1805-06-14 Criminal action: Claus (murder of Joe)

Title

1805-06-14 Criminal action: Claus (murder of Joe)

Identifier

NJS-EVE-01124

Source

Conviction of Claus for the murder of Joe by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in Hackensack, Bergen County

Murders (report of a conviction of Claus for the murder of Joe in Bergen County and a suspected case of poisoning in Newark)

Execution of Claus (report from the Hackensack Register)

Conviction of Claus for the murder of Joe by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in Hackensack, Bergen County, Centinel of Freedom, July 2, 1805, p. 3.

Murders (report of a conviction of Claus for the murder of Joe in Bergen County and a suspected case of poisoning in Newark), "TRENTON, July 15. MURDERS.," Trenton Federalist, July 15, 1805.

Execution of Claus (report from the Hackensack Register), "Execution of Claus," True American, July 15, 1805, p. 2.

Event Description

A Black man named Claus was tried and convicted of murder. The trial took place at the Court of Oyer and Terminer, which met at the Bergen County courthouse in Hackensack, with Judge Pennington presiding. The murder victim was a Black man named Joe, who was enslaved by Mr. Van Orden of Preakness, Bergen County (in present-day Passaic County). According to the news reports that came out after Claus was convicted of murdering Joe, the cause of their conflict was Claus's jealousy and his suspicion that Joe had a love affair with Claus's wife. Claus never admitted to killing Joe and maintained that he was innocent. At the conclusion of the trial, around June 14, 1805, the jury deliberated for two hours and found Claus guilty. Claus was sentenced to death and was executed two weeks later on June 28, 1805, in Hackensack.

The following is a partial transcript of the article "Execution of Claus," True American, July 15, 1805:

"On Friday the 28th of June last was executed at Hackensack, in New-Jersey, agreeably to the sentence of the Court, a negro man named Claus, for the murder of a black man named Joe, the property of a Mr. Vanorden, at Prakeness, in the county of Bergen. On this melancholy occasion there was a larger assemblage of persons of various descriptions collected together than have been witnessed for many years in this place. Throughout his whole life the culprit has sustained a character notoriously bad, a prominent trait was that of a cruel and vindictive spirit. The supposed cause of the murder was jealousy, proceeding from a suspicion of an amorous connection between the murdered and his (Claus's) wife—As there was no positive proof offered, he was convicted on the strongest presumptive evidence. There is reason to believe he has had an accomplice in perpetrating the horrid deed. He was unwilling to make any discovery, and persisted in denial of the charge. With insolent audacity he ascended the scaffold, betrayed no fear or dismay, and breathed his last without a struggle or a groan."

Event Type

Legal: Criminal action

Date

14 June 1805

Date Certainty

Inferred

Location of Event

Bergen County courthouse and gaol (jail), Hackensack

Related Place

Preakness, Wayne

Preceding Event

1805-06 Death: Joe (allegedly murdered by Claus)

Following Event

1805-06-28 Death: Claus

Primary Participant

Joe (d. 1805)

Claus (d. 1805)

Additional Participant

Judge Pennington

Participant Details

DETAILS FOR PRIMARY PARTICIPANTS:

*** Joe (d. 1805) ***
Role: Victim of Violence
Age category: Adult
Status: Enslaved
Verbatim description from source:
"black man named Joe, the property of a Mr. Vanorden, at Prakeness, in the county of Bergen"
Comment: deceased victim

*** Claus (d. 1805) ***
Role: Defendant
Age category: Adult
Status: Unknown
Verbatim description from source:
"negro man named Claus"
Comment: alleged killer of Joe

==========

DETAILS FOR OTHER PARTICIPANTS:

Judge Pennington
Role: Judge

Record Contributor

Kate Jackson