PKIGE PIPTY OIBUSTTS. 
THE TRIAL AND EXECUTION 
OF 
DR. JOHN W. HUGHES, 
FOR THE 
MURDER 
OP 
MISS TAMZEN PARSONS, 
WITH A 
SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AS RELATED BY HIMSELF 
A RECORD OF LOVE, BIGAMY AND MURDER UNPARALLELED IN 
THE ANNALS OF CRIME. 
Published by John K. Stetler <fe Co., Cleveland, O. 
CLEVELAND, OHIO: 
PRINTED BY’ THE CLEVELAND LEADER COMPANY7. 
1866. 
Entered according to Act of Congress, by John K. Stetler & Co., in the year 1866, in 
the Clerk’s Office of the U. S. District Court, for the Northern District of Ohio. MACKENZIE’S 
TEN THOUSAND RECEIPTS, 
IN ALL THE 
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providing, another could not be procured—for double its cost. 
Very truly yourtf, &c., MRS, M. A. BERWICK THE 
T R I A_ L 
OF 
M. JOHN ff. HUGHES, 
FOR THE 
MURDER OF MISS TAMZEN PARSONS; 
WITH A 
SKETCH OE HIS LIFE, 
AS RELATED BY HIMSELF. 
A RECORD OF 
LOVE, BIGAMY AND MURDER, 
UNPARALLELED IN THE ANNALS OF CRIME. 
PUBLISHED BY JOHN K. STETLER <S CO., CLEVELAND, OHIO. 
FEINTED BY THE DEADER COMPANY, NO, 142 SUPERIOR STREET. 
CLEVELAND: 
186 6. Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1866, by 
JOHN K. STETLER & CO., 
In the Clerk’s office of the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
On the ninth of August, 1865, John W. Hughes, a physician and 
surgeon, of little note in this city, committed a murder in the neigh- 
boring village of Bedford, which, from the nature of the case, the 
character of the parties to the tragedy, and the antecedents of the 
deed, forced him upon the attention of the people of Cuyahoga county 
not only, but of all Northern Ohio. The public was startled and 
shocked on the following morning by the publication that Miss Tamzen 
Parsons, a young lady seventeen years of age, had been shot down in 
the streets of Bedford by this man, who had been her lover, and who, 
under cover of a forged bill of divorce from his loving wife, had mar- 
ried her in Pittsburgh, in December, 1864, and suffered in the Penn* 
sylvania penitentiary the penalty attached to the crime of bigamy. 
We propose to give in this little pamphlet, beside the proceedings of 
the trial, a brief biographical sketch of Dr, Hughes, (the facts of 
which are furnished by himself,) with the view of showing that this 
deed, horrible as it was, was but the natural conclusion of that career 
upon which he had entered in early years ; and thus, with an account of 
his execution, exhibit the unity of his short but crowded life. We 
believe this record will be acceptable to that home-public which has 
taken-sucl} deep interest in the case, and to which the trial has appealed 
with louder voice than to that larger public whose attention has been 
drawn to the case, from the fact that it has not a parallel in the annals 
of crime. And it may serve as an effectual warning to many, unless, 
indeed, it be true that “ nobody will use other people’s experience, 
nor has any of his own, till it is too late to use it.” 
John William Hughes was born Nov. 11th, 1833, in the town of 
Douglas, Isle of Man, of wealthy and influential parents. He was 
the eldest and only surviving child. His father, who was a landed 
proprietor or country gentleman, possessed of an hereditary estate 
which had been in the family for generations, died when John was but 
four years of age. John inherited many traits from his father, who 
was a full-blooded man, of high temper and given to occasional 
drunken sprees. But, in spite of these “ obliquities,” he was looked 
up to by the people of the parish in which he lived, and held in the 
high consideration which wealth and consequent social position inva- 
riably give to landed proprietors in the over-crowded countries of the 
Old World. 
