Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1868-06-26

the hangman did In another moment1
Barrett was dead man. After the bolt
was drawn and the drop fell with the loud
boom which always echoes from it, Barrett
never moved. He died without struggle
1t is worthy of remark that great cry
rose from the crowd as the culp1t fell-a
cry which was neither an exclamation nor
scream, but it partook in Its sound OF
both. With the fall of the drop the crowd
began to dispense, but an immense mass
waited till the time for cutting down came,
and when o'clock struck, there were loud
calls of ssCome ON, body snatcher y "Iake
away the man you've killed, &c. The
hangman appeared and cut down the body
amid such a storm of yells and excavations
as has seldom been heard even from such
crowd. There was nothing more then to
be seen. so the concourse broke up with It's
usual eoncomitants of assault and robbery.
The body, on being taken down, was
placed in a shell and removed to an adJoin-
ing building, In the presence of the sheriffs
and under-sheriffs, the governor, the prison
surgeon, and the ordinary. There, the
rope having been removed from the neck,
and the leathern straps by which the legs
and arms had been pinioned, the surgeon
certified that life was extinct. The express
sion of the face was marvelously serene
and placid, and the features composed to
degree irreconcilable, at first sight, with
the notion of violent death, though the
lips and part of the forehead were unusual
ly livid. Towards evening, the body was
buried In the accustomed place, within the
limits of the prison, in grave upwards OF
five feet deep in the presence of the gov
ernor and other officers of the Jail. Barrett
was an Irishman by birth, about ~ years
of age, of a thick-set, muscular figure,
rather below the average height, and
with a prepossessing countenance.
He was unmarried, and by trade steve
dore Neither before nor after his convlc-
ton did any relative call at the jail to see
him, and after sentence he was only, or
chiefly, visited by the Rev. Mr. Hussey,
who was with him considerable of the
time daily, and by his counsel and occa-
sionally by one or other of the sheriffs.-
His behavior in prison was uniformly be-
coming, and he bore himself to the last
with great fortitude, submitting himself at
the same time with affectionate doclllty to
the exhortations of his priest, and CRATE
fully receiving the consultations of religion.
He was never unduly buoyed up by the
efforts made out of doors TO reverse his
sentence, but rather welcomed the repeated
respites as affording him further time to
prepare himself for the worst, should 1t
come to that
He died without making any confession
of the crime for which he was convicted,
SO far as any of the authorities are inform
ed. What he may have said to his priest,
if anything, IN reference to the murders,
may never be divulged. All that is known
is that he gave him immense satisfaction"
to use that gentleman's own expression,
by his humble and penitent demeanor, his
extraordinary fortitude and by the earnest
ness with which he strove to prepare HIM
self for his end. Yet there was this pecu-
harity about him, as was observed more
than once by one of the authorities in his
visits to him after sentence-that he never
absolutely denied his guilt. On those oc-
casions, whenever he referred to the crime,
he always said that he had been convicted
on insufficient evidence, and that he was
not guilty of murder.
The London Express relates the follow
ing incidents in connection with the execu-
ton: Hanging over the barrier immedi-
ately opposite the gallows. and supported
ON either side by female friend, stood the
half-fainting figure of young woman of
some four or five and twenty. Her decent
demeanor and modest air won even upon
the brutal natures around her, and cou-
pie of genuine London roughs kept back
their comrades by entreaties, and when nee
essary by blows. Whatever her relation
ship or knowledge of Barrett may have
been, there could be no doubt of the genu-
ineness of her emotion this morning
Deadly white, with clenched lips,
and hands that chung to the wooden
barrier before her with the tenacity of the
drowning man, she succeeded in controll-
ing herself until the drop actually fell.
When Barrett appeared upon the scaffold
the women supporting her redoubled their
consolatory efforts, and her blanched face
and wistful air became intensified IN their
expression. But when his face was covered
she gave way, and at the fatal moment fell
PROSTATE, and lay in passion of hysterical
grief, deaf to the noises aud blind to the
sights nearer him, and conscious only of
the gallows and its doubtful mission. Con-
currently with this painful scene is stir
among the policemen guarding the enclos-
use In front. One of their number,
a tall, good-looking young man, has
given way, and Barrett's death is the signal
for his falling down in a fit. His clenched
teeth, white face, upturned eyeballs, and
cataleptic figure, as his head falls back
over the arms raised to succor him, lend
additional horror to the proceedings. But
his brother officers loosen his neckcloth,
and, pale, haggard, and with some ugly
marks as if of blood about the mouth, he
is led away by a couple of colleagues with
stronger nerves than his own, who half
guide and half help him to Newgate door,
taking him as they do so close by the gal
lows tree, and the rigid figure now moving
idly, but with a sort of pendulum motion,
from north to south"
Recovery of Miss Kate Grupper's Body.
From the Memphis Bulletin, June g.
The body of Miss Kate Grupper, the I'M
fortunate young lady who committed sui