Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1874-02-12
The California Gallows Decapitation-A Hor-
rinle Incident

The San Francisco Chronicle gives
the particulars of the recent gallows
decapitation which occurred near An
,inch, Cal. The victim was Marshall
Martin, aged fifty three years, who
had his head torn from his body on the
gallows, to which he had been con
demned for numbering Valentine his
caler, al old German, whose wife insti
gated Martin to the Murder, and who
afterwards proved raying maniac and
is now shut up in lunatlc asylum.
Martin was a very weak and half im-
beetle creature. The gallows scene is
described as follows:
When the drop fell Martins body
shot strait downward The rope
stretched with sudden elastic-like
spring; the black cap flew into the air
at least eight feet, and scattering the
blood in great spots over the rope, the
whitewashcd wall, the trap, the chair
in which the doomed man sat, aud the
sherifi's boots, it rolled away in one
! coinor OF the inclosure The body of
the poor man fell to the ground with a
great thud, and two red, geyser like
jets spurted up from the neck and fell
down on the ground in torrents A
closer look, and then the horror strick
en- faces showed that the awful nature
of the occurrence had burst upon them
The poor old mans head had actually
been jelked from his body, and was
even then lying in the black cap where
it had rolled in the corner.-The head
less trunk lay weltering in the blood
which poured from the neck. Not a
word was spoken, After the first thrill
OF horror strong men turned away
sickened at the horrible sight. The
faces on the platform were blanched
and ghastly. The poor sheriff was as
white as chalk. but he was cool and col
eated, and did mnch to inspire those
around him.
DR.. Holbrook, who was present, first
emptied the black cap of its sickening
contents. He lifted the cap at the top
and the head rolled away over the
ground like cannon ball. The rope
had severed the neck as clearly as
though it had been done with a knife.
The vertebra had actually been pulled
away from what the doctor called the
atlas. The larynx, the arteries, the
| tendons, were all torn apart, the latter
only showing struggling ends. Death,
it is hardly necessary to state, was in
Simultaneous. From the time the head
less trunk struck the ground there was
not even CULVER of the little finger
The body lay like lump of lead.
The horrible remains We're at once
| placed il coffin and hidden from
sight.
No blame is attributable to Sheriff
Ivory for this terrible mishap. The
rope was adjusted for fall Of six feet,
and it was said that this was no more
than is usually given. Dr. Holbrook.
| who made critical examination of the
remains, testified before the coroners
jury later in the day that, taking int"
consideration the physical condition OF
the man-his soft flabby fat, and the
weak condition of his muscular system
it was not all singular that his neck
should give away. Any fall which
would have broken the spinal chord,
would have been pretty sure to have
done just what was done. The mus
clcs of the neck were found to be soft
and contracted, and though the body
weighed but l43 pounds, still the neck
was incapable of supporting it.