[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF THE WIFE OF HICKS.]
[Illustration: THE BOAT IN WHICH HICKS ESCAPED FROM THE OYSTER SLOOP.]
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF ALBERT W. HICKS, THE PIRATE.]
THE
LIFE, TRIAL,
CONFESSION AND EXECUTION
OF
ALBERT W. HICKS,
THE PIRATE AND MURDERER,
EXECUTED ON BEDLOE’S ISLAND,
NEW YORK BAY,
ON THE 13TH OF JULY, 1860,
FOR THE MURDER OF CAPT. BURR, SMITH AND OLIVER WATTS, ON BOARD THE
OYSTER SLOOP E. A. JOHNSON.
CONTAINING THE HISTORY OF HIS LIFE (WRITTEN BY HIMSELF)
FROM CHILDHOOD UP TO THE TIME OF HIS ARREST.
WITH A FULL ACCOUNT OF HIS PIRACIES, MURDERS, MUTINIES, HIGH-WAY
ROBBERIES, ETC., COMPRISING THE PARTICULARS OF NEARLY
ONE HUNDRED MURDERS!
TO WHICH IS ADDED
THE ACCOUNT OF HIS ARREST, IMPRISONMENT, TRIAL AND EXECUTION.
ALSO, HIS PHRENOLOGICAL CHARACTER,
AS DESCRIBED BY L. N. FOWLER.
OFFICE U. S. MARSHAL, }
_Southern District of New York_. }
I hereby certify that the within Confession of ALBERT W. HICKS was made
by him to me, and that it is the only confession made by him.
LORENZO DE ANGELIS, DEP. U. S. MARSHAL.
NEW YORK:
ROBERT M. DE WITT, PUBLISHER,
13 FRANKFORT STREET
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by
ROBERT M. DE WITT,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.
THE TRIAL
OF
ALBERT W. HICKS,
FOR PIRACY
ON BOARD THE SLOOP
EDWIN A. JOHNSON.
UNITED STATES CIRCUIT COURT.
Before HON. JUDGE SMALLEY.
HISTORY OF THE CASE.
On Thursday, March 16th, the sloop “E. A. Johnson,” sailed from the foot
of Spring street, New York, for Deep Creek, Va., for a cargo of oysters.
The same sloop was ashore near Tottenville, S. I. on Friday, getting
scrubbed, and having some carpenter work done. There she laid till
Sunday morning, when she floated off, and proceeded down the Bay.
Again, she arrived in Gravesend Bay on Sunday afternoon, and remained
there waiting for a fair wind until Tuesday at sunset, when she set out
to sea, Captain Burr, a man by the name of Wm. Johnson, and two boys,
named Smith and Oliver Watts, being on board.
The next morning, Wednesday the 22d of March, the sloop was picked up by
the schooner “Telegraph” of New London, in the lower bay, between the
West Bank and the Romer Shoals. On being boarded, she was found to have
been abandoned, as also to bear the most unmistakable evidences of foul
play having taken place at some time, not remote. It was also evident
that a collision had taken place with some other vessel, as her bowsprit
had been carried away, and was then floating alongside, attached to her
by the stays. Upon further examination, her deck appeared to have been
washed with human blood, and her cabin bore dire marks of a desperate
struggle for life. The Telegraph made fast to her, and started for the
city, but was failing in the effort (as both vessels were fast drifting
ashore), when the towboat Ceres, Captain Stevens, being in the
neighborhood, took them in tow, and brought them both up to the city,
when they were moored in the Fulton Market slip.
The story of bloody traces was at once communicated to the Police
Authorities, and soon it spread throughout the city that a terrible
massacre had taken place. Speculation accused river pirates of the
crime, but there was a doubt on the public mind. Throughout Wednesday,
the circumstances connected with the case were canvassed thoroughly, but
no new light could be obtained as to the mystery. The daily press served
up the story to the public on Thursday morning. Scarcely had the papers
been issued when two men, named John Burke and Andrew Kelly, residents
of a low tenement house, No. 129 Cedar street, called at second ward
station-house, and gave such information as led the officers to the
conclusion that one of the hands who had sailed on board the sloop
“Johnson” from the foot of Spring street, was implicated in the
mysterious transaction. They said that a man, named Johnson, who had
lived in the same house with them, had come home suddenly and
unexpectedly the previous day, having with him an unusual amount of
money, which he said he had received as prize money for picking up a
sloop in the lower bay. They gave the man’s description, told which way
he had gone with his wife and child. Immediately Officer Nevins and
Captain Smith started on their way toward Providence, to which city they
had reason to believe Johnson had gone.
Meantime, other facts came to light in connection with the mystery. The
ill-fated sloop had run into the schooner “John B. Mathew,” Captain
Nickerson, early on Wednesday morning, at which time only one man was
seen on board, and this man was subsequently observed to lower the boat
from the stern, and leave the sloop. This collision took place just off
Staten Island, and was so severe as to render the “John B. Mathew” unfit
for sea. Hence, she returned to the city for repairs.
