The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-12-06

/ touu' 'thN tISo til' Jurors W 10 tcA'i'tf'I
/ the unturtunat" man, to petition which
! they presented 10 the governor praying for
, y communication of his sentence to inprison-
ment for life. Il remonstrancc against this
! petition WIS also extensively circulated ana
signed, and Il nunD@r Of letters on both
! sides of the question We're sent TO the Gov
/ crnor who designated the 9th day Of
! October last for a hearing Of the case, whicii
was ably argued by IL" prisoners counsel
and submitted to the governor upon a state
ment OF facts, which was agreed to bv the
| States Attorney. This enort proved to
| he as sbortivc rs tho others had been. and
on the 18th day of October, the Sheriff
received the death warrant.
HIS SPIRITUAL. ADVISERS.
During several weeks last Winter, Waters
was frequently visited by the Rev. d. c.
! RidGeway, who was then paster Of the Elk
/ ton VI. +. Church, with Il view of preparing
him FOR his approaching end. But Mr..
ltidgeway met with no success, and after
aborins and praying with him to no purpose
( till his patience was exhausted, lie left him
in the same hardened. stoical and indifferent
condition III which he found lin. During
Mr. RIdgcway's attendance upon him, he
was implicated with some OF the other
prisoners i'll a plot to kill the Deputy
Sheriff, and make his escape. The part
Waters WAS TO take in the plot was well !
suited to his diaboical disposition. and
/ there is no doubt in the minds Of those vhe
knew him that lie would have unhesita-
tinsly carried out his part Of il. which con
sisted in calling the attention of the Deput,
Sheriff TO some rude pictures which he had
, drawn on the wall of his cell with Il lead
pencil and concealed by fastening the
upper part Of n piece of paper to the wall So
that it would hang down over them, and
whlo his attention was thus attracted, to
knock him down and secure his pistol when I
he and the others were To secure the keys of
the outer door and escape. The existence of
this plot was revealed 10 the Sheriff by one :
Of the prisoners, and measures We're taken ,
to prevent its successful conSummaton
After Mr.. Eiigewav left Elkton, no Spr-
cial efforts to improve Mrdfurti's spiritual
condition We're made: but lie, in common
istr"tionS OF John Perkins, Esq, who, for !
come years, has visited the Jail regularly .
every Sunday morning and engaged in re
hsiouS services with the prisoners. Med .
ford did moi seem TO profit from the minis
tratiouS of Mr.. Perkins, 3ni shortly after
he was sentenced. thc it-T. Vaughan smith,
oastor of tn" EIllton II. e Church, visited
him for some time, with view Of preparing
him for death. Bun his efforts were quite
CPSSor, Mr.. Hid-HwaE, and after visiting
him :, number OF times and filling 10 make
any impression upon him, Ny. Smith came
to the conclusion that it was beyond his
power t" !,em"if linn in any way, and dis
continued his visits. The failure Of lhese
efforts in behalf of Waters, W.. attributed.
not TO his ignuranca-for he seemed to have
very correct knowledge OF the essential (
doctrines Of Christianitv-hrt 10 The Gallons
condition of his conscience sad his inability
10 feel the need Of them, and to apply them
20 his own case.
4 HARDENED WRETCH.
\ few weeks after Mr. Smith discontinue!
his visits. til, Rev. H. a Skinner. Of the
E!ktcn Episcopal Church, waited upon him,
and, being kindly received, continued his
efforts for some time and frequently had
much hope of cfacting his conversion: so
much 81, indeed, thai he appointed several
lines for his baptism. bat some hing always
occurred to induce him TO defer the admin,
istration OF that ordinance until about a
month ago, when Mcdford minated to he
Sheriff that he did not understand Mr.
Skinner, and inasmuch as he had been in
the hahj; If att-ndin. the Methodist church,
he would prefer the counsel OF some persen
OF thai persuasion. Mr.. skinner being made
acquainted with This, and having question
ed him about his wishes in the matter. and
learned from him that it was true, babe him
farewell, and discontinued his visits. Since
Mr.. skinner lcfT him, he has been visited
daily by .Jehn Perkins, ESD, who was in
variah,v accompanied by some other official
member OF the II. +. Church. and some
times by Rev. {. II. Williams of the A. /.
NJ. p. Church Of FIk1on
tnder their miniStrarOns he seemed to
give evidence to them that he had made the
necessary preparations to leave this world
with Il good lroSneCr of going 10 a better
one, bur VIC Laee he.n Informed tina. one
day last week he dressed him self up in the
gown.fsi one OF the female prisoners and
manifested much levity that those in
charge of the Jail have no faith in his pro-
fesSion of conversion.
He has never been closely confined the
outer door of his cell always having been
IIt III StttH Il IbSitl'l .iitbWFu MIN 10
open or close il At will, it being necessary ia
humor him i'll this respect as the Sheriff
has informed us, i'll order to avoid trouble.
OTHER i.% EuUTIoGa L. VEIL.
IL has frequently been asserted that no
person. except Robert Swift, who was hung
on Fed Hill, in April, 1850, was ever exc
Cut-d in this county. But there is reason
to think that several others have been exc
cutea, for, on June 9th, iI24, John Hack,
who WAS hen Shari2. presented ! petition
to The court, stating that a certain Robert
Dutch, then in his custody, was sentenced
to lie hange.. on the 18th Of that month and
being fearful he might escape through the
inSutfcirncy OF the jail le besought the
court to er"rr guard to watch The prisoner
and also to summon the cOnstabeS of the
various hundreds 10 be present and assist N
his execution. The peritinn was granted
and no doubt the man was hanged.
At this tim" the county seat WIS At Court
House Point, and there is no doubt that nj
least two other criminals were executed
here. One of them is said 10 have been
drawn and quartersd, and part Of his bod.
exposed CIR each side Gf lie rner. lie WAS
SAL and nau murdered his master, one
Mr. >awin, who lived in Elk Neck, oppo-
site Court House Point. The other one WAS
NNrHlt1a Tor the IN lricr OF ltugh MdhateT.
which occurred on the 18th Of November,
!7tH. Mahafev lived on Big Elk, short
distance south Of the telcsra!.h ROAD. and
was killed hy lie paramount of ms Wife and
an apprentice 10Y. whom The guilty ruupl"
forced to finish The work which they hid
begun hy knocking Mahattey senseicss while
sitting by he fire. Tue boy WAS hanged.
tie man having escapes, before the lgurte;
was discovered.
In 1856, or John Ii0rksLty was convicted
of rchhcrv and sentenced tt I've hanged at
Charlestown, but ina>nIuch as tradition i,
silent on the subject, it is probable he vas
MT c%s%i,ts
For The Cecil Whg.
The Mutual Building Society Of Elkton.
Its Favoritism.
Mr.. EDIToE:-For some time past. rl-
mors have been atioat i'll this community
that the business OF the above SOCIETY