The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-09-29
BUCHANAN AND LINCOLN
RECOLLECTIONS OF AN OLD At
PENDANT AT THE WHITE HOUSE.

| muCeO a Death SenGence-A frank
Who Wanted Protection-Presid
Lincoln's Inau9uration-Busy Times
at the Beginning Of the War.
From the Washington Star
The Inauguration day of 1857 furnished
a case for President Buchanan's clemency
later on" said the old attache of the white
house whose "reminiscences of other admin
istrations have been published in the Star.
"a young Marylander had been whipped,
and threatened to kill one of his assailants
| on sight. Both parties attended the in
auguration, and the assailed party going
into a restaurant for refreshments saw the
other, who, not wishing to get into a diff
Guilty, was making for the door. but before
he reached it he was shot and killed In the
course of few months the
young man was sentenced to be hanged
''Some time after" said the old attache
to Star reporter, "a lady and her daugh-
| ter, the mother and sister of the young
man, came to the white house to secure
| communication of sentence-to save his life.
| The attendants ascertained that they had
| no petition, and told them that it was use
less to see the President without having
some papers on which to base action, and
|
suggestion thew accepted, and | afterward
told the President what had done. That
is right said Old Buck. Il don't want to
| see people coming to me and kneeling and
crying. do not like the trial it gives me.
When they have their petition ready
l will give the case attention. In
a little time they had a petition
prepared and returned. I'll never forget
the impression the mother and sister made
upon me and made up my mind to do all
| could for them in my humble way. When
they came back the President was told by
me that it was a heart-rending case and
that they were waiting to see him. Let
them in,' said the President, and | could see
that he nerved himself for meeting them.
He received them courteously, took the
papers and informed them that the case
would be- referred by the Attorney General
| to the district attorney as to the facts i'll the
case, and to the United States attorney at
Baltimore as to the standing of the parties,
ETC., and when those reports were received
they would be notified. The Thursday be-
| fore Black Friday arrived. Col. Selden, the
marshal, had had the scaffold erected. The
mother and sister of the condemned man had
| secured the influence of Hon. w. PInkney
| Whyte of Baltimore, and they were at the
| Presidents house that morning. The Pres
ident, wher | asked if he would see the
mother and sister, was apparently inclined
to deny their request, and | said: oh, Mr..
President, if you could only see that mother
| and her daughter il would break your
heart That is just what | am afraid of, ,
be replied; 'but tell them the case is in the
Attorney Generals hands, and I'll do what
| can. l was satisfied then that the boy
would not grace the gallows, for with the
President the words IN do what | can
meant something. had seated the ladies
in the green room, where they would
| L. = &c
going, and although they endeavored
to conceal their feelings, any one could see
| that they labored under great excitement.
| When | came down | said: Madam, while
there is life there is hope, and your boy will
not be hanged You ought to have seen
them; they frightened up at once, and
| when Col Whyte came down he also ex-
pressed his belief that the boy would not
die on the scaffold. Though the power was
in the President to respite, commute or
pardon he was one of those who, in matters
of life and death, preferred the advice of
his constitutional advisers. On that day
the cabinet was called and considered tine
case and without concluding they adjourned
for an evening session. The great diff
Guilty IN the case. so have understood, was
the previous threats made to the deceased.
| However, a conclusion was reached at the
evening session, and when Judge Black
came down about Q o'clock he said to some
of the attendants, I've saved the boy
believe that be did as much as any one else,
and that it was he who argued a majority
of his fellows to a support of the wishes Of
the President. Shortly after a messenger
was called, and Mr.. Buchanan saying, the
young rascals life is saved Directed that
the carriage be in waiting at o'clock in
the morning, and that the private secretary
be ready to secure the proper papers. This
was necessary because the marshal,
Mr.. Selden, was a prompt man,
and the hours for the execution of the sem
tence had been fixed at from 9 to IL o'clock.
You see that whate YER red tape was neces-
sary had to be speedily applied. At S
o'clock in the morning the carriage was
ready, and the papers were prepared at
once at the state department and signed by
the President and Secretary of State. Then
we drove to the Jail, at the corner of G. and
Fourth streets, that is, as near as we could,
for there was a crowd around it, but it was
an orderly one 1t was with the greatest
difficulty that the police could make an
opening, and had the crowd known the err
rand we were on, we might not have reached
the Office. Well, we reached the Jail, and the
private secretary handed the document to
Mr.. Selden. The gallows was ready. and
the mother and sister had taken their fare
we'll, having given up all hope. The con-
demned man and his spiritual advisers were
!
marshal had made his detail for the pro-
cession to the gallows, and each. man had
been assigned his part. As soon as Mr..
Selden received the document from the
white house there was much rejoicing
among the friends of the culprit, but the
crowd outside was sadly disapr ointed. The
young man went to the penitentiary, then
near the arsenal, and during the war went
nto the service"
AN OLD TIME CRANK.
81 suppose continued the veteran, "from
the prominence given nowadays to cranks
found about the white house that people
think we had no such characters in olden
times We had them too, but they were not
50 numerous as now Did you ever hear of
the Froemason crank! Well, he was here
during Old Bucks term, and he had the idea
that the Freemasons were after him. He
came to the white house and endeavored
to get the President 20 order out
the army to protect him. We tried
to explain to him that the Presi-
dent could not order out the army to pro.
tect an individual, and sent him to the
mayor. He went to the city hall, but failed
TO get satisfaction and came back. The
President gave him an audience, ana ex-
planned to him his powers under the consti-
tuition. The man then left, saying that ne
would defend himself. He went directly
b the corner of Tenth and + streets, and
shooting into a crowd, three men wore
wounded in the legs. he was then sent to