Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1895-08-31
THE CONVICTED WOMEN

No ONE who has not been to the
Richmond jail and gazed upon the
open countenance Of Aunt" MARY
ABERNAruy and PoKEy BARNES can full
ly realize their pitiable condition. The
strain upon them is terrible to contem
plate. They are midway between
hope and fear.
When cheering word is spoken, a
bright smile given and belief in their
innocence declared, then comes the
ray of sunshine. Possibly some have
not fully realized the awful signifi-
canoe of their conviction. They are
to be hanged at Lunenburg C. H., Va
September 20, 1895.
The idea of MARY ABERNATIrY as
landing tI.~ salio~s Win roKEY
BARNES at her side is too fearful 60
contemplate.
We saw BARBARA MILLER hanged.
Her swaying form as she took her last
walk up those steps were vivid and
the remembrance oft is as clear to
us now as it was the day after it oc-
Cured. The binding of her skirts, the
placing of the black cap over her face,
the adjustment of the moose, the drop
ping of the signal handkerchief, the
jerking of the rope, the falling of trap
door, plunging of the quivering body
into the open space, the struggling OF
the dying woman whose was not brok-
en- neck are recollections which nerve
us to strenuous efforts in order to save.
But this is not all-under the laws
of this state these bodies must be
turned over to the medical colleges of
the state. There the students knives
viii work havoc with the flesh, and
the bones of the body will be laid bare.
This is:the way they treat the guilty !;
this is the doom which awaits the in
nocent.
Shall these people be submitted to
this treatment d? Shall this fate ov-
ertake them ? These are the momen-
tous questions. If it is to be, then no
more will the little enes play around
the form of Aunt MARY. No more wi /.
the white people in the neighborhood
have the benefit of her friend y advice.
nor feel the softness of her motherly
hand
No more will PoKEY's "itt'e chapn
as she calls her five year cd child,
look into its mothers face and listen
to the lullaby which she knew so well
when she wanted to sing the young
one to peaceful slumber. No more
will the woods of Lunenburg County
reverherate with the merry laughter
of the once 'ight-hearted PoKEY. The
end will have come TO her and her un-
fortunate companion. There will he
no rest for them. And out on the hill
side there will be no mound-no grave,
over which their chi dren can drop a
tear. They viii live in memory and
persons passing over the POLLARD land
will relate the story of how two inno-
cent people were hanged, While the
third had died in the penitentiary
But, it should not be forgotten that
MARY BARNES awaits the same fate.
The law is sinexorab'e She cannot
hope to live through the rigorous pro-
visions of her sentence. To the medi-
cal college her remains must go.
Mother and daughter will meet a like
fate. Apprehensive Aunt MARY I'M
pulsive PoKEY BARNES Mourning
MARY BARNES
A few more days and the tale VIII
he told, a few more bitter wasting
hours for us, few more busy days,
appealing to the populace for sympa-
thy and aid, and the fight for human
life will be over. If energy, shrewd-
ness, determination, skill and self
sacrifice and faith in Con availeth
anything, we shall win And yet the
hought-horrible thought that if our
effort should mis-carry, we would lose,
comes Ger us and makes us careful
steals our nerve and causes us to warn
those who have the case in charge to
leave no stone unturned to achieve sue
cess. Lynch-law must go