of March, and took his baggage to the Bay State (Fall River boat); the
prisoner walked, and I saw him at the boat afterward. He told me if any
one inquired where he was going, to tell them it was none of their
business. When they were taking the luggage out, a woman asked him where
they were going, and he said they were going to Albany to live on a
farm.
Witness was not cross-examined.
GEORGE NIVENS, officer of second precinct, deposed—That he understood
that a man answering the prisoner’s description had left in the
Stonington boat, but traced him to Providence, where he arrested him in
a boarding-house. I found the hackman who had conveyed Johnson, and he
took me to the house; I found him in bed with his wife; I shook him up
and searched him; I found on him a watch; I took away two trunks, two
bags, two handkerchiefs, and a knife, a pocket-book, and some
bed-clothing, which he claimed to be his. (Identifies the watch,
pocket-book, and bags; cannot identify the handkerchiefs.) I found in
the pocket-book $121 in bills on the Farmers’ and Citizens’ Bank of
Williamsburg, mostly fives and tens; there are some ones; there are also
some on the Lee, Huguenot Bank, and City Bank of Brooklyn; when I
arrested him first I told him I arrested him for passing counterfeit
money; I did not make any statement to him at the station-house in
Providence; I believe Mr. Smith did; I brought him to New York next day;
he told me that the watch belonged to his brother; he said he had not
been in New York or Staten Island during the month of March; that he had
been speculating around the market, and had about $60; at another time
he said he got the money from his brother; on counting over the money in
the pocket-book I found there were $121 in it; when I informed him in
the cars of the charge against him, he denied all knowledge of Capt.
Burr and the sloop E. A. Johnson.
_Cross-examined._—At the time I had the conversation with him in the
cars he was in irons; he did not tell me that he could not read or
write.
To Mr. DWIGHT.—When I arrested him in Providence he told me his name was
Hicks—Albert W. Hicks.
ELIAS SMITH deposed—That he was with Nivens when he made the arrest.
The COURT.—Are you a police officer?
Witness.—No, sir; I am a reporter of the _Times_.
To Mr. DWIGHT.—The prisoner denied all knowledge of the sloop E. A.
Johnson or Captain Burr; he said he had not been in New York for two
months; I understood him to convey the idea that he had been in
Providence for two months (identifies the watch and pocket-book as those
taken from the prisoner in Providence); I cannot identify the clothing;
I addressed the prisoner at the station-house, and said to him, “Hicks,
you are charged with the murder of three men;” he said nothing; I then
changed the language and said to him, “You are charged with imbruing
your hands in the blood of three of your fellow men for money;” the
prisoner shook his head and said, “I do not know anything about it;” I
then said to him, “You have been on board the sloop Edwin A. Johnson;”
he shook his head and said he did not know anything about it, and was
never on it; Mr. Nivens read the newspaper accounts of the transaction
to him; he said he did not care much about the arrest except for the
interruption to his business, as he had purchased a place in Providence;
I told him he would be identified when he got to New York; he said we
might think what we liked; he seemed annoyed at our pressing the
subject.
_Cross-examined._—I never found out how much he had paid; I said to him,
“If you are innocent, then you are willing to go back to New York?”
after hesitating, he assented; Detective Billings, of Providence, was
with me when he signed the agreement to come back.
[Illustration: SCENE OF THE FIRST CONFLICT ON BOARD THE SLOOP “E. A.
JOHNSON,” WITH THE BLOOD-STAINS ON THE DECK.]
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF OLIVER WATTS.]
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF CAPT. GEORGE BURR.]
SAMUEL M. DOWNES deposed—I am captain and pilot of the steamtug Sirius;
I picked up the sloop E. A. Johnson on the East Bank, near the Romer,
about half-past six o’clock in the morning; I brought her to this city,
and left her in the river at the foot of Fulton Market; the bowsprit of
the sloop was broken off about midway; the jib hung overboard; there was
no small boat on board; I boarded the sloop; one of the men of the
schooner Telegraph had boarded her about the same time (witness
describes the appearance of the sloop on a model produced in court);
there were pools of blood on the deck, and the cabin appeared as if some
one had been slaughtered there; there were marks of a hand, as if
struggling, and then there appeared to be a blow of a hatchet where the
hand mark was, as if it was cut; the blood flowed down to the scuppers;
there were evidences of a scuffle; there was a mark of a foot in the
blood, as if some person with a boot or a shoe had stepped in it; the
appearance of the blood from the companionway seemed as if some person
had been dragged from there and thrown overboard; there was some hair
found in the pool of blood forward; it was dark brown hair; I did not
remove the hair or anything on board; I brought her to New York; arrived
about half-past ten o’clock at the foot of Fulton Market, and gave her
up to Captain Weed of the Second Precinct.
