The Linda Wolfe Collection

by Linda Wolfe

  190 “In the neighborhood of the ear”: TLC, p. 92.

  191 “I believe I am acquainted with the general character of Mrs. Chapman. From 1818 to 1829 … gradually getting worse”: TLC, p. 96.

  191 “Not in those exact words. I have said … to my personal knowledge, I have never seen anything but what was right”; “She lived in my mother’s house and behaved herself remarkably well … I never heard anything to the contrary”; “I am speaking of a police report”; and “I can’t say I ever heard a good police report”: TLC, p. 96.

  193 “the lower jaw falls … the eyes are cast down, half-shut” and “the eyes open, but with the eyebrows considerably drawn down, the mouth pouting out, mostly shut, and the lips pinched close”: Moore, John Hamilton, The Young Gentleman and Young Lady’s Explanatory Monitor, New York, 1813, p. 320.

  193 “as husbands and fathers, knowing the loveliness of domestic love, appreciating the sanctity of domestic obligation” and “a more unnatural, a more revolting crime than that which blasts all these, and blurs the purity of woman’s fame”: TLC, p. 118.

  194 “in whose bosom the flame of impure passion brightens, that there is a summary mode by which she can remove the only check to licentious indulgence, and suggest means and materials for the completion of the gloomy edifice of crime”: TLC, p. 99.

  194 “In the moral law of God the first great prohibition was, ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ the next, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’—and the interval between the two points on the scale of human depravity is small, indeed”: TLC, p. 118.

  194 “little creatures from five to ten years of age”; “to lisp from their slender summits entreaties for Divine mercy”; and “The mercy this wretched woman does not dare to ask, she has brought these innocent children to ask for her”: TLC, p. 128.

  194 “thunder of that voice, the lightning of that eye”: TLC, p. 115.

  195 “filled as they are with disgusting effusions of passion”: TLC, p. 116.

  195 “the wealth she supposed the seducer to possess … the rank and honors with which she believed him to be clothed”: TLC, p. 112.

  195 “Why is Mary Chapman not produced”: TLC, p. 127.

  196 Brown’s indisposition on the morning of his summation: TLC, p. 155.

  196 Brown’s maxims: DPB, vol. 1, p. 83.

  197 “One thing that speaks volumes … more than twelve months”: TLC, p. 144.

  197 “Left upon the wide theater … and promoting their happiness”: TLC, p. 149.

  197 “however, if fate should decree this speech to be my last … hapless, helpless, friendless and forlorn”: TLC, p. 155.

  197 “the storm, the tempest, the whirlwind of prejudice … the leprous distillment of pernicious rumor,” and “the sacred ermine of justice to be stained or polluted by the blood of the guiltless”: TLC, p. 156.

  197 “should it affix crime to a mother’s name … stigmatize their memory when dead”: TLC, p. 157.

  198 “dumb witness … small, it is true, but with a giant’s strength”: TLC, p. 161.

  198 Vipers and liars: TLC, p. 168.

  198 “Was she to join in the general cry … fidelity is the brightest jewel that adorns the female character”: TLC, p. 178.

  199 “She was the teacher of a large and highly respectable seminary … That she should shrink from it, therefore, was natural—was excusable”: TLC, p. 177.

  199 “return to your own domestic circle, to your own firesides … And thereby give them to understand how frail and feeble is the tenure of human happiness—human character—and human life”: TLC, p. 180.

  199 “Powerful”: Philadelphia National Gazette, Feb. 28, 1832.

  199 “fame for energy and eloquence”: Philadelphia Saturday Bulletin, March 3, 1832.

  199 Mary Ross: Yerkes, “John Ross and the Ross Family,” p. 385.

  200 “the ground upon which you stand is holy; the moment you passed the threshold of this sanctuary of justice … every passion or feeling of excitement which you may have heretofore imbibed”: TLC, p. 182.

  201 “any woman who would compel [her husband] to make the bed … of a savage or a demon”: TLC, p. 192.

  201 “the wife who can defile … taking the life of that husband”: TLC, p. 194.

  201 “gained a niche in the temple of infamy,” and “She has inscribed her name upon the darkest page of guilt … until oblivion shall have wiped her name from the scroll of time”: TLC, p. 206.

  202 Thomas Ross’s singularity and his career: see Yerkes, “John Ross and the Ross Family,” p. 385.

  202 “persevering zeal”: Philadelphia Saturday Bulletin, March 3, 1832.

