Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-06-08
A NECK BROKEN.
William NOLAN, Alias Dixon, Hanged at
Vicksburg for the Brutal and Unpro-
VOked Murder OF Harmless
Peddler on the Steamer
Fair Play.
He Manifests Considerable Courage but
Says Not Word on the Scafrold-
Full Particulars OF the MUIR
der, and Brief Sketch OF
the Murderer.
Special to the Appeal

Special TO the Appeal
VICKsBURG, June William NOLAN,
| alias Dixon, was hanged in the jail-yard here
| o-day, for the murder of Jew peddler on
board the steamer Far Play, of which full
account Is appended.
At eleven o'clock IN the forenoon large
/ crowds began to assemble IN the vicinity of
the jail Sheriff Flanagan could not accom-
| modate one-twentieth palt of the number
who applied t. him for passes to witness the
| execution. Whec II was known that only a
few persons would be admitted into the Jail
yarG, ladders were brought into use and
I placed against the walls of the jail, which
were packed on three sides with
| MASS OF CURIOUS HUMANITY.
| Many tall houses whence view into the jail
yard could be obtained were covered with
| people. Your correspondent called at the
| jail at eleven o'clock in the morning, but
| could not obtain a last interview with the
condemned man, owing TO the presence of
the Sisters OF Merry, who remained with
| him during the entire day, exhorting with
| and preparing him for his final end. Three
| o'Cloci 10 the afternoon was the hour set for
! The execution. At fifty minutes after two
| o'clock, when your correspondent entered the
| jail-yard, about three hundred persons were
collected around the scaffold. The masses
| thronging the jail-walls and other coigus of
vantage were about six hundred in number.
MANY EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY
for the unfortunate man were heard in the
crowd. At one minute past three o'clock
Dixon came out of the Jail, accompanied by
the sheriff and Rev. Father NJ Manus his
| spiritual adviser. He Was dressed neatly,
carried his head erect, and mounted the scat
| fold with firm step, smoking cigarette all
| the while. When he reached the platform
| be stood up between the priest and the sher-
fkna
sea of heads before him. Sheriff Flanagan,
uncovering his head, then spoke in clear
yet sgitated voice. as follows:
CONTAMINATION no doubt understand
and appreciate the dreadful duty the respon-
sibllity of my office, and the oath | have
taken, compels me to perform. Let no levity,
| let no disturbance mar the awful majesty
and solemnity of this sad occasion.
When he had concluded, Dixon knelt down
with Father Nj Manus and
PRAYED FERvENTLY
for about FIVE minutes. The priest then gave
him dissolution, and he rose up and kissed
the loop that dangled from the beam above
his head. When The moose was placed
around his neck a sudden pallor overspread
his face for an instant, but it was unaccom-
panied by any other symptom of weakness.
He shook hands with the sheriff, with his
conf,ssor, and with DIR. Birithett, who were
standing on the platform. The cap wasthen
placed over his eyes. and
HE WAS NOTICED TO SHED TEARS
The sheriff turned the crank, the heavy
weight fell, and Dixon was jerked three
feet clear of the platform. About eighteen
seconds elapsed, and then the body began to
go through violent muscular contortlons for
about three minutes. Many were under the
impression that death was caused by stran-
Cling, but an examination of the body showed
that
THE NECK WAS BROKEN.
After hanging thirty minutes three doctors
pronounced Dixon dead, aud the body was
taken down, placed in a coffin, and handed
over to the Sisters of Mercy for interment.
Dixon died penitent, but SAID not word on
the scaffold.
Particulars OF the Murder.
Bachman, the murdered man, was a Jew
peddler, about fifty years of age, very quiet,
peaceable and innoffensive in manners. He
had been engaged for some time previous to
his death in plying his avocation in the Deer
creek country and at the various landings on
Surflower river, making occasional trips to
Vicksburg on the packets to replenish his
stock of merchandise, notions, etc In which
he trafficked. On Thursday night preceding
the murder Bachman went aboard the steam
er FAIR Play at Rolling Fork landing, about
one hundred and twenty miles below Vicks-
burg, engaging deck passage. He had been
on the boat but few minutes when he en-
gagged in
A GAME OF CARDS
with Dixon. When few games had been
played, one of the deckhands approached
Dixon and informed him that the mate
wanted him Dixon up stairs. After Dixon
left to obey the mates summons, Bachman
went back to get something out of his pack,
which had been deposited in the engine
room, but found that it had been rifed of its
contents, and when he met Dixon afterward
he accused him of the theft and an alterca-
ton between the two men resulted, but the
second-engineer lnterfered and prevented
serious consequences, finally succeeding in re
concillug the belligerents. On the following
night Dixon met Bachman at house of i'll
fame in Vicksburg,
RAISED A ROW WITH HIM,
and finally drove him from the house. Bach
man went into an adjoining house. Dixon
went up town aud got deckhand to return
with him to the house in which Bachman
had taken refuge, with view of drawing
him out a second time. On arriving at the
house and seeking admittance, they dIscov-
cred that Bachman had anticipated the Sec
ond visit, and securely locked the door. At
ter various attempts to get Bachman to come
out, Dixon and his pal went away, giving up
the chase for that night. On the following
day Dixon met Bachman on the levee, when
the latter told Dixon he was going out on the
boat to which Dixon responded that if he
did
HE WOULD KILL HIM.
1t was developed in the evidence that
when the boat was under way one of the
deckhands awoke Dixon to inform him that
Bachman was aboard, the deckhand stating
that he did that he might witness a good
fist fight. having no idea that Dixon con-
templated numbering Bachman. As soon as
Dixon learned of the presence of Bachman
he sprang from his hammock, picked up an
AK lying near by, and after carefully exam
lining the edge of 1t, walked toward the fore
castle of the boat where Bachman was cit
ting fast asleep, and without word of warn
ing or sign of hesitation, he raised the ak
and
BURIED 1T UP To THE EYE"
three times in the brain of his unconscious
victim, Bachman's hat clinging to the AK the
first blow and until the last. Dixon then
quietly shouldered the bloody ak and walked
back into the engine-room, the dead man s.
hat still clinging TO it. The statement of
Captain lookout, the chief clerk OF the Fair
Play, is as follows: When about three
quarters of an hour out from the landing on
our way from Vicksburg a deck passenger
rushed into the cabin and up to the front of
the office crying out that a man had b en-
murdered down stairs, that
his HEAD HAD BEEN CHOPPED OPEN
with an ak. | cautioned the men about
making any further outcry about it, fearing
unnecessary excitement among my passen-
gers, and ordered the pilot to turn the boat
back to Vicksburg. | then walked hastily
down stairs, where my eyes met the most
sickening sight l ever witnessed in my life.
| readily recognized the murdered man as
Bachman, the peddler, who had frequently
travelled on the boat He was seated in an
I rfnyht A,ln IS
seed sacks, his back against a pile of coal,
his left hand thrown over his packs, as if he
had fallen asleep. His head, which lay back
on the cnal-pile, was nothiag hrt an empty
shell; the entire brain Ia. literally
hewed out, and was hang.nz wn on the