Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1859-12-22
Teleg-aphed Exclusively to the eensinn.tss Gazette
CONSERVATISM Of flle Harper's
Ferry Tragedy.

ieiegaaPneo sxeius1sey 70 otneCfncinnhlu e1xetse
COnsumniatiOn Of flle Harper's
Ferry Tragedy.
HAkFERss FERRY, Va. Dec. l6.
LAST rrERy1Ews OF THE CONDEMNED WITH THEIR
II ~ FxIENDs.
Cook. since the visit Of his sisters, Mrs. Grow
| ley and Mrs Staunton, on Tuesday last, has
been very cheerful.
Their meeting was n very affectIonaie one
The meeting of a brother who had been lost to
them for years. under sush circumstances, was
of character that battles description. Govern
or Willard was present with them. and after
they had spent some hours together. they parted.
Coppic was visited by several relatives dur
| ing the week. and yesterday an uncle came on
/ to whom will be gwen his body.
COOK AND corr1o vaIxLY ATTEMPTED TO ESCAPE.
I'VE omit some details givea in other dis
patches-Ed. Herald
Coppic got out first, feet foremost. and allowed
himself to drop distance of fourteen feet.-
Cook followed The timbers of the scaffpld on
which Brown was hung were IN the yard, and
they were used for scaling the wall Copplc
assembled first, and stretched himself on the top
| of the wall Cook then held his hat up over the
wall to see ifhe would be noticed. A sentinel
observed it as he attempted to elevate himself,
the guard fred, but the ball missed its mark
The two prisoners then retreated into the yard
and toward the Jail door. The alarm was given.
and the jailor on entering the yard, seized them
and recoaveyed them to their room, where they
were heavily lroned to the floor.
The bnoyant flow of spirits which they had
exhibited now sank, and they appeared much
depressed. E.5
In the morning, they again, became cheerful.
Cook. humbly begged the jailor's pardon, and
said be freely and fully exonerated him from all
completely. Had it not been for the military
guard. they would have undoubtedly escaped
Some of the citizens censure the jailor severly,
while others think that his charitable feelings
towards fhe prisoners, was his only fult-
He undoubtedly desired that the prisoners
should spend their last hours BIZ themselves, un-
disturbed even by the regular Jail guard. His
kinoness. it is feared, has been his ruin.
| A scaffold has been erected on the same spot
which had Witnessed the execution of Brown
| Uulike the day Of his execution, which was
| mild, with genial sunshine. the heavens were
overcast, the air raw and bitter, and the ground
covered with slight snow.
EXECUTION OF THE NEGROES.
Attwenty minutes to eleven o'clock the Com
| manding General. with his staff. departed for
| the field, and in a few minutes Green and Cope
| land, the negroes, with their arms pinioned,
walked out of the Jail. They were assisted in
| to the wagon, and took their seats on their
coffins. a5.ss.,.-.. < -- 81.
| The line Of march was taken up. and the ne
groes without speaking q word, proceeded to
| the scaffold, which they assembled at i've min
utes to IL o'clock. with an unshaken step,
PRAYER was then offered by Rev. q. North
The negroes bade each other good by, Green ex-
pressing the hope that he would meet Copeland
in Heaven. The white caps were drawn down,
the ropes adjusted. and at precisely III o'clock,
the trap was sprung and they were launched in
to eternity. They were on the scaffold five
minutes. After hanging thirty minutes they
were pronounced dead, cut down, placed in their
coffins, removed and buried.
THEIR BODIES DUG Up FOR DISSECTION,
| They were allowed to remain in the ground
| but few moments when they were taken up,
and conveyed to Winchester for dissection
| cooK AND copPIc.
The military returned to the Jail and assumed
their positions, while the Sheriff and Jailor en-
tered the prison and prepared the prisoners for
execution. The Revs. Green, North, Waugh
and Lynch were in attendance administering
religious consolation. Cook and Coppie were
remarkably cheerful. apparently, not even as
| interested as the persons around them, in what
was transpiring, and what was TO transpire.-
While their aims were being pinioned they
talked pleasantly, and walked without the
| slightest tremor from the jail. On reaching the
pavement, Cook recognized a face. bowed, and
| said, "Remember me to all my friends at the
Ferry"
coPrIcs DEsrAIR-sAD FEATURES OF BIS CASE.
| After taking their seats in the wagon, the
countenance of Coppic changed; his face wore
a settled expression of despair: He looked
wildly around the crowd, and his large eyes
| lighted I'D with an unnatural luster. Many a
heart sighed for him. Many of the community
| were anxious for communication of his sentence
which would certainly have been granted by
the Legislature had it not been fora letterwhich
appeared in the New York Tribune, addressed
to Mrs. Brown, signed by Edwin Coppic, and
written after the execution of Brown. That
letter sealed his fate. Coppic denied having
written the letter.. 1t was written by Cook, and
signed by | i'm for Coppic. Itwas not read to
Coppic, and written without his solicitation,
and it is believed was an act of policy on the
part of Cook to bind Coppic's destiny to his
own. This morning, his youthful appearance,
frank. open countenance and knowledge of the
facts connected with the writing OF the letter,
which only transpired on yesterday, all tended
to enlist sincere sympathy for the misguided
boy. He, however, gave no evidence of dread.
AS the wagon, preceded by the military. and
guarded on all sides by the same, proceeded to
the field, Cook recognized many acquaintance.
He bowed his head to some, and spoke to 9TH
ers. As they entered the gate, he remarked to
Coppic, "Ned. we are going together" Coppic
replied by bowing his head. No other words
was spoken. =
| HANGING OF COOK AND coPPIC.
On reaching the scaffold, they assembled with
| firmness, and on gaining the platform the Rev.
Green North offered up a prayer ofone minute s
duration. ''- m fss1
During this prayer both men stood without a
tremor. Coppic had his eyes closed, and his
lips moved as with prayer. When the divine
had finished, the doomed men bade each other
farewell, and as the white cap was drawn down
| Cook addressed the Sheriff with, "Now as quick
as possible y The ministers and officers of the
law then bade them farewell, and in another in
slant they were in the struggles ofdeath. Both
however, died easily. There was slightimoye-
| ment of the lower part of the limbs, and all was
still. Both their necks were broken. They as
cended the scaffold at nineteen minutes of one
4 one. They we're thus only four minutes on the
scatfold. sa ~
4 -l-fs4sa tty1 DISPOSAL OF THE BODIES.
The bodies hung for 80 minutes, when the
physicians stated that life had been extinct
some minutes. They were then cut down and
| placed in their respective coffins Cooks rela-
1 tives had sent from New York an elegant me-
talic one. Coppic's wasof plain, black walnut
| furnished by the undertaken, Mr.. Ladder, who
conveyed the two coffins to Harper's Ferry
Cooks was delivered to Adams e. Co.'s Ex-
press. 80 sae aa