On the death of John’s father, an uncle by marriage, Mr. Thomas 
Moore, now Commissioner of the Island, and a very influential man, 
was appointed his guardian. In the fact that his children were, after 4 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH, 
John, the next heirs to the estate of the latter, is to he found the occa- 
sion of much of the subsequent irritation which developed this boy 
into a headstrong, reckless, irrepressible youth, and a dissipated, 
wicked man of the world, Mr. Moore lived in the town of Ramsay, 
about twenty miles from the estate known as “Hughes Ballarnona.” 
Two years after the death of Mr. Hughes, the father, Mr. Moore, 
instigated by his wife, an aunt to John, brought an action against the 
widow, John’s mother, to get possession of a dower of £2,000 which 
her father had settled upon her at marriage, claiming that it should 
be incorporated with the estate. He came otf victorious after an 
obstinate trial, which engendered such bitter feeling in the guardian 
and his wife that he tore John awaj from his mother at the age of six 
or seven years, and put him. at a boarding-school, under Dr. Maffatt, 
of Eyreton Castle. He received there his first instructions, and after 
the expiration of three years, during which time he saw his mother only 
at rare intervals when he ran away, he was sent to Glenview Academy, 
where many of the aristocrats of Great Britain send their sons to 
receive their preliminary education. John remained there four years—a 
period of almost perfect isolation from his mother. He was often flogged 
by order of his guardian for running away, and, in consequence of one 
of these chastisements, ran away to Liverpool and shipped on the 
Marian, a merchantman bound for Calcutta. The ship sprang a leak 
when ten days out, and put back, John returned stealthily to his 
mother, and in consequence of an attack of rheumatic fever was not 
able to return to his ship. On his recovery the guardian removed 
John to his own house in Ramsey, but he would not stay in ic. An 
independent suite of rooms was furnished in princely style for him, 
and there he got the first taste of fashionable life. He kept a pony, 
had an unlimited supply of money, the income of half his estate, 
drank champagne, smoked cigars, indulged in wine and women, and 
every tradesman in Ramsey respected his frequent orders. 
We may here say that the Isle of Man is one of the gayest, most 
fashionable and frivolous places in the world during the summer sea- 
son. It is then the resort of the gentry and nobility of Great Britain, 
who crowd to it in large numbers, as the wealthy Southerners used to 
visit Saratoga and other fashionable watering places in the Horth. 
Every steamboat brings to the Island a gay party, bent on pleasure, 
and heedless of expenditure. The summer months are a whirl of par- 
ties, in which the senses are run away with. Life is considered only 
from the side of indulgence and physical enjoyment, and after the 
lapse of days or weeks, parties visiting the Island, as well as those liv- 
ing in it, who participate in the ceaseless festivities, awake as from a 
midsummer night’s dream, a good deal spent, each one quite like a 
sucked orange; and have they as much virtue as they had before ? 
We will not press the inquiry, as it may apply to the mass of plea- 
sure-seekers ; but we may easily imagine what an effect such an 
experience would have upon the wild, resolute, hearty, irrepressible 
youth,—a veritable Hotspur and fire-brand done into human flesh and 
blood,—John W. Hughes. He whiled away a fashionable season in 
such a round of indulgence, dissipation and moral and physical 
abandon, when his guardian plainly perceived that a crisis was ap- 
proaching, if, indeed, it had not already come; and he, therefore, wished 
John to study law, divinity or physic. He concluded to study navi- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
5 
gation, and was put under the tuition of Thomas Cannell, of Kirk 
Andreas, the most famous mathematician in the Island, and lodged in 
his house. IHe lived there in gaj style, kept a pony, “ studied one 
hour and fooed seven.” The venerable Archdeacon of the Island, who 
lived in the neighborhood, interested himself in John, and desired him 
to study divinity. He began the study of theology, under the guid- 
ance of Lord Auckland, Bishop of the Island, who confirmed the youth 
according to the rite of the Church of England, and in view of enter- 
ing the ministry he was sent to King William’s College, in Castletown. 
Before the fifth term had passed the appearance of the cholera sus- 
pended operations in the college. During these five terms John ap- 
plied himself with commendable persistency to his studies. He got 
quite an insight into, and a considerable knowledge of, the classics. 
