History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

" But the execution took place in Danbury on that day. We liavc the evidence of an cye-witncs.s, and the .sermon jircached on the occasion. "At ten o'clock of that morning, November 8th, Anthony was removed from the jail and taken to the Congregational church, late the concert-hall building. The church was crowded to overflowing with specta- tors, as, despite the tragic character of the event, the town iussumcd a holiday ajipearancc. Anthony was placed at the front, under the pulpit, during the preaching of the sermon. Rev. Timothy Langdon was the pastor, and delivered the discourse. " Upon the close of this he personally addressed the prisoner. He said, — " ' Anthony, it is by your request that I speak on this occlusion, and this is the last addrcs.s which I shall ever make to you. From the sentence pronounced upon you by the court, and from the preparations with which you are surrounded, you must sec that you liavc but a very, very short time to live. Your situation is truly deplorable. Whatever your crimes may have been against (Jod and human society, yet, seeing your present comlition, I pity you as a man, I pray for you as a Christian, and am now to address you as a minister of the gospel. I must therefore be faithful, and use great plainness of speech.' "Then followed a description of the enormity of his sin, committed in the light of knowledge, and after that an earnest exhortation to tlic sinner to re- pent, to look to Cliristfto die ' in a Christian temper.' We judge from these worils that Anthony was in an impenitent frame of mind, and that he was doggedly meeting his wretched fate. " On the close of the sermon the civil authorities carried the pristmer to the place set apart for his ex- ecution. This was at the head of Elm Street, near the pond. The gallows was erected on land belong- ing to Samuel Dibble, and from the fact of this ex- ecution the place took the name of 'Gallows Hill.' There was a great crowd present, of course, as it was a public execution, and the first ever had here. People from quite a distance were in attendance, and nearly all tlie town-folks were present. Sheritf Di- mon, of Fairfield, was the county sheriff and he offi- ciated. " The gallows consisted of two uprights set in the earth, some seven inches square, hewn from our native forests, with a cros-s-timber on the top, and a jdatform hinged to one of the uprights at a height to make about six feet fall. Suitable steps were provided to pass on to the platform from the ground. Ropes at- tached to the platform passed over the cross-piece and were secured at the foot of one of the posts. Benjamin Grifl'en, the father of the late E. G. Griffen, seemed to have charge of this department. "The prisoner was a.sked if he wished to say any- thing, and shook his head. The usual order from the Governor of the State (required in every case where life is taken), called the death-warrant, was then read. An appropriate prayer was offered by a clergy- man of the Methodist Church from the vicinity where the crime was committed, he having been Adams' spiritual adviser. He was a good out-door speaker, and was plainly heard, il was said, on the post-office steps on Main Street, near De Klyn's bakery. " Every condition and requirement of the law having been complied with, the prisoner was a.ssisted up the steps and on to the i)liitibrm by the deputies. His eyes were covered with his cap, and the rope, previously prepared for the prisoner and worn through the day on his neck, was connected with another sus- pended from the cross-piece. "The next was a thrilling scene. The hangman had placed a ])rop under the platform to steady it. It appeared to be a fence rail, or about titat si/e, and his duty now was to remove it. He found some ditlieiilty in doing so, and when he did the victim shuddered and gave a shnig which was felt and involuntarily repeated by a large part of the spectators, even on the other side of tlie river, on the west. At this instant the voice of the sherifl"was heard, 'Deputies, do your duty I' whereui)on their swords were seen waving over their heads, the ropes were severed, the drop fell, and the victim, suspended iu mid-air, died w^ithout any apparent struggle. "Soon the liangman climbed the upright, and, sit- ting on the plate, so adjusted the ropes that the body was gently lowered into his coffin and buried on tlic ground near by, a grave being previously jirepared. It was only about eighteen inches deep. The next DANBURY. 