Post by CCADP on Aug 27, 2005 20:26:51 GMT -5
200 years of Richmond history
Nathaniel Bates of Hagerstown was the 1st and last person to pay the
supreme penalty in Richmond. "It is what I deserved," he said shortly
before being hung 119 years ago today.
The 26-year-old Bates went into a vacant blacksmith's shop and sharpened
the hoe and his pocketknife. He returned home to Hagerstown, where his
wife was preparing to go out. They quarreled and hot words led to
violence.
She struck him with an axe handle. He wrestled it away and cut her throat
with his pocketknife, then notified town Marshal Thomas Murray.
In his confession he declared he had intended to take his own life after
murdering his wife but lacked the nerve. His trial began on May 6 and
lasted 2 1/2 days. Throughout the proceedings, Bates displayed unshaken
nerve.
The judge declared, "it be therefore adjudged that the defendant, on the
26th day of August, 1886, at 12 o'clock noon, be taken by the sheriff to
the scaffold and hanged by the neck until he is dead."
His last breakfast was steak and eggs, which he was hardly able to eat. At
noon, he was led to the old Richmond jail yard. The death warrant was
read. Prayers were said. His arms were tied behind. A hood was lowered
over his head, and his last sight was the crowd.
The trap was sprung, and the scaffolding of his life was yanked.
The execution of Nathaniel Bates was the first and last to be carried out
in Richmond. Two prior executions had taken place in the county, and the
community, sharply divided about capital punishment, soon abolished
hanging. In fact, there were few hangings in Indiana after that summer day
here 119 years ago today. The axe handle involved in Bates' "crime of
passion" is at the Wayne County Historical Museum.
(source: Palladium-Item)
Nathaniel Bates of Hagerstown was the 1st and last person to pay the
supreme penalty in Richmond. "It is what I deserved," he said shortly
before being hung 119 years ago today.
The 26-year-old Bates went into a vacant blacksmith's shop and sharpened
the hoe and his pocketknife. He returned home to Hagerstown, where his
wife was preparing to go out. They quarreled and hot words led to
violence.
She struck him with an axe handle. He wrestled it away and cut her throat
with his pocketknife, then notified town Marshal Thomas Murray.
In his confession he declared he had intended to take his own life after
murdering his wife but lacked the nerve. His trial began on May 6 and
lasted 2 1/2 days. Throughout the proceedings, Bates displayed unshaken
nerve.
The judge declared, "it be therefore adjudged that the defendant, on the
26th day of August, 1886, at 12 o'clock noon, be taken by the sheriff to
the scaffold and hanged by the neck until he is dead."
His last breakfast was steak and eggs, which he was hardly able to eat. At
noon, he was led to the old Richmond jail yard. The death warrant was
read. Prayers were said. His arms were tied behind. A hood was lowered
over his head, and his last sight was the crowd.
The trap was sprung, and the scaffolding of his life was yanked.
The execution of Nathaniel Bates was the first and last to be carried out
in Richmond. Two prior executions had taken place in the county, and the
community, sharply divided about capital punishment, soon abolished
hanging. In fact, there were few hangings in Indiana after that summer day
here 119 years ago today. The axe handle involved in Bates' "crime of
passion" is at the Wayne County Historical Museum.
(source: Palladium-Item)