He took one prize,—a rich copy of Crabb’s Poems,—a circumstance 
to which he always afterward referred with pleasure. King William’s 
College is the best institution in the Island, and the students who pur- 
sue their studies there are generally of that class who are students by 
natural instincts or acquired tastes. And John’s sudden inspiration 
for study seems to have been drawn from the air and quiet faces by 
which he was enveloped and surrounded. His temperament was so 
mixed, that he was ever greatly affected by local influences, and 
quickly took whatever contagion might lurk in the air. He was 
always the child of circumstances, and easily drawn away with the 
whole force of his impulsive nature into the aims and pursuits of the 
company or clique in which he found himself. 
After the breaking out of the cholera he returned to Ramsey, and 
re-opened the establishment of a fast young man. He got upon the race 
courses, and squandered his money. His extravagance brought on a 
quarrel with his guardian, and John ran away to Liverpool, and, 
barely seventeen years old, enlisted in the British army, sth Dragoon 
Guards, and joined liis regiment at Dublin, Ireland. He was in the 
army three years, went to the Crimea, was ivounded severely in the 
left leg at Balaklava, and was sent back to hospital in London. Soon 
after his return his mother died. A young lady, beautiful and ac- 
complished, living in the western part of the Island, to whom John 
had been engaged, broke her vows, but he, instead of seeking to de- 
rive consolation from the fact that he was also engaged at the same 
time to an English lady of wealth and refinement, rushed to his estate, 
chagrined and furious, and took sweet revenge by instantly marrying 
the “ Belle of Ramsey,” a fisherman’s daughter who was then a ser- 
vant girl in his house, kept, since his mother’s death, by Mrs. Ste- 
phenson, his aunt on the maternal side. By this time John had come 
of age, and immediately took possession of his estate, which had be- 
come greatly impoverished by tenants during his minority. With 
his brother-in-law for steward he revolutionized the place, and be- 
came the thriftiest farmer in the parish. Agriculture was now his 
sole ambition, his hobby, and he rode it with fury, one foot in either 
stirrup,—Theory and Practice. He increased, by breeding and pur- 
chase, his stock fourfold, and provided himself with all the modern 
agricultural implements and conveniences, and employed a larger force 
of laborers than any farmer in the region dared muster. We have 
seen in the prisoner’s cell a book of record, which he chanced to have, 
showing the status of his estate for one year. The expenditures for 6 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
articles of actual or fancied use are frequent, oftentimes enormous. 
But the entries of income and profit far exceeded the records of out- 
lay, showing, whether as a result of financial ability on his part, or of 
mere chance and necessity, that the ends were more than met. 
Meantime domestic machinery did not work quite as smoothly as 
it ought, and in a fit of bad temper John suddenly left home and 
went to Scotland, where he studied medicine, attending the sessions 
of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, from which he grad- 
uated, as the diploma shows, May 9th, 1857. Returning to his estate, 
he entered upon a fast life. His house was more like a hotel than a 
private dwelling, and was the rendezvous of all the gay spirits of the 
region. He kept a race horse, and got him on the course. Betting 
and gambling were a consequence, and he lost often and heavily. 
In an insane moment, and to the surprise of every one, he advertised for 
sale all of his estate that was above ground, and actually sold his effects. 
To the day of his death, he was not able to account for this freak. 
All called him crazy. It was his ruin. He rented his estate, after 
building two gothic cottages, with grottos, cabinets, hot houses, green 
■houses, &c., which are to this day a curiosity in the Island. His wife 
and child now live in one of them, her father in the other, and they 
are the only relics of the Doctor’s once proud ancestral estate. 
In 1860 he came to this country and travelled through the Canadas 
and the West as the companion of a young English nobleman. Part- 
ing on the return at Detroit, the Doctor came to this city to visit his 
Manx friends, and after a tour five, months in duration returned to 
the Isle of Man. In the early spring of 1861 he visited the States 
again, without his family, and opened an office at Warrensville, in 
this county, during which time he drilled all the companies recruited 
thereabouts for the war. Returning to the Island, he settled up his 
affairs, and sold his bare estate, which had become encumbered by 
his style of living, to a rich old bachelor who married the young lady 
who had jilted the Doctor and is now the mistress of “Hughes JBal- 
lamona.” 
