The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1904-11-24

"HeTeIH IHey udu given INSPIRATION
and voice to his eloquence.
States Attorney Pigman was in del.
/ icate health. \ few wears after the
noted trial made sea voyage to the
West Indies for the benefit of his
health. but he died in the caribbean
seas. The witnesses in the case for
the State were John Sicer, Thomas
Frey, Mary Hawk, Rachel Moore, Car
olins Myer, John Dillinger, John Grit.
fifth, Hilton Frantz. Richard Fairall,
Mary A. Frey, g. W Frazee, John
/ Frantz, of JOS, Aaron Frazee, George
Springer, Rubin Springer, Thoma,
Huff and Squire Huttan.
The court who heard the case were
the Buchannaps and Abraham Shriv-
er. Acting Clerk John Beall. Sheriff,
Norman Bruce, his deputy, Edward
Gilpin; States Attorney Hanson
Briscoe and Pigman; the iailer or
turnkey, Charles Brace, father of
Theodore Brace, who was few wears
ago one of the judges of the Supreme
Court of Missouri
The writer at the time referred to
was in his last teens, but owing to the
old friendship between his family and
that of the sheriff Norman Bruce he
was allowed special privileges. In the
night before the execution, the gener-
Gus sheriff invited him to go with the
sheriff to the cell of the doomed man
in the Anticipated Jail of the county.
There he sat with his iron bracelets
and hobbies upon him smoking his
pipe with no apparent concern about
the dread realities Ct the morrow.
The kindly sheriff drew from his
pocket pair of low shoes, pumps as
they were slled in those days, and
asked the man of death whether they
would answer for the purposes of ito
morrow
"Oh. yes, they are nicer than neces-
sary.n
At his elbow was dark coffin and
on its flat tOpa pile of ginger bread,
sufficient to treat a country school at
a holiday He was a great lover of
this kind of food, it was as tobacco to
him.
The story was he sold his body to
the doctors for as much of this bread
as he needed during the few remain
ing days OF his life. The doctors Ger
tainly carried out their part of the
contract as to the cakes. And the
other side of it was made good during
the night of the day of execution. The
body was operated upon with a gal
vanic battery, such as was then in use
was reported some little twitching of
the nerves and muscles were produc-
ed, but nodife or sensibility recalled.
At the appointed hour, the willing,
but guilty man was taken from the
'old jail by the ministers of the law
to the deathly drop at the selected
spot-a large platform with an extern
sive drop or leaf on hinges, held up
by rope over a beam fastened to a
post in the rear. The severance OF
the rope by the sheriff with Ratchet
caused the drop to fail from'under the
| feet of the man, and in this way he
was hurled into eternity. He strug-
ula6 lonu an6 horJ opd l;C ,lao+ 1, ,,,o .
a painful one. His neck was not
broken as there was but little fall as
the neck rope reached to the beam.
1t was said that his neck was not
broken purposely, so as to furnish
the doctors with good subject for
their experiments upon a dead body,
but they were failures.
The wretched man had for con-
siderable time to face vast multitude
of people from the platform to see him
expiate his crime upon the gallows
He appeared to be the calmest of all
sat upon the deadly drop in deyout
manner while the religious exercises
were conducted. He had tobacco in
his mouth and number of times
arose from his seat to cast his spittle
beyond the new blanks of the plat.
form which was so soon to drop from
under him, and which he did not
wish to soil. Here was politeness in
the worst of men, .even in the direst
extremity. He even aided the sheriff
in adjusting the fatal rope and the
cap that was to screen distorted
face from the multitude. He Joined
in singing an old time hymn in a
voice louder than all others. He was
large and powerful man, his loud
voice chanted the following:
/ This is the way long have sought,
/ And mourned because | found it not
! This was certainly remarkable in
cident upon such an occasion. OF
course he had no agent in the selec
ton of the hymn. The ministers who
officiated were Rev. Prettyman and
Rev. Peter i. Wilson, of the Methodist
/ church.
A disagreeable incident. Among
/ the crown was MicheaI CriSt q