The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1905-12-15
| MRS. rogers dies
ON THE GALLOWS
GOVERNOR OF VERMONT PER
sIsTs IN REFUSAL TO INTER
FERE WITH EXECUTION.
Woman Goes to the Scaffold Perfectly
Calm-Hanged for the Murder of
Her Husband-Brief Story of Long
Fight to Save Her.

Windsor, VT, Dec. 9.-With0ut a
tremor and without word, Mrs.
Mary Mabel Rogers on Friday
marched to her death on the gallows
at the state prison here and paid the
penalty of numbering her husband,
Marcus Rogers, at Bennington, on Au-
gust IS, 1902. TO all appearances,
Mrs. Rogers was the calmest person
in the chamber of death. She faced
her end with the same stoical indiffer-
ence that had marked her demeanor
ever since her arrest, more than three
years ago. Greatly to the relief of
those officials who were assisting in
executing the sentence, Mary Rogers
last hour was remarkably free from
narrowing incidents.
Murdered Her Husband.
The career of Mrs Rogers has been
a remarkable one. A wife at 16 and
murderess at 10, she was only %
on the day of her execution. In 1902,
having won the affections of three
men, she killed her husband, Marcus
H. Rogers, with the aid Of another
admirer, Leon Perham, to the end
that she might marry third lover,
Maurice Knapp. Perham confessed,
and is serving a life sentence. Mrs.
Rogers was born at Hoosic Falls, N.
Y, and when married moved to Ben
nington, VT, where the murder was
committed. On the day of the MUIR
der Marcus Rogers went to Benning-
ton to visit his wife, and that night
she arranged to meet him in the
woods near the Walloomsac river.
While caressing him she induced him
to allow her to bind his hands, and
while he was powerless she chloro-
formed him. In this she was aided
by Perham, a half-witted' boy, who
was the son of the woman with whom
she boarded. Another woman. Es-
tella Bates, was present. After chic
reforming Rogers, Perham and Mrs
Rogers rolled the body into the river
where it was found the next day.
To divert suspicion the woman wrote
note to which she signed her hus-
bands name, giving the impression
that he had committed suicide. Imme-
diately after the murder she tried to
collect her husbands life insurance,
amounting to $500. A few days after
the murder Mrs. Rogers, Perham and
the Bates woman were arrested. Per-
ham made complete confession, and
both he and Mrs. Rogers were found
guilty of murder in the first degree.
How Case Has Dragged.
Under the Vermont law the power
of Communication of sentence rests with
the legislature, and the law also pro-
vlues that when person is sentenced
to death session of the legislature
must be held between the time of SEN
tence and the date set for the execu-
tion. At the last session of the legis-
lature various attempts were made to
commute Mrs. Rogers sentence, but
all failed. Then an attempt was made
to pass law abolishing capital pun
ishment in Vermont, but that also
failed. An attempt to secure a par
don for the woman shared the same
fate. A bill was introduced providing
for the appointment of a state COM
mission to look into the woman's san
ity. This bill passed the house unani-
mously, but was defeated in the SEN
ate
The date set for the execution was
February 8, 1905. February 2 Gov.
Bell granted reprieve until June 2,
that the claim of her attorneys to new
ly discovered evidence might be heard
before the Vermont supreme court
That body denied the petition. Gov.
Bell, on June !, granted a second re-
prieve, in order that the United States
supreme court might pass upon the
constitutionality and legality of the
proceedings. November q the SUI
preme court refused to stay the sem
tence of the Vermont court. With the
decision of the highest court in the
land Mrs. Rogers last hope vanished,
as Gov. Bell had announced that he
would not interfere with the sentence.