  202 “able”: Philadelphia National Gazette, Feb. 28, 1832.

  202 “masculine intelligence and habits”: TLC, p. 117.

  203 Judge Fox’s charges: According to the Philadelphia National Gazette, Feb. 28, 1832, Fox’s charges seemed to lean decidedly against Lucretia.

  203 “Not guilty”: TLC, p. 213.

  204 Lucretia’s triumphal departure from Doylestown: DPB, vol. 2, p. 440.

  204 “The Creator who, in his infinite wisdom, foresaw that gold would be the cause of many evils to man … prime mover of all the horrid circumstances which followed”: CEM, p. 36.

  CHAPTER 11 “YESTERDAY I WAS A WONDER”

  207 “My father, my parents, all will reward and favor you and take you away from your mother and you will be in the bosom of my family as a daughter”: Jan. 13, 1832, letter, Mina (Doylestown Jail) to “My Dear Mari,” M-CMCP.

  207 He hadn’t mailed the letter: After his conviction, Lino entrusted the letter to Thomas Ross and asked him to have it delivered to Mary. Ross refused to do so until after the execution, saying that he “feared it would be believed and would contribute to his release.” This information is contained in a paragraph of writing in a different hand from Lino’s at the top of his letter to “My Dear Mari,” cited in the note above.

  208 “flower that would have bloomed in the genial rays of the morning sun of love”; “fall”; and “scorching”: CEM, p. 29.

  208 “succeed in overcoming her scruples of delicacy”: CEM, p. 31.

  208 “That very evening, Miss Wilson was sacrificed at the shrine of pleasure”: CEM, p. 31.

  209 “not Miss Wilson, but Mrs. Lucretia Chapman” and “at a place called Andalusia about thirteen miles from Philadelphia”: CEM, p. 33.

  209 “another person of my own age”: STMC, p. 11.

  209 “chère amie in Philadelphia”: Philadelphia Saturday Bulletin, May 5, 1832. The Bulletin’s reporter states that Lino told him this story “previous to his conviction.”

  210 The hanging in Lancaster: Philadelphia National Gazette, April 24, 1832.

  210 Lino’s nonchalance and his picking his teeth: Germantown Telegraph, May 9, 1832.

  210 “Yes. It is a proper question and I will allow it to be asked”; “Am I to understand your Honor to say that you have decided contrary to the opinion you gave in the former trial?” and “Yes, contrary to my own opinion”: Germantown Telegraph, May 9, 1832.

  211 “The death of Mr. Chapman was caused by a most deadly poison that the day before he was taken ill the individual at the bar purchased in Philadelphia”: Germantown Telegraph, May 9, 1832.

  212 “Any declaration a man makes that is drawn from him by the offer of favor or by threats cannot be given in evidence. But the question is, did you actually promise the defendant favor”: See STMC, p. 2. For purposes of clarity, I’ve adapted this quotation from the Court’s original statement, which was, “Any declaration a man makes that is drawn from him by the offer of favor or by threats cannot be given in evidence.… The question therefore now is whether this promise of Mr. Blayney comes within the rule of law.”

  212 “The defendant’s confession cannot be given in evidence” and “It is a statement made by Mina with a view of shielding himself. There was no admission of his having participated in the murder”: STMC, p. 3.

  212 “That was not a promi
se of favorable treatment”: See STMC, p. 3. The quotation is slightly adapted from the original, “this was not a confession drawn from the prisoner upon promise of favor.”

  212 “You must tell us what he said”: Du Bois reports simply the court’s ruling, and follows the ruling with Blayney’s testimony. For dramatic purpose, I’ve given Fox a directive to Blayney, one which prompts the testimony that follows.

  212 “I asked Mina whether he had a medicine chest,” and “He said he had, and had left it in the Boston jail … Mrs. Chapman then come and kiss and hug me and say, ‘Lino, I want you to marry me’”: STMC, p. 3.

  213 “clear” and “powerful”: Philadelphia Saturday Bulletin, May 5, 1832.

  214 “exciting interest”: TLC, p. 2.

  214 “Take the prisoner back for the night,” and “Return him tomorrow for sentencing”: STMC, p. 7.

  214 Lino’s flippancy: Philadelphia Saturday Bulletin, May 5, 1832.

  214 “The Irishman was hanged and the American was not”: Trollope, Domestic Manners of the Americans, p. 222.

  215 Judicial review: It was not until 1855 that Congress gave the Supreme Court discretionary ability to grant appeals, not until 1891 that appellate courts were created.

