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TRIAL OF JOHN W. WEBSTER. 3169
fifty,-within the inclosed yard of the prison of the county of Suffolk
aforenamed, and in the presence of the persons hereinafter named, did
cause the sentence of death in said warrant named to be executed upon
John W. Webster, of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex, the person
named in said warrant convicted of the crime of murder, by causing
the said John W. Webster, convict as aforesaid, to be hanged by the neck
until he was dead; and the said sentence was then and there executed
upon the said John W. Webster, in accordance with the provisions of
the one hundred and thirty-ninth chapter of the Revised Statutes of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in all respects.
And after the fact that life was extinct in the body of the said John
W. Webster, and that the said John W. Webster was dead, had been
formally certified to me by Doctors Henry G. Clark and Charles H.
Stedman, surgeons, who were in attendance at my request, I caused
the dead body of said John W. Webster, at ten minutes past ten o'clock,
A. M., of the same day, to be inclosed in a coffin and removed from public
view; and, at thirty minutes past eight of the clock in the evening of
the same day, I caused the dead body of the said John W. Webster to be
delivered to his relatives for interment, in accordance with the request
of the said John W. Webster, made to me on the twenty-eighth instant.
I also certify, that, several days previous to the day named in said
warrant for the execution of the sentence therein named upon the said
John W. Webster, I addressed letters to the Attorney General of the
Commonwealth aforesaid, and to the said Commonwealth's Attorney for
the county of Suffolk, and also to the Clerks of the Courts for the said
county of Suffolk, informing them severally of the time and place when
and where the execution of the said sentence upon said John W. Web-
ster would take place, and respectfully requesting them severally to be
present at said execution.
I also summoned the following named persons, holding commissions
under me as Deputy Sheriffs, to be present at the time and place named
in the written summons served upon each of them, namely, at seven
o'clock, A. M., on the said thirtieth day of August, and at the office of
the prison before named; and they, the said Deputy Sheriffs, were sever-
ally present at the time and place named, and assisted me in the execu-
tion of the command in the warrant aforenamed; viz., Watson Free-
man, Daniel J. Coburn, Jabez Pratt, Erastus Rugg, Benjamin F. Bayley,
and Joseph A. Willard.
I also, in pursuance of the provisions of said statute, addressed letters
to the persons hereinafter named, being twelve and more respectable
citizens of the said county, requesting them severally to be present at
the office of the prison of the county of Suffolk aforenamed, at eight
o'clock before noon of the said thirtieth day of August, to witness the
execution of the said sentence of death upon the said John W. Webster,
convict as aforesaid;* and they severally were present, and each and
all of them witnessed the execution of the said sentence of death upon
the gaid John W. Webster, according to the terms of the aforementioned
warrant, and pursuant to the- provisions of the statute hereinbefore
named.
And the names of said persons follow, to wit: B. Franklin Edmands,
Isaac H. Wright, James Dennie, Newell A. Thompson, Isaac Adams,
J. Putnam Bradlee, Ezra Lincoln, Robert Cowdin, Peter T. Homer,
William Schouler, Henry N. Hooper, Thomas Gill, John T. Heard, Will-
iam Beals, William Barnicoat, Henry Crocker, James Cheever, Charles
The provisions of the statute referred to are the following:-" The sheriff
shall be
present at the execution, unless he shall be prevented by sickness or other
casualty, and
also two of his deputies, to be designated by him; and he shall request the
presence of
the district attorney, clerk or clerks of the county courts, and twelve
reputable citizens,
including a physician or surgeon; and he shall permit the counsel of the
criminal, such
ministers of the gospel as the criminal shall desire, and his relations, to
be present, and
also such officers of the prison, deputies and constables, military guard,
or other assist-
ants, as he shall see fit."-Rev. Stat. c. i3q, sec. i¢.
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