Execution of Claus (report from the Hackensack Register)

Execution of Claus (report from the Hackensack Register)
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Identifier
NJS-SRC-01402
Source Type
Article
Headline
Execution of Claus
Publication
True American
Place of Publication
Trenton
Date of Issue
July 15, 1805
Page
2
Description
A report from the Hackensack Register, titled "Execution of Claus," providing details about the criminal conviction and execution of a Black man named Claus for the murder of a Black man named Joe.
Transcript
[PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT]

EXECUTION OF CLAUS.

From the Hackensack Register.

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. At the request of the sheriff, and with the consent of the convict, Revd. James V. C. Romeyn attended him to the place of execution, and on the scaffold addressed him in the following pathetic and appropriate words.

[Address of James V. C. Romeyn to Claus follows]
Language
English
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
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Resource class
Bibliographic Resource