_Cross-examined_, but nothing material was elicited.
_Re-direct examination._—The wind was blowing north-northwest, which
would bring the sloop out to sea.
HART B. WEED, examined by Mr. DWIGHT, deposed—I am captain of the Second
District police; I examined the clothes brought by Nivens from
Providence; there were coat, pants, vest, and some flannel clothing
contained in a bag used for feed; the clothes produced—coat, vest, and
pantaloons—are those given to me by Officer Nivens; there was also a hat
(several other articles of clothing produced); these were either found
in the trunk or the bag; I recollect finding a daguerreotype in the
trunk or bag (produces it); I sealed it up and gave it to the clerk of
this court. (The daguerreotype is of a young lady, and is said to be
that of the sweetheart of one of the Wattses.) I was at the
station-house when the prisoner was brought there; he said he knew
nothing about it; I asked him if he knew anything about the vessel or
the murder, and he said “No; he knew nothing about it, and had not been
in New York, Staten Island, or Long Island for some time; Dr. Bonton,
the coroner’s assistant, accompanied me to the sloop; we found a lock of
brown hair—human hair—lying partially in a pool of blood on the deck; I
gave the hair to the Assistant District Attorney; it was sealed up in
the manner of this package produced; I cannot now swear that this is the
hair; it was then clotted with blood; I also found hair on the
coffee-pot in the cabin; I gave that to you (Mr. Dwight); (another
package produced) this is the hair found on the coffee-pot; the blood
had the appearance as if a person lay down and the blood flowed at each
side.”
The cabin had a great deal of blood and had the appearance of being
washed down; I found a bucket, with a rope, which appeared to be used in
taking up water; I found a broom there; there was blood and hair on the
rope attached to the bucket; sails and other things had been removed
out; there were holes bored in the deck; we found an auger with blood on
it; the auger fitted the holes in the deck; the coffee-pot was lying
behind the stove, it seemed to be bruised; there was hair on it; we
searched under the companionway and found a lead line there; we found
some secret drawers; I saw the valise that was identified here yesterday
in the cabin of the sloop; we found spots of blood on the ceiling of the
cabin, and on each side of the door, as if a person had been drawn out
of it; there were three cuts on the ceiling, which appeared to have been
done with a sharp instrument; we found cuts on the clothing of the
captain’s berth; the railing had the appearance as if a hand was on it
and had been cut; we saw marks which seemed as if a person with bloody
clothing had been shoved down the side of the vessel; there was blood on
the stove and wood in the cabin; the cabin was in a deranged condition;
I received some tackle from Captain Nickerson, which consisted of some
of the gearing of the vessel; I took them down with one of my men, who
had been a sailor, and we found they corresponded with the bowsprit of
the Johnson.
_Cross-examined_ (a shirt and linen coat produced).—These are the
clothing we found in the captain’s berth with cuts on them; there was no
blood on them nor on the bed; they had the appearance of being clean and
folded up; I partially examined the prisoner to see if there were any
marks on him; I found no fresh marks of violence on him; I lifted his
shirt and looked at his body; I looked at his arms; I saw the figure of
an eagle printed in India ink. I saw no other marks on his arm.
The hour of adjournment having arrived, the Court adjourned to ten
o’clock Wednesday morning.
THIRD DAY.
The court was densely crowded at an early hour.
THEODORE BURDETT, examined by Mr. Dwight, deposed, that he is a
policeman belonging to the harbor police; I found a boat about seven
o’clock on Thursday, the 22d of March, the day after the sloop was
brought up to the city; I found the boat fifty yards to the southward of
Fort Richmond; Hickbert and Gresler (the two witnesses) gave me
information where I could find the boat; I saw the hostler of the fort;
he gave me the oars and half an old boot, and a piece of an old stump of
a broom; I went to the sloop and found Mr. Selah Howell, the owner; I
showed him the boat as it lay at the slip; he claimed it, and took it
away.
