gllshman; | am not; was born in Bal
timore, Md, where my ancestors have
all resided; my ancestors on both sides
came to America with Lord Baltimore
formerly lived in the city of Philadel-
phia whena boy; l have also lived in
the city of New York and worked at my
business, cane and whip manufacturing,
there; carried it on there myself after
the death Of my father; in New York |
had friend with whom | was bound in
the warmest tics of friendship; when |
stood at his bedside he asked me to pro-
tect his widow after his death l visited
the widow, Mrs Arabella De Camp, IN
til the acquaintance ripened into love, an
affection of the heart, which was recip-
rocated, and we were married she was
intelligent virtuous, faithful, industri-
Gus, and all that a wife could be; our
life was scene Of uninterrupted happi-
ness no cloud to mar our domestic te-
licity.
d" | have been fireman in this city,
and like many others have participated
IN scenes of riot, which naturally arise
from such associations; | have assailed
and been assailcd; my life has often been
in danger; have been shot and stabbed
in these ARRAYS, but | have never carried
a weapon; | have always prided myself
in my knowledge of the manly art of
self-dcfcrcc, and always felt confidence
in my proves never carried a weapon.
Ii the impression were removed from the
public mind in regard to this act, there
would be fewer bloody street ARRAYS.
Teach the young meu if they needs must
war with each other, to depend On ma
lures weapons, and there would be less
bloodshcd. But the community looks
upon the manly art Of self-defcncc as a
BLACKBOARD act, and the man who carries
a concealed deadly weapon as a gentle
man. The Court here requested the
prisoner to confne the remarks he had
to make in answer to the question which
had been propoundcd to him.
The prisoner then spoke of his family
difficulties while living in New York
which he said had been brought about by
his sister, who was envious Of his wife
envious of the need of praise which sh,
received for her kindness and devotion tc
his dying father, The part of the pris-
oner's address, in which he spoke of the
happiness Of himself and wife of pro-
vlding for his aged mother and sisters,
was truly affecting, and his utterance,
when speaking Of his mother. was fire.
quently choked with sobs. My moth
er came to Philadelphia to live with my
sister and her husband after our es-
arrangement; | had not seen her for three
years; | received a tclegraphic despatch
stating that she was very i'll; ] came on
and found her living or rather lingering
with my sister; they had been notified t.
leave tho premises by the landlord, anc
talked of sending my poor old mother tC
the Almshouse ; | could not stand this
she asked me to forgive her; | did 81
willingly; then got work in this cit,
and sent for my wife to come on here
that was a sorrowful move for me my
dear old mothers spirit passed away t.
that blessed land where there are no
storms or sorrow.
T" / buried her, according to her last
request, in the same grave with my
father, and thus they were reunited in
death peace to their souls, they know
not the sorrows Of their child; [the priso-
ner here became very much affected !:
thank God she is gone oh had she
lived to see her son in this fclon's dock,
it would have broken her heart" Tho
prisoner then went on to state that after
living in this city some time, his wife,
at the suggestion Of his sister, com
menced keeping boarders awe moved
to No. II Merchant street, the same
house in which had passed many happy
youthful days; one day came into the
parlor and saw my sister hand my wife a
note; ! asked to sec it; my wife refused
to give it to me-" Prisoner went on to
say that he got the note by force, and
found it to be an assignment with anoth-
err man at his house.
" Up 10 this time ! had never any
reason 10 suspect my wifc's fidelity. !
sued out writ Of adultery, and she was
arrcsted-but | had not the heart TO
prosecute her. She begged forgiveness
on her knees, and I forgayc her. did
not cast her off no, / dearly loved and
freely forgave her for the sake Of our
children. When / again heard of my
wife's infdelity / had no heart TO do any
thing but dic-yct believed her true.
/ wandered through the streets, alone,
the whole day. / could not look upon
the domestic happiness Of my friends
without shudder begged my wife
to give up keeping such boardcrs, and
she agreed to do so and get a small house
where we could live alone The pris-
oner then narrated the circumstances Of
his wife's leaving him and his going to
New York after her and his return, and
all the circumstances of the week previous
TO the murder, which agree, generally,
with the evidence published at the time
Of the trial lie had drank freely, cat
very little, and slept almost none. "On
the day Of the murder had no thought
ofkilling my wife. My heart was sad I;
it appeared j had no home. / went to
the house in Merchant street; they we're
removing the furniture.
went into the house, | saw my wife
embracing man named Updykc; Invent
up stairs; shut the door, got n pistol,
which was loaded, put it to my head and
pulled the trigger, but il would not go