The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1870-04-05
From the st. Clairsyille Gazette, March "a.
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7 81 O NJ A S d. G A r r
AZ Sc. Clairsviiie, Ohio, Thursday
March -, 1870.
To-day for the first time in the histor.
Of our county, we are called upon Il
record an account of the execution OF
murderer. The blood-thirsty villain
distinguished from the rest of human
kind, by the appellation of THOMAS d
CARR, who has cast the stain of bloot
upon the once fair fame Of Belmon
County, by his demon-liks murder Of Al
innocent young girl, to-day, in obedi
ence to the law, expiated his tsrrlhlI
crime upon the scaffold.
Less than two years since, this fiend
in the garb of humanity, thrust himsel
into the fireside circles of some unsus
pecting citizens of the western part o
our county; gained the favor of some o
them, and in return for their kindness
and hospitality, perpetrated one of tn
most terrible and heart-rending murder
known in the annals of crime. Thi
personi6cation of Satan was usheret
into this sin-cursed world not far from
the Clay Monument, three miles east o
Wheeling, March 6, 1916, and from tn,
manner of man he was. we are led to ex
claim, that nature must have shudderet
at his birth! Owing to his pecaniary
circumstances he was early acquainted
with the ways and temptations of al
itinerant life, and ere he had reached th,
point Of manhood he was perfectly IA
miliar with the ways of crime and infa
my. From his youth he was an oper
receptacle for crime in its most hldeou.
forms. 1t entered, and there lay waiting
only for a season Of development, which
at last came, when the embryo demon
burst forth in all the strength of matu
rity, and has reached consumma.ion in
him by his commission Of the highest
crime known to the law-marder, whole
sale and fendish in its perpetration.
He entered the army as member oi
Co. II, 10th Ohio, in his 18th year
Young as he was in years, he was then
old in infamy. His evil nature abated
not, but rather increased amidst tn:
temptations of military life, which affor-
ded him q greater opportunity for the
display Of his satanic nature, to which
he gave vent in the most shocking forms
of malicious butchery. He was pos.
sessed OF q very irascible temper and
treacherous disposition, and woe unto
the man who, however unintentional il
might be, should offer to him the slight
est insult. If he felt that his dignity { p
was slighted, or bis honor y insulted
in the least, he would take his opportu-
nifty to redress it when least expected, land
in such way that the offender required
no further attention at his hands. When
sent to make an arrest, he was sure to
make it with the messenger of Death
According to his own statement, both
officers and prlvates-svmetimes his OWL
made the objects Of his
deadly malice. No man dared to oppose
him, save at the peril of his life. Mer
were used by him as the merest play.
things, and as the objects Of his deuilisA
hate, fit only to be used Is targets, upon
which at his leisure, he might make trial
of his skill in the use Of fre-arms. Hs
has been the associate and bosom friend
of many who, before him, have paid the
penalty of an outraged law with their
lives; and who, wicked and bsartless as
they were, are totally eclipsed and put to
the blush by him, while he stands at the
head Of the roll Of infamy. He was the
associate Of Burns, who was hung in
Wheeling, and Of the accomplice Meyers,
who Was imprisoned for life; q friend oi
the great Parkersburg murderer, and
last, but not least, fiendish naurdere,
himself.
During the war he was prisoner in
old Libby, as well a. in Castles Thunder
and Pipkney. Being discharged, he re-
turned to Wheeling, bringing with him
q loose character named Annie Whalan,
with whom he unlawfully lived for awhile
there,as well as in our own county-but
afterward sent her back to Cincinnati
He was we'll known in police circles, be-
ing frequently sent "where the woodbine
tuineth," from which place he once es-
capped, stealing dog as be left. After
sending his paramour away he returned
to Wheeling, and sfter having been en-
gagged in riotous and criminal conduct
for a season, as he says, "with deep
sense Of his guilt before God, he resolv-
ed to lead new and better life,' and in
testimony of which resolution sjoined
the NJ. E. Church." (Rev. Ball's.) But
his feelings Of guilt, in the presence of
his Maker, great as there was reason for
them to be, and his signs of contrition,
feigned, as We believe they were, were
soon blasted, and be again broke forth
in his naturally devilisb career, only to
sink his soul deeper in the quicksands of
hell. The good people Of Wheeling lit
tie dreamed that they were taking into
their embrace a deadly viper, in human
form, ready at any moment, upon the
slightest provocation,to strike their very
hearts, the darts of Satan's rage, welded
by one whom, by the will of God, they
were trying to save from eternal ruin.
He left Wheeling, and came into Bel
mont County, gained the favor of the
unsuspecting Fox family, and with it the
love Of the innocent young girl, whom
he afterward, in cold blood, so cruelty
murdered. He was man of strong ,un.
passions, which so overpow-
cred him, as he says, that he skilled the
girl because he loved her and couldn't
get her" Oh! what slur cast upon
the name Of Love, by this unfeeiing
wretch. The love that drives the pos
SCISSOR Of it to such desperation as to
slay, in cold blood, its beloved object, is
one OF the '.fttest earthly type of Hell. "
Not satisffed with the murder of his be-
trothsd, he attempted 70 take bis own
life, and, by the act to consign himself
forever to the region Of the damned
But . kind and oyerruling Providence
and he was taken, tried, con-
n Al =