  215 “My name is Carolino … before I am ordered to be executed”: STMC, P. 9.

  216 “Is it necessary for the prisoner to be here as we present arguments as to why he should have a new trial” and “There is no such necessity, if you are willing to argue the motion in his absence”: STMC, p. 8.

  216 “The High Constable made a compact with the prisoner. It was a promise of favor. It amounted to an offer of immunity from prosecution”: See STMC, p. 8. The quotation is adapted from the original, which is, “The compact or promise of secrecy between Blayney and the prisoner was insisted upon [by Rush] to be a promise of favor, inasmuch as it amounted to an immunity from prosecution.”

  216 “We have not changed our opinion since the trial”; “We do not think that the statement or confession made by the prisoner to Blayney was obtained under any promise of favor whatever. It was at most a promise to keep secret a confession which Mina wished to make”; and “upon the condition that his declaration that he was neither a convict nor a pirate should turn out to be true”: STMC, p. 8.

  216 “We still think we were right, and therefore the motion for a new trial is refused”: STMC, pp. 8–9.

  217 “I move the prisoner be brought up for sentencing”; “Motion granted”; “Mr. Espos y Mina, do you have anything to say as to why the sentence of death should not be passed on you”; “The prisoner has drawn up a paper. We think it best if we read his words”; and “My name is Carolino. I was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church. I have in the island of Cuba, a daughter four years old”: STMC, p. 9.

  217 Fox’s agitation: It was noted both by the Germantown Telegraph, which reported on May 9, 1832, that “the presiding judge [was] in much agitation and distress,” and by Du Bois, who remarked that Fox shortly was to display “a difficulty of utterance which showed how largely he partook of the feeling which seemed to pervade the multitude,” STMC, p. 9.

  217 “It is necessary before I die, that I should execute some legal papers, in order to secure some property to my daughter” and “I pray the Court to grant me at least a few months of existence, a few months before I am ordered to be executed”; “These matters will be laid before the Governor who will no doubt grant the request which you make”; and “Lino Amalia Espos y Mina … And may God have mercy upon your soul”: STMC, p. 9.

  218 “Back out! Back out at once”: Germantown Telegraph, May 23, 1832.

  218 Forced to scamper away: Germantown Telegraph, May 23, 1832.

  219 She did it … slipping arsenic into his glass: Philadelphia Saturday Bulletin, May 5, 1832.

  220 The artist from Philadelphia: His name was E. Wellmore.

  220 “He is a native of Cuba … connections are respectable”: Philadelphia Saturday Courier, May 26, 1832.

  220 “He is the illegitimate son of a very rich gentleman of Cuba”: Philadelphia Saturday Bulletin, May 26, 1832.

  220 “Unnatural” child: According to the Gemantown Telgraph, June 20, 1832, Lino “complained bitterly of certain editors, whom he alleged had done him serious injury, in calling him an illegitimate son, or ‘unnatural’ as he expressed it.”

  220 Robert De Silver’s background: See John Tebbel, A History of Book Publishing in the United States (New York & London, 1972), vol. 1, pp. 384–85. The titles of the books published by DeSilver were made known to me by Richard Layman of the Columbia, South Carolina, publishing firm of Bruccoli Clark Layman, Inc.

  221 “the most delicate ear, to make it … of the community”: CEM, p. 26.

  221 Never forgave injuries and delighted in revenge: TLC, p. 85.

  221 “as freely as it pleased him in her presence, and when her punishment would be sufficient to abandon her and return to Cuba”: CEM, p. 38.

  221 “Her body [was] lacerated and torn over its whole surface by the blows of her mother”: CEM, p. 39.

  222 “purchased [a] phial of poison from a doctor in the vicinity and … a promise of secrecy on his part as to his having sold it”: CEM, p. 42.

  222 “official” and “Mrs. Chapman called upon a physician in the city a short time previous to the illness of her husband and … gave the Physician a fee for the information which she obtained”: Germantown Telegraph, June 6, 1832.

  223 “My children and I have suffered unparalleled affliction. If you would convey us on more moderate terms than the usual ones, it would be an act of holy charity”; “What’s your name”; “Lucretia Chapman,” “Mrs. Chapman”; “All the wealth in the world would not induce me to take you aboard”; and “The way of the transgressor is hard”: Germantown Telegraph, June 20, 1832.

