The West Virginia Legislature passed an act February, 1899, viz.: “The
sentence of death shall in every case be executed by hanging within the
walls of the penitentiary and not elsewhere. The officers of the court
imposing sentence may be present, and twelve respectable citizens, a
physician and surgeon, and such representatives of the press as the
warden may desire; and the condemned may by request have his counsel,
ministers of the gospel, and such relatives as the warden may deem
prudent.”
_Serial No. 3745_—Colored, of middle age, who had served a term in the
penitentiary for stealing, was brought to the prison in 1899, from
McDowell County, to suffer the penalty of death Oct. 10, 1899, for the
unprovoked murder of a “scarlet” negro woman. Upon his entrance into
the prison he asked for and was given a Bible, which he constantly
read during the time he awaited to be executed by mandate of the law.
Ministers of his race paid him frequent visits, anxious to aid him
in spiritual and temporal affairs. He professed sincere religious
belief and that upon confession of faith he would be saved, yet he did
not seem to accept with good grace the assistance offered him by the
negroes.
During his former imprisonment while he was employed to clean and
scrub the guard-room and the main-building hallways, he frequently
met the chaplain; so he made request to the warden that he be sent
for to pay him a visit. The chaplain responded at once and devoted
much of his time to giving religious consolation and words of good
cheer. He, however, constantly maintained that he was innocent of the
crime charged; that the negro with him at the time of the shooting was
responsible for the woman’s death, by means of a shot-gun. He doubtless
was possessed of a scheming mind, and hoped that he might by some means
escape the penalty for his crime. Many negro prisoners as well as white
ones deeply sympathized with him, for he was considered a “good fellow”
when they knew him in prison as one of their number.
A collection amounting to $50.00 was taken up from among the prisoners
to pay a lawyer to procure a copy of the record of his trial to enable
him to file an appeal to the Supreme Court for a new trial. The lawyer
received and acknowledged the receipt of the money, making in return
therefor full and profuse promises what he would do to save his life.
He took and spent it for liquor, became drunk on the money, and did not
turn a hand to save the life of his confiding client. The unfortunate
man, hearing of the reprehensible conduct of his attorney, and the
time near at hand for his execution, grew despondent and weak mentally
and physically. He was baptized, professed repentance, confessed he
murdered his mistress, and the night of his execution between the hours
of 12 a. m. and 1 p. m. it was found necessary to administer powerful
stimulants to brace him up for the trying ordeal. With zeal and courage
his spiritual advisor prayed, counseled, and assisted him to the
scaffold. His neck was broken by the fall and his death was painless.
_Serial No. 3746_—A splendid specimen of the young mulatto, possessed
of a fair education for one with the limited opportunities within his
reach, by occupation a coal miner. He was received into the prison from
McDowell County under sentence of death for the willful murder of a
sixteen-year-old negro boy, while he was in an intoxicated condition;
also to be executed Oct. 10, 1899. He asked for and was given a Bible.
He was a musician, playing the guitar with skill, and possessed of
a fine tenor voice he was fond of singing hymns, which he did with
pathos, rhyme, and music, to the delight of his hearers.
He stoutly maintained that his victim was not intentionally but
accidentally shot by him; that he accidentally fired his pistol into
the dwelling wherein the boy was domiciled out of his sight. Upon
learning that the boy was wounded, perhaps fatally, he procured a
doctor to whom he paid $50.00, all the money he had saved from his
earnings, to save his life. The boy proved to be wounded beyond the
hope of recovery and soon died. The chaplain also ministered to the
spiritual welfare of the prisoner and became much impressed with the
young man’s apparent religious sincerity and his plausible story of
innocence of murder. So much was he interested in him that he made
personal and strenuous efforts to save his life. The Governor was
appealed to, the Attorney General was called upon for assistance to
procure a copy of his trial record, and statements made by him were
investigated, and the whole matter submitted to the pardon board for
their consideration. After an exhaustive and painstaking consideration
of the facts submitted to them the pardon board concluded that he lied
and was in fact guilty, and should suffer the penalty for his crime.
The Governor, after the conclusion of the pardon board was made known
to him, paid the prison a visit. He called upon the doomed man in the
death-cell, and the latter made to the Governor a most eloquent and
pathetic plea to save his life. With tears streaming down his cheeks,
the Governor kindly said, “Would to God I could do so, my boy, but the
facts as presented to me are undeniable as to your absolute guilt.”
Now knowing that all hope for escape from the gallows was gone and
that he must die, he read his Bible, sang gospel hymns, and played his
guitar. He confessed that he was in fact guilty of the crime and was
now content to suffer death, as he believed he had made his peace with
God. He was baptized, and his demeanor to the scaffold from his cell
was admirable and brave. He firmly ascended the stairway leading to the
death-trap, stood over it without a tremor while his hands and legs
were strapped and the rope adjusted about his neck. When asked by the
warden if he had anything to say, he replied in a manly and firm voice,
“I have made my peace with God. I am guilty. The causes of my downfall
were whiskey and women. Jesus will take me and I am ready and willing
to die.”
_Serial No. 3772_—Colored, was received at the prison in 1900, from
Fayette County, to be executed for the willful murder of a prominent
negro saloon-keeper who refused to furnish him more liquor when he was
already drunk. He asked for a Bible, and when it was given to him he
seemed to be pleased, and constantly read it. His attorney, however,
was skilled in criminal law, and was an indefatigable worker. The
prisoner, an intelligent colored man, peaceable and quiet when sober,
believed that he would not have to suffer the penalty for his crime.
Strenuous efforts were made by his attorney to save his life. The
Governor and the board of pardon were respectively appealed to, but
the guilt of the man was so conclusive, and the murder so unprovoked,
that at all points his appeal for clemency was refused. He bravely and
uncomplainingly paid the penalty decreed by the law and professed his
belief in the saving power of Jesus.