again brought to the bar, in custody of the Sheriff, and also comes
the jury whom yesterday were duly tried, chosen and taken between the
parties; and thereupon comes James M. Pitts and John H. Holder, who
were this day returned as jurors in the case, in obedience to the
command of the venue, last issued on yesterday; who in presence of the
prisoner are regularly tried, chosen and taken between the parties;
and the jury so chosen, as aforesaid, are empaneled and sworn, in the
presence of the prisoner, well and truly to try the traverse upon
the issue joined between the State and the prisoner aforesaid, and
a true deliverance make according to the evidence; and the evidence
is submitted to them in the presence of the prisoner, and the opening
argument is heard, on the part of the District Attorney and the further
consideration of the cause is continued until to-morrow morning, and
the prisoner is remanded to jail.
THURSDAY MORNING, 8 O’CLOCK, SEPTEMBER 17, 1857.
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, }
_vs._ } MURDER.
JAMES COPELAND. }
This day comes the District Attorney, and the prisoner is again brought
to the bar in the custody of the Sheriff, and the argument is resumed
and concluded; and the jury are instructed by the Court at the request
of the counsel, in writing, and the jury retire to consider their
verdict. And in the presence of the prisoner return the following,
to-wit: “We, the jury, on our oaths, find the prisoner guilty in manner
and form as charged in the bill of indictment;” and the prisoner is
remanded to jail to await his sentence.
SENTENCE OF THE COURT.
FRIDAY MORNING, 8 O’CLOCK, SEPTEMBER 18, 1857.
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, }
_vs._ } MURDER.
JAMES COPELAND. }
This day comes the District Attorney, and the prisoner, who was on
yesterday convicted of the crime of murder, is again brought to the
bar. And thereupon the prisoner by his counsel moves the Court for a
new trial, which motion was fully heard and understood by the Court;
and is by the Court here overruled. And to the opinion of the Court in
overruling said motion, the prisoner by his counsel here excepts:
STATE VS. JAMES COPELAND. } MURDER.
MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL OF THE COLLATERAL. }
Issue joined as to the sanity of the defendant, and his capacity to
make defense in the charge of murder.
1st. Because the Court erred in refusing instructions asked by
defendant and in granting those asked by the State.
2d. Because said verdict is contrary to law and evidence.
TAYLOR & WILBORN, for Motion.
And the prisoner being asked what further he had to say why the
sentence of death should not be passed upon him, says nothing in bar
or preclusion. “It is therefore considered by the Court, here, and is
so ordered and decreed, that the prisoner be taken hence to the jail
from whence he came, and there safely kept until the thirtieth day
of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
fifty-seven; and that the Sheriff take him thence on the said day,
between the hours of ten o’clock in the forenoon and four o’clock
in the afternoon of said day, to the place appointed by law, for
execution; and that he, the said James Copeland, on the said day,
between the hours aforesaid, be hung by the neck until he be dead.”
THE DEATH WARRANT.
THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI,
TO THE SHERIFF OF PERRY COUNTY—_Greeting_:
Whereas, at the September term, A. D. 1857, of the Circuit Court of
said county, on the fourth day of said term, James Copeland was duly
convicted of the murder of James A. Harvey, by a verdict of a Jury
chosen and sworn between the parties; and whereas, on Friday, the fifth
day of said term, by the order and decree of said Court, the said
Copeland was sentenced to be hung by the neck until he be dead, on the
thirtieth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and fifty seven, between the hours of ten o’clock, A. M., and
four o’clock, P. M., at the place appointed by law.
These are therefore to command you, in the name, and by the authority
of the State of Mississippi, to take the body of the said James
Copeland, and him commit to the jail of said county, and him there
safely keep, until the said thirtieth day of October, and that on the
said thirtieth day of October, between the hours of ten o’clock, A. M.,
and four o’clock, P. M., of said day, at the place appointed by law,
you hang him by the neck until he be dead, dead, dead.
Given under my hand and seal, this, the 18th day of September, A. D.
1857.
[Seal.] W. M. HANCOCK, _Judge_.
THE EXECUTION.
The day arose clear and beautiful on which the sentence of the law and
of outraged humanity was to be executed on the man who had so often
violated their most sacred behests. The sky was blue and serene; the
atmosphere genial; all nature was calm and peaceful; man alone was
agitated by the various strong emotions which the execution of the
fatal sentence of retributive justice on a fellow-man could not but
create.
