Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1874-06-19
ExecaIion In Culpeper County.

The execution of Edward Brown, CO.
lored, for the murder in Culpeper county,
Va, of VIC. Durkin, formerly Of Peters
sburs, took place there on Friday last. The
condemned man had led a wandering life,
had been slave, an u. S. soldier, a con-
vict in the Virginia penitentiary, in which
capacity he had labored on the railroad
work of Messrs. Mason & Gooch, and fl
nally he murdered man for his clothing
At his trial he said he wanted no counsel
as Jesus Christ was his lawyer" A let
ter in the Baltimore ''Sun" says:
Brown was very nervous since last night
and said but little about his crime. After
eating hearty breakfast this morning he
said he would devote the remainder of his
short life to prayer exclusively. About IL
O'Clock wagon drove up to the jail, con-
tanning coffin. Soon the crowd became
so great about the jail that it was with
difficulty that the street in front of it could
be kept clear
At the hour indicated the prisoner, with
his hands ironed, took seat in the wagon
alongside Of the coffin, on which lay the
black cap and the rope to be used for the
execution. He was guarded by 200 men,
| under command of Col. Crittenden On
his way to the scaffold, the distance being
about mile and half. he appeared to be
in happy mood and smiled at the crowds
along the road and especially at crowd COL
| lected around some three-card monte gam
blers from Baltimore, who were kept in
a continual laugh by the dealer. This was
the same crowd that operated on the road
| during the Pamlico races. Arriving at
the scaffold the two hundred mounted
mo rxrhn fa1 %Io l.:
| journey from the jail, formed a hollow
| square. Brown stepped lightly out of the
wagon and ran UP on the platform. The
deputy sheriff, Mr.. Jas. Armstrong, re-
moved the shackles from his hands.
The clergymen then prayed and read
| portions Of the Scripture, after which the
| condemned man knelt on the floor and
! wept. He was in his shirt sleeves, and
| asked permission to take off his shoes be-
| fore he was hanged. This was granted,
and after his arms and legs had been prop
erly secured he was directed to take his
position on the drop. Being asked by
Sheriff Pulliam if he had anything to say,
he replied that he thought it best not to
| say anything, that when the Sheriff was
ready he could proceed. At this moment
a woman in the crowd burst out crying,
and Brown remarked s'that it makes me
feel bad to hear that crying; am ready"
The rope was then cut, and at 1920 the
trap fell.
The rope was too thick, which caused it
to slip and tighten by degrees, SO that he
was strangled to death. For two minutes
after the drop fell there were movements
of the limbs, and his heart continued to
beat for ten minutes. Drs. Thompson
and Rixey pronounced him dead after
hanging fifteen minutes, but in order to be
| certain that he was choked to death did
! not order the body to be cut down until it
had been suspended twenty-seven minutes.
The body was lowered into the coffin and
scaffold. A great many colored people
present took off pieces of the rope, believ-
ing in the old superstition that it will keep
witches away. Several went for his shoe
strings, and two men were anxious to pay
ten cents for his suspenders.
1t was estimated that there were about
three thousand persons present, including
many children and females, some of whom
were white. More than two-thirds of those
present were colored.