On the same afternoon that the officers started after Johnson, officers
Burdett and James, accompanied by our reporter, set out in search of the
yawl belonging to the sloop, which was said to be adrift off Staten
Island. This they succeeded in finding, and bringing to the city, after
a tedious passage on a rough sea with a cold wind. The boat contained
two oars, a right boot, a tiller, and part of an old broom. George
Neidlinger, the hostler at Fort Richmond, south of which the boat was
found, said that shortly before six o’clock the previous morning, he had
seen a man land from the boat, whom he described in such a manner as to
show that Johnson might be the individual.
It was next ascertained that a man answering the same description had
made himself conspicuous at the Vanderbilt landing, where he had
indulged freely in oysters, hot gins, and eggs. He was seen on the seven
o’clock boat coming up to New York, by a deck hand, who had, by his own
solicitation, counted a portion of his money, which he carried in two
small bags, like shot-bags. Here the matter rested for a short time,
while the people were waiting for news from the officers at Providence.
It was during this interval that our artist succeeded in procuring the
sketches herewith presented.
Meantime the sloop lying at the Fulton Market Slip was attended, day
after day, by multitudes of the curious and the excited. The story of
blood was the topic of conversation, and the spirit of revenge found a
limited relief in verbal expressions of bitter desire for the punishment
of the perpetrator, if he should be arrested.
Mr. Selah Howell, of Islip, L. I., part owner of the sloop, was on hand.
He suspected William Johnson, the man who took supper with Captain Burr
and himself in the cabin, on the evening before the sloop left the city.
The theory that the murder had been committed by one of the crew favored
this suspicion, and the idea floated from ear to ear until it became a
settled conclusion in every mind. Mr. Howell viewed the boat, and
identified it as belonging to the sloop.
The carman, who conveyed Johnson’s baggage to the Fall River steamboat,
also described the man who had employed him, and the woman who was with
him.
During Friday, Captain Weed and Mr. Howell searched the cabin of the
sloop, and found in the captain’s berth a clean linen coat and a clean
shirt, both neatly folded up, and each of them cut through the folds as
if with a sharp knife. The coat had a sharp, clean cut, about seven
inches long, through every fold; the shirt had some shorter cuts in it.
They ascertained that an auger, which lay on the cabin floor, had been
used to bore two holes immediately behind the stove, for the purpose of
letting off the blood, which constituted a little sea. Instead of
running off, it collected in the run beneath, where it remains. In
brief, the cabin, the deck, and the starboard side of the vessel bore
the most unmistakable evidences of a tremendous crime having been
committed on board, and committed with the utmost regard to a previously
arranged plan in the mind of the murderer, for three persons had been
dispatched, two on deck and one in the cabin.
Public excitement continued on the increase; the public were waiting
with all anxiety for a report from the pursuing officers, when, on
Friday night, at a late hour, a dispatch was received from Providence,
intimating that the murderer had been tracked to a private house, where
he had taken lodgings, and would be arrested during the night. On
Saturday, this news having been ventilated, the public excitement became
greatly intensified, and it was anticipated that an effort would be made
to lynch the prisoner on his arrival in the city. Crowds repaired to the
railway depot, at Twenty-seventh street and Fourth avenue, also at
Forty-second street, at the upper end of the Harlem Railroad. At 5
o’clock, P.M., the train arrived, containing the officers and their
prisoner. But the multitudes who waited and looked for the prisoner were
doomed to disappointment, for the officers had prepared themselves
before reaching the city for avoiding any attack from infuriated mobs,
by taking their places in the first or baggage car, thus avoiding
suspicion. In this way they came down to the lower depot, and were
transferred to an express wagon, and rolled down to the Second Ward
station-house.
THE ARREST AND HOW IT WAS EFFECTED.
We give the account of the arrest in the words of Officer Nevins:
Captain Smith and myself left the city on Thursday, in the twelve
o’clock train of the Long Shore Railroad, for Stonington and Providence.
The same afternoon we arrived at Stonington, and went on board the
Stonington boat Commonwealth, to make inquiries for a sailor man, his
wife, and child. The boat arrived that morning about two o’clock, and of
course our only chance of getting trace of the murderer was from the
officers of the boat. We heard of several women and children, but they
did not answer the description; so we waited until nine o’clock that
night, when Mr. Howard, the baggage-master, arrived in the Boston night
train. He gave us information of two or three different women who
stopped on the route between Stonington and Boston. The description of
one man, woman, and child, who stopped at Canton, Massachusetts, was so
near, that on the arrival of the boat from New York, at two o’clock on
Friday morning, we left in the train which carried forward her
passengers. On arriving at Canton, however, we found that the woman was
not the one we were in search of, so we immediately returned to
Providence, being satisfied that the murderer could not have taken the
Stonington route. In Providence we called upon Mr. George Billings,
detective officer, who, with several other officers, cheerfully rendered
us every assistance. We drove around the city to all the sailor
boarding-houses, and to all the railroad depots, questioning
baggage-masters and every one likely to give us information, but could
get no satisfactory clew, so we concluded they had probably come by the
Fall River route, and Captain Smith went down to the steamboat Bradford
Durfee, to make inquiry there. The deck hand remembered that on the
previous morning a sailor and a little sore-eyed woman and child came up
with them, and asked him if he knew any quiet boarding-house, in a
retired part of the city, where he could go for a few weeks. He told him
he did not, but referred him to a hackman, who took him off to a distant
part of the city. The hackman was soon found, and at once recollected
the circumstances, and where he had taken the party. It was then
arranged, to guard against accidents, that the hackman should go into
the house, and inquire of the landlady if this man was in, pretending
that two of the three quarter dollars which he had given him were
counterfeit. He went there, and the landlady told him that the man was
not in, but would be in that night. Arrangements were then made for a
descent upon the house at two o’clock on Saturday morning. At this hour
I knocked at the door, and at first the landlady did not seem inclined
to let me in. I told her I was an officer who had arrested the hackman
for passing counterfeit quarters, and as he had stated that he got them
from the sailor, I had come to satisfy myself of the truth of the story.
