Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1913-01-10
CONDEMNED MAN WAS READY TO CO." BUT BROKE
Prisoner Spent His Last Night Cell Room of Court House and
This Arrangement Enabled Authorities Have Ceremony at
Early HOur-Many OF the Curious Ones We're Disappointed

While practically all of Annapolis
was still slumbering, James Jacobs,
/ the colored murderer, who had been
sehind the oars of Baltimore city jail
for three months, atoniBg for his
crime, was hanged in the yard of the
old county jail here this morning.
lit was promptly at 7:10 o'clock
that Sheriff George T. Beasley sprung
the trap of the gallows that sent the
condemned mans body swinging into
space. len minutes later physicians
pronounced the man dead. His neck
had been broken, so that he bore no
suffering. After two more minutes
the body was cut down anG turned
over to a local coiored undertaken to
be prepared for burial
In several ways the* execution was
the most remarkable in the annals
OF Anne Arundel county. 1t was
attended by fewer persons than has
marked any previous hadging, as
the rlans for il were engineered so
quietly by Sheriff Beasley that less
than fifty residents of the city
were apprisrd that it would take
place so early in the morning.
As a result, hundreds of the curl !.
Gus who had planned to witness the
hanging were sorely disappointed
upon learning that the penalty of the
law had been executed before they
finished their morning nap There
were just thirty-eight persons on the
Jail premises, this number including
the Sheriff and corps Of deputies
and other officials.
Although the condemned man had
frequently repented his crime, asked
forgiveness and said he was ready
to 90. 4" he was extremely nervous as
the hour of his death approached, and
he was on the verge of complete coll
lapse as he ascended the gallows In
order to have the execution as early
as practicable today. and thus avoid
the crowds of morbidly curious that
generally assemble for such cere-
mony, Sheriff Beasley brought the
murderer to Annapolis from the Ralti-
more city jail last night.
He spent last night in the cell
room at the Court House, under guard
IF special deputies. He slept but
little and was up and dressed at the
crack of day. His death watches con-
soled him as much as possible, but
the negro was so frightened that he
could scarcely speak above whisper.
Under guard of the Sheriff and
his chief deputy, Grafton Boone, and
four other assistants, the negro was
placed IN carriage and driven to the
iaiI premises before the mist of the
early morning had lifted. All ths
while Jacobs was as quiet as a person
in state of coma. No time was
lost after arriving at the Jail yard, but
the conds mned man was in such a
nervous state, that it was with diff
Guilty that the officials got him on the
gallows.
That the murderer was about to
collapse completely was apparent to
the deputies as they adjusted the hood
and other paraphernalia, and this was
done as hurriedly as possible. Not a
word did the negro utter, and as soon
as the deputies turned from him to
descend the steps leading to the
scaffold, Sheriff Bessley released the
trap and the murderer's body fell six
feet into space.
That the neck had been broken
By the fall was the belief expressed
generally, as there was no sign of
convulsive motions Of the criminals s
body. AT z 30 o'clock, DR.. Walton
III. Hopkins, County Health Officer,
and DR. William S. Welch, the Cisy
Health Officer, examined the mans
body and it was found that in the ten
minutes that had elapsed, life had
become extinct and that the neck was
broken.
Arrangements were then made TO
lower ths limp form into the coffin,
placed directly beneath the scaffold.
Al number of colored people living in
the vicinity Of the jail were attract
ea by the early morning ceremony,
but the execution was conducted IN
such an obscure part of the jail yard,
that but few persons, aside from
those who were given admission
cards. were able to gain vantags
points to witness it.
In spite Of the mdrderer's broken
down condition, there was not hitch
to mar the execution. In fact the
plans were carried out with remark.
able effectiveness and great dispatch.
AS result Sheriff Beasley received
congratulations on all sides for hav.
ing the ceremony in the early morning
hours. In less thar half an hour
after the body of the man had beer
cut down, the scaffold was removed
and there was nothing to indicate that