Daily Kennebec journal., 1914-03-10
Governor and Council PetitiOned
for Pardon of Grace Royce
I'm Prison for Child Murder

A petition for the pardon or commu-
tation of sentence of Mrs. Grace Il.
Royce, formerly of Augusta, who is
serving a sentence of 20 years in the
State prison at Thomaston for man.
slaughter in causing the death Of her
infant child, in July 1911 has been re-
ceived at the executive department at
the State House and a hearing on the
petition will be held March 25, at the
next session of the Government and
Council. Franklin p. Sprague, Esq,
Of Bath is the counsel for the petit
TONERS.
Mrs. Royce who lived at Togus lake,
was tried at the october term of the
supreme judicial court for kennebec
county in 1911, having been indicted
for the murder of her child. Hon Will
liam r. Pattangall of Waterville the
attorney general at the time. and Hon.
Joseph Williamson of Augusta, the
county attorney of Kennebeo county,
represented the state, while Thomas
Leigh, Esq, and Walter NJ Sanborn,
Esq, Of Augusta appeared as counsel
for the defendant The jury returned
verdict of manslaughter and Associ-
ate Justice Albert M. Spear, the pre-
to serve 20 years in the State Prison at
Thornaston. She was committed to
that institution the latter part of Oc-
tober of the year 1911, The State at the
trial contended that Mrs. Royce was
responsible for the administering of a
poison, carbolic acid, to the child,
causing its death. Later Stephen Nor
ris was indicted as an accessory after
the fact in this case, was tried in the
superior court for Kennebec county
and acquitted.
In her plea for clenency Mrs. Royce
says that she never gave the infant
the acid poison but that it was given
the child by her daughter, Grace, aged
eight years, who thought it was CO.
logne.
In her petition, Mrs. Royce says:
Il was married to Henry C. Royce,
Jan. IL, 1911, and lived and cohabitated
with him as husband and wife in Au
gusta- The child for whose death / am
now serving sentence was born at
Augusta July II, 1911, about 8 o'clock
in the evening. The next morning
was in bed with the infant and asleep
and when l awoke my daughter Grace
was standing at the bedside and lean
ing over the infant with a bottle con-
tanning carbolic acid in her hand. I
said to her:
e Grace, what are you doing" Grace
replied: I thought that it was cologne
in the bottle, and / turned it out of the
bottle into its little mouth
q took the bottle containing the acid
from Grace and put II on the stand.
We had the acid to place on the foot
of my son, Fred. which was cut and
Grace had seen me use cologne about
the child.
This was about 8 o'clock July IS,
1911, and in about one-nalf an hour
after aWoke the infant it began to
show signs Of sickness. fused and
moaned and died about go o'clock on
the night of July IS. There was no
person in the house at the time that
Grace said that she put the cologne in
the infants mouth but the infant
Grace and myself. | sent for my ply
sician as soon as possible but he did
The physician said that there had
been foul play with tfIe infant and
took it down to Augusta. The under
taker was with him. On the 20th day
of July five or six men came INTO my
room and asked me what had happen
day or two these same. men came to
my room again and told them what
Grace said she dia to the infant. Grace