The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1877-02-21
THE END OF EARTH.
Bill Green, Of PittSburg, Finds It at
the End Of Rope.
Last Hours Confession and DemeanOr
of the Prisoner.

condemned lNdu Ills Ctll last lllEul uC
found Green sitting on q chair, along side of
a little table, on which fellow prisoner sat
beside him reading from Bible. He arose
as the visitor entered and warmly grasped
his hand He had a mild, pleasant express
sion upon his face, and was quite gentle in
his manners. He seated himself at the
foot of his couch, and a silence of sew
eral minutes followed, during which Green
rested his head upon his hand and cast
most expressive look upon the visitor In
reply TO the interrogatory of the correspond
ent he said: Il eel-that-I-am-going
n-a-shOrt-jOuruey- Northumberland
-be-no-more-quar neutrality-suspicious.
-taking-of-lives. He uttered
these words worry slowly, and seemed much
affected.
Had you been to Mansfield on the day of
the MURDER
NO, sir; had been at work. and returned
and started TO hunt squirrels. Wesley Ben
ner and l had made the bargain to go on
hunt for squirrels several days before 1t
was nothing strange to see me with gun.
/ often carried gun. Marshall also had
gun. 1t belonged to Walter Ross"
Had you and Marshall been or bad terms
long,"
NO, sir; we often had word in the
house which ended there. Sam was very
passionate, and obstinate when angry. He
wanted to have his way in everything, and
would cut nae off and L would cut him off.
1t always ended with words, and we were
tolerably good friends"
Had you threatened that you would kill
MGrshall?'
Never in my life. know that there was
testimony in court of that kind, but hope
God may strike me dead this minute if /
ever said such thing"
''In passing the house that night did you
intend going in to inquire about the potatoes
if you had not seen Marshall at the aoor?''
Il intended to ask him about them and
went for that purpose, as Mr. Ross told me
Sam was digging them. l had as much
right to the potatoes as he had, but had no
more intention OF quarreling than / have
now You see the man who owned the
place said if we would clean it up he would
lend us team to break the ground, allow
us to have whatever we raised on it, and
give us 81 besides We took it on shares
and put III TWO bushels of potatoes and
Sam put in two bushels, and, of course, half
the crop was NINE" The near approach Of
Green's last hour on earth seemed to make
no difference in his demeanor other
than to intensity his desire to make the
preparation complete. He ate a very hearty
dinner yesterday, and last evening for sup
per had toast and eggs and a cup of tea, and
this morning for breakfast, his last meal on
earth, he ate some toast and boiled eggs and
drank glass of milk. The sheriff had pro-
vided the prisoner with a plain but neat
black suit. which was taken TO the cell soon
after the morning meal. Green appeared
pleased at this mark of attention, and while
dressing 50 expressed himself. His interview
with his wife seemed unsatisfactory. The in
ference may be safely drawn that her affection
for him was not by any means intense. She
is mulatto, about 20 years of age, and
rather smaller than medium size. For the
first time since the arrest of her husband,
realizing sense of bis situation, it seemed
6avvno6 her She cried dnr1nO the
entire time she was in his presence, and
spoke very few words. Green himself was
apparently but slightly affected, and even
during this exhibition of emotion on the
part of his wife, he was calm. He said but
little other than to make inquiries after her
welfare and to assure her that he was pre-
pared A few minutes before ~ the
procession of death started for the
gallows headed by Sheriff Pearson. The
assembling of ministers, deputies and press
representatives moved slowly and with
steadisd steps. The sheriff assembled the
scaffold first. followed by the prisoner and
others. The platform of the gibbet reached,
the sheriff turned to Green and asked him
If he wished TO speak TO the people. Appar-
emily, he was as firm and stOlid as any pres
ent He had walked to the scaffold without
a culver, but at the last moment his voice
seemed to fail him. 1t was only for an in
stant though. Immediately recovering
AAAhoCiAf nC AOOhC0 o4hoAClg az Vic PCOpAC III
front of him and commenced an address.
His voice was not loud, however, and it YVES
with difficulty that it was heard q
few yards away. 'It is not strange"
said he, ito see so many people
here to gaze on me- but this is the reason
why speak to you. Why not place your
eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will
save you? You can not be saved except
through Him." He then exhorted those
present to put their trust in God as he had
done. He was very much obliged to all his
friends who had treated him so kindly. 81
thank them ALL" he said, land hope to meet
them all in heaven. The Lord Jesus Ghrist
is waiting to receive my soul, and my heart
Is fixed on Him. | have nothing against
anybody" There was not the slightest EVIL
dence of weakness. He seemed 20 be sus-
tanned by the expectation of future bliss, and
as he uttered the last word he looked at the
moose without the slightest manifestation of
fear. The sheriff then adjusted the moose,
Green standing erect, his eyes fixed on some
object in front of him, his hips not moving
and his hands as still as they could possibly
be. Deputy Pearson put on the white cap.
The arrangements having been completed,
the sheriff reached over and touched Green
by the hand as il to shake it. Green raised
it, shook the sheriffs hand firmly, and said
"Good-by; God bless you" in low but dis
tinct voice. The scaffold was then
cleared. As the official reached the
foot of the scaffold he stepped on the
trigger and the body of the condemned man
suddenly dropped through the tray and was
suspended In the air. At first there were
twitchings Of the hands, which continued
for about a minute and half. after which
no struggle was perceptlble. Green had q
horrid fear of gnouls laying siege 20 his
body, after death. aud this morning anxious
ly solicited the aid of the sheriff in prevent
ing the doctors or medical societies from