To the JUDGE.—This was at the police station.
SAMUEL J. CONOVER deposed—I am a watchmaker, doing business with Mr.
Squire, No. 182 Bowery; I remember repairing a watch about a year ago
for a person named Burr; it was on the 6th of April, a year ago; it was
not Mr. Burr himself who brought it; it was left by a gentleman whom I
saw in the court yesterday; the person who left it took it away I
presume; it was a double case silver watch; the maker’s name J. Johnson,
and the number 21,310. (Looks at the watch.) This is the watch that I
repaired; I do not know the guard; I don’t know that I ever saw Capt.
Burr.
_Cross-examined._—In giving a description of the watch and its number I
am aided by a record which we keep at the store; I am pretty sure I made
the record before it was repaired; the record is in my handwriting. (The
witness was requested to send for the record.)
HART B. WEED, recalled, deposed—That the dark hair produced is what I
found in the cabin; this other (the light hair) I found forward of the
mast, on the deck in a pool of blood. (Witness here selected and showed
out the clothes brought from Providence in the trunk and bag.) I have
now a bag in my hand in addition to the things produced yesterday; the
contents were taken out of a green chest brought by the officers from
Providence.
_Cross-examined._—I cannot enumerate all the articles found; I did not
find any jewelry; I do not know if any one took a list or description of
the articles.
_Re-direct examination._—I now recollect that I found the daguerreotype
produced yesterday (of a young lady) in the breast pocket of this coat,
(a dark frock coat).
HENRY SEAMAN deposed—I reside in Brooklyn; I was acquainted with Capt.
Burr for fourteen or fifteen years; I saw him on the Tuesday before he
left; I know Capt. Burr’s watch; I had it in my hand on the Tuesday; it
was at my house, and he (Capt. Burr) took it away that evening; I
recollect leaving Capt. Burr’s watch to be repaired at some store in the
Bowery, a year ago last April; I did not go after it again; I know it by
its general appearance, and by the guard, and the way the guard is
knotted; I knew the sloop Johnson, and its yawl boat; I saw the yawl
boat at the police station after the sloop had been towed in to the
city; it was on the 22d or 23d of March last; saw the yawl boat on the
sloop the time she was here before the last trip; I do not know the
prisoner; Captain Burr was a man of about five feet seven or five feet
eight inches in height. I found the ship’s papers in the cabin, at the
head of the captain’s birth; I gave them to Captain Weed, of the Second
Ward station; I knew the Watts boys; Oliver was about five feet nine or
ten, and weighed about 180 or 185 pounds; he was the light-haired one;
Smith Watts was taller, and weighed about 175 pounds; I do not know
Smith Watts’ writing.
_Cross-examined._—I had the watch in my hand probably fifteen or twenty
minutes; it was on the Tuesday before the Thursday that he sailed; I
don’t think I said before the Commissioner that it was the Tuesday week
before he sailed; I do not know why I took the watch in my hand; I had
no idea that I should be called on to identify it; I left it at Mr.
Squire’s store to be repaired; I did not go for the watch; I remember
the number of the watch, 21,310; the number was marked down on the boom
of my cart by Captain Burr when he gave it to me at foot of Spring
street; I did not state that fact before; I have since sold the cart;
Captain Burr’s wife and my wife are sisters.
To Mr. DWIGHT—Captain Burr carried the watch for four or five years.
Mr. CONOVER—(recalled and produces the record).—It is as follows:
+---------------------------------------------------+
| MR. BURR |
| D. B. Silver watch, |
| J. Johnson, Liverpool, 21,310. |
| Dld. |
+---------------------------------------------------+
_To prisoner’s counsel._—I can’t say to whom I delivered the watch; my
impression is that I delivered it to the gentleman who left it, but I am
not certain; it was there about a week.
CATHERINE DICKERSON, a girl about seventeen years of age, deposed: I
knew Oliver Watts; I saw him last on the Tuesday of the week he sailed;
I do not know the date; I gave him my daguerreotype.
Mr. GRAVES objected to this testimony.