She opened the door, and we went up to this man’s room, some seven or
eight of us, and found him in bed, apparently asleep. I woke him up, and
he immediately began to sweat—God, _how he did sweat_! I charged him
with passing counterfeit money, because I did not want his wife to know
what the real charge was. We got his baggage together, and took him with
it to the watch-house. I searched him, and found in his pocket the
silver watch, since identified as Capt. Burr’s, also, his knife, pipe,
and among the rest, two small canvas bags, which have since been
identified as those used by the captain to carry his silver. In his
pocket-book was $121, mostly in five and ten dollar bills of the
Farmers’ and Citizens’ Bank of Brooklyn. There was no gold in his
possession. I didn’t take his wife’s baggage, and I felt so bad for her
that I gave her $10 of the money. Poor woman! as it was she cried
bitterly, but if she had known what her husband was really charged with,
it would have been awful. I took the $6 from the landlady that he had
paid in advance, because I didn’t know but the money might be
identified. When we got him to the watch-house, I told him to let me see
his hands, for if he was a counterfeiter, and not a sailor, as he
represented, I could tell. He turned up his palms, and said, “Those are
sailor’s hands.” I said yes, and they are big ones, too; and then I told
him I did not want him for counterfeiting, and he replied, “I thought as
much.” So I up and told him what he was charged with, and he declared
upon his soul that he was innocent, and knew nothing of the matter, and
was never on the sloop. I don’t think his wife knew anything about it.
Some time before he had picked up a yacht, and was to get $300 salvage,
and when he came home so flush with money he told his wife he had got
the prize money. I asked him if he would go on to New York quietly with
us, or stay in jail ten or fifteen days for a requisition. He said he
would go with us, and we started at 7 o’clock in the morning. He behaved
so coolly and indifferently that I at one time almost concluded we had
mistaken our man. At the New London depot there was an immense crowd of
people waiting to see the prisoner, and, when we went through the crowd,
they cried out, “There’s the murderer; lynch him—lynch him!” I told him
that I would shoot the first man who touched him. At every station after
that, as we came through there were large crowds curious to see the
prisoner.
THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE PRISONER.
Soon after the arrival of the prisoner, the man John Burke, with whom he
had lived in Cedar street, was confronted with the prisoner, whom he
identified at once as William Johnson, the man who, with his wife and
child, had left No. 129 Cedar street on Wednesday afternoon, and went on
the Fall River boat. Mr. Simmons also stepped forward, and recognized
the prisoner as one of the hands who sailed from this port with Captain
Burr on board the sloop E. A. Johnson. Upon being asked if he knew
Captain Burr, he said he did not, he never saw him, and never sailed in
the vessel commanded by him.
On Sunday afternoon, an old man, named Charles La Coste, who keeps a
coffee and cake stand near the East Broadway stage terminus at the South
Ferry, identified Johnson as the man who, on Wednesday morning last, at
about eight o’clock, stopped opposite to his stand, apparently looking
to see what he sold thereat, when he asked him if he wanted some coffee.
He afterward went into the booth and sat down, leaving what appeared to
be his clothes-bag outside against the railings. He had coffee and cakes
which amounted to the sum of six cents. When about to leave, he handed
him a ten dollar gold piece in payment, when he asked him if he had no
less change. He said he had, and pulled from his pocket a handful of
gold, silver, and some cents, and, abstracting half a dime and a cent
paid his bill. About this time some boot-blacks came round, and wanted
to black his boots. He looked down at his feet, and said his boots were
not worth the trouble. He then asked if he could get a carriage, when La
Coste told him it was too early; he ought to get into an East Broadway
stage, and ride up to French’s Hotel, as he had asked for the
whereabouts of a respectable place to put up at. To this suggestion he
demurred, when a newsboy came up to him, took hold of his bag, and
implored him for the privilege of conveying his bag to any given point
of the metropolis. The boy took the bag and followed the man.
At a later hour the prisoner was brought from his cell and taken into
the officers’ room in the back part of the station-house, where a
promiscuous assemblage of men had gathered in. The prisoner took his
place among them. The boy, Wm. Drum, was then brought into the room, and
in a moment rested his finger upon the man whose clothes-bag he had
carried from La Coste’s stand to the house No. 129 Cedar street, one
morning last week, about eight o’clock; he did not recollect which
morning. The man thus pointed out was the prisoner. The same boy
immediately afterward saw the bag, and identified it as the one which he
had carried from the South Ferry to Cedar street. He asked Johnson fifty
cents for the job, but, on his refusal, he compromised, and took three
shillings.
Abram Egbert was introduced in the same manner as the boy, and selected
Johnson as the man who spoke to him on the bridge of the Vanderbilt
landing, on Staten Island, last Wednesday morning, between six and seven
o’clock. He was not certain, but he thought he was the man.
