The national Republican., 1869-03-06
Capisal Punish m ent.

Four colored men were yesterday executed
at Princess Anne, Maryland. The particu-
lars Of the crime for which they suffered the
extreme penalty are about as follows,
On the night Of the 30th Of March last |
Captain johnson, master and owner OF the |
schooner Bravo, and Henry Cannon, mate, |
were murdered while on their vessel, lying |
In Tangier Sound, by the four negro men
who composed the orew-Fnnk Rounds,
George W. Bryant, Lindsay G. Wells, and
Charles Wesley Denby, alias Wilson. The
schooner, or "pungy," as this class Of yes-
sells Is denomlnated by the Chesapeake Bay
oystermen, was n small oraft Of about thirty
tons. and sailed from Kent Island, where the
captain and mate resided. She had been on
the oyster ishing grounds for about a week,
and had come to anchor In Tangier Sound
during the night. The night was intensely
dark, and as there was no other vessel near
by, all the circumstances tended TO aid the
murderers In the consummatlon OF their
bloody deed. The affair appears to have
been pre-arranged by the man Rounds, who
| had told the others OF the crew that the cap
tain had four hundred dollars In money In
his cabin, and that II they would kill him
| and the mate they could get IL and divide II
between them. The other three men con-
sented, and preparations were made for the
bloody decd.
/
| prepared short sticks Of heavy wood, and,
sharpening them to n point, waited until the
veil Of darkness would afford them the re-
qusite security. About midnight, Captain
| johnson was on deck, when one OF the men
crept stcalthily behind him, and striking him
several tremendous blows on the head, fellcd
him scnselcss to the deck, and while laying
In that condition finished his murderous
work by repeatedly striking him until life
7 of Can
tain johnson is not exactly known, Bailey
claiming that II was Rounds who did IL, and
Rounds endeavoring to fix II upon Bailey.
The mate was at this time In the cabin,
asleep In his bunk, and was dispatched In
the same way. The mutilated and bloody
bodies Of the murdered men were thrown
overheard, and the negroes sacked the yes.
sci, finding, however, only about sl2 In
money, which proved to be all that was on
board. They then holsted sail aud ran the
vessel ashore In Kent county, and took to tho
woods and separated. few days afterwards
the schooner was discovered by some men OF
shore, who, wondering at her deserted con
dtion, went on board and found the evidence
/ Of the terrible crime that had been perpc
trated. The affair caused widespread con
sternation among the masters OF the oyste
fishing cmft, nearly all Of which arc mannet
by negroes, and thorough search was madt
by the police and detectives for the murder
ers, but so ciiectually had they concealed
themselves that they left no traces beblnt
them, and, after being talked about for SOM
7 time, subsidized into the long catalogue o
} crimes, the chief actors in which secmot
destined never to be brought to judgment.
''Murder will OUT" however, and the frs
clue to this one was gained In singular ant
r accidental way. On the farm where Well
: worked was young colored girl, employc
n as house servant, with whom he had be
4 come very intimate, and spent most Of hi
r time when not laboring In the field. On
day, about the middle of August last, tn
mistress OF the house had occasion to sharpl
!. reprimnnd the girl for some negligence, an
r the girl complained to Wells about Il whe
don't you kill her; that's the way me an
n some other fellows did when we didn't lik
q our boss" The girl repeated this to he
4 mistress, who at once communicated Ii /
y her husband, the master of Wells. He O
n first attached no Importance 10 II beyon
IS considering that man who used such lar
ID guagc might do harm among the hands o
N the farm, and accordingly turned him Of
telling him to seek some other employment
Wells left the farm, and while going dow
= the road his late master, having rcncctC
over the language of Wells, and conncctin
1t with the fearful murder, which was stl
., an object Of speculation on the Easter
'o Shore, he went after Wells, brought hlI
| back and succeeded in extricating cnoug
from him to know that he was ut least co,
infant of the murder, and that Wilson WI
also connected with II. Both of these me
We were arrested, taken TO Princess Anne, Il
II county seat OF Somerset county, and at u
In succeeding term of the court were tried ar
at convicted of murder. Who their confe,
IL crates were was also discovered, and Il
i search for them was again taken up ar
'JJ vigorously prosecuted, and finally Rount
4. was arrested In Baltimore in October, wi
taken to Princess Anne, and also conyictc
and the execution was fixed for January s.
Shortly before Christmas, the remainil
one of the quartette, George Bailey, vi
a. found in the Baltimore city jail, where
'p, p was incarcerated on the charge of being co
a. cerncd In the robbery of house In Il
* northwestern section Of the city. Previous
ed two men had been arrested on suspicion
be being Bailey, one Of whom corrcspondcd e
GGSS aCtly to the description of the criminal, ey,
q. to the marks Of a gun-shot wound In his baC
, but being able to give undeniable proof
- their innocence, wero discharged from Gu
tody. The capture Of the real George Bale
- however, caused the postponoment OF the c
ecution, and Governor Swami rcpriev,
Wells, Wilson and Rounds until ycsterda
when all four explated their crime on q
r, gallows. All made confessions or adm
al sions of guilt, more or less explicit. The
uc confirm the fact that Frank Rounds was {
ring-lcader Of the murder and deliberate
'nt planned 1t, but all readily acceded to his pl
:" and participated actively. Rounds gave b
captain his death blow, and Wells has co
?, fessed that he murdered the mate.
: |