The place of execution was distant from the city of Augusta one-quarter
of a mile. The gallows was erected on a beautiful elevation that was
surrounded by the verdure of shrubby oak and the tall, long-leaf pine.
The ground was everywhere occupied by thousands of spectators, gathered
from Perry and the surrounding counties, to witness the solemn scene.
It was indeed one that they will long remember.
About the hour of noon, the prisoner, after being neatly clad, was led
from the jail by the officers of the law, placed in the ranks of the
guard formed for the occasion, and the procession moved slowly toward
the fatal spot.
Soon the doomed man appeared on the gallows. The death warrant was then
read to him, and he was informed that he had but a short time to live.
He proceeded to address the awe-struck and silent multitude. He
especially urged the young men present to take warning from his career
and fate, and to avoid bad company. His misfortune he attributed
principally to having been misled while young.
When he had concluded, a number of questions were asked by the
immediate spectators, in relation to crimes which had transpired
within their knowledge; but he would give no direct answer—shrewdly
eluding the inquiries.
[Illustration: EXECUTION OF JAMES COPELAND.—[See Page 118.]
The Sheriff then asked him, in hearing of many lookers-on, if the
details of his confession, previously made to that officer, were true.
He replied that they were.
His hands were then tied and the cap pulled over his face, and he
was told that he had but a few moments to live. He exclaimed, “Lord,
have mercy on me!” and he was praying when the drop fell, and a brief
struggle ended his blood-stained career.
GRAND JURY.
John McCullum,
Lemuel Strahan,
John W. Carter,
Allen Travis,
Lewis H. Watts,
James Chappell,
G. W. Rawls,
Wm. Jenkins,
Peter McDonald,
Malachi Odom,
Joseph G. Young,
Jas. M. Bradley, Sr.,
Stephen Smith,
Wm. Hinton,
Edmund Merritt,
Sidney Hinton,
Jos. T. Breeland,
Henry Dearman,
Lorenzo Batson,
John Fairley, _Foreman_.
WITNESSES.
Wm. Johnson,
Chancey B. Stevens,
Wm. Laudman,
Gibson Waley,
John Anderson,
Wm. C. Griffin,
Moses Fullingam,
Laoma Batson,
Jas. Batson,
David Dubusk, Sr.,
Jefferson Williams,
David Dubusk, Jr.,
Wm. Griffin,
Peter Fairley, Sr.,
Peter Fairley, Jr.,
Alexander Fairley,
Sampson Spikes,
Westley Spikes,
W. H. Nicols,
John Fairley, _Prosecutor_.
MEMBERS OF THE COPELAND AND WAGES CLAN.
J. Baker,
C. W. Moore,
W. W. Ratlief,
G. Buskings,
J. Harper,
J. Bowings,
J. W. Westly,
J. Whitfield,
J. Whitlom,
J. Porter,
J. Butler,
J. Hopkins,
J. Harper,
W. P. Hobs,
W. C. Whelps,
Jasper Whitlow,
E. Sharper,
T. Powell,
J. Doty,
D. Doty,
S. S. Shoemake,
J. Gillet,
W. Brown,
J. Taylor,
S. Teapark,
J. Pool,
John Copeland,
T. Copeland,
Henry Copeland,
Wm. Copeland,
J. Elva,
H. Sanford,
R. Cable,
J. Hevard,
G. Daniels,
G. H. Wages,
C. H. McGraffin,
Chas. McGrath,
J. Welter,
G. Welter,
A. Brown,
D. Brown,
N. McIntosh,
E. Myrick,
J. F. Wright,
J. Dewit,
W. Ross,
W. Sanferd,
J. McClain,
S. Harden,
J. Harden,
J. Waters, Jr.,
G. Clealand,
— Moulton,
— Overall,
G. Young,
Thos. Hix,
J. Alfred,
J. Kelly,
A. Watson.
NOTE.—If the guilty should not, by any means be screened, yet if
positive doubts exist, the suspected should have the benefit of such
doubts. Accordingly the initials to the names of Moulton and Overall
have been omitted; as the jury on “trial” expressed doubts as to what
particular parties Copeland referred to in the names given. There are
many by the same name, and even part of the same initials, yet have no
affinity in anything else. It is said that “public sentiment is seldom
wrong, and never wrong long;” therefore with all the circumstances
before it, it is requested that the public will approach the subject
with an unprejudiced mind, and decide faithfully and justly to all
parties concerned.
