The Greene County Republican. [volume] (Waynesburg, Pa.) 185?-1867, 1867-05-29
FOGLERS CONFESSION.


SrArEMEENr OF Hon. WIN. MONTGOMERY
CARD FROM THE WITNESSES TO THE DooU
MENT
The confession made by Robert Fog.
Ter, who was executed in the borough Of
Washington on Tuesday the 18th inst.
has drawn from the Hon. VIM. Mont.
gomery rejoinder in vindication of his
three sons, who were accused by Foglel
of having knowledge ofand participate
ing in the murder. Mr.. Montgomery
states that the confession was the work
ofseveral hands, and was gotten up fol
the purpose OF injuring those who had
shown Fogler any friendship, while those
who had arrested, convicted and hanged
him. were made the special subject oi
laudation. Mr.. Montgomery asserts tina,
Fogler, whom he charges with being q
most abandoned liar, hoped by this means
to gain pardon and save his lite.
In regard to the statement In Fogler's
confession of his son Williams guilt,
MIR. Montgomery refers to the act tha,
the coroner's jury found no such evil
dence, and that after protracted and
zealously contested trial, William was
acquitted of the charge. On this point
Mr. Montgomery says: sit was not my
son that was being persecuted; it was
myself. l was to be hunted down, wha,
little influence and standing I had was to
be destroyed. All my children were to
be disgraced, and their good names and
hopes IN life blasted" The confession,
he alleges, is in contradiction of what
Fogler had previously sworn to it wa
not written or suggested by HIM, who
was a very illiterate man and could not
spell correctly even the most common
words Mr.. Montgomery endeavors to
demonstrate this by quoting legal phras.
es and terms used by Fogler, that he
was not likely to be acquainted with --
He again asserts the belief that Fogler
concealed the name of his real accom-
pllce in the ASSASSINATION of Mr. Dins.
more, and implicated his son in the hope
OF escaping from punishment by so do
ing
Mr. Montgomery inserts IN his state
ment letters from parties named in Fog
lers confession. denying the assertions
of the latter in regard to his other sons 1;
and in regard to Foglers statement that
the Montgomery boys had proposed to
him to rob their father, says that his
three sons had access to every part of
his house, and knew where his money
was kept, and they could, if 80 disposed, +,
at any time, have taken all the money he
had in his house.
Mr.. Montgomery concludes his state.
ment by referring to the closing declara-
ton of Fogler's confession, that he tor-
gives those who perured themselves on
this trial, in the testimony they gave
against him. "Yet," Mr.. Montgomery
says, mo mention is made in the state-
ment Of those who perjured themselves
on the trial"
The main points in Mr.. Montgom-
ery's statement are-that the confession
was composed or dictated by others, s,lm-
PEELED thereto by personal hostility to
himself and family; that the confession
is totally unworthy of belief; and that
the motive of Fogler In asserting to
such statements, was to secure his own
pardon by duplicating those whom he
supposed would exercise their influence
to that end in order to silence him and
at the same time, he was obeying those
personally hostile to Mr.. Montgomery,
and who were instrumental in getting
the confession up.
CARD FROM THE WITNESSES.
The five witnesses who attested the
document, publish card in the WASH
ington Reporter, in which they certify
that Foger claimed the entire author
ship for himself and that 1t was in his
handwriting with great inaccuracies as
to spelling and punctuation; and that
with a view to its publication as soon as
possible after the execution took place, a
copy was made for the purpose of being
placed in the hands OF the printer, specs
ial pains beng taken to make no altera'
tons whatever save to correct the or
biography and attend to the matter OF
punctuation, in which latter respect the
original was wholly deficient. The con,
fession, as published, is an exact copy
OF the original, the only difference being
in the particulars already mentioned
The manuscript, as written by Foglel
himself, is still at the store of Robert
Dcugan, where it is open to the lnspec.
ton of any one who may want to com
pare il with the confession as given tc
the public through the papers.
The Galveston (Texas) rioters wert
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