The Dawson journal., 1885-04-30
CALLED BACK,
Whyan Arkansas. Prisoner was Par
- doned-sA Touching Romance .
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Arkansas ieazette. s1t 81 5t
A few days ago GOV. Hughes
issued o. pardon for Benjamin T.
Taylor, a young man under SEN
tence for several years on account
of a crime committed when he
was a boy Of sixteen. The exer-
else Of the pardening power is
something. which requires the ut
most caution and the most careful.
consideration. 1t is a we'll known
fact that innocent men are often
convicted and sentenced, and it is
also beyond denial thatmen guilty
in the eyes of the law may yet be
deserving Of clemency. This is
why the power has been left in
the hands of the Governor, and
it remains with him to discrimi-
nate as to the merits of the scores
and hundreds of prayers for par
don which pour in upon him. The
case of young Taylor is one which
has attracted considerable atten-
tion, and has been watched with
no small degree Of interest. His
story reads like a romance. He
was led away by evil associates,
and in his seventeeth year found
himself within the walls of the
State Penitentiary with a long
term Of Imprisonment staring him
in the face. He was daring lit
tie fellow, and before he had been
long in the stripes he made a bold
dash for liberty, evading the
guards and taking to the woods,
succeeded in battling all pursuit.
His insight into prison life seems
to have had a most salutary effect
upon him, for he made his way
into Texas and under an assumed
name soon became identified with
one of the smaller towns, living
an honest and Industrious life.
He was respected by the commu-
nifty, and when he married one of
the bellies Of the town everyone
looked upon it as a most happy
match. lie lived thus in peace
and security for several years, but
one bright evening as he sat by
his freside with his children at
his knee, the officers Of the law
came in upon lin. His sin had
found him out and he was torn
from his happy home and carried
back In chains to the Little Rock
penitentiary. Heartbroken, his
loving wife followed him. Peti-
tions from leading citizens of his
new home poured in. It was an
unusual case, and the Governor
gave it his closest attention. The
young mans record at the peni-
tentiary, both before and after his
escape,was commended by the au-
thorities. At last the decision
was reached, the paper was sign
ed, and the patient wife received
her happy husband, once more a
free man. The Governor was
highly recommended for the ac-
ton on his part, and it was pre-
dicted that he had been instru-
mental in restoring to the world
a man who would be an honor to
himself and friends, and living
monument to justice and humani-
ty. The following letter from the
poor fellow shows his feelings
when once more at home!
MT. CALM, Hall county, Texas
Kind friends at Little Rock: |
am happy~very happy this morn
ing. | am once more at home and
a free man forever more. How
sad have been, shat up in your
prison there, away from my fami-
ly and those whom l loved SO
dearly. Once more [ am with
that dear, loving wife who left her
Texas home and followed me to
the PRISON door, never reproach-
ing me, but striving all the time
that [ might be freed. A kind
Governor was he who treated her
SO courteously and viewed my
case 50 fairly. Never shall he re-
gret his clemoLoy, and never shall
the justice of his act be doubted.
We shall never forget him, and
our little ones shall learn to
breathe his name in nightly
prayer. Who can doubt that he
had most just ground for his ac-
ton? The otfense was committed
years ago by mere hoy, and
most bitterly have the faults Of
the. youth been repented by the