Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1901-07-25
It regarded uamilton's story % any

It regarded Hamilton's story IS any
thing but a cleverly concocted tale to
account for circumstances so clearly
against him. The jury certainly did
not believe it, and as l thought before
hearing of the outcome / would have
done as those jurymen did
I'm spite of the many efforts to save
him Hamilton was adjudged guilty.
He was condemned to death and exc
cuted, protesting his innocence even
on the scaffold. Only one person be-
lieved in the probability of the mans
story being true. He was the Judge.
81 believe John Hamilton was III
nOccnt of the murder of Dr.. Sander
SON they say he told HamiltCn's
friends, after the execution. But the
i'll that trial
And now comes the most astOnish-
ing part of the story. Many years af-
ter HamiltOn's execution, there died
in Western Kentucky an cid half
witted man named King. On his
dcathbcd his mind seemed to grow
clear and he sent for witnesses and
told them what he said was the true
story Of the murder of Dr.. Sander
son.
Zone day while wandering as q lad
in the woods near the road to elias
gov, lie saw a stranger riding past
alone. A minute later the Sheriff Of
4 fnn,1tV hn ybo af
ward found Hamilton's broken pistol
on the road, who was instrumental in
finding Sanderson's body and who was
HamiltOn's bittercst prosecutor in the
proceedings that followed, appeared
from the opposite direction. The
Sheriff rode past the stranger, turned
and rode up to him, Wrencbed the
pistol from his saddle ard dealt him 4
blow that knocked him from his
horse.
The dying man who told this sWOrc
that the Sheriff knclt beside the body
and searched it. Then, seeing the Ia !
watching him from a little distance,
he called him and made him help car
ry the body to the sand hole where it
it with leaves and then the Sheriff,
after threatening the lad with instant
death, should he ever tell what he had
seen, rcmOuntcd and rode away. Such
was his fear Of the murderer, the old
man said, That he had kept the secret,
| though keeping it had driven him
| half crazy.
"Cnc Caspar D. Craddocll had been
| Sheriff of Barren County when the
| crime was committed. He lived for
| years afterWard in . distant part of
| the State, but = short time before the
! old mars tale was told he had dis
| appeared. Investigation showed that
not long after Uamilton'S execution
Craddock lad deposited nearly $4,000
i'll United States currency in q bank
i'll that part Of kentucky to which be
, moved, and from his subsequent life
no one who knew hin doubted for 4
moment that he was really iho nur-
| dercr of DR.. Sanderson.
In his new homo the Cx-Shcrir
gave himself up to a life Of crime and
| violence. The citizens who had lived
| the community if he valued his life,
and few days later he disappeared.
| He was recognized long afterward in
| Cuba, and the desperate ruSc by which
he got away from Kentucky was then
| revealed. They say it was character
| iStic of the man.
zone night soon after he had been
N Il 1cI- Ia
was called from his home BY a stranG-
er. The next day, in hog pen q few
yards from the house, was found q
| body clad in the remains of Grad
| docks clothes, but SO gnawed and mu-
tilated by the hogs that it was unrec-
| ognizable. Livery mark by which
| CraddOck might have been recognized
| the body was supposed undoubtedly t.
| be CraddOck though l believe his
| ncighbOrs wondered how he could
have fallen into the hog pen.
| 1T was realized when news came
| that CraddOck was alive in Cuba that
| he had either murdered his caller and
after exchanging clothes had thrown
his body into the pen, knowing what
| the result would be, or that he had
disinterred and thrown into the pen
some newly buried body for the pur-
| pose of cOncealing his flight.
'There, gentlemen" concluded the
| drummer from the South This is no
| fairy tale. 1t is we'll known in West
ern Kentucky and when l heard il
| f,-o, tln li,Nc. Df
well knew Hamilton and the circum-
stances attending his trial, I resolved
never again to believe uncorroborateU
circumstantial evidence" New YorI
| Sun.