Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-03-23


The injustice which sometlnsss arises
from acceptance Of circumstantlaI evt-
dence has beeD illustrated by several
Incidents Of s6scaIIed Georgia Justice.
and the effect has been that the state
Legislature has made q concession TO
the prejudice against conviction o., CIR
cumstantiaI evidence by providing that
IN cases In which capital punishment
may be administered. the Jury may
give the defendant q Mfe sentence IN
the penitentiary instead Of the limit Of
| the law.
One OF these instances 1t may be In
teresting to note. In November. 1899.
the Rev. Frank johnson, a Methodist
preacher OF distinction. and, previous 10
the charge brought against him, light
OF his denomination In Georgia. was
hanged at MilledgeviIle. The story Of
his conviction and execution on a
charge Of murder is used as strong
! argument against circumstantiai evil
dence.
The charge againgt him was the kill.
ing OF his wife's sister. a girl Of tfiir-
teen years. While the evidence against
him was altogether circumstantiai, II
was so strong as to be almost equiya.
lent to positive. The girl was found
harging from the limb Of a tree In a
valley near the johnson home. The
material witness against johnson was
his wife, who testified that on the morn
ing of the day that the girl was found
she saw Johnson cut a hank OF rope
similar to that with. which she was
hanged from reel and walk of in the
dfrsaa Inn <f -
was found. The evidence, also from his
wife, that he had frequently punished
the girl barbarousiy, convicted John
son.
On the day of the execution a great
crowd was assembled. Several circum-
stances connected with the event had
a tendency to augment it. The Legis-
lature was in session. and that drew a
great many people to MilIedgevilIe.
Then II was reported that johnson
would preach his own funeral sermon.
The crowd was estimated at 10000.
Trees furlong away were full Of
men, looking like blackbirds
When the hour for execution came,
attired in black ministerial suit, and
wearing an overcoat and white tie, a
stately man stepped on the deathtrap.
The condemned man pulled of his
overcoat and laid it aside. For short
time the gallows was converted into a
the scene was more like that
at campmeeting. On the book board
of the gallows lay a Bible and hymn
book.
Calmly and steadily, without any per-
ceptibie emotion. the condemned man
picked up the hymnbook and read
through every line of a hymn without
a CULVER, in loud and distinct voice.
He then lined OF" the hymn, in the
style of those days, two lines at
time. those near by singing at inter-
walls. after which he knelt upon the
gallows and prayed long and fervent-
~ He then arose and delivered an ex-
hortation of some length, without re-
ferring in any manner whatever to his
guilt or innocence. He then descended
from the gallows for a goodbye hand
shake with his relatives and friends.
While this was going on people were
weeping, and the air resounded with
the screams of men and women. One
feature of the scene was that Johnson
ignored his wife, who was
taking on" frantically, almost beyond
anything that could be conceived of
maniac. Returning to the galiows, his
arms were pinioned behind him. the
white cap adjusted. the drop fell. and
he man passed from life into eternity.
Many years after this execution
negro was convicted of numbering his
master in Mississippi, and upon the
sallows he confessed to having been
guilty of the crime for which the
Georgia preacher had been hanged.