Behind the prison bars

by E. E. Byrum

MEN EXECUTED FOR MURDER.

The West Virginia Legislature passed an act February, 1899, viz.: “The sentence of death shall in every case be executed by hanging within the walls of the penitentiary and not elsewhere. The officers of the court imposing sentence may be present, and twelve respectable citizens, a physician and surgeon, and such representatives of the press as the warden may desire; and the condemned may by request have his counsel, ministers of the gospel, and such relatives as the warden may deem prudent.”

Serial No. 3745—Colored, of middle age, who had served a term in the penitentiary for stealing, was brought to the prison in 1899, from McDowell County, to suffer the penalty of death Oct. 10, 1899, for the unprovoked murder of a “scarlet” negro woman. Upon his entrance into the prison he asked for and was given a Bible, which he constantly read during the time he awaited to be executed by mandate of the law. Ministers of his race paid him frequent visits, anxious to aid him in spiritual and temporal affairs. He professed sincere religious belief and that upon confession of faith he would be saved, yet he did not seem to accept with good grace the assistance offered him by the negroes.

During his former imprisonment while he was employed to clean and scrub the guard-room and the main-building hallways, he frequently met the chaplain; so he made request to the warden that he be sent for to pay him a visit. The chaplain responded at once and devoted much of his time to giving religious consolation and words of good cheer. He, however, constantly maintained that he was innocent of the crime charged; that the negro with him at the time of the shooting was responsible for the woman’s death, by means of a shot-gun. He doubtless was possessed of a scheming mind, and hoped that he might by some means escape the penalty for his crime. Many negro prisoners as well as white ones deeply sympathized with him, for he was considered a “good fellow” when they knew him in prison as one of their number.

A collection amounting to $50.00 was taken up from among the prisoners to pay a lawyer to procure a copy of the record of his trial to enable him to file an appeal to the Supreme Court for a new trial. The lawyer received and acknowledged the receipt of the money, making in return therefor full and profuse promises what he would do to save his life. He took and spent it for liquor, became drunk on the money, and did not turn a hand to save the life of his confiding client. The unfortunate man, hearing of the reprehensible conduct of his attorney, and the time near at hand for his execution, grew despondent and weak mentally and physically. He was baptized, professed repentance, confessed he murdered his mistress, and the night of his execution between the hours of 12 a. m. and 1 p. m. it was found necessary to administer powerful stimulants to brace him up for the trying ordeal. With zeal and courage his spiritual advisor prayed, counseled, and assisted him to the scaffold. His neck was broken by the fall and his death was painless.

Serial No. 3746—A splendid specimen of the young mulatto, possessed of a fair education for one with the limited opportunities within his reach, by occupation a coal miner. He was received into the prison from McDowell County under sentence of death for the willful murder of a sixteen-year-old negro boy, while he was in an intoxicated condition; also to be executed Oct. 10, 1899. He asked for and was given a Bible. He was a musician, playing the guitar with skill, and possessed of a fine tenor voice he was fond of singing hymns, which he did with pathos, rhyme, and music, to the delight of his hearers.

He stoutly maintained that his victim was not intentionally but accidentally shot by him; that he accidentally fired his pistol into the dwelling wherein the boy was domiciled out of his sight. Upon learning that the boy was wounded, perhaps fatally, he procured a doctor to whom he paid $50.00, all the money he had saved from his earnings, to save his life. The boy proved to be wounded beyond the hope of recovery and soon died. The chaplain also ministered to the spiritual welfare of the prisoner and became much impressed with the young man’s apparent religious sincerity and his plausible story of innocence of murder. So much was he interested in him that he made personal and strenuous efforts to save his life. The Governor was appealed to, the Attorney General was called upon for assistance to procure a copy of his trial record, and statements made by him were investigated, and the whole matter submitted to the pardon board for their consideration. After an exhaustive and painstaking consideration of the facts submitted to them the pardon board concluded that he lied and was in fact guilty, and should suffer the penalty for his crime. The Governor, after the conclusion of the pardon board was made known to him, paid the prison a visit. He called upon the doomed man in the death-cell, and the latter made to the Governor a most eloquent and pathetic plea to save his life. With tears streaming down his cheeks, the Governor kindly said, “Would to God I could do so, my boy, but the facts as presented to me are undeniable as to your absolute guilt.”

Now knowing that all hope for escape from the gallows was gone and that he must die, he read his Bible, sang gospel hymns, and played his guitar. He confessed that he was in fact guilty of the crime and was now content to suffer death, as he believed he had made his peace with God. He was baptized, and his demeanor to the scaffold from his cell was admirable and brave. He firmly ascended the stairway leading to the death-trap, stood over it without a tremor while his hands and legs were strapped and the rope adjusted about his neck. When asked by the warden if he had anything to say, he replied in a manly and firm voice, “I have made my peace with God. I am guilty. The causes of my downfall were whiskey and women. Jesus will take me and I am ready and willing to die.”

Serial No. 3772—Colored, was received at the prison in 1900, from Fayette County, to be executed for the willful murder of a prominent negro saloon-keeper who refused to furnish him more liquor when he was already drunk. He asked for a Bible, and when it was given to him he seemed to be pleased, and constantly read it. His attorney, however, was skilled in criminal law, and was an indefatigable worker. The prisoner, an intelligent colored man, peaceable and quiet when sober, believed that he would not have to suffer the penalty for his crime. Strenuous efforts were made by his attorney to save his life. The Governor and the board of pardon were respectively appealed to, but the guilt of the man was so conclusive, and the murder so unprovoked, that at all points his appeal for clemency was refused. He bravely and uncomplainingly paid the penalty decreed by the law and professed his belief in the saving power of Jesus.