Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1866-02-17
From the Eiis Dispatch.
Execution OF Or. John w. Hughes.

~ 2 minutes past IL o'clock, last Fri
day The 9th iDst.. John w. Hughes. the
murderer of Mss Tamsen Parsons, Of Bed
fo, d, o., was launched into eternity from
the gulloNs iu Cuyahoga coan'y ] Ill, iu
Cleveland. His crime was the more at
,rocious bccaue he was man Of iuteIl
gence aud Of acknowledged professional
ability. But he was unfortunately gov
erned by lis passions, aud after career of
some yeals Of dissipation, during which
time lie had been mn inmate VI the Western
Peni'eu,iory of Pennsylvania, upon con
yiclion os bigamy, aud been tcprevrd
through the iaueuce OF biz nisred wifi.
aud number ii frieids lie was ihnly
brought TO answer the dtmauds of the law
through the ci cumslauces involved iu the
mui der Of Mss Parsons, which was one of
the most deliberate aud cold.blooded exam
plies Of persis ent determination aud lust,
tia; has come to light.
For the benefit uf those of our readers
who are not familiar wi h the particulars of
the case, i, may be well for u. to mention
them briefly The murder Of Miss Parsons
was committed at Bedford, ON the evening
of Tuesday, August s b., 1865 She was
the person whom he had won. seduced and
married, While he had another wife. the
crime was Committed while lie was q resi-.
dent Of Cle,elaud, during the absence Of
his laafu wife. lie visited Miss Pai sous
for the purpose Of pursuading her Ia again
live with lin, aud upon her refusal /"
comply will his l,quesl, be shot her through
the head with ievo.ver. lie ltd toward
Cleveland, but was pursued aud cal pure d
aud incat ,eral.d d in JUL ~ Cleveland, Nhere
be Lad q lripl and Was convicted Of mu der
Ou tue so h Ui December he Was seu eLced
to be luig on the 9.h Of February, aud
the sentence was carried ont. -
During the Imprisonment and trial oi
this man, and up To The t.IDe OF bis cxrcu
tion. he manifested the most iud, ference
aud cooIuess IN regard to his fate, acting
the bravudo TO au extent b ch nj the las
was even Disgusting. Rev. DR.. Thume, Of
the FIRST Congregational Church, Cleve
land, was bis spiritual adviser, aud it seems
that while lie was satisfied that he had
made his pruce with his Maker, he WAS not
/ prepared 10 adopt or endorse any particular
religious creed Rev. Mr. Gallagher, Of the
! Catholic CbuI ch, interested himself greatly
iu his behalf aud attempted by PETITIONS 10
have him pa dou,d. He also o. Que occa.
sion administered to him tie right al ex
treme JUNCTION, and proposed to become his
sole adviser. To this be objected. LII
nominations, aud while he rejected materin
poi tons of all theii doctrines be did no
object 10 counsel with them. He also d
all times coDsersed freely with friends o.
strangers who might Wit him in prison
and always preserved most rigid und 10
| flexible line oil Conduct calculated TO i'm
press people with the belief hat he was t.
be d martyr TO the laws OF man, aud /,
convey sn idea of egotism aud self depend
ence.
On the of February be wrote lon,
letter to bis wife and boy. now iD the Isl
of Man, the place of his nativity, expressin,
regret that he was not afforded an eppor
tunily TO reio' IN and become true husband
and father. In this letter he acknowledge,
TO giving bis life iu exchange for one be bs,
taken, but in all matters relating to th,
crime for which he was hung. he charged
the crime upon mad iufaiua,ion, of whicl
he was not fully conscious, Occssoned b.
drink. .n
On Thursd,y, the day previous to hi
death, be attempted suicide by taking NOR
, phine Aud although he took enough L
kill two or three men, disordered stomach
caused the poison TO sicken him, and upol
the administration Of remedies he was Ie
stored How he came into possession o
the poison is not koo~n His condition wa
FIRST discovered by the Sheriff while be wa
, very deliberately examining the scalforl,
upon which he was 10 be hung.
We were admitted into the jail in com
pany with others, at half past 8 o'clock =
The prisoner was standing by the stove il
a corridor Of the prison, smoking cigar
; aud answering questions aud conversu
j freely with oil who we're admitted lie va
neatly clad iu u daIk suit Of clothes, vii,
blacked boots and clean shaven face, wit
monstache and chin whiskers. lie loOke
/. . well, and TO an observer would not appea
as the crimioal upon whom so much intel
est centered. From this time until twelv
o'clock the hours were passed 10 converse
lion with Prot. Thome, tho persons present
and with the prisoners in the cells. Mos
, Of the time be was on his feet. usual
1 smok in0 and anneared aa cool and oncor