On the 17th, we put a chain about his neck, and stapled it to the floor in such a manner that he could not reach either of the staples. In this situation he remained secure and rather more quiet, yet with occasional shouting and screaming until the 15th of January. The weather having now become very cold, and no fire allowed him, fears were entertained that he might freeze; to prevent which it became necessary to remove his irons, which with the exception of his fetters and handcuffs, were accordingly taken off. For this relief Smith showed no sign of thankfulness, but became more noisy and troublesome, especially in the night, disturbing all within the reach of his voice, with screeching and howling, and all manner of hideous noises, entirely unlike the human voice, and tremendously loud, even beyond conception. In this manner he continued for five months, occasionally committing violence upon himself and breaking his chains, during which period he could never be surprised into the utterance of one single word or articulate sound, and took no notice of any person or thing, or of what was said to him, no more than if he had been a dumb, senseless animal; yet performing many curious and astonishing actions as will be related hereafter.
In the New Testament, which he always kept by him, a leaf was observed to be turned down, under which, upon examination, was found the following Scripture, in the 3rd Chapter of 1st Corinthians, “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you,” &c.
The weather having been intensely cold throughout the month of January, and he having no fire, great fears were entertained that he must perish from cold, but astonishing to relate his hands and feet were always found to be warm, and even his chains! In February, when the weather began to moderate a little, he became more troublesome; began to tear off the lime wall and lathing, from the partition and break everything he could reach. A strong iron-hooped bucket that contained his drink he broke all to pieces; the hoops he broke up into pieces not exceeding three inches long, and would throw the pieces with such dexterity, though handcuffed, as to put out the candle when the gaoler would bring the light to the wicket door to examine what he was doing.
As the weather moderated he became more noisy and vicious, as will appear by the following letter which I received from the gaoler on February 10th:
“Dear Sir,—There must be something done with Smith—he is determined to let me know what he is if no one else does—he sleeps in the day time, and when I go to tell him to keep still at night, he yells so as not to hear what I say to him. Instead of thanks for taking off his irons, he makes all the noises he can by yelling and screaming all night, and knocking very loud all night with some part of his irons. I wish you would come up early and advise what is best to be done.
W. Dibble.”
I came to the gaol accordingly, and found his irons uninjured, and to prevent him from using his hands so freely, locked a chain from his fetters to his handcuffs, and left him.
On Sunday, two gentlemen from Nova Scotia, at the request of Smith’s wife, came to make enquiry after him. I went with them to the gaol to see if he would speak or take any notice of them, or of what they would say to him from his wife. They told him that his wife wished to know if he would have her come to see him, and what she would do with the colt he left; that she would sell it for two hundred dollars, and have the money sent to him. But all they said had no effect on him, any more than if he had been a lifeless statue, which convinced us that he would go to the gallows without speaking a word or changing his countenance.
The next week he became more restless and vicious, and on Sunday, on going to the gaol with Mr. Rulofson, from Hampton, and Mr. Griffith, from Woodstock, found he had broken up part of his berth, and broken his chain from the handcuffs, leaving one link to the staple, the parted links concealed; tore up part of his bedding and stopped the funnel of the necessary. It appeared also that he had been at the grates; but how he got there was a mystery, for the chain by which his legs were bound, was unbroken, and the staple fast in the timber. We then raised the staple and again put on the chain to his handcuffs, fastening the staple in another place, more out of his reach.
The next day I found he had again broken the chain from his handcuffs and torn a large portion of lathing and plastering from the middle wall. Finding this, I determined to confine him more closely than ever, and so put a chain from his feet round his neck, stapled to the floor, securing the handcuffs to the middle of the chain. He had already given such mysterious and astonishing proofs of his strength and invention, that I feared he would finally baffle all my ingenuity to prevent his escape. The twisting of the iron collar from his neck and drawing the staple from the timber, was a feat that filled every one with wonder. The collar was made of a flat bar of iron, an inch and a half wide, with the edges rounded. This he twisted as if it were a piece of leather, and broke it into two parts, which no man of common strength could have done with one end of the bar fastened in a smith’s vise. The broken collar was kept a long time and shown to many a wonderer. As might be expected, his wrists were frequently much swelled and very sore from his exertion to break and get loose from his irons; yet he appeared as insensible and as regardless of his situation as if he had in reality been a furious maniac.