247 morninfc it was found to have been o|n'iu'(l, and the body was gone, leaving the box in the ground. A fresh wagon-track on the road was traced out through White Street towards New Haven. It was said our authorities were privy to this arrangement." TRIAL AND EXECUTIOX OF AJIOS ADAMS.» An executiim of anotlier negro for tlie same crime as that for wliich Anthony was executed, took phice in Danbury on the 13tli day of November, 1817. These two are the only judicial executions that have ever taken place within the limits of Fairfield County, with the exception of that of Hoyt, hanged in Bridge- port in the summer of 1880. There have been three military executions in the county, — two at Redding and one at Newtown. At a court holden at Danbury within and for the county of Fairfield, on the third Tuesday of Septem- ber, 1817, before Chief Justice Hon. Ze])heniah Swift, and Associate Justices Hon. Calvin Goddard and Hon. James Gould, came on trial Amos Adams, a black man, charged with having comnutted a rape on the body of Leiea Thorp, of Weston, in said county. On Wednesday, the second day of the term, the grand jury, consisting of the following persons, was summoned by the sheriff pursuant to an order of court, and the oath administered in the usual form : Thomas Tucker, Foreman, Eliakira Benedict, Paissel White, Elijah Gregory, Samuel H. Philliiis, Sanuiel Tweedy, Jr., Moss White, Ezra Wildman, Elias Starr, Darius Starr, Elijah Sanford, David Foote, Comfort Hoyt, Andrew Beers, John Rider, Abel B. Blaekman, Horace Bull, Amos Hoyt. His Honor the Chief Justice then charged the jury in a somewhat lengthy address, in which he portrayed in forcible language "the dreadful effects of this detestable crime," and closed with the usual instructions to the grand jury as to the manner in which their proceedings were to be conducted. The grand jury retired, and after a short absence brought into court a bill of indictment. On Thursday, the 18th day of Sejitemlier, the pris- oner was arraigned, and to this indictment plead " Not guilty." He was then infin-med by the court that if he desired counsel he could have any gentleman of the bar assigned for that purpose. He answered tliat he wished to have Moses Hatch, Esq. Mr. Hatch then observed to the court that the prisoner was ready I for his trial, and requested that Asa Chai)man, Esq., I be a,ssociated with him. The court immediately as- signed him. The attorney for the State requested that R. M. Sherman, Esq., might be appointed to as- sist him on the part of the State, whicli was accord- ingly done. Two of the panel were challenged by the prisoner, when the following jurors were sworn: Seth Sher- wood, Foreman, Billy Comstock, Samuel Stebbins, Clark Gregory, Abel Smith, Noah T. Ferry, Ebenezer Nearing, David Osborne, Thaddeus Abbott, Sher- wood Fanton, Isaac Wilson, Robert Piatt. Samuel B. Sherwood, Estj., attorney for the State, then proceeded to tlie examination of the witnesses in behalf of the State. The trial was short. Tliere being but little defense for his* counsel to ofter, they confined themselves to asking a few questions of the witnesses, and the case was submitted to the jury without argument. The jury retired, and after a few minutes brought in a verdict of " Guilty." On Thursday, the 25111 of September, tlic prisoner was brought intf> court and sentenced to l)e lianged on the 1.3th day of Novendier. On the day appointed lor his execution he was ' lirought from the jail, guarded by the military, and taken to the Congregational church (afterwards Ccm- cert Hall), where a sermon was preached for the ' occasion, by Rev. Mr. Andrews, from the text, " One ■ sinner destroyeth much good." After the services at the church were concluded he was again placed in charge of the military and conducted to the gallows, which had I)cen erected at the junction of what arc now called Elm and Beaver Streets, on the slight ele- vation of ground on the west side of the hist-namcd street. After the re(|uirements of the law had been fulfilled the body was buried in a shallow grave at the foot of the gallows. The morning after the execution it was noticed that the grave had been disturbed, and inves- tigation showed that the l)ody had been dragged out of the coffin and taken away. But little eflbrt wa.s made to discover the resurrectionists, and the excite- ment soon abated. It is said that the skeleton is now in the medical college at New Haven. A fe\v years since, as workmen were digging for the cellars of tenement-houses on this ground, small jiortionsof the coffin were found. In this connection it may be proper to state that, several years after, another negro was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hanged for the same offense in Danbury, but by an act of the Legislature changing the law he escaped execution. • Contiibuted by A. B. Hull. CHAPTER XXIV. DANBURV (Continued). CIVIL AND MILITARY. Representatives fmni ir.!l7 to ISSO — Danbury in the Rebellion— Tlie S»il- 'liers' Monnment — Military Recm-il, REPRESENTATIVES FROM 1607 TO ISSO. 1097-1701, Thonina Taylor; 1702, Ensign Th.imas Taylor, Sergt. Josiah Starre ; 1703, Josiah Starr, John Cornell ; 17()4-G, Sergt. .lusiab Starr ; 170C-7, Ensign Thomas Taylor, Josiah Starr; 170«, Josiah Starr, James Boebee; 170), James Becbee, Wakefiebl Dibble i 1710, James Beebee, Josiali Starr; 1711, Francis Barnum, Joj-iah Starr, ('apt. James Beebee ; 1712, Josi;ih Starr, .\brabaui Wileman, James Bene- 248 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.