The New York herald., 1878-11-09
William Rainey Pays the Penalty Of
Murder on the ScahOId.
A coLD-BLOODED CRIME.
Killing His Sleeping Companion for .
Handful of Nickels
FROM THE GALLOWS TO GLORY
(By TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD. ]

lection Of society and those higher laws emanating
from duty. have to-day been fearfully and terribly
vndicated by the hanging of William Rainey for the
crime Of murder. He executed in the
small yard which surrounds the county Jail.
and which is partially protected from the
outer world by tall close plank fence.
Long before the hour Of execution throngs Of people
of all Sizes and colors pouring into
town from every direction. and every housetop tree
and elevated space of ground near the Jail yard was
filled with motley crowd of eager wouldbe wit
nesses The attendance reached fully five thousand
persons the colored element largely predominating
and manifesting the greatest eagerness to witness
scene. which in this peaccabe and law abiding
munty is of the last execution in the
county having taken place thirty-nine years ago.
cUIPRIr.
William Rainey q colored man. unmarried.
about twenty-six twenty-seven years of age. Ave
feet six inches in height muscular. stout and able
bodied. He was born in slavery, but being quite
young at emancipation he obtained the rudiments Of
q common education. Endowed with fair common
sense, he might have made of himself but being
lazy he became tramp. He was rather dark for =
mulatto and too bright for full blooded negro. but
in color what the Southerners call .gingercaks
colored negro" Rainey had pleasant face. and
would hardly have been judged by his appearance to
be q murderer or even dishonest man. His three
brothers deserted him when his trial came on. and
have taken interest in his
cIRcUMsTANTIAL EVIDENCE.
Rxiney was convicted on the 18th Of Septem.
bcr in the Superior Court for Warren county
held by Judge A. s. Seymour. and all OF
tho testimony against him purely circum.
stantal. but SO very concl usive that the verdict
Guilty Of the murder of James Taylor" was inev-
table The story of the crime is q thrilling one and
reveals amount of depravity. cold-blooded heart
essness and fearlessness Of consequences perfectly
amazing. Early in February, 1878, James Taylor and
for Edgecombe county to obtain employment They
took with them only such luggage as could be con-
veniently carried on their backs. and each man was
accompanied by that boon companion indispensable
to the Southern negro. "yaller dog"
Taylor carried carpet sack which At time had
been torn and mended by his wife in . peculiar man
One Of his shirts had peculiar patch the color
of Of his wife's dresses. Taylor's dog
carried old army haversack which contained al of
his earthly possessions except his dog. The two
one month and. not finding constant employment.
concluded to return home They carried the same bag
Very peculiar axe handle which he used in carrying
his carpet sack. At Littleton depot. In Warren
county the two men stopped At = country store on
81 25 which he paid with fve-dollar BILL receive
ing in change !$s rs in three and FIVE cent nickel
pieces After their leaving the store together Taylor
was not seen again alive. There was heavy rain
that night. which made the ground quite soft.
the morning OF the 10th of March the dead bodice
Of q negro man aud yellow dog found lying
near the Raleigh and CASTOR Railroad about one mile
west OF warrenton depot ana about four miles north
west of the town Of warrenton. The body OF tho
man was lying between two railroad sills the
remains Of fre. The head had several wounds upon
it, aud the skull was fractured evidently with some
blunt instrument The dog had also been killed in
been rided careful examination Of the ground
revesed the fact that the tracks Of two led to the
are while the tracks Of only one S led from It. a
that Of James Taylor and = verdict anording clsw
to the murderer rendered
In the meantime Rainey had arrived at his home
and reported that Friday night he aud Taylor had
they in different directions; that Taylor hsoedt
and told him to tell his wife he would be home Sat-
urd2y night that thereafter he ainey) heard the
report Of pistol and also heard TAylors dog bark.
This story disbeeved. and on saturday evening.
on sss
for Indictment by the Grand Jury. On Rainey's per.
son were found large number of three and Eve cent
nickel pieces He also had Taylors shirt and carpet
sack and the brass dog collar taken from Tsy-
lor's dog. Tsylor's coat was afterward found
the murder found the handle that Taylor
red This instrument was stained with blood. All
these things exhibited in court, and the conclu-
sion inevitable that William Raney and James
Taylor stopped the side Of the railroad to camp;
that during the night Rainey conceived the idea OF
killing Taylor for the possession OF ~ IS
nd tho ns. ana that Grth ~hs aH' Ss eo@
psnion slept he carried his purpose into execu-
tion Draining him with the axe handle and aPprogr-
stng all his effects which he considered OF value. Ten
white men and two negroes composed the jury, which
promptly rendered the verdict of Guilty" During
the trial Rainey in the best of humor frequently
laughing heartily ut the mots that passed around
among the members OF the Bar. During the entire
n the matter and apparently careless a. to his fate
The solemn sentence of the Judge had eject upon
him and he received IL with q smile.
FALSE CONFESSION.
His conduct underwent slight change in few days
HERALD repressnatiSe saying he had Confession
to make. The prisoner, who was chained
to the jail hoor; talked freely on the subjees
of his crime and coming execution. He msds
sort of confession which bore falsehood upon its
face. 1t to the effect that Taylor, being very
the next mornng that he Rainey. awoke Taylor. and
Immediately Taylor hew into rage and attacked him
with large knife. and he forced TO kill Taylor
with the handle To his own life.
srsrfcE vrNpIcarED.
Rainey slept well last night, but ate very little
breakfast The HERALD reporter talked with him in
the Jail house just before the execution. He seemed
ssd I 1I be- in the Iiued"m before nigst sheriff
Jones and Deputy Sheriff Parrish neatly dressed him
in black coat and vest, with check psntaloons The
scaod fifteen feet from the beam to the ground.
with nine feet Of drop. The Sheriff with the prs
oner. emerged from the Jail at twenty minutes
minister and the attorney who defended
him accompanied Rainey on the scanod. The prs-
oner walked up the steps firmly and coolly. After
taking his position he spoke for Ave minutes. but
made no additional confession. He said the sentence
That e was going straight to III Warned
young men against the love of money and said that
that passion had brought him to the gallows. Ha
thanked the officers. the preacher and his counsel
He spoke with clear, firm distnctness and with the
usual terate negro preacher twang. Rev. Mr.. OTIS.
by request Of Rainey delivered short funeral oatiou
from the scaffold The was adjusted and tina
black cap put on ct halfpast two o'clock. The minis
ter offered fcryent prayer and the drop rope was
cut ut twenty fve minutes before three O'Clock Tho
rope slipped and the neck not broken. -Four vio-
lent commissions of the body and drawing up OF the
legs followed by three witchngs OF the muscles
and death occurred In thirteen minutes by strangus
ton.
BAnpanIc wor.
The dense crowds of negroes dressed In their best
and gsyest. who surrounded the Jail yard, when the
drop fell burst forth in loud walls from the women
and deep. wild howngs from the men. Then began
scene which beggars description. Fully hve thou
sand negro men women and children blockaded every
all afd