  223 “The governor writes a very good hand”: Doylestown Democrat, May 22, 1832, as cited on p. 28 of a handwritten document entitled, “The Chapman-Mina Murder Trial,” written by George MacReynolds and included among the papers in M—CMCP. MacReynolds, a former librarian of the Bucks County Historical Society, may have prepared the document for a lecture or publication.

  223 “In what shape does the Evil One appear”; “In the shape of that cricket”; and “Be sure to call and see me again”: Germantown Telegraph, June 20, 1832.

  224 Lino’s attempt to serve an arrest warrant on McDowell: Germantown Telegraph, June 20, 1832.

  224 “My dear Thomas … stronger than any other pleasure”: May 16, 1832, letter from Mary Ross to Thomas Ross (Jenkinstown), M-CMCP.

  225 “But I am entirely innocent of Mr. Chapman’s murder. I am innocent of everything except a love of mischief”: Germantown Telegraph, June 27, 1832.

  225 “I am not even really married to Mrs. Chapman.… In order to get her money”: adapted from the Germantown Telegraph’s report on June 27, 1832, that Lino “boldly asserted that his marriage with Mrs. C. was a mere trick to obtain her money.”

  226 Law office: The old Ross law office, which was next to the jail and courthouse, has been moved from its original site, but it is still intact and is now part of a private home in Doylestown.

  226 “I hereby certify … United States of America”: TLC, p. 40. 228 Ross’s visits to Lino and to Onderdonk: My account is based on the Germantown Telegraph article of June 27, 1832.

  228 Lino’s ballad: CEM, pp. 46–48.

  229 Lino’s Soneto: CEM, p. 48.

  229 “Robbed her of the inmost jewel of her soul”: CEM, p. 39.

  229 Lino’s suicide attempts: See “An Account of the Execution and the Dying Declaration of Mina,” CEM, pp. 49–50; see also Germantown Telegraph, June 27, 1832.

  230 The largest body of uniformed men … since the Revolution: Kenderdine, “The Chapman-Mina Tragedy,” p. 465.

  230 The first hanging in Bucks County since 1693: Kenderdine, “The Chapman-Mina Tragedy,” p. 462.

  230 Doylestown on the eve of Lino’s execution: Germantown Telegraph, June
27, 1832.

  230 “I myself used to be a soldier … One in particular nearly proved fatal” and “My own reflections after the interview were by no means pleasant or agreeable … A similar instance, I believe, can scarcely be found on record”: Germantown Telegraph, June 27, 1832.

  231 “I am innocent of murder … ready to die”: Germantown Telegraph, June 27, 1832.

  231 “It’s cruel of you … like a soldier”: Germantown Telegraph, June 27, 1832.

  232 The military men were lacking in spit and polish: Germantown Telegraph, June 27, 1832.

  232 Morris serves as the hangman: “An Account of the Execution and the Dying Declaration of Mina,” CEM, p. 49.

  232 Tuljeaux translates: “An Account of the Execution and the Dying Declaration of Mina”: CEM, p. 49.

  233 “You thirst for my blood … I am strong and not feeble” and “Farewell, my friends … He die innocent”: Germantown Telegraph, June 27, 1832.

  233 the penultimate prisoner to be publicly executed … in Pennsylvania: see Negley K. Teeters, “Public Executions in Pennsylvania 1682 to 1834,” Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society, Spring 1960.

  234 Organs and skeletons of executed prisoners: Thomas M. McDade, The Annals of Murder (Norman, Okla.), p. xxxiii.

  234 The experiment on Lino’s body: Philadelphia Saturday Bulletin, June 30, 1832.

  235 Lit out for the West … second career as an actress: Philadelphia Gazette and Universal Daily Advertiser, November 14, 1834.

  EPILOGUE

  237 “How she has fallen … the finger of scorn is pointed at her and she is greeted with hisses and general disaffection”: The Philadelphia man wrote these words on the flyleaf of a copy of Du Bois’s book which he gave to a brother as a gift. The inscribed copy is in the possession of the American Antiquarian Society.

  238 One 1909 commentator: The commentator is Kenderdine. See his “Chapman-Mina Tragedy,” p. 461.

  238 William, Jr.’s history: Kenderdine, “The Chapman-Mina Tragedy,” p. 461.

  240 “Everybody knows that Maryland is a Slave State”: Magill, “When Men Were Sold,” p. 514.

  240 “Everybody is nobody! Common report does not pass before a court of justice”: Magill, “When Men Were Sold,” p. 514.