Augustus Gisler, the boy who sold Johnson the oyster stew, the eggs, and
the numerous hot gins, was also introduced in the same manner. He at
once pointed out Johnson, and said, “That is the man.”
Another little boy, who had asked to black Johnson’s boots, at the South
Ferry, was introduced. He looked carefully through the crowd, repeatedly
fastening his eyes upon Johnson. The boy at last stopped opposite
Johnson again; the prisoner noticed this, made a contortion, and turned
away his face, when the boy said he could not see the man. The prisoner
was then taken back to his cell, and his baggage underwent an
examination in one of the rooms of the station-house.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: THE BLOOD-STAINED CABIN OF THE OYSTER SLOOP “E. A.
JOHNSON”]
The first article identified was Capt. Burr’s watch, which was found in
the prisoner’s possession by the detectives who arrested him. This watch
the prisoner said he had had in his possession for 3 years. It was
handed to Mr. Henry Seaman, an old friend of Captain Burr’s, who after
looking at it for about half a minute, pronounced it to be Captain
Burr’s watch; but to be certain, he would not open it until he had
procured the necessary testimony to prove it. After a short absence he
returned with a slip of paper from Mr. Seth P. Squire, watchmaker and
jeweller, No. 182 Bowery, to whom it appears he had taken it to be
cleaned nearly a year ago, at the request of Captain Burr. The following
was the memorandum contained on the slip:
+------------------------------------+
| |
| MR. BURR, |
| D B Silver Lever Watch, |
| J. Johnson, Liverpool, No. 21,310. |
| Cleaned April 5, 1859 |
| by S. P. Squire. |
| |
+------------------------------------+
The watch was then opened, and the name of the maker and the number of
the watch found to correspond exactly with the name and number on the
slip. By this means the watch was fully identified. Two small bags,
which Johnson said he had made himself, were also identified by Mr.
Seaman, and Mr. Simmons, of Barnes & Simmons, as having been the
property of Captain Burr.
Mr. Edward Watts, brother of Smith Watts, identified the daguerreotype
found in the pocket of a coat belonging to Oliver Watts, which was found
in Johnson’s clothes-bag, after his arrest, as that of a young lady
friend of his brother, living in Islip, L. I.
Captain Baker, engaged in the oyster business in the Spring street
market, recognized the prisoner as a man whom he had seen on board the
sloop E. A. Johnson. He was certain of the man, as he had frequently
seen him.
Mr. Selah Howell, taking a position right in front of the prisoner, as
he stood in his cell, at once identified him as the man who took supper
with Captain Burr and himself, on board the sloop, the night before she
sailed.
Mr. George Neidlinger, the hostler who saw the man leave the yawl boat
on the Staten Island beach, just south of Fort Richmond, identified the
prisoner as that man. He also identified a glazed cap found in Hick’s
baggage as the cap he had on that morning.
Mr. Michael Dunnan also identified Hicks as the man whom he had met on
the road between Fort Richmond and the Vanderbilt landing, last
Wednesday, about six o’clock.
HIS INTERVIEW WITH HIS WIFE.
The wife of Hicks arrived in this city from Providence, on Sunday
morning, and in company with John Burk visited her husband at the
station house. She stated that on Friday evening last she got a New York
paper, and seeing in it the story of the “sloop murder,” proceeded to
read it to her husband in their room, but before finishing it he said he
was sleepy and wanted to go to bed, and she had better stop reading.
When taken down to the cell in which her husband was locked up, she
broke out upon him in the most vituperative language, charging him with
being a bloody villain. She held her child up in front of the cell door,
and exclaimed, “Look at your offspring, you rascal, and think what you
have brought on us. If I could get in at you I would pull your bloody
heart out.” The prisoner looked at her very coolly, and quietly replied,
“Why, my dear wife, I’ve done nothing—it will be all out in a day or
two.” The poor woman was so overcome that she had to be taken away. She
subsequently returned to her old quarters, No. 129 Cedar street.
On Monday, the prisoner Hicks, alias Johnson, was transferred to the
custody of the U. S. Marshal Rynders, and upon the filling of several
affidavits, he was committed for examination.
Such is a brief account of this horrible tragedy, than which nothing
more calculated to excite public wrath has occurred in the neighborhood
of this city for a number of years. That Hicks is the man who committed
the triple murder on board the sloop E. A. Johnson, no doubt is
entertained, and no one will regret his speedy satisfaction to the
claims of public justice.
RUMORS IN RELATION TO HIS FAMILY.
