The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-03-31
Woman EIeCtrOCuted at
Auburn Prison.
CONFESSES GUILT.
Pathetic Interview With
Doomed Husband.
LAST HOUR SPENT IN PRAYER

James Farmer, Who Is Also Under
Sentence Of Death Fer a Share In
the Killing Of Mrs. Sarah Brennan,
Is Allowed to See His Wife Before
She Pays the Penaity-She Is Driven
In Carriage to the Mems "Death
Row." and the Pair Remain Together
For About an Hour-Current of 1870
Volts and Seven and a Half Am
peres Used by State Electrician.
James Farmer Asks Priest to Have
the Body DeoentIy Buried.
Auburn, N. Y, March 29.-While her
husband James d. Farmer, himself
under sentence of death, sat in an ad-
Joining cell in the mems ward, Mrs.
Mary Farmer was electrOcuted today
in the state prison here for the muir
der of her neighbor, Mrs. Sarah Bren-
nan, of which both were found guilty.
There was no hitch in the electrocu-
ton.
Mrs. Farmer and her husband met
in final communication at daybreak to-
day, the woman being taken over to
the mems prison for the interview.
Mrs. Farmer wore to the chair
plain black dress the skirt of which
was bifurcated to facilitate the ad-
justment of the electrede upon the leg.
She was attended by one of the two
women who have watched her day and
1ight since she came to Auburn prison.
Before she went to the chair Mrs.
Farmer made confession of her guilt
to her spiritual adviser, Father J. j.
Hickey, who attended her in her last
moments.
Brought from the woman's prison to
the receiving cell in the condemned
row, Mrs. Farmer bade farewell to her
husband and was then lodged in the
cell that adjoins the execution cham
Der to await the call to the chair.
James Farmer. the husband, also un-
der sentence of death for the killing of
the Brennan woman and whose case is
now before the court of appeals. was
taken to another part of the prison
that he might not hear the witnesses
on their way TO the room of execution
or the march of his wife to her death.
The wretched woman showed no ev-
licences of collapse, though the last
words between herself and husband
separated in their parting interview by
heavy bars and an impenetrable
screen. were affecting to the two wo-
men attendants and the captain Of the
guard.
AS the law does not permit it. there
was 10 farewell embrace when the
time came for separation. When the
steel door Of Mrs. Farmers cell had
closed and James Farmer. weeping.
had been led away the woman fell
upon her cot and wept for a few mo-
ments and then began to pray. Father
]. j. Hickey, pastor of the Holy Fam
lily church, visited Mrs. Farmer and
prayed with her The priest admins
tered the last sacrament and offered
prayers for the dying before the short
march to the execution chamber.
In the subdued light of early morn
ing Mrs. Farmer dressed for her exc
cution. She clothed herself in a prison
gown and waist and then carefully ar
ranged her hair. A woman attendant
lht SoNll ~ tHC AIVC anu
slit the stocking so that the electrode
might he applied to the limb. A lock
or two of hair was clipped from the
woman's head in order to form a per-
feet contact with the eectrode.
The prison building was quiet when
Mrs. Farmer. accompanied by the two
women attendants, DIR. John Germ, the
prison physician; Father Hickey and
Warden Benham. was brought down
from her cell on the second tier Of the
wemen's building.
Across the silent yard the woman
and her escort walked to the end of
the mems building, where a carriage
was In waiting to drive them TO the
entrance Of the death row" 1t was
only Il short drive along by the cleth
shops and other prison departments,
but the fall Of the horses hOofs and
the crunching gravel in the roadway
told the prisoners In their cells the
story Of what was happening in the
yard below.
The garbage with Mrs. Farmer and
her attendants came to stop, and
the door leading to the condemned
row was opened. Once inside the doeI
was closed, and Mrs. Farmer was
placed within cell in the receiving
room, and her husband was sent for
1t might have been an hour before
Captain Patterson, who, with the two
women attendants, were in the room
gave quiet warning that the time
had come for the parting.
There was an inaudible word spoken
last greeting. the stunning footsteps
of u woman MS she was being led alonl
the dark and narrow corridor and th'
closing Of a cell door next to the exc