The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-07-31
BATTERED
and YELLOW.
Ancient Records Of Prince Mil
liam Extend Back to
the Year 100.
CURIOUS PICTURE DE TIMES.
Men Were Hanged for Forgery
and Ducking-Stool Was
in Use.
Z. ~. : Ar,,,,r f,oeresnondent,

in Use.
tFrom Our Regular Correspondennt..o
II IVA SH1NGToN, u. c., July so.-sev-
eral hours spent the other DAY IN LOOKING o i.l
II over: the old yellow records OF lrlflcet
h William county in the courthouse at
4 Manassas proved A most profitable invest
ment. The records of the county Il eX-53
tend back nearly to 1900. and the en-
& tries In! the minute book of the court, es-
necfally are as interesting as chapters
from the most thrilling Of modern MS
torical novels. Then there are the deeds
4 written In a hand as clear to day as SOP!
plate. though nearly two centuries have
II passed into history since the lines We're
nenned. The paper is somewhat yell oW-
ed. but It appears little worn. and the
bindings OF the big leather.covered books
IS as strong as ever It was. could not
II help contrasting those volumes, still stout
end well preserved, the ink as bright as
st was hundred and more years ago.
With the records OF to-day which are
4 t1immed in n few years, the paper In ia t.
5ters after n half dozen landings, ana
4 bindings gone before they have become
familiar.
gsl The Federal soldiers carried Off many
3 OF the county records of Manassas, ana anu
every once and awhile the county au-
II thorities receive letters from the y orth
containing information as to9the where
abouts Of certain volumes which are
81 rrIceless to the people of the county,.
Many missing numbers Of the records
D have been secured in this way, but IN
every case the county has had to pay q
kood round sum for Its own property 81 Oh a
y en- by hooters. An official of The county
wrote the secretary Of war some years ago
N asking II the war department. could not
g compel the return ofthe stolen records
The secretary Of war replied that the
troops had been mustered out OF tho.
Al service, and were therefore not under the
control of the department. but; that he
had no doubt tho records when ted
could be recovered by IN civil act Ion.
Curious Entries.
Ii # But 1 started to tell Of some Of the cu-
{ rious entries iii the minut 9, books Of the
N county. One which surprised me e more
tran any found, was OF date 4 49,. II
4 recited that a slave. Tom Boiling, was
II presented ITO the grand jury. for having
stolen silver spoon Of the value Of five
pounds, from a house iii thelnights time
THE grand jury returned a true bill. a
4 juryswas summoned, and the trial Of the
negro proceeded, The jury returned o
verdict OF guilty, and the Judge proceed
ed to sentence the negro TO be hanged py
Z the neck until he was dead In the
minutes Of the mex months session OF
nj the court IS this entry: Tho sheriff re-
IL norted that he had hung Tom Boiling by
the neck until he was ID cad. .,553
ss5s There was no respite, no a ppeal. 3nq
H long delay OF the execution OF the sen A
stcnce OF the court III al 55s5 $ II d u
NJ III viii surprise possibly a jority Of
the readers OF The Times-D ispatch to
N know that5men were hanged for stealing
5s3s3in Virginia as late as LAB. Nearly a
y hundred years after that time, they We're
still hanging men and women In Eng
land for5vario,is forms OF stealing, and
for forgery and counterfel ting. Is the
session Of the Old Bailey court, London,
& in October. 1920. the judge sentenced
thirty-one persons to be hanged. includ-S
" ing four women. OF this number four
were convicted Of passing counterfeit.
money. eleven OF highway robbery, two
Of burglary. eleven Of stealing from
dwelling houses, one OF II horse steallns
VI and two OF sacrilege.
IL sll In 1777 Rev. James Dodd =. D., Ma
kings chaplain OF Oxford. was executed
for having forged the name OF the Earl
M Chesterfield. The reverend Eforger. left.
statement. in which he acknowledged
Il his guilt and admitted the Justice OF his
q punishment t. s8s
b 1t is difficult for the mind Of the Amer
lean OF to-day to conceive OF anybody
thinking he was only getting his Just de-
3 serts when he was being put 10 death.
rs for forgery II is l,&rlla ps .as dinicult for
us to conceive vfs "a public sentiment
which permitted. The hanging of a human
being for the theft Of a silver spoon. 7
5 Is said there were over two hundred
Is scrimcs. offences against statute law, pun
stt;shable with death in England at the be-
81 ginning of the eighteenth century. Many
M a man has been put to death In England;
for killing a rabbit on the preserves Of.
his landlord forgery and counterfeitlng
RI a IL 49, ~.,.,-
cutions for the former in England we'll
8 along In the last century.
Hanged for Forgery.
~ / have not been able to learn whether
there were any executions in this country
in the nineteenth century for forgery or
4 d COMMUNICATING. But Samuel Cook, an
x old mar, 81 years of age. was hanged at
iJohnstown. n. y, on June AZ. 1871, for
.s the crime of forgery.
sS " In 1857 William Clark was put to death
& at Northampton, Mass for forgery, and
d s. In the same year Charles Rose and iona
8githan8 BLY, We're executed at Lenox, Mass,
n fr robbery. johnson Green was hanged
at Worcester, Mass. In 1856 for having
committed three burslaries In one night
~ IN the space Of one-half mile.
Samuel Burt a somewhat distinguishes
NJ ed citizen OF a Massachusetts town, the
name Of which is not recalled, was cons
"a yinted OF forgery In 1871, and the court,
h IN View OF his previously good charac-
ter and high standing IN the community.
offered him Punishment In lien Of death.
III The prisoner refused the alternative, say
ing that he realized the heinnusness Of
4 his crime. fiat death was its Just pun
y ishment. and that life would hold notlv
ing for him after conviction. as he could
not hope TO claim the hand Of the woman
= he loved. He was thereppon sentenced
to die on The galpws, and was executed.
Though have been unable to find that
4 the death sentence was visited upon a
forger In the last century in the United
X States, the records show that on January
eS IS, 1901, one Hawkins was made to stand
an hour in the pillory in Washington
street Boston, and then to nave one ear
cut off for this crime
The death sentence was not carried
ont nearly so often in the Southern colo
~ MES as 1t was in New England. Twenty
a : -