We have been favored by a gentleman with the following account of the
family of Hicks: The father of the prisoner lives at Gloucester, a few
miles from Chepatchet, Rhode Island. He used to be a collier in that
neighborhood, and had the reputation of being an honest man. About
fourteen or fifteen years ago he was employed by our informant. Simon
Hicks, the brother of Albert W. Hicks, alias William Johnson, was
several years ago sentenced to be executed for the murder of a man named
Crossman, under the following circumstances: Mr. Crossman lived in
Gloucester. He was an old bachelor, and lived alone. Simon Hicks and he
were very friendly, and Simon used to visit him very often. One night,
however, Simon went to Crossman’s house, broke in at the door while the
old man was in bed, and beat him to death with a club. He then helped
himself to several hundred dollars of the old man’s treasures, and in a
few days left for Providence, a distance of sixteen or eighteen miles
from Gloucester, taking with him a girl to whom he had been paying his
addresses. In Providence he bought her a gold watch, and various other
articles of finery. This lavish conduct caused suspicion, and he was
arrested. He was examined in Chepatchet, and afterward acknowledged his
guilt. He was subsequently tried in Providence, convicted of murder, and
sentenced to be executed. While awaiting execution, one of the prisoners
in the jail, whose time had almost expired, opened a number of the
cells, and there was quite a stampede of prisoners, among whom was Simon
Hicks. They were all recaptured within a few days, with the exception of
Simon Hicks, who has never been heard of since. This escape was deemed a
very strange circumstance, inasmuch as Simon was known to be imbecile
and unwary. His simplicity created much sympathy in his behalf. In
referring to Simon, our New York prisoner admitted that some strange
stories had been told about him, but he guessed they never amounted to
much. The last he had heard of his brother was that he had gone to
California.
THE LAST LETTER OF CAPTAIN BURR TO HIS WIFE.
As everything connected with this mysterious and bloody affair must
prove to be of public interest, we republish an extract from the last
letter of Captain Burr, in which he speaks of William Johnson as a
helmsman, written to his wife from Coney Island, previous to the
departure of the E. A. Johnson on her ill-fated voyage:
“This man, William Johnson, who lives in New York, is a smart fellow.
He went at the mast and scraped it while we were at Keyport, without
telling, while I was ashore. He is a good hand; can turn his hand to
almost anything. He is a ship-carpenter, he says, and has got quite a
set of tools. He understands all about a boat, only is not a very good
helmsman to steer the sloop nice when beating to windward; he
understands steering well enough other ways. It requires a man that
has been very much used to sailing a boat by the wind to steer fast.
We often get in company with vessels that are smart, when it requires
a nice helmsman; then it requires my skill more. Smith is a good
helmsman close by the wind. I don’t think Oliver is quite so good. I
will write the first chance after we get in Virginia. Should we have a
chance, we are going to Pionkatonk to see if we can get a load there.
That is about five miles short of the Rappahannock River. Selah knows
where it is. I have nothing more at present. Would like to see you
very much.
“Your affectionate husband, ever,
“GEO. H. BURR.”
THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION.
On his examination, the facts which have been related above were given
in evidence, upon which he was committed, and the Grand Jury found a
bill of indictment for robbery and piracy upon the high seas against
him.
THE TRIAL.
The trial commenced on the 18th of May, and lasted five days, during
which time the prisoner maintained a show of cold indifference to the
proceedings.
_May 14_—FIRST DAY.
It being announced that this extraordinary and mysterious tragedy
would be brought to trial this morning, the court-room was densely
crowded. Judge Smalley said he was informed by the District Attorney,
that there were a large number of witnesses for the prosecution, and
as the District Court was larger than the Circuit room, the
proceedings would be conducted in the District Court-room.
There were several women in court who are to be examined as witnesses.
The prisoner stands charged with having, on the 21st of March last, made
a violent assault on George H. Burr, on the high seas, on board the
sloop Edwin A. Johnson, and there feloniously and piratically carried
away the goods, effects, and personal property of the said George H.
Burr, who was master of that vessel. The property consisted of about
$150 in gold and silver coin, a watch and chain of the value of $26, a
canvas bag, a coat, a vest, one pair of pantaloons, and a felt hat. The
second indictment is the same as the first, but charges the felony to
have been committed in the lower bay.
The prisoner was also indicted by the Grand Jury for the murder of
George H. Burr, master of the Edwin A. Johnson, and two seamen
(brothers) named Oliver Watts and Smith Watts. As robbery on the high
seas is piracy, and punishable with death, the prisoner was placed on
trial now for the robbery only.
The prosecution was conducted by ex-Judge Roosevelt, United States
District Attorney, and Messrs. Charles H. Hunt and James F. Dwight,
Assistant United States District Attorneys. Messrs. Graves and Sayles
defended the prisoner, who was unchanged in appearance, and exhibited
the same cool demeanor which had marked his conduct throughout the whole
case.
The following Jurors were empannelled, after some challenges, and some
being excused for having formed and expressed an opinion:
1. Bernard McElroy,
2. Owen Foley,
3. John Coulter,
4. Geo. W. Jackson,
5. Jas. C. Rhodes,
6. Isaac Jerome,
7. Andrew Brady,
8. Robert W. Allen,
9. John Farrell,
10. James N. Fuller,
11. John McCalvey,
12. Benjamin Sherman.
The following gentlemen were rendered ineligible, having formed and
expressed an opinion in the matter: William A. Martin, Jos. J. B.
Delvecchio, Dwight Johnson, Samuel Carson, Geo. Burbeck, John Latham,
Thomas M. Clarke, and John Green.
The following gentlemen were challenged peremptorily by the prisoner’s
counsel: Robert Goodenough, Geo. H. Nichols, A. B. Lawton, and Oscar
Johnson. Daniel F. Leveridge was challenged for favor.
Mr. Dwight proceeded to open the case for the government.
OPENING STATEMENT FOR THE GOVERNMENT.
