The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-01-08
Calcraft, the Hangna,

| oeto eohC tu6lr aQuafso !. ~
sion ON Saturday afternoons dn,;.aal ' y
summer months. On the DAYS III. y
river was deserted, a lean. nsn 4 .;nealA
clerical person would FREQUENT .ha aa
a book in one hand, a fishinc.sr,osaG I
other. 1t was Calcraft, the ham ~ Y "
Where he came from, who h. I ~a
he had chosen his particular pr ~, VI!
nobody ever knew. Legend fSs III
he was convict who had been ma, ! saa
on the condition that he Womb pria "
the executioner's profession NV ~ saaps
averred that he had embraced !. ., Vasa
a certain morbid love Of death NV 1s'U0g
newt betrayed his secret, and j, I n
phies O. the man are Fictitious ''og 4,
alone is certain, that he has ar.,. ~
with punctua.' lily and dispatch. ' ss~a !
the most note..d criminals n 4
country. He en-. erred the bu,hss
in 1888, about 90 wears after n
Tyburn tree had been removed n
the gallows was set M An most a.,
Monday morning in the marrow rssxs
between Fleet Street and Ludc.t. III
known as the Old BSIey ~ n
came into public notoriety Al ~ nj a. ~
ing of James Greenacre, In lSs7 N
man had murdered Hannah R,r-.
woman to whom he had been eossrs
to be married and then had NJ s's Y
body into pieces, and hidden portim' v !
it in various parts of London -, \,
trunk being placed under saek ~
concealed behind some flagstones' y, "
the Pineapple toll-bar, in Edcer,s
Road. He confessed that Ham,
Brown had deceived him by pretsn .is
to have some property, and thst ~
night she called at his lodgings n
laughed at her trick. In a rae, /
struck her with a silk roller, aud n
blow proving mortal, he formed 4.
resolution of cutting up and concea;,,
the body. No criminal case since 4,
trial of DR.. Dodd had stirred % m,s
excitement in London. On the nicbt,
Greenacre's execution hundreds q ps
sons slept on the steps of the prison ul /
of St. Sepulchre's Church, and bow i
manned all night clinging to tie IAN.
posts. The crowds in the streets xN1d
away the night in ribald Jokes N
drunken brawls. Greenacre, when h
passed to the gallows, was total|y |.
manned. He could not articuIss N
responses to the Ordinary, and had {
be supported or he would have iann
| Greenaore's execution brought iar
to Calcraft. He did not rest lous q
his laurels. Three years later hua
called to carry out the sentence d u
law on Francois Benjamin Coupas,
a Swiss valet, found guilty Of tlsnr.
der of his master, Lord William RusE
Lord William, who was in bis 7sd Ez;
lived alone in his house in Ncdb
Street, Park Lane, with his eaahEA
ment of two maids and Of CouruNs
the body-servant. On the morning.
the murder the housemaid found Il
study in disorder, and entering bis NJ
room with Courvoisier, saw tint Y
head was nearly severed from his hh
Two bank-notes, supposed to hsn WI
taken from Lord Williams body, vn
found behind the skirting-bo y
buffers pantry. Those notes convfa
Courvoisier. He was hanged onjiI
6, 1910. Upward of 20, 600 people val
present at the scene. Most Of hN
waited all night at the debtors dcmd
the Old Bailey. High fees werspt
for house-roofs, and the windoxs va
crowded. As the bell began to TOD .
O'Clock the multitude uncovered, Md
two minutes past the hour Courolx
assembled the steps leading to The dT
followed by the Executioner andlsd
nary of the prison. He died witaed
struggle. The ease of his death y
universally attributed to Calcrafts VI
A new genius had arisen in the budrss
Jack Ketch of Tyburn, was outdone
For twenty-four years Calcrait eoHa,
ued to win the applause Of pres y
public. Not combining his exeten
Newgate, he travelled in the wake q
Judges round their circuit. HeM
bungled. He has executed seven glls
together, and performed his WoIf Y
entire satisfaction. He hanged "
Fenians at Manchester, and shownd
treme contempt for the snonJs
threats that were made made aga!as
life. In 1864 he hanged Franz Anas
the young German tailor who, Y
his passage to America, murdersa
Briggs in a carriage on the Morn y
don Railway. On the night that hn
died there was a disgraceful scene ~
Newgate. The house was finea
spectators, who had paid more =
couple of guineas apiece for a pism
who spent the night PLAYING IS ,.
and singing choruses. When
set foot on the scaffold, ne lookea
the chains with perfect SELF os
Then he murmured a confession
attendant clergyman, and the upr
instantly. These were the three
criminals of Calcraft's carer; ~
ere, Courvoisier and Mueller: y
public executions were abollsn9
the hangman's glory was depsI.
gallows was henceforth erecsed
prison-yard of Newgate, and onlJ :
reigned on the spot which faa a -
executions of Gov. Wall, VINO W. WI
man to death; of Bellinghan, M
cival's assassin; of the Cato-ss
spirators, whose heads were ~
the scaffold after they were ns4
Fauntleroy, the banker; ana !, y M
and Williams, the burkers. -,
soon retired from business We.
rapidly falling in popular es ssSsdE,
Marwood, his lieutenant, suc
IN. Y. Herald.