Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-11-04
AN APPEAL
FROM JENKINS, 1HE FAYt1Te COUN-
~ MUROeRtR,
For Mercy From the Governor His Con-
fession, Which Will Prove Inter
esting TO Our Readers.

Gov. Jackson Yesterday received
through the attorney OF Henry Jenkins,
the colored man who will be hung next
Friday, a petition asking commute
ton OF his sentence to imprisonment
for life Accompanying the petition
was his confession, which We give IN
full. The Governor says he does not
think that he will interfere, as the testl-
mony in the case is clear, and the crime
a heinous one. Following is the CON
fession:
IL am - years old, and native oil
Wvthe county, Virginia, where my TAM
ilv now reside. have been here near
lv two years. On the day OF the muir
dey Win Saunders came to my shanty.
1t was on Monday evening, one
half hour by sun, on the 10th day OF
Nav. He asked me for a drink. | told
him to help himself from pint bottle
on the table. He asked where we could
get more whisky tonight. | said, we
will go TO Peter smiths and get quart.
"rIl be your 'buddie' tonight, and 90
with you" said Saunders, and | said all
right
1--WE failed to get anything 10 drink
from Smith, and We came to Nelson
Green's, where he bought two
drinks from Charles Strather. /
bought quart and we went out in the
fence corner and drank nearly all OF It;
then we went on down TO the railroad.
We had some words before We got
down there. | then said, get stake
aud 90 to my room and We will play
cards the rest OF the night. He said any
man who would play cards for money
would steal. had won s. from him
the week before. He insisted on play
ing for fun and / refused; he then
agreed to play for money, and | won.
We then went on down the road; he
staggered against me and acted az
though he wanted to get fuss out OF
ME. told him to stop; he then Knocked
my bottle out OF my hands. | said,
mind what you are dolng-y0u have
broke my bottle: He said, Il will break
YOU and then began to throw upto me-
SOME words We had on the coke yard
over one year before. | got mad and
stopped, he pulled out his pistol and
snapped it at me but it failed To 90 oil,
| reached for rock and struck him,
killing him dead instantly. | only
struck him once, and as | struck HIM
the pistol went off in his hands. be-
lieve he would have killed me had |
not been too quick for him.
did not aim to kill him, bat II the
thing WIS to do over, | would do the
same thing in defense OF my life, as he
had me cramped. | then picked him
up to carry him to his shan,y
aud saw his skull was crushed
and he was dead, so threw him over
the bank, then caught him Ey the head
and feet and carried him and pitched
him in New river. When he struck
the water | heard him make some kind
OF noise like a groan. then came
back, picked up his pistol and went 10
Nelson Green's. In going from there TO
my shanty | fired the pistol twice,
walked up Lewis Regland then We went
to work. | shot the pistol twice next
day, this was on the l7th inst On
the same evening j was arrested, and
on the next brought to this Jail. |
have no CompuuctiOn OF conscience in
the matter. We were good friends, and
of course would not have killed him ii
| had not been drunk. Whisky and
cards was the cause. The conversation
that let to the murder grew out oil them,
did not have any desire for his money;
did not even look into his pockets alter
killed him, as ] had no intention
whatever OF killing him. Recapltu-
lation; but we were drinking and he
accused me of gambling and said ! de
pended on it for living, and that q
man who played cards would steal; these
were hard words and | warned him
against using them; he intimated that
| need not take it unless wanted TO-.
| said did not steal. ! think ! have
told you everything. | am trying to
prepare for death and hope to be ready
and better prepared than my victim, as
| know he was drunk. This is all.