Mr. DWIGHT said: You are empannelled, gentlemen of the jury, to try the
issue between the United States and the prisoner at the bar, charged
with robbery upon the high seas. Robbery committed upon the high seas,
or in any basin or bay within the admiralty maritime jurisdiction of the
United States, is declared by the act of Congress passed in 1820 to be
piracy, and punishable with death. The indictment against the prisoner
charges him in the first count with having on the 21st of March last, on
the sloop Edwin A. Johnson, committed the crime of robbery upon George
H. Burr, master and commander of that vessel, and with having
feloniously and violently taken from him a watch, a large sum of money,
and some wearing apparel. Robbery is the felonious and forcible taking
the property of another from his person or in his presence against his
will, by violence or by putting him in fear. It is larceny accompanied
by violence. The punishment, as you will perceive, for the offence
committed upon the high seas, is different from its punishment when
committed upon land. It is to protect more effectually and punish more
thoroughly offences occurring upon vessels upon the high seas, where the
protection for person and property is not so great as it can be on land,
where individuals are so much surrounded by the police regulations to
protect them and their property. In this case, the prosecution will show
to you, gentlemen, that on the morning of Wednesday, the 21st of March
last, there was found floating in the Lower Bay of New York a deserted
vessel. Her strange appearance attracted the attention of several
vessels in that vicinity—among others the steam tug Ceres, which bore
down to her, and the captain of which boarded this vessel. On reaching
the deck there was presented a most unexpected and fearful sight. A
state of great confusion appeared. The bowsprit of the vessel was broken
off, and its rigging was trailing in the water. The sails were down, and
the boom of the vessel, which had been set, was over the side of the
vessel. There was no human being found on the vessel, and no light.
Forward of the mast appeared a large pool of blood, which had run down
to some cordage and sticks at the back of the mast, and also down the
side of the vessel into the sea. This was just aft the forecastle hatch,
on which, or near which was found some hair—a lock of hair. Amidships,
and totally disconnected with this appearance of blood on the foredeck,
there was another large patch of blood, showing signs as if a body had
lain there; this also ran down the side of the vessel. Still further
aft, just back of the small companionway, they found traces of blood
again, also disconnected with that in the middle or forepart of the
ship. Aft there appeared signs of a bloody body having been dragged from
the entrance to the cabin. There was blood upon the rail and over the
side, and it seemed as if an endeavor had been made to wash it off. On
descending into the cabin, a state of still greater confusion appeared
there. The few articles of furniture were disarranged. The companionway
steps were pulled down, and some of the sails which lay on the
companionway were pulled out. The floor was wet and bloody, and bore
signs of having been covered in its entire extent with blood, which had
been washed off with water, probably brought in the pail which was found
there. Upon the handle of the pail there was found some hairs, where the
hand would naturally hold it. These hairs were of a different color to
those found in the other parts of the vessel.
The appearance on the floor and the disposition of the articles lying in
the cabin, together with the two auger holes found bored in the lower
part of the cabin, where the floor slanted down, showed that an endeavor
had been made in washing the floor of the cabin to let the water run
down. The auger with which these holes were bored was found there, and
also some little chips which had been bored out of the floor. It seemed
as if the attempt had been given up in the cabin, and the vessel had
been abandoned afterwards. There were a small stove in the cabin and a
pile of wood under which the blood had run. On the wood was lying a
coffee-pot or a tea-pot with fresh tea leaves in it. The side of the
tea-pot was indented and covered with human hair, which was likewise
black like that found on the pail. There was nothing further than this
to direct suspicion, and the vessel was taken in tow by the Ceres and
brought up on the morning of Wednesday, the 21st of March, to the slip
at the foot of Fulton Market. On the affair being noised about the town,
the sloop was visited by a large number of persons; among others by
persons acquainted with the vessel and those belonging upon her. It was
found that this was the sloop E. A. Johnson, owned at Islip, Long
Island—a vessel belonging in this district, and commanded by George H.
Burr, who was also part owner. The sloop had been engaged in the oyster
trade in Virginia, and had recently come in, and had on the 13th of
March, a week previous, cleared from here to go to Virginia for another
cargo of oysters. The crew consisted, when she cleared from here, on the
15th of March, of Geo. H. Burr, master, two sailors—Oliver Watts and
Smith Watts—young men, brothers, residing at Islip, and the defendant,
who, under the name of William Johnson, had shipped as first mate.
During the day a great number of persons visited the vessel, and the
daily press of the afternoon and the following morning scattered
broadcast all over the city and its vicinity information concerning this
affair. The attention of the public finally addressed to this fact was
the cause of developing many slight circumstances, which gradually
formed themselves into a chain of circumstantial proof directing the
attention of the officers of justice to the offender, and resulting in
the arrest of this prisoner. It was found that on Thursday, the 15th of
March, the vessel sailed from here, being chartered by one Daniel
Simmons, an oyster merchant of this place, living at Keyport, and one
Edward Barnes, living at Keyport, to go to Virginia for a cargo of
oysters; that it went out for a cargo as I have described, and that the
captain had a large quantity of money in his possession to purchase
oysters. The vessel went that week to Keyport, lay there some time, and
in the last part of the week ran to Coney Island, and lay in Gravesend
bay, waiting for a favorable tide and wind till Tuesday afternoon.
