AN ARGUMENT ON THE TRIAL OF JOHN FRANCIS KNAPP, FOR THE MURDER OF JOSEPH
WHITE, OF SALEM, IN ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS, ON THE NIGHT OF THE 6TH
OF APRIL, 1830.
[The following argument was addressed to the jury at a trial for a
remarkable murder. A more extraordinary case never occurred in this
country, nor is it equalled in strange interest by any trial in the
French _Causes Célèbres_ or the English _State Trials_. Deep sensation
and intense curiosity were excited through the whole country, at the
time of the occurrence of the event, not only by the atrocity of the
crime, but by the position of the victim, and the romantic incidents in
the detection and fate of the assassin and his accomplices.
The following outline of the facts will assist the reader to understand
the bearings of the argument.
Joseph White, Esq. was found murdered in his bed, in his mansion-house,
on the morning of the 7th of April, 1830. He was a wealthy merchant of
Salem, eighty-two years of age, and had for many years given up active
business. His servant-man rose that morning at six o'clock, and on going
down into the kitchen, and opening the shutters of the window, saw that
the back window of the east parlor was open, and that a plank was raised
to the window from the back yard; he then went into the parlor, but saw
no trace of any person having been there. He went to the apartment of
the maid-servant, and told her, and then into Mr. White's chamber by its
back door, and saw that the door of his chamber, leading into the front
entry, was open. On approaching the bed, he found the bed-clothes turned
down, and Mr. White dead, his countenance pallid, and his night-clothes
and bed drenched in blood. He hastened to the neighboring houses to make
known the event. He and the maid-servant were the only persons who slept
in the house that night, except Mr. White himself, whose niece, Mrs.
Beckford, his house-keeper, was then absent on a visit to her daughter,
at Wenham.
The physicians and the coroner's jury, who were called to examine the
body, found on it thirteen deep stabs, made as if by a sharp dirk or
poniard, and the appearance of a heavy blow on the left temple, which
had fractured the skull, but not broken the skin. The body was cold, and
appeared to have been lifeless many hours.
On examining the apartments of the house, it did not appear that any
valuable articles had been taken, or the house ransacked for them; there
was a _rouleau_ of doubloons in an iron chest in his chamber, and costly
plate in other apartments, none of which was missing.
The perpetration of such an atrocious crime, in the most populous and
central part of the town and in the most compactly built street, and
under circumstances indicating the utmost coolness, deliberation, and
audacity, deeply agitated and aroused the whole community; ingenuity was
baffled in attempting even to conjecture a _motive_ for the deed; and
all the citizens were led to fear that the same fate might await them in
the defenceless and helpless hours of slumber. For several days, persons
passing through the streets might hear the continual sound of the
hammer, while carpenters and smiths were fixing bolts to doors and
fastenings to windows. Many, for defence, furnished themselves with
cutlasses, fire-arms, and watch-dogs. Large rewards for the detection of
the author or authors of the murder were offered by the heirs of the
deceased, by the selectmen of the town, and by the Governor of the
State. The citizens held a public meeting, and appointed a Committee of
Vigilance, of twenty-seven members, to make all possible exertions to
ferret out the offenders.
While the public mind was thus excited and anxious, it was announced
that a bold attempt at highway robbery was made in Wenham, by three
footpads, on Joseph J. Knapp, Jr. and John Francis Knapp, on the evening
of the 27th of April, while they were returning in a chaise from Salem
to their residence in Wenham. They appeared before the investigating
committee, and testified that, after nine o'clock, near the Wenham Pond,
they discovered three men approaching. One came near, seized the bridle,
and stopped the horse, while the other two came, one on each side, and
seized a trunk in the bottom of the chaise. Frank Knapp drew a sword
from his cane and made a thrust at one, and Joseph with the but-end of
his whip gave the other a heavy blow across the face. This bold
resistance made them fall back. Joseph sprung from the chaise to assail
the robbers. One of them then gave a shrill whistle, when they fled,
and, leaping over the wall, were soon lost in the darkness. One had a
weapon like an ivory dirk-handle, was clad in a sailor's short jacket,
cap, and had whiskers; another wore a long coat, with bright buttons;
all three were good-sized men. Frank, too, sprung from the chaise, and
pursued with vigor, but all in vain.
The account of this unusual and bold attempt at robbery, thus given by
the Knapps was immediately published in the Salem newspapers, with the
editorial remark, that "these gentlemen are well known in this town, and
their respectability and veracity are not questioned by any of our
citizens."
Not the slightest clew to the murder could be found for several weeks,
and the mystery seemed to be impenetrable. At length a rumor reached the
ear of the committee that a prisoner in the jail at New Bedford, seventy
miles from Salem, confined there on a charge of shoplifting, had
intimated that he could make important disclosures. A confidential
messenger was immediately sent, to ascertain what he knew on the
subject. The prisoner's name was Hatch; he had been committed before the
murder. He stated that, some months before the murder, while he was at
large, he had associated in Salem with Richard Crowninshield, Jr., of
Danvers, and had often heard Crowninshield express his intention to
destroy the life of Mr. White. Crowninshield was a young man, of bad
reputation; though he had never been convicted of any offence, he was
strongly suspected of several heinous robberies. He was of dark and
reserved deportment, temperate and wicked, daring and wary, subtle and
obdurate, of great adroitness, boldness, and self-command. He had for
several years frequented the haunts of vice in Salem; and though he was
often spoken of as a dangerous man, his person was known to few, for he
never walked the streets by daylight. Among his few associates he was a
leader and a despot.
The disclosures of Hatch received credit. When the Supreme Court met at
Ipswich, the Attorney-General, Morton, moved for a writ of _habeas
corpus ad testif._, and Hatch was carried in chains from New Bedford
before the grand jury, and on his testimony an indictment was found
against Crowninshield. Other witnesses testified that, on the night of
the murder, his brother, George Crowninshield, Colonel Benjamin Selman,
of Marblehead, and Daniel Chase, of Lynn, were together in Salem, at a
gambling-house usually frequented by Richard; these were indicted as
accomplices in the crime. They were all arrested on the 2d of May,
arraigned on the indictment, and committed to prison to await the
sitting of a court that should have jurisdiction of the offence.
The Committee of Vigilance, however, continued to hold frequent meetings
in order to discover further proof, for it was doubted by many whether
the evidence already obtained would be sufficient to convict the
accused.
A fortnight afterwards, on the 15th of May, Captain Joseph J. Knapp, a
shipmaster and merchant, a man of good character, received by mail the
following letter:--