The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-03-13
1T Ribs THE WORLD AND COR.
SICANA OF A VILE, HEART
LESS CRIMINAL.
Too Much Horse and Mule Lands a
Suspicious Mexican In the
Dallas CalabOOse.
LAMPASiS PUTS IN IT'S CLAIM
FOR THE DEMOCRATIC
CONVENTION.
A Missing United States Marshal
The Lovers Quarrel at
Fort Worth.
EXECUTION AT CORSICANA.

Special to The Statesman.
CoRsICANA, Tex, March 7.-Harri-
son Williams was hung at CorSicana
at 3:43 to-day. The execution was
private and within the jail enclosure,
where he made short speech to the
few persons present. The sheriff and
his deputies appearing to be nervous,
he said to III M Don't git excited
chi dren; this da key is ready to :"
He sal he had no fear of death, and
no regrets for his crime. An iron
drop " Weighing 5l9 pounds, rked the
murderer from the ground several
feet into the air, but his neck was not
broken, and he died of strangulation.
After hanging sixteen minutes, the
body was cut down, and taken charge
f by his friends.
The murder for which Harrison
Williams was to-day executed stands
unparalleled for cold brutality in the
criminal annals of Navarro county,
although several executions under due
forms of law have occurred in the
county previous to this one. The vic
tim of the crime, a colored woman,
Mrs. Ada Sallard, was the sister of the
murderer's wife. Williams was a
plantation darkey, and lived a
mile from Corsicana. lie was
possessed of most
violent temper, and he and his wife
were frequently quarreling, and often
times he would beat her. One of those |
occasions occurred June oath, 1883, |
and Ada Sallard (wife of Monroe |
Sallard) went to Corsicana and made |
complaint before justice of the i, ace |
about the ill-treatment of her 81 ster.
Williams learned of this and imu.edi-
ately set out to search for the info. mer,
declaring he was stirred of having
niggers reporting him." He declared
to number of colored acquaintance
his purpose to kill the woman. The
husband of the latter, Monroe Sal
lard, was engaged as laborer on the
same plantation, six miles from his
home, and did not return to his fam
lily every night so, on the night of
June 10Th, nothing was known OF the
absence of Ada Sallard from
her home, short distance from the
limits of Corsecana. But on the NOR
ming of the Goth her absence was OBJ
served, and as the day wore on with
out her return, and as the threats of
Williams made the day previous,
were recalled to mind, foul
play was fully suspected, and search
for the missing woman instituted.
The body was found late that after
noon, in horribly mutillated condi-
ton, about 20 PAGES from the public
road. 1t was lying face downward,
and, on being turned over, presented
sickening spectacle. The head had
been crushed in by blows from heavy
club, the face and head had been
stamped and kicked into a jelly-like
mass, the stomach had been cut open
by some sharp instrument, and
was tightly tied about
the neck. OF course, Harrison Will
liams was at once suspected of
the crime. Investigation developed
the fact that on the day the woman
was first missing he had been seen by
different parties with a razor, pistol
and heavy elm club in his posses
sion, searching for Ada Sallard, and
to kill her and three
other niggers," saying that when he
had accomplished that, he would be
willing to die" 1t was also developed
that upon the night of the day of the
murder he had returned late to the
farm where he and Monroe Sallard
were employed, crawled into
the bed With the husband
Of his EEim, and slept
with him till t4H following morning.
He was captured and lodged in Ma
varro county Jail at Corsicana on June
p, but stubbornly asserted his inno-
cence until after his trial and con-
viction. The grand jury, on July 5,
1888, indicted him for the crime, and
On August 9th following his trial was
begun before District Judge l.. d.
Braelny, of Cursicana. The testimony
elicited was in substance the same as
detailed above. The jury, on August
10th, returned a verdict of murder
in the first degree, and assessed the
penalty at death. A motion for new
trial was made by the prisoners coun-
sci on August 18th and denied, when
notice of appeal to the court of ap-
peals was given on August 21st. The
Judgment of the lower court was
by the court of appeals at
Tyler on November 21st, 1883, and in
January 1884, in accordance with the
of that tribunal, Judge Brad
ley sentenced the prisoner to be
hanged on Friday, March 9TH, 1884.
FOUR correspondent visited the DOOM
ed man in his cell on Wednes-
day last and interviewed him.
He looked like stolid, brutal crea-
Jure, endowed of little or no human
nature, but possessed, strongly, of ami
ferocity of expression. He
was of coal-black complexion, exceed
ingly prominent thick lips, and broad.
fiat nose. In facial expression he was
more brute than man. In converse
ton he betrayed extreme ignorance,
but none of his characteristics i'm
pressed me with the idea that he
could not distinguish very infinitely
between right and wrong.
He looked like one who
knew both well, but would
prefer doing wrong than right. He
was stubborn in his statements, not
any one to presume any
thing about his case. He acknoWl-
edged having killed Ada Sallard, but
Denounced the law for having allowed
false witness, as he alleged, to be
Lorne against him said that the law
ought to have been made TO prove
positively the commission of the
act by him, and not convict him on
circumstantial testimony. He de.
clared most positively that he
committed no act of mutilation
on thu remains of his victim, and
did not SO much as strike her with
his fist; that he strangled her with his
hands until she was insensible and
dead, and then, to make
sure of the job, tied his handkerchief
tightly about her neck, and left her
dead. He said the brutal atrocities
discovered on her body were made by
other hands than his, and called on
God to witness the truth of his asser-
ton. He could not say how old he
was, thought he was about Is years of
age; was born slave at Montgomery,
Ala, and was owned by DR.. Griggs,
of that city; came to Texas about
dozen years ago; had worked hard
since as farm and plantation laborer,
but had accumulated no property. |
Previous to the murder he had been |
a member of the African Methodist |
church, but just before the commits
sion of the crime, he had been ex-
PEELED. Since realizing that he had to |
die, he had sought comfort in religion
and believed he had found it. God