aversion to this mode of execution was caused by an
incident which happened at belleville illinois,
years ago—through the trap with
a murderer.
in my younger days i was a firm believer in hanging as a means of capital punishment, but i do not hold the same views now, and have not for a long time. as my friends have often asked me what caused me to change my mind on this matter, i am now going to take them into my confidence, and tell them all about it.
several years ago i had some important business to transact with sheriff ropiequet of st. clair county, illinois. i went to his office in the court house at belleville. the deputy in charge informed me that the sheriff was over in the jail yard putting the finishing touches to arrangements for hanging a negro named johnson, who had been convicted of killing his wife in a most brutal manner. the deputy further informed me that if my business was important, i had better go to the jail at once, as the sheriff would probably be too busy later to see me until after dinner. acting on this tip, i at once went to the jail and was admitted. the sheriff told me he was too busy at the time to attend to the business, and would be until after the hanging, and invited me to witness the execution, which was to take place in a few moments. i cared nothing about this, as the witnessing of executions had long since ceased to be a novelty to me, but under the circumstances, i accepted the invitation.
the scaffold had been erected in the yard surrounding the jail. the platform, which was about eight feet square, rested on four upright posts, about six and a half feet from[pg 331] the ground. the trap door, which was about three feet square, was located in the center of the platform, and fastened to one end by two hinges, opening downward. the other end was fastened on the underside by a bolt, or trigger, the pulling of which would allow the body to drop down through the platform. on the center of the trap door was a soap box, on which the culprit was to stand while awaiting the arranging of the noose, one end of which ran around a pulley fastened to a cross-beam above the platform, so that the rope could be adjusted to the proper length. a stairway, about three feet wide, had been built from the ground to the platform.
within a few minutes, the sheriff and condemned man, accompanied by a priest and a deputy sheriff, appeared at the door leading from the jail to the yard in which the execution was to take place. as they marched toward the scaffold the sheriff commanded me to join the procession, which i did, following the party up the stairway to the platform. the condemned man appeared cool and walked with a firm step. i took a position to the right of him, while the sheriff stood at his left. the priest and deputy stood just back of us. after the man who was about to be hanged had taken his position on the box on the trap, he was asked if he had anything to say, as is usual on such occasions. the negro made a complete confession of his guilt, but claimed that the drinking of bad whiskey was the real cause of his committing the crime, and admonished all within the hearing of his voice to beware of strong drink. at the conclusion of his talk, the deputy bound his legs and tied his hands behind him, while the sheriff adjusted the black cap. the negro had an exceedingly long head and neck, and as a result the cap did not cover all of his neck, there being a space of an inch or[pg 332] two between the bottom of the cap and the top of his coat collar. just as the sheriff placed the noose around the condemned man's neck, but before the officers had time to tighten the rope, it came in contact with the bare place on the negro's neck, and he fainted. the sheriff grabbed one arm and i the other to keep the fainting man from falling from the platform. in doing this we both stepped on the trap. the deputy became rattled and pulled the trigger at this moment, and all three of us started down through the trap together. now the sheriff was a very large man, and i was no infant myself, so when all three of our bodies reached the level of the platform we became wedged in the opening. the noose had become taut, just enough to strangle the negro a little, and he commenced to kick and squirm. finally his body squeezed on down, relieving the pressure on the sheriff and me, and we both, too, fell through to the ground. we were not harmed and were soon on our feet. because of the fact that the rope had not been adjusted to the proper length, the negro's toes touched the ground, thus preventing the breaking of his neck. he strangled to death, however, in a few minutes. since this incident i have been opposed to hanging as a means of capital punishment.
