The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1875-03-19
The Execution Last Friday.

We print Oh our first page to-day full
account Of the scenes and incidents attend
ing the execution of Joshua Griffin which
took place near Bel Air, on Friday last 1t
is creditable to the people Of Hartford coun-
~, and especially to the citizens Of Bel Air,
that so few Of them were impelled by NOR
bid curiosity to witness the dying struggles
Of the unfortunate wretch who paid the pen
atty of his crime upon the gallows. After
the corcge conveying the prisoner to the
place Of execution left the town, the citizens
went about their usual avocations, SO that an
ordinary observer would not have imagined
so dreadful scene was at that time being
enacted near the place. The feeling was not
one ofinditlerence, but rather of aversion TO
witnessing the awful spectacle of q human
being dangling between heaven an, earth to
satisfy the demands ofjusticc.
Griffin made full confession of his guilt
but contrary 10 the usual custom Of con-
demned murderers gave no outward sign of
contrition. 1t is to be hoped that his repent
ance was not the less sincere.
Although he confessed his crime, lie did
not relute the circumstances attending it, be-
You'd the fact that he thought he struck Miss
Taylor twice upon her head with club.
which knocked her down. From an eXami-
nation of a diagram OF the premises it seems
evident that he had concealed himself behind
or inside of one of the outhouscs When
Miss Taylor had MIXED the COWS she took
n In N L.,
kitchen table when the house was entered
after the murder. 1t is conjectured that she
returned to the stable yard, to turn the horse
into the field. AS she started from the stable
dooEtow"rds the pump, to give the animal
water, Griffin sprang from his hiding -nlace,
andmade his murderous attack with the club,
which he had previously taken from q cattle
rack in the yard.
he ladNbeen seen by little negro girl
sene days previous to the murder, concealed
behind pig pen near the fatal spot, evil
denty awaiting an opportunity when the
premise, SHOULD be deserted by all except
Miss Taylor. This opportunity occurred on
the morning of the 18th of October The
testimony of this girl was ruled out by the
court, on account of her incompetency as
witness, The evidence against him, although
circumstantial, was as strong as direct proof
could have been.
The only other legal execution that has
ever taken place previously 10 the one on
Friday, occurred in 1904, when young ne
gro man was hanged for murder and arson.
His victim was an old colored woman who
sold cakes and beer near where the residence
of Dr. e. Hall Richardson now stands. AT
ter killing her, he set fire to and burned her
house. He was tried, convicted upon the
evidence of an accomplice, an old coored
man, who turned States evidence, and hang
cd on Dicks Hill, about mile west of Bel
Air, to the limb Of chestnut tree, not far
from where Major William H. Dalams house
is now situated.
Two other executions have also taken
place, of late years, in the county, both of
them ofcolored men. The first of these was
Isaac Moore, who was hanged on the 22d of
July, 1868, by the citizens of Bel Air and Vi
entity, for an attempted outrage upon high
ly respectable young lady. He was first ar
rested and placed in Jail. Upon being taken
out before a magistrate for examination, his
guilt appeared so evident that the most in.
tense excitement was aroused. He was TAX
Ell out of the hands of the deputy sheriff,
dragged to point on the Churchvillc road,
near Bynums Run, close TO the spot where
the outrage was attempted, and hanged to an
oyerhanging limb ola small sassafras tree.
In August of the same year another color
ed man, known by the name Jim Grow, who
had been guilty of a terrible outrage upon
an aged lady, was taken by masked men from
the cars on the Northern Central Railroad,
near Monkton, and carried to the spot, near
Jarrettsville, where the crime was committed,
and there hanged. Both of these men con-
fessed their crimes before they were executed.
A ISLANDER. reporter of the Baltimore