Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1873-02-06
Women Who Have Been Hanged.

The first white person executed in
Minnesota was woman. AS an illus
tration of her class of intellect, it was
told that when she went to the Territory
she took with her from Central Illinois a
bucket of butter, kept it in her state
room on a first-class boat and carried it
in her hand to a first-class hotel (the
MerchantsO, keeping it by her side in
the parlor and her bedroom, while leav-
ing her other baggage to be handled by
porters. She had heard that butter was
scarce in that part of the country, and
had brought her supply. This and her
general appearance and behavior led to
the belief that she was person of weak
mind. She married a man who treated
her cruelty and died with symptoms of
poison. A chemist thought he found
arsenic in the stomach, and druggist
had sold her some of that drug "to
poison rats" There was no attempt to
dispute the chemical tests. This expe-
dent was discovered lately forthe benefit
of a woman who has not outlived the
charms which once drove rival claimants
for her hand to the verge of suicide and
madness. Being old, unattractive and
poor, none but the ladies of st. Paul
took any special interest in her case !;
and those could only besiege the Cover
nor for a pardon. His wife led a depu-
tation of them, knelt at his feet, and
with tears and passionate entreaty
begged executive clemency but the
ugly woman was hanged by the neck
until she was dead.
A poor German woman was executed
near Philadelphia about five years ago !;
and her confession, in her broken En-
glish, was one of the saddest things I
ever read. Her man had "peat" her,
peat her so much, made her work in the
field when she was sick and tired peat
her for not keeping up; peat her for
stopping to nurse her baby; made her
work in the house while he rested and
smoked, and peat her if she was not
ready to go out to work when he was
She was so tired; could "never get no
rested ;" she want to leave him and go
away, but he take the children from her;
she have four little children he peat
them, too; she could not leave her chill
dren; she was SO tired that she gave her
man stuff she sorry she kill her man !;
but she no know what to do, she SO
tired.
The dailies made occasional news items
out of the case, and the poor, old, worn
out slave was universally voted a monster
of iniquity. The majesty of the law was
vindicated by sending her from the gal
lows to the unerring judgment, where
her toil-worn hands and tortured soul
must have been very white compared
to the bejeweled fingers of the charming
monsters who slip so gracefully through
the elastic meshes of our man-made
laws.
Mrs. Sugart, now under sentence of
death in Butler county, Pa, who is to
be hanged when the present treatment
in the Rixmont Insane Hospital shall
have SO far restored her reason as to
make her sensible of the solemnity of the
occasion, is gray-haired and a grand
mother, and in personal appearance the
opposite of charming.
Pittsburgh, some eight years ago, had
studied the art of poisoning to the neg
lect of that of pleasing. She was not
charming, and such charms as she had
were reserved for her husband.
| iStUisSheIn1'S s Notebook.