' The Doctor could never speak of this turn of the wheel of fortune 
with perfect composure. The blood would mount to his cheeks, and 
his large blue eye turn muddy, like a shallow pool stirred with a stick, 
as he owmed that it was not John W. Hughes, but his estate, that this 
jilt wanted. He would, however, recover his equanimity by the re- 
flection that he was at the time of the rupture of their relations, one 
of the most desirable matches in the whole Island. He was young, not 
bad looking, owner of a splendid estate, and possessed of those personal 
qualities and qualifications which so fill out the eye of romantic young 
ladies. 
After paying off “debts of honor,” squaring gambling bills, etc., 
etc., little was left of the proceeds of the sale. The Doctor declared 
to ns with great emphasis : “ I was always too honorable. I paid off 
debts, for the liquidation of which there was on me no obligations but 
those of words of honor spoken by one better and gambler to another. 
And in all my troubles, antecedent and subsequent to the payment of 
those debts of honor, I have always done the fair thing, made my word as 
good as my bond, and often enough got myself in the lurch and into 
the nipping place thereby.” And he died regretting the foolish act 
which stripped him of his property, and even went so far as to own BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
that, if he had had, on the day of his arrest, one tenth of his original 
estate, he would have been a free man on the streets of Cleveland. 
He has put the case in rhyme, thus : 
My fellow-citizens ! do you suppose 
Incarceration holds the tithe of those 
Amenable to punishment ? Oh, no ! 
Right in your midst, in calm assurance, go 
' Criminals, bad as any in the jail. 
But they have friends, who readily go their bail 
For each and every crime, or pay the fare 
Thro’ litigation ; or, just on the Square 
Compass it in friendship, to let it slip. 
For what’s the odds, if we’re in fellowship? 
All these are good ; we dare not throw a shade 
On any skilled in such a trade, 
Nor by an imputation in the least, 
Ignore the ancient travellers to the East. 
Oft we mourn the loss, but to condemn 
Ourselves, to pity, we are not of them. 
Philanthropic mystery, two in one, 
Friends by the Signet of King Solomon. 
Then who are punished ? those by fortune thrown 
Upon their own resources, by their own 
Extravagance, are left without redress, 
Poverty-stricken, poor and penniless; 
No friends nor influence, they have no fee 
To palm the prosecutor and be free. 
For e’en in homicide we often see 
The crime reduced from first to last degree. 
The manner s simple, tho’ not often told— 
Just calm the conscience with the ready gold. 
But he who is not blessed with gilded pelf 
Must die the death, be sacrificed himself 
For an example to his fellow man. 
But to return. He removed to Edinburgh with wife and child, and 
attended the sessions at the University of Scotland in 1861-’62. In 
April of the latter year, after visiting the Isle of Man and bidding 
all their friends farewell, the family came to this city. The Doctor 
opened an office on the Public Square, and practised his profession till 
May, 1863, when, leaving his wife and child in Warrensville, he entered 
the navy, as a “Jack,” in Buffalo. He soon got out of that service, 
however, and opened an office on North Clark street, in Chicago, where 
he secured a good practice. But at the urgent request of his wife 
and friends he returned to Warrensville, and practiced medicine in 
that place and Bedford until March, 1864. He formed the acquaint- 
ance of Mr. Thomas Parsons’ family, through their English cousin, 
Harry Parsons, but did not see Tamzen till the winter following. In 
March he enlisted as a private in the 58th O. V. L, and at Columbus 
was made orderly sergeant, and confirmed as such when the regiment 
reached Yicksburgh, as the following paper shows : 
The Commanding Officer of 58th Regiment O. V. 1., to all who 
shall see these presents, Greeting: Know Ye, That reposing special trust 
and confidence in the patriotism, valor, fidelity and abilities of John W. 
