Public Executions in Richmond, Virginia

by Ward, Harry M.

• ISBN13: 9780786470839
• ISBN10: 0786470836
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-07-31
• Publisher: McFarland Publishing

Summary

Virginia's capital city knew poverty, injustice, slavery, vagrancy, substandard working conditions, street crimes, brutality, unsanitary conditions, and pandemics. One of the biggest stains in the city's past was the spectacle of public executions, attended by throngs. Thousands, including the old and the very young, reveled in a carnival-like atmosphere. This book narrates the history of the executions--hangings, and during the Civil War also firing squads--that formed a large part of Richmond's entertainment picture. Revulsion slowly mounted until the introduction of the electric chair. The history has a cast of unusual characters--the condemned, the crime victims, family members, the executioners, and not least an 182 pound "gallows" dog.

Author Biography

Harry M. Ward, the William Binford Vest Professor of History emeritus at the University of Richmond, is the author of 18 books, including college-level textbooks on Colonial America and the American Revolution and military biographies.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. v
Preface	p. 1
"Usual Place of Execution"	p. 7
"A Flood of Tears" 1782-1799	p. 14
"Liberty of My Countrymen" 1800-1802	p. 21
"Between the Heavens and the Earth" 1801-1826	p. 29
"Sleep in Alien Dust" 1827	p. 33
"Hideous Curiosity" 1828-1851	p. 41
"In Cold Blood" 1852	p. 49
"The Mob Is Coming" 1853-1860	p. 57
"To Be Shot to Death by Musketry" 1861-1865	p. 67
"Farewell, Brave Spirit" 1861-1865	p. 79
"Certainly Horrible to Look At" 1861-1865	p. 90
"The Last Carnival of Death" 1865-1869	p. 102
"You re Gwyne to Hell" 1870-1882	p. 110
"Wait, I'm Not Done Yet" 1883	p. 122
"Cluverius's Day" 1884-1887	p. 131
"Good-Bye, Boys" 1888-1899	p. 141
"You Knowed I Won't Crazy" 1900-1907	p. 150
Epilogue	p. 157
Appendices:	p. 169
Profile of an Executioner-John Caphart	p. 169
The Last Days of Spencer Kellogg Brown in His Own Words, September 1865	p. 171
"Sleepless Sentinel at Castle Thunder"	p. 173
Sentencing of James Jeter Phillips by Judge George L. Christian of the Henrico Circuit Court, July 10, 1868	p. 176
The Prosecutor, Colonel W.R. Aylett, States the Case Against Thomas J. Cluverius, 1885	p. 178
"An act to establish a permanent place in the State penitentiary …[and] to change the mode of execution …[to] electricity," March 16, 1908	p. 189
Richmond Executions	p. 191
Chapter Notes	p. 195
Bibliography	p. 207
Index	p. 215
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