During the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday that the vessel lay there, the
captain, crew, and others went on shore at different times, and one of
the Watts boys had gone to Brooklyn on Monday or Tuesday, and returned
on Tuesday, and on his return the vessel immediately proceeded to sea.
The vessel had waited with its sails up, if I remember correctly, for
the arrival of young Watts. He was taken off the beach in a yawl boat
which was on board the vessel, and then she proceeded on her Virginia
voyage. It was watched by persons who belonged to Coney Island, and also
by two vessels lying at anchor at the same time, some distance from
Coney Island. This was the close of the day—Tuesday about six or seven
o’clock, if I remember rightly. From that time until the next morning
only one thing is known of that vessel, and that by a connection of
peculiar circumstances.
What was done upon that vessel during the night no mortal man save the
prisoner knows. Oliver Watts and Smith Watts have never since that been
seen in life. What became of them we can only judge by those
circumstances which are thrown around by the appearance of the vessel
and by the conduct of the prisoner, and other circumstances connected
with him. Whether their bodies be in the sands of the lower bay, or
floated out to sea, and are tossed by the waves there, we do not know.
The prisoner fails to give an account of them, and we can only suppose
that they were murdered by him and thrown into the sea. Next morning,
Wednesday, the 21st, the prisoner appeared upon Staten Island, with the
yawl boat of this sloop. Except, as I say, by implication, nothing is
known in the meantime. The circumstances to which I refer are these: The
schooner J. R. Mather, Captain Nickerson, was going from this city to
Philadelphia, clearing from here March 20, and running down the bay.
Some time during the night, between twelve and two o’clock, the vessel,
then being down off Coney Island, had a collision with a vessel coming
in. It appeared that the vessel going out saw this sloop coming in, and
on going within three or four hundred feet, the course of that other
vessel was changed, and she run down directly to this schooner, as if to
run across its bow. That seemed to fail, and the course of that vessel
was again changed; but instead of running across the bow of the schooner
Mather, it seemed to fail, and struck the bow itself, cutting it down
within six or eight inches of the water’s edge, and rendering the
schooner incapable of proceeding to sea, and it returned for repairs.
There was the finger of Providence again in that. On coming into this
port the captain of the schooner J. R. Mather found that the sloop E. A.
Johnson had come in, and by a comparison of the rigging of her bowsprit,
found on the bow of his boat, with the rigging of the E. A. Johnson,
that that was the vessel which caused the collision. Further than this,
nothing is known of that night. There was no cry from the deck of the E.
A. Johnson when it encountered the schooner; there was no hail, no
attempt to disentangle themselves, and nothing was known of what was
going on upon the deck of that vessel—whether there was a human being on
it or not. The captain of the sloop saw a dark form aft, but could not
say whether it was one man or two men. He knew that some person must
have been on board, from the fact of her changing her course as I have
described. On the morning of Wednesday, the 21st of March, about six
o’clock, the prisoner came on shore at Staten Island, a little below
Fort Richmond, which is in the Narrows, opposite Fort Hamilton. He was
seen very soon afterward, coming on shore, by a Mr. Neildinger, whom he
addressed, inquiring if his boat would be safe, designating where he had
left her, to which Neildinger replied it would be all right, and the
prisoner drew it upon shore, where it would be a little safer. The
prisoner had with him a large canvas bag, which he carried upon his
shoulders. After leaving Neildinger, he passed up Staten Island,
encountering one or more persons, whom he addressed, and came to
Vanderbilt’s landing, arriving there shortly before seven o’clock. He
there inquired of the boat tender where he could procure some breakfast,
and was directed to a shop, where he ate breakfast, and in payment
offered to the boy who served him a $10 piece, which the boy could not
and did not change, and he afterward gave him some silver. Afterward, in
conversation with Mr. Egbert, in charge of the station there, he said he
was a seafaring man; that he had been on the vessel William Tell in the
lower bay; had had a collision with another vessel; that the captain had
been killed against the mast, another person had been knocked overboard,
and he had merely time to escape from the vessel with the money. He is
described by that witness as being excited. He took the ferry-boat
Southfield, left there at seven o’clock, and came up to the city. On the
way up he entered into conversation with Francis McCaffrey, a deck hand.
He produced before him a bag of money, and asked him to count it. It was
a canvas bag, and contained $30 in silver, and a large quantity of gold.
McCaffrey counted it, and the prisoner took possession of it again, and
during the passage up had some more general conversation with him.
On the arrival of the Southfield at the Battery, between seven and eight
o’clock, the prisoner took some refreshment—a cup of coffee, I think,
and then hired a small boy to take his bag—a small canvas bag—filled
with clothing and other articles, up to his house; it was taken up to
his house in Cedar street, and left there. The prisoner lived at 129
Cedar street, with his wife; the other occupants of the house were Mr.
and Mrs. Burke. They had various conversations with him during the day.
During the morning the prisoner went out, and at the shop of Mr. James,
on South street, exchanged the most of the money which he had (about
$150), part gold and part silver, and received in exchange bills on the
Farmers’ and Citizens’ Bank of Williamsburg. He made the remark to Mr.