Hughes, I do hereby appoint him sergeant in Company C, of the 58th 
regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the service of the United States, 
to rank as such from the 26th of April, 1864. He is therefore carefully 
and diligently to discharge the duty of sergeant by doing and performing 
all manner of things thereunto belonging. And Ido strictly charge and 
require all non-commissioned officers and soldiers under his command to 8 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
be obedient to hia orders as sergeant. And he is to observe and follow 
such orders and directions, from time to time, as he shall receive from me, 
or the future commanding officer of the regiment, or other superior officers 
and non-commissioned officers set over him, according to the rules and 
discipline of war. This warrant to continue in force during the pleasure 
of the commanding officer of the regiment for the time being. 
Given under my hand at the headquarters of the regiment at Vicks- 
burgh, Miss., this 26th day of April, 1864. By the commanding officer, 
E. P, Jackson, Lieut. Col. 58th O. Y. 1., commanding the regiment. 
STEPHEN DEFENBAUGH, 
Ist Lieut, and Adj. of the regiment. 
In June, having passed an examination he was discharged from the 58th 
Regiment, and appointed Assistant Surgeon in the 48th U. S. C. Infant- 
ry, as the following document shows : 
To Whom it May Concern ; 
Know Ye, That John W. Hughes, a Sergeant of Captain J. S. Kraus, Company C, 
68th Regiment of Ohio Infantry Volunteers, who was enrolled on the 19th day of 
March, 1864, to serve three years or during the war, is hereby Disghargd from the 
service of the United States, this first day of June, 1864, at Vicksburgh, Miss., by rea- 
son of promotion as Ass’t Surgeon 48th U. S. C. Infantry. 
Said John W. Hughes was born in the Isle of Man, in the Kingdom of England, is 
thirty years of age, five feet, eleven inches high, light complexion, blue eyes, brown 
hair, and by occupation, when enrolled, a Doctor. 
M. H. CROWELL, 
Lieut. Col. and 
Comd’g 48th U. S. C. T. 
Here is an additional paper : 
Assistant Suegeon John W. Hughes, 48th U. S. C. T : 
Sir : You are hereby informed that the President of the United States 
has appointed you Ist Ass’t Surgeon in the 48th regiment United States 
Colored Infantry in the service of the United States, to rank as such from 
the Ist of June, 1864. 
Immediately on receipt hereof, please to communicate to the War De- 
partment, through the Adjutant General’s Office at Washington, D. C., 
your acceptance or non-acceptance of said appointment; and with your let- 
ter of acceptance, return to the Adjutant General of the Army the oath 
herewith enclosed, properly filled up, subscribed and attested, reporting 
at the same time your age, residence when appointed, and the State in 
which you were born. 
Should you accept, you will at once report, in person, for orders, to 
Col. F. M. Crandal, at Yicksburgh, Miss. 
Given under my hand at Nashville, Tenn,, June 20, 1864, by authority 
of instructions from the Secretary of War. 
L. THOMAS, Adjutant General, 
In the summer, Surgeon Hughes was authorized by President Lin- 
coln to organize the Marine Hospital in Yicksburgh, as a general 
hospital for colored troops, and appointed Surgeon in charge of the 
same. In October he heard that his hoy was very sick, and applied 
for a leave of absence, but being refused he promptly sent in his re- 
signation, which was at length accepted, and he arrived in this city 
on the 11th of November,- his birthday. He still insists that he did 
not find a pleasant home; that his wife was drunk, &c. [The veraci- 
ty of this story is called in question by a family in which she boarded 
for months at a time, and who believe her to be a good, respectable 
woman.] He nursed his boy a week, and, when he had been rescued BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
9 
from danger, left, heart-sore and sickened, for New York, where sev- 
eral weeks were spent. He found his home in a worse condition on 
his return than on the first arrival from the army, and, stung by the 
spectacle, rushed madly from the house, vowing never to return. It 
was now December; he hired a horse and cutter and drove around 
the city without aim. At length he learned that a Soldier’ Aid Ball 
was in progress at Warrensville. Thither he drove, and joined the 
party in the ball room of the Warrensville Hotel. Intoxicated and 
exhausted, he was about to retire at a late hour, when he was told 
that Harry Parsons wished to see him. He alone set out for the 
house of Mr. Thomas Parsons, which is situated about a mile from Bed- 
ford on the Warrensville road. He could never tell how he got there. 