The COURT said he deemed the evidence was proper and important; it had
been proved that a daguerreotype was found in a coat, and if the
prosecution can prove that that coat belonged to young Watts, and that
this is the daguerreotype this witness gave him, it will go far to
connect the prisoner with the transaction on board that sloop. The Court
thought the evidence not only eminently proper, but very material and
important testimony.
_Witness continued._—When I gave him the daguerreotype he put it in his
coat pocket; I saw that coat since in the District Attorney’s office
(coat produced in which Captain Weed found the daguerreotype); I think
this is his coat and this the pocket he put it in; he then jumped into
the cars (daguerreotype produced); this is the same one I gave him; I
don’t remember any of the other clothes of Oliver but the coat.
_Cross-examined._—The coat was shown me in the District Attorney’s
office; they showed me one coat and asked me if it was Oliver’s, and I
said not; they then showed me the other, and I said it was Oliver’s; I
identify it from the yellow lining in the sleeves, and the cloth being
worn off the button; it was on the sidewalk, right by the cars, I gave
Oliver my daguerreotype.
HARRIET ROBINSON (mother of the last witness)—My former husband’s name
was Dickerson; I knew Oliver Watts for three or four years; he used to
stay at my house when home from sea; he had not all his clothes when at
my house last; he had a pair of pants which he took away with him; he
wore on that Tuesday his best coat; I should suppose this (the coat in
which Captain Weed found the daguerreotype) to be the coat; I know it
from the lining, etc.; he said he gave $16 for it; the other I think was
his every day coat.
_Cross-examined._—Nothing material elicited.
ABBEY HUBBARD deposed—My first husband’s name was Watts; I am the mother
of Smith Watts; the last time I saw him was on the 7th of March; he
started to go with Captain Burr to Virginia (identifies a portion of the
clothes belonging to her son, Smith Watts); I patched this shirt myself;
this bag has the initials of my present husband, Lorenzo Hubbard, on it;
I put my son’s clothes in it that morning myself; I knew the shirts; I
cut them myself, and had them sewed; he was very large, and could not
get shirts to fit him; I cut them in the old fashioned way myself; I
have had no tidings of him since, only that I suppose he was murdered.
(Sensation in court.)
_Cross-examined._—I reside at Islip; I am not any relation of Captain
Burr’s family, but I was acquainted with him for fourteen or fifteen
years.
_Re-direct examination._—Witness exhibited further signs in stitches and
patches, by which she positively identified her son Smith Watts’ shirt;
the pantaloons have a new pocket, which I put in, as he had worn out the
other one; all those things that I have identified my son took away with
him in the bag which has my husband’s initials on it.
The cross-examination was a mere repetition of her direct testimony.
To Mr. DWIGHT—(Handkerchief produced by officer Nivens, shown to
witness)—This was Smith Watts’ handkerchief; I have washed and done it
up for him for two years, and never saw one like it.
Mrs. HUBBARD, who gave her testimony clearly, and maintained her
self-possession on the witness stand, burst into tears, and continued to
weep for some time after she retired from the body of the court.
DIDEME BURR (the widow of Captain Burr, dressed in deep mourning) was
called to the stand and deposed—My husband, Captain George H. Burr, left
home on the 8th of March last; I have never received any tidings of him
since, save in connection with this affair; I think I should know his
watch from the case and its general appearance, and by the guard (watch
handed to Mrs. Burr); this is the same kind of a case; I should say it
is the same watch; he carried it some nine years, as near as I can say;
(ship’s articles produced) I think the filling up in this paper is in my
husband’s handwriting; I saw some of his clothes in the Second Ward
station-house; (Kossuth hat produced) he had a hat like this, which he
wore from home; this was his shirt; he took this from home with him; I
know it by a piece across it, which he put in himself, on board the
sloop; those pantaloons I think were his; the suspenders are precisely
like those he had on when he went away; he had a vest the same cut and
color of this produced; he did not have it home with him the last time;
I could not say positively, but I think it is his; this black
handkerchief was his; I hemmed it myself.
_Cross-examined._—My husband had more than one coat; he often bought
clothes, and brought them on board the sloop; I first identified these
clothes at the station-house.