LETTER OF JAMES COPELAND TO HIS MOTHER.
(_Written the night before his Execution._)
AUGUSTA, MISSISSIPPI, October 29th, 1857.
MRS. REBECCA COPELAND:
_My dear Mother_—It is with painful feelings indeed, that I attempt
writing to you on the present occasion. I take this opportunity,
knowing at the same time, that it is the last one of the kind which I
shall ever be permitted to enjoy while here on earth. It is long and
much that I have suffered while in prison since my first confinement in
Mobile county, and yet it seems as though nothing will pay the debt but
my life. I have had my trial and was convicted upon a charge of murder,
and I have received the awful sentence of death. The sheriff told me
to-day, that to-morrow at 2 o’clock I will be hanged, according to the
order of court. Oh, my dear mother, what an awful sound is this to
reach your ear. Oh, would it could be otherwise; but you are aware that
I justly merit the sentence. You are knowing to my being a bad man; and
dear mother, had you given me the proper advice when young, I would now
perhaps be doing well. It is often I have meditated on this subject
since my confinement in prison, and often have I recollected my good
old father’s advice when I was young, and repented a thousand times
over, with sorrow and regret, that I have failed to receive it as good,
benevolent advice. If such a course I had taken, I have no doubt, but
what I would be doing well at this time. But it is too late now to talk
of things past and gone. The time has come when I shall have to take my
departure from this world, and it pains my heart, to know that I have
to leave you and my brothers and sisters; and much am I mortified to
think how distantly you have treated me while here in prison. Not the
first time have you been to see me; but I can freely excuse you for all
this, and I do hope you will prepare to meet Jesus in Heaven.
Dear Mother, long has the time been that life was not any satisfaction
to me. I am now in the dungeon with the cold and icy bands clasped
around me, and cold as clay. Much have I suffered, but after two
o’clock to-morrow, my troubles will all be over, or worse than they are
at present. This I am not able to tell. I have been preparing to meet
my God, praying diligently for mercy and for the pardon of my sins, but
I do not know whether my prayers have been heard or not.—The Scriptures
say “that the spirit of the Lord shall not always strive with man,”
and again say: “he that calls upon the Lord in the last hours shall be
saved.” If so, I feel some spark of hope, but I tell you this hope is
hanging upon a slender thread.
Dear Mother, it makes the tears trickle down my cold checks to have to
pen this statement to you. Dear Mother, I have to close this letter. My
heart is overflowed already, so when you receive this, you can keep it
as a memorial, and remember that poor Jim is no more on earth; that he
has bid you a long farewell.
Dear Mother, it appears as though my heart will break at the very
thought of this. Oh, could I but see you once more before my death, it
would give my aching heart some relief; but we have to part without
this pleasure.
Now my good old Mother, I bid you a long farewell, forever and forever.
JAMES COPELAND.
MYSTIC ALPHABET
Used by the Copeland and Wages Clan, in their secret correspondence and
documents.
[Illustration: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
P Q R S T U V W X Y Z &]
APPENDIX.
PLANS DEVISED TO PRESERVE THE LIFE OF COPELAND.
THE LAST BOLD EFFORTS TO SAVE THE LIFE OF JAMES COPELAND
PROVED INEFFECTUAL; BUT THE SAME AGENTS SUCCEEDED
BY REFINED MOVEMENTS IN PROCURING THE
ACQUITTAL OF JOHN COPELAND.
The organization of the Wages and Copeland Clan embraced a diversified
talent of an extraordinary grade in different departments of
operations. It commanded some of the ablest ability belonging to
the bar and the medical profession, with other agents who could be
hired or engaged for temporary assistance. It requires more than a
cursory contemplation to anything like a full comprehension of the
lengths, and breadths, and depths of its vast theaters of operations.
Many, perhaps, not admitted to the council and secret conclaves of
the organization, could be engaged for a stipulated sum to perform
important services in defense and protection of its active members, who
might inwardly condemn its pernicious fields of operations against the
best interests of society. Whether such conduct can stand the test of
reason and argument it is for others, with the reader, to determine.
The worse the case the richer the fees for the lawyer, and so of the
medical profession. As frequently happens, the lawyer scruples at
nothing to win a victory for his client. In some places this course is
fashionable and not at all odious. As long as the attorney keeps his
defense within legitimate bounds, and avails himself of every lawful
opportunity for the advantage of his client, no well-balanced mind can
be disposed to censure, because on the other side, the prosecution will
do the same. But when foul and corrupt means are resorted to; when the
most vicious and depraved of actions are brought in play to screen the
guilty and make crime respectable, then it is that public sentiment
should be loud against such abominations, no matter whether against
the medical or legal profession, or against any other class who can be
brought to perform the services of infamy.