He awoke the next forenoon to find a young woman bending over 
him and loosening his cravat. He said, “Who are you?” “ Tam- 
zen Parsons.” “Where ami?” “In my father’s house,” she said, 
and added, “ Doctor, why do you drink so much ?” Whereupon he 
told her his domestic troubles. She expressed sympathy, he claims, 
nay, more; she laid her head upon his bosom and said: “T wish to 
God I were your wife.” Illicit love sprang up like a flame in either 
breast. But we will not rehearse here the Doctor’s story of this inti- 
macy, since he made a statement of the facts in his remarks to the 
court just before his sentence, and to this speech we invite the atten- 
tion of the reader. It suffices to say, that on the 19th of December 
they set out for Pittsburgh; a blank bill of divorce was made out, 
but not signed by the Doctor; the}*- were married on the 20th by 
Rev, Mr. Brown, of Pittsburgh; the Doctor was arrested on the 21st, 
on the charge of adultery and bigamy, and lodged in jail, while Tam- 
zen returned to her father’s house. In January he was convicted and 
sentenced to one year’s imprisonment in the Pennsylvania penitentia- 
ry. Through the unremitting efforts of his wife petitions were so 
numerously signed, that when she laid these before Governor Curtin, 
he pardoned the Doctor after the lapse of five months of incarceration 
in the jail and State prison. Returning to this city in the latter part 
of May, he opened an office on Ontario street about the middle of 
June, 1865. We should have stated that while in the Pittsburgh jail 
the Doctor wrote his agent in the Isle of Man that, in view of the 
probability of his being in prison several months, he (the agent) -would 
better pay the passage of his (the Doctor’s) wife and son to the Island. 
No answer having been received, the matter was forgotten until re- 
vived by the receipt of a note from Mr. Isaac Bray ton, of this city, 
agent for the foreign steamship line, about the first of July, announc- 
ing that the passage of Mrs. Hughes and son to the Isle of Man had 
been paid. This statement is corroborated by the testimony of seve- 
ral parties here who had opportunities of knowing. The Doctor not 
only did not send her away, as alleged, but told her she must act her 
own pleasure in the premises, and for two weeks debated the question 
of returning with her himself. And it was only the mortifying con- 
sciousness that he had not the means to make such an appearance as 
he would desire to make in the better, more prosperous days, that de- 
terred him from accompanying her and the little boy, Bisset, whom 
the Doctor loved with true paternal affection. An eye witness testi- 
fies to the very affectionate parting between the Doctor and his wife 
and son, at the Union depot; and the same lady also says that the 10 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
Doctor seemed to be very proud of his wife at times, while she seemed 
to love the very ground he trod upon. 
Mrs. Hughes intended to return to this country in five weeks, but 
was deterred from embarking by the receipt of the astounding and, 
to her, heart-breaking intelligence that her husband had been arrested 
for the murder of Tamzen Parsons. 
It may be accepted as truth, we believe, that in the departure of 
the Doctor’s wife, and in all the preliminary preparations for that 
event, there was not a single thought of Tamzen. All went well 
until about two weeks after the departure of Mrs. Hughes, when Mrs. 
’Charlotte Parsons, of Warrensville, aunt to Tamzen, called at the 
Doctor’s office, and told him the tale of Tamzen’s mental sufferings, 
and of her desire to see him and her love tor him. He insists that 
Tamzen had made an arrangement whereby she was to go to Mrs. 
'Charlotte Parsons’ house to meet the Doctor. He paid no attention 
to this, but he soon received a letter from Tamzen, upbraiding him for 
his neglect. 
It appears in the evidence that on the night of July 24th, he went 
to the house of Mr. Thomas Parsons, He claims that Tamzen opened 
the door and received him cordially. He was intoxicated, having 
''been drinking deep with an old Crimean comrade, named Campbell, 
with whom he went to Newburgh. The Doctor, by his noise, aroused 
the old gentleman, who tried to eject him. The latter refused 
• to leave the house, and declined with sufficient force to give ground 
whereon to rest an action for assault and battery, which was brought, 
on the following Saturday, before Justice Porter, in this city, Tamzen 
herself appearing and making an affidavit against him,—an act which 
- enraged him. Personal differences, however, were at length cancelled 
and legal proceedings staied, through the mediation of Mr. Henry 
Parsons, of this city, the Doctor solemnly promising that he would 
henceforth have nothing to do with the Parsons family. 