Mr. DWIGHT said that these were all the witnesses for the prosecution,
with the exception of Captain Nickerson, of the brig which had had the
collision with the sloop E. A. Johnson. He had been telegraphed to
Boston, and as he was a willing witness, they expected him by every
arrival. He sails between Philadelphia and Boston, and it may be
possible that he (Captain Nickerson) had been detained at sea.
The counsel for the defence intimated that their testimony would not
occupy much time, and they would probably close to-morrow. They
preferred, however, that the prosecution should exhaust their case
first.
The Judge said he would allow a reasonable time for the appearance of
Captain Nickerson.
Mr. DWIGHT said that Mrs. Hubbard wished to correct her testimony as to
date.
Mrs. HUBBARD again took the witness stand, and said that she saw her
son, Smith Watts, last on the 13th of March, Tuesday, and not on the
7th; she was confused when she first came up, and made a mistake as to
the date.
The Court then adjourned to ten o’clock on Friday morning.
FOURTH DAY.
CATHERINE DICKERSON, recalled by the prosecution, deposed—I have had
hair from Oliver Watts in my possession; it was in his daguerreotype
which I gave to someone in the station-house; this daguerreotype and
hair now handed to me are the same; I knew this to be Oliver’s hair
because I cut it off myself.
The daguerreotype and hair of Oliver Watts were submitted to the jury to
compare with the hair found in the blood on the deck of the sloop.
Captain WEED recalled by the District Attorney, and deposed—I received
from the last witness (Miss Dickerson) a daguerreotype and some hair,
which I have with me.
_Q._ Will you give it to the person that you received it from?
(The captain here handed the hair and daguerreotype to Miss Dickerson.)
Miss DICKERSON, being further examined, said—That is the daguerreotype
that I spoke of; that is the hair of Oliver Watts which I received from
him.
To the COURT.—I can tell the hair by the color of it; I cut it off
myself; I put it in the daguerreotype; his likeness was taken at the
same time as mine was—on the Tuesday before he sailed; the daguerreotype
that I now hold in my hand is that of Oliver Watts; I think I cut that
lock of hair from his head about six months ago from the present time.
GEORGE WASHBURN, of the second precinct police, stated that he took some
rigging from the J. R. Mather, and fitted it to the broken bowsprit of
the E. A. Johnson; it compared exactly with what was still left on the
bow of the vessel; the schooner Mather was said to have come in
collision with the E. A. Johnson.
Mr. HUNT, Assistant District Attorney, stated that the government had no
further testimony to offer with the exception of that of Captain
Nickerson, which he deemed highly important and material. He thought
that the reading of the testimony of Mr. Nickerson taken before the
Commissioner, would be sufficient, if assented to by the other side.
Mr. GRAVES requested a short adjournment for the purpose of reading the
testimony of Mr. Nickerson, and consulting with his associates as to the
proper course to be pursued.
The COURT said that this was a matter purely for counsel to consider,
and one with which he would not interfere. He would accede to the
request of defendant’s counsel, and adjourn the Court till twelve
o’clock.
The COURT then took a recess. On reassembling,
Mr. GRAVES desired to state that they had not been able to agree with
the counsel for the government as to the evidence of Captain Nickerson.
Mr. HUNT said—My opinion is that the testimony of Captain Nickerson is
material, and of sufficient importance to authorize us in asking the
Court for an adjournment of the case until to-morrow.
Mr. GRAVES would like to know if the Court intended to limit counsel in
their address to the jury.
The COURT said—In a case of this kind I am not disposed to limit you in
your rights to your client, or the government in their right toward the
prosecution.
The JUDGE, in addressing the District Attorney, said—Mr. Hunt, it must
be a very strong case, indeed, that will induce the Court to grant any
further delay for this witness. I will adjourn till to-morrow morning at
ten o’clock, and the case must then proceed, unless some imperative
reason is shown to the Court why it should not.
After the usual caution to the jury, the Court adjourned.
FIFTH DAY.
At the meeting of the court this morning, some delay was occasioned by
the absence of the leading counsel for the prisoner.
Mr. SAYLES, junior counsel for the prisoner, said—May it please the
Court, my associate, Mr. Graves, is not present. I have learned that he
went to Twenty-seventh street to see his uncle last night, and I have
not seen him since. I would therefore ask a short delay.
The COURT.—There may have been some accident; you had better send and
inquire. The Court will wait a few minutes.