James at the time, that he came honestly by the money. Through the day
he packed up his clothing, and in the afternoon, with his wife and
child, took the Fall River boat, running from here up the Sound, and
went up to Fall River, telling the carman who took his baggage, if any
inquiries were made for him, to throw the inquirers off the scent. From
Fall River he went to Providence. The whole or most of these facts
coming to the knowledge of the officers of justice, two persons followed
on his track, and very soon traced him from Fall River to Providence,
and after some search were enabled to find him there. He was arrested on
Friday night, the 22d or 23d March. They traced him to a small house in
the outskirts of the city, and at one o’clock midnight obtained an
entrance into the house, where they found him in a back room in bed. The
windows and doors of the house were closed, and the defendant was found
concealed under the clothes of the bed, with his head covered up. The
officers withdrew the clothes, and found the defendant, there in a
profuse perspiration and feigning sleep. He was awakened, or pretended
to be awakened, by the officers. They said that they wanted to see him
on a charge of passing counterfeit money on the hackman who had brought
him to the house; he arose, and was asked to point out his baggage. He
described two trunks, which they took with them. There were found on him
a watch and a quantity of money—among the rest, about $120 in bills on
the Farmers’ and Citizens’ Bank of Williamsburg, corresponding with
those exchanged for him by Mr. James of this city. The clothes were
returned to this city, and next morning the prisoner was brought here
and lodged in the Second District station-house. On his arrival, he was
told that the charge of counterfeit money was a mere feint, and that
that was not the real charge against him; to which he very coolly
replied that “he supposed so,” or something to that effect. To Mr.
George Nevins and Mr. Elias Smith, the persons who pursued and
discovered him, he said “he had no knowledge whatever of the sloop E. A.
Johnson; had never known her or Captain Burr, and had not been on Staten
Island for many months.” These statements he has maintained to the
present time, constantly refusing to give any account of himself in
connection with this vessel, or of anything which transpired on board of
her after she left her anchor in Gravesend bay. That denial, contrary to
the truth, that he had ever known Captain Burr, or ever been on the
vessel E. A. Johnson, or had been on Staten Island when he was charged
with being there, shows a full consciousness of the fatal effects of any
evidence tending to establish that fact if uncontradicted, and in that
contradiction he persisted. On being brought to this city, he was
confronted with various persons that he had known before; with the man
who carried his baggage; with the deck hand of the Southfield, and with
various persons who saw him on the sloop Johnson; the watch found upon
him was, through the hand of Providence, identified as the watch of
Captain Burr, worn by him on the day of his leaving this port. That
watch the prisoner stated he had had in his possession for a long time;
that he bought it from his brother, and paid a certain sum of money for
it; and as to the other articles, he claimed that they were his, and
gave various accounts concerning them.
On the Monday following his being brought here he was examined before a
United States magistrate, was indicted, and is now brought before you
for the offence of robbery on the high seas. I have thus briefly gone
over the various circumstances of this case as they will be produced to
you by the evidence. I deemed it necessary to state to you the line of
evidence that is intended to be pursued by the prosecution, that you may
understand the bearing of each portion of the testimony toward the rest.
You will perceive in this case one peculiarity. A great number of
witnesses will be examined for the government, and among these witnesses
there is a very slight connection, either with each other or with the
individual himself—particularly with each other. Various witnesses will
be produced before you from Islip, Gravesend, Staten Island, New York,
and Brooklyn, who are unacquainted with each other, who each come up to
add their little fibre to this strong cord of proof which is thrown
round this defendant. Each little item of evidence is of no particular
strength, of no decision in itself, but only forming a strong chain, a
perfect chain, as claimed by the government, fixing without question and
without doubt the guilt of this offence upon the prisoner. Your
attention, gentlemen, is invited to this carefully and scrutinizingly,
which scrutiny, I feel convinced, you will give to it. It is a question
of great interest—it involves the punishment of a terrible crime. If
this prisoner is the true offender, the result may be very serious to
him. It involves a vindication of the law and the punishment of a crime
which he thought he had covered up; for there is very little doubt he
thought he had sunk the vessel by the collision in the Lower Bay; and I
think you will say, as I have, in looking over the evidence, that the
hand of Providence, in marking the track this man was to pursue, has
placed upon that track the eyes of those who would come up afterward to
identify him. It seems strange in this centre of swarming thousands, at
such a time of the day as this prisoner escaped from that sloop, he
could not have hidden himself. It seems as though there was but one eye
to watch, and one instinct to follow and observe him. From the very time
that he landed on Staten Island until he went to Providence, his
whereabouts was known all the time. I cannot explain either to you or to
myself what it was that caused him to be watched; that he was watched
and observed will be shown. From the very commencement of his being seen
on the E. A. Johnson till he was brought here, everything is known
concerning him, save the twelve hours intervening from his sailing from
Coney Island till the next morning. He has been called upon to give an
account of the property of the Wattses and Captain Burr—but he claims it
as his own. He has been called upon to give an account of those men with
whom he was, and who are no doubt already dead; but he utterly disclaims
any knowledge of them or of the vessel upon which they were. That,
gentlemen, you will judge of on this trial. You will say whether he is
guilty of the triple crime, the double, bloody, damning crime that
occurred on the deck of that vessel; and if so, as jurors and citizens,
whatever may be the result to him, and whatever the punishment, I have
no doubt but that your verdict will be in accordance with the law and
the facts.
THE EVIDENCE.