The period betwixt the imprisonment and execution of James Copeland,
three parties from Alabama came and settled in Perry county, Miss.,
one in, and the other two about Augusta. These three performed their
part so well—so concealed and reserved as to pass for gentlemen in
the highest degree respectable. But few, if any, had suspicion until
afterward of their object to assist the captured in escaping the last
penalties of outraged law.
One of the three, who settled in Augusta; a skilled doctor and surgeon,
behaved himself so well in every respect—on all occasions exhibiting
a winning and an affable deportment—everybody’s friend with the most
lavish of generosity—sparing no exertions to gain the confidence and
admiration of those in power and of influence; this is the man who
proposed to the sheriff the plan to save the life of James Copeland.
This proposition was made betwixt the time of his conviction and
execution. The particulars are as follows:—The doctor to the sheriff:
“There is now a fine opportunity of making one thousand dollars in
gold, providing that you will act in concert with me in permitting
certain things to be done before the execution of Copeland.” There was
something so bland, so expert, and so graceful in the conduct of the
strange doctor as to make him friends wherever he went. He insinuated
himself into the confidence of the sheriff; and when the proposition
was made for certain things to be done before execution, for and in
consideration of a thousand dollars, the curiosity of the sheriff could
not be otherwise than powerfully excited to learn all particulars of
the plan in contemplation, and, accordingly, so far indulged or humored
the beginning so as to obtain the whole of what was then behind. The
doctor continued, and gave the name of him who had a thousand dollars
to pay for the preservation of the life of Copeland; and to be done in
the following manner, secure from exciting any suspicion whatever. The
doctor to the sheriff: “Allow me about half an hour before the time
arrives for your taking him out of jail to the place of execution,
to go in under the pretence of shaving and dressing him suitably to
the solemnity of the occasion, during which time I will perform an
operation in tracheotomy by inserting into the trachea, or wind-pipe, a
small silver tube sufficient for the admission of air into the lungs to
keep up some degree of respiration, so that when he shall have hung the
allotted time, he can be cut down and by an extension of the tube, he
can be so buried as to prevent the extinction of life; which, as soon
as convenient, he can be disinterred and so cared for by artful means
until the recovery so far progress as will enable him to successfully
escape.”
The sheriff listened to all this with a smile, and treated the whole
as rather a plausible romance than a possible reality; but firm to the
duties of his office, he yielded not to the temptation; yet to maintain
good faith as to what transpired before the proposition was fully made,
and for prudent considerations in regard to his own safety, he has
refrained from publishing this narrative at an earlier date, because
conscious that the public interests, though delayed, would best be
served by so doing in the long run.
Shortly after the execution of James, John Copeland, the brother of the
former, was arrested, brought to the same jail, and tried in the same
case, and for the same crime of murder.
The State was represented by George Wood, Esq., and the defence by
Wirt Adams as principal. Both sides labored hard and wonderfully
skillful. The argument of the latter occupied about three or four hours
in delivery. The evidence against John Copeland was quite as strong
as against his convicted brother, but the juries were of different
material. The three strange immigrants from Alabama, who then had
recently settled in and about Augusta, managed to get on the jury. This
was not hard to do, as the county had pretty much been exhausted before
to get an acceptable jury not disqualified by some objections brought
forth. When the jury retired, the three here referred to, having the
most ingenuity, lead the other remaining part, the consequence of
which was a verdict of acquittal. This verdict aroused the indignation
of the public both far and near—murmurs everywhere, and satisfaction
nowhere. So irritated were the populace that, in all probability, the
life of Copeland would have been taken by violence the night after his
liberation, but for the timely notice given him for immediate escape.
The following morning he was heard from as being seen on the opposite
side of Leaf river, about thirty miles below Augusta, in the direction
for Pascagoula river. It is supposed he went almost direct to Angelina
county, Texas, where his mother and family settled after leaving
Mississippi.