But, alas! for Tamzen and for the Doctor, a drunken revel with 
O scar S. Russell, on the night of the Bth of August, led him and Dr. 
Hughes to Bedford on no holy mission. The morning of the 9th of 
August dawned,—that fatal day, which should have been dropped 
from the calendar. Hughes, Russell and the driver Carr issued from 
the hotel in Bedford, and drove toward the Plank Road House, over 
the road on which stands the house of Mr. Parsons. Dr. Hughes en- 
tered the house, and learned that Mrs. P. and Tamzen had gone black- 
berrying. They drove on, but soon met the women. An interview 
was held in the road, in which the Doctor sought a private confer- 
ence with Tamzen. Mr. Robinson soon came along in a wagon, and 
drove them home, while the other party pushed on to the grocery 
■ opposite the Plank Road House, where they held a drunken revel for 
two hours. They started back with the intention, as the Doctor 
asserts, of visiting the Twelve Mile Lock, but arriving at the house 
of Mr. Krum, opposite the dwelling of Mr. Parsons, Hughes learned 
that all the Parsons family had gone to Bedford for safety and to 
arrest him. He pushed on to the village and, seeing Tamzen passing 
from the house of Mr. Joseph Haynes to that of Mr. Christian, he 
gave pursuit up Columbus street, calling for her to stop. She flew up 
the walk and said, “ No, I will not stop,” and rushed through the 
' gate opened by Master Christian, panting to reach the front door in BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
11 
which Mrs. Christian stood. But before that asylum was reached, 
the pursuer laid violent hands on her, and, saying, “ You won’t stop, 
will you?” hred his revolver. The ball glanced off the side of her 
head, she screamed, but her piteous, unavailing cry was instantly 
hushed by a second and fatal discharge of the deadly weapon, when 
Tamzen Parsons fell upon the green sod—a corpse. 
We will not here detail the flight of the Doctor and his capture, 
since this is reported graphically in the evidence. It is sufficient to 
say that he was conveyed to the county jail in this city, together with 
Russell and the driver, Carr, on the 9th of August. The preliminary 
examination of the Doctor was set for nine o’clock on Saturday morn- 
ing, the 12th of August, before Justice Kolbe. The prisoner was 
brought into court at that hour, and through the advice of his counsel, 
Wra. S. Kerruish, Esq., waived an examination and was remanded to 
jail. At ten o’clock that morning Oscar S. Russell and Ori Carr, who 
were embraced with Hughes in one common indictment, entered the 
plea of not guilty for murder. O. W. Palmer, Esq., Prosecuting 
Attorney, appeared for the State, and M. S. Castle, Esq,, and Judge 
Andrews for defendants. Carr was discharged on Saturday, and 
Russell on the following Monday. 
HIS OCCUPATION IN JAIL. 
The time before the November session of the Court of Common 
Pleas was not spent in pitiful brooding upon his fate and unavailing 
pinings over his lot; but he coolly and resolutely addressed himself to 
the task of arranging his case, searching out witnesses and giving his 
attorney such hints and information as enabled him to present in court 
a quite respectable looking case. Nevertheless, it was inevitable that 
he often ran over in mind his career, and reflected and moralized on 
his grossly misspent life. He passed the time in writing not only 
letters to his wife and friends, but verses,—a pastime and innocent 
habit of his boyhood. We reproduce here a poem, which, although 
not written until after he entered the cell of a convict, under the shadow 
of death, and so a little out of the chronological order, answers our 
purpose here, inasmuch it show's the state of his mind and the drift 
of his thoughts : 
A STRANGE INFATUATION. 
Guilty and innocent at times reflect 
Upon the cause, the increase and effect 
Of daily vices, which have always stood. 
Opposed to private worth, the public good. 
Vile, ruinous, destructive, great and small, 
One is, we must admit, the most of all. 
