Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1902-05-07
HUNG FOR SMUGGLING.
Only Man TO Suffer this Penalty Was a
Native Of Maine.

More than ,hree decades have passed
since Capt. Robert Gordon, a native OF
Cape Elizabeth, Maine, was hanged In
New York city by order OF the govern
ment Tor smuggling slaves into the
United States from Africa Capt. Cor
don, by the way, was the only man upon
whom death penalty was ever imposed by
our government for that offence, and the
event Of his execution with circumstances
attendant on 1t, crested intense excite
ment In the metropolis and throughout
the country.
There are several retired ship captains
in Washington county who Was once well
acquainted with bob" Gordon, were In
ment snd execution, visited him al the
Toombs, begged him to escape when
opportunities unnumered we're presented
to him, and who were eyewitness OF
some of the exciting scenes which
followed close upon bis death in the time
OF the bloody draft riots.
These men held to the belief that Cor
don nsed never have been hanged, that
he might have easily escaped; but the
condemned man himself believed he never
would be executed, and so firm was he In
that confidence, that he refused to make
his escape, even at the prsyerful soiieita-
of his friends. Eventually Gordon met
death unoer peculiar eirc1 instances, upon
the gsllows.
The story of his imprisonment and
hanging. as related by these old scqusint-
ances down East, runs somewhat as fol-
lows: Capt. robert Gordon, back in the
fifties, was skipper OF the bark "Rio," and
once made voyage In her to the west
coast Of Africa after a cargo OF slaves.
Landing near the mouth OF the Congo
river, Capt. Gordon took aboard some 400
negroes or slaves and then sailed for the
United States.
The "Rio," as was then customary with
all American ships engaging in the slave
trade, carried two crews (American and
Spanish crews In this easel to be used In
csses OF emergency. This was done to
avoid punishment at the hands of the
government In case OF capture on the
high seas by an American ganboat. II,
for instance, the ship should be taken
HNu thN Slnbtta Nftn 1hHtEct VESSEL
and cargo would only be confiscsteo, bot
the crews would not be punished by the
laws.
IL had long been the law that IL a per-
son was caught bringing slaves into the
country be should be punished with
death, but the law was never enforced
against any except Capt. Gordon. One day
ha ssRinff uas n. "a, mad hv nm auar4nap
gunbost, and Capt. Gordon tried to pre-
vail upon his Spanish alternate to take
charge OF the vessel with his crew. but to
the American officers the Spanish replied:
"Me no captain OF this ship" II seems
that Capt. Gordon and the spaniard had
bad trouble during the voyage.
Tne 'Rio"was captured together wit bher
black cargo, and Capt. Gordon, his second
mate and his mate, George W. Warren of
Halifax, were afterwards Imprisoned at
the Toombs la New York, In ali fifty-four
months. Warren and the second mate,
however, were finally released; Capt. Cor
don was duly tried, found guilty and SEN
fenced to be hung.
While imprisoned at the Toombs Capt.
Gordon was not always kept IN close con-
finement, bat he was allowed much lib
erty, the privilege OF visiting his wife in
Brooklyn occasionally and the officials
gave him every chance to escape, none of
which Gordon accepted, so explicitly did
he believe that he never would be hung.
He often told his friends that he would
never be hung. mo man was ever exc
cuted Tor the offence, and / shall not be-"
Gordon would say. That was in the sd-
ministrstion OF James Buchanan, and the
government at that time Was quits in
sympathy with slavery. Capt. Gordon
was shown so much kindness and con-
sideratlon by The officials at the Toombs,
that he had no desire to escape, but
claimed TO his friends that he would re-
main In prison until released, which
would not be long time.
But when Abraham Lincoln became
President and the repu biican party began
glers, affairs with Gordon took a much
different turn. The sentence under Lin
coin would be carried out to the very
letter. and Gordon would ex plate his crime
upon the gsllows.
One evening Capt. Gordon had leave to
visit his wife and child (now Nat Gordon,
the noted divert in Brooklyn. This was
only short time before his execution.
His friends beseeched him to flee for his
life but be returned to his cell voluntarily
without needing their advice. The next
day he was ordered into close confinement,
where he remained until he was led to the
galiows-
Capt. Gordon also had a chance to es-
cape by climbing throug window on to
the roof OF a low shed from which he
could have easily descended to the
ground. His mate, Warren, who occu-
pied the adjoining cell, often asked him
to break out and run, but to this sugges-
ton Gordon would turn deaf ears.
The day before his execution Gordon's
wife visited him at his cell. She had