Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1888-12-19
A LIFE F0R 4 LIFE
The Mard r for Whica John Dore
mus Must Die.
he KILLED HIS OWN SON
The BOY Was Trying TO Save his Mother
from Abuse-HIs Father Buried a
Knife In Ills Heart to Pay
for His Interference.

His crime was the murder OF MS son unuei
particularly brutal and unprovoked circum
stances
On the afternoon OF June 10 last Dorem.
staggered into his house, on State street
Hackensacls, partially intoxicated. His wife
a patient, hard worked woman, was in the
back ward hanging out some clothes Their
son, Jacob Bogert Doremus. bright lad ol
10, was IN the kitchen when his father en-
terrell the room AMI called 10 his wife, will
an oath, to come into the house and get hin
some clean underclothing.
She did not come on the instant becaus
she was busy. whereupon her husband seized
dippar of water, dashed it over her and ex
claimed:
II baptiae thee in the name of the Father,
Son and Holy Ghost"
He laughed with maudlin glee at his sacri
legious JEST while the poor, accomplishing
wife said never a word.
The husband then angrily demanded If sh
wasn't coming in TO get his clothes ut ono
and swore at her again. The wife sub
missively said she would come as soon as sh
had wiped the water of.
Young Jacob had been silent but indig
nant witness Of his fathers outrageous con
duct The lad had seen many such out
breaks and his young blood boiled with
anger.
But he restrained himself as much as h
could, and he stepped to his fathers sids
and said:
Father, that's nice way TO treat mother
You ought 10 be ashamed of yourself.
you don't stop your abuse of her I'll have
you bound over to keep the peace"
The lads words were quietly spoken, bu
they infuriated the half drunken brute Ut
tering a dreadful oath he ran into an al joining
room aud before the boy realized his peril his
father returnel brandishing butcher knife
with "A seven inch blade He sprang for his
SON, who screamed and tried to escape
through the door into the yard But the
hinges of the door had only that day been
changed so that the door opened inward
instead of outward and while the boy
pushed frantcaly and mavailingly against
it, his father overlook him and caught him
In the trap between the corner of the room
and the door.
Without word he plunged the deadly
knife into the lads heart up TO the hit. The
poor boy staggered into the yard and, COW
cred with blood, fell dead in his mothers
arms
The woman's shriel1s soon brought a crowd
of the neighhors, among others DIR. .Burdette
who pronounced the boy dead. The muir
derer was the coolest man in the crowd He
threw the murderotis weapon down carelessly
and said sneeringly to his wife, who sat
moaning with the dead boys head in her lap
ooh, nv poor Boggie!"-her pet name for
the lad-"Yes, damn you, you've got your
poor Boggie, now keep him"
Sheriff Demarest arrested the murderer
who made no resistance He was locked uL
in the jail on Justice Cummings commitment,
and the coroners inquest brought out the
of assff Iuia
On the 1st OF October Doremus was placed
on trial before the county court, Justice
Dixon presiding. Doremus, in his own testi
mony and through his lawyer, tried to miti
gate his crime by claiming that his son had
attacked him. But the weight of evidence
was all the other way, and the jury withou.
delay vindicated New Jerseys reputation fol
speedy justice and found verdict of murder
in the first degree, greatly to the surprise of
: the prisoner. Two weeks later Doremus was
sentenced TO be hanged on Wednesday, the
10Th of December
Since his condemnation Dor emus has beer
confined in the female ward of the Jail, where
there are no other prisoners. lie has all
along astonished his jailers by his cool indif
ference as to his fate Within few days
however, he has professed repentance under
the ministrations of the Rev. j. c.. Voorhis
him every day. He has informed the death
watch, n. A. Voorhis and Garrett X Brinck.
erhoff, that he means to die like man.
Doremus has always been a degenerate
scion OF good stock, the family whence he is
descended being one of the best in the state
He is 80 years old, and during the past thirty
years it Is said of him that there has rarely
been day when he was quite sober He
never got very drunk. He was a first class
stone mason, but when he worked he spent
ell his wages in drink ana comrelled his
family to live in wretchednesS
He abused his wife and son and frequently
beat them and threatened their lives Young
Bogert had of late grown big enough to try
and protect his mother, and the unnatural
husband and father had often declared that
he wou have his life for daring to interfere
Doremus was known as a braggart and an
arrant coward, and no one thought he would
carry out his threatin such an awful man.
ner
The gallows on which Doremus viii hang
is the same by which Sandforl Cisco, the
negro murderer, was executed for the muir.
der Of Abraham Gurnee on Christmas eve,
three years ago The execution will take
place at tomorrow morning, in the east
corridor Of the jail, from which all the other
prisoners viii be temp rarily removed.
The gallows consists of a low platform rest
ing on the stone pavement There are two
uprighis and croSspiece, and the criminal
viii be jerled into the air by the fan of
weight, as is the custom in this state The
rope attached to the moose instead of passing
along the crosspiece, however, as usual, is
carried up to the high ceiling of the Jail roof,
where it passes over a pulley, across to the
wal aid down over another pulley to the
to POO pound weight
The rops which suspsnds the weight passes
from the basement up into the bathroom, on
the main floor, where an Ssstant of the
sheriff viii lie stationed. Through the partly
open door of the bathroom he can see she
sheriff and the condemned man, and viii cut
tho rope vita blow from his Ratchet when
he receives the sheriffs signal
The arrangements seem TO be well banned.
AMI the execution viii prohnhlv Ia s7p>es,k 10