But little time had elapsed after this before the Sheriff of Perry
received a letter from Col. Pickering, of this (Angelina) county,
warning him of the necessity of being on his guard—that Thomas, another
brother of the Copeland family, had left that vicinity for Mississippi;
and, according to the general belief there, with a design on the life
of the Sheriff; but although he passed through the county of Perry, by
the way of Black Creek, to Mobile, Alabama, yet if he made any secret
movement for the assassination, he never knew it.
The Copeland family, in Angelina county, instituted a formidable
prosecution against Col. Pickering, but his reception of the pamphlet
containing the confession, caused the District Attorney of that place
to dismiss the prosecution, and for this the Copeland family was
heard to swear vengeance against the Sheriff who had published them;
therefore, well taken were the grounds of fear entertained by Col.
Pickering. Immediately after the acquittal of John Copeland, the three
strange immigrants left for parts unknown.
S. S. SHOEMAKE, THE ARCH-MONSTER OF ATROCITY AND THE PERFECTION OF
DECEPTION, WITH HIS JOHN R. GARLAND LETTER.
An organization may soon come to naught, even though founded on
principles in every respect sound, healthy and legitimate, if
the individuals composing it are defective in brains and energy,
the exercise of which are essentially necessary for continued
existence. But an organization, based on the contrary of such
principles, may continue for years to perpetrate the darkest of human
atrocities—spreading terror or devastation both far and wide, if its
members, or the leaders, possess the mental force requisite to plan, to
command and to execute according to the proper definitions of skill,
disguised treachery, and firm intrepidity brought to bear against the
less suspecting, but the more honest members of society.
The unfolding of the character of S. S. Shoemake will reveal all the
traits of vice, of meanness, of guilt, and of all which contributes to
the perfection of human treason and perfidy.
Some of the most masterly strokes of guile and consummate deception
are to be found in his John R. Garland letter and the subsequent
circumstances with it connected. The ancient Judas fell very far short
in comparison with this modern specimen of cruelty, of plunder, and
of hypocritical imposture. A marauder, a being destitute of honor,
pride or principle, and the very incarnation of all that is vile and
abhorrent. This is the man whose character, to some extent, will next
be unveiled in detail.
But a short time elapsed after the publication of Copeland’s
confessions until a letter, signed John R. Garland, was received by
the Sheriff of Perry county, making inquiry about S. S. Shoemake and
two others by the names of J. and D. Doty—all implicated in Copeland’s
confessions. This letter, as will afterward be shown, was written by
Shoemake himself, and was mailed at DeKalb, Kemper county, Mississippi,
the substance of which will next be given:
DEKALB, MISS., October —, 1858.
_J. R. S. Pitts, Sheriff Perry County, Miss._:
DEAR SIR—As I feel very much interested in the future welfare of this
immediate section of our country, and am desirous of ascertaining the
names of all men of degraded character, so far as practicable, who
might chance to live among us, and more especially those characters
as represented to you by Copeland, in his recent confessions as a
united band of land pirates, which fact has been apparent with me
for some years past of the existence of such a clan throughout our
entire country. And believing that we have some of the same characters
residing within our midst, I thus communicate in confidence to you,
trusting that you will be kind enough, on the reception of this, to
answer the same, and inform me whether or not the names of S. S.
Shoemake, and two other men here, J. Doty and D. Doty, are the same
persons as implicated by Copeland in his confessions to you.
So far as the former character is concerned, there is no doubt existing
in the minds of the people here but that he belongs to some secret
clan. His conduct, and every action through life, go to establish this
conclusion. He spends the greater portion of his time away from home,
and at times is absent from home for months, none knowing here anything
of his whereabouts. And in this way, to the mystery of every one, he
makes his peregrinations throughout the country, but whether near or
distant is unknown to us. Frequently after having been absent until the
community would begin to wonder and ask the question as to the cause
of such continued detention, as well as the actuating motives for so
much of absence, but none can give any solution—none any intelligence
in reference to him. To say the least, there is great suspicion mingled
with much curiosity.
Generally when he returns home from making those protracted journeys,
he manages so as to arrive some time during the night, bringing with
him droves of horses, mules, and sometimes more or less negroes. After
his return, the first thing that is known of him, he is seen in the
grog-shop bright and early in the morning, waiting the arrival of
the bar-keeper for his morning bitters. In this way he seems to be
continually whiling away his time—claiming to be acting in behalf of
a State committee. On meeting this person, S. S. Shoemake, one that
is not personally acquainted with him would not for a moment suspect
anything wrong, for he is calculated by his affable deportment, on
first acquaintance to make a very favorable impression on the mind.