All kindreds suffer in its tight’ning girth. 
Of every people on the face of earth. 
Not long ago where’er this vice was nam’d, 
This noble continent was justly fam’d 
For freedom from it. Now—more’s the pity— 
It reigns supreme o’er country, town and 
city. 
Domestic peace it breaks, uproots the health 
Of social law in State and Commonwealth. 
But from its ills I’ll for a moment turn 
To the location of my brief sojourn. 
Not to particularize among the rest 
That it is worse than others, nor the best 
In moral tone, but simply speak the truth, 
The growing cause of crime in age. in youth. 
Scarce three score years and ten since Indian 
trail 
Was followed safe thro’ woods and down 
the vale 
Where now canal and river run to hide, 
Commingled waters in old Erie’s tide. 
Where red man chased the flying deer in 
sport 
Is now a finished town, a thriving port. 
Wealth, commerce, enterprise combined to 
make 
Cuyahoga’s Forest City of the Lake, 12 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
Whose public buildings, churches, schools 
are classed 
Equal in architecture unsurpassed 
By any place for homes in pretty lots— 
Palatial mansions grand, with cozy cots— 
In shaded streets from Kinsman to Bt. Clair— 
Ohio City—Wilson to the Square. 
The avenue, the suburbs round to Bank, 
We find abodes well suited to each rank; 
While style and fashion, etiquette, bon ton 
Are set to Euclid’s rules. They can’t be 
wrong! 
Ability and talent, beauty, where 
To Cleveland’s sons and daughters can com- 
compare ? 
Associations team'd, unceasing ien d 
Instructive aid in literature to bend 
Its youth to purity of mind and heart 
And will, from which they never should de- 
part. 
But all are mortal, not one exempted 
From Satan’s quick device; each is tempted. 
Conspicuous at, corners ev’ry where 
The gilded signs, the blazing lamps, the 
snare 
To coax, entice, to cheat you to your face 
Of all that’s noble in the human race. 
But I’m digressing; bye-and-bye I’ll tell 
Of evils that we see and know so well 
.Yet take no warning, for to every hand 
We turn to see the same throughout the 
laud. 
Such then this favor’d spot for comfort, health, 
Or riches, if you yet must strive for wealth. 
But how to make it ? 1 will take you where 
Keen speculation turns an equal share 
Of labor, genius, art, in business whirl’d 
To find that magnet whicn will draw the 
world. 
Nature’s planning, but busy men applied 
The plauteau ’tween the East aud Western 
side; 
The depot, which Superior ores has made 
A great emporium of the iron trade. 
Machinery of eve’ry shape and kind 
In eve’ry trade where metals used you’ll find 
In constant action by mechanic skill, 
Producing wonders of the human will. 
All buyers here the utmost wants can win, 
Be suited from an anchor to a pin. 
In constant toil these workshops never cease 
Dispensing implements for war or peace. 
Steam’s mighty power! mechanism splen- 
did! 
Rare invention, are in science blended. 
It is not strange where so much work is done, 
Are men of every people ’neath the sun; 
A varied crowd, such a congregation 
Of ev’ry handicraft; from every station 
In liie’s stage, samples of every nation 
Could scarce be matched in ail creation, 
As a community in one location. 
’Tis certain Virtue does not reign alone 
In such a medley. Tempting Vice’s throne 
Is well supported ; hourly, all day long 
Brings some fresh bait to catch the busy 
throng. 
Not the men—it is the money sought for 
By strength of limb, sweat of brow they’ve 
worked for. 
Lottery unerring—a bank quite sure 
To catch the earnings of both rich and poor. 
The medium’s plain ’tis proven daily, 
“Whisky”—lrish, Scotch, Monongahela, 
So read the tinsel labels, but to hide 
The poison by the X’ multiplied; 
The workman’s curse, the drunkard’s boon 
Quite pure, of course, served out in each 
saloon. 
Would it were so distilled from good old rye, 
Or corn, or wheat, in safety then we’d try, 
At needed hours and then discreetly use, 
But not as now so foolishly abuse 
In dissipation. Oh! how many times 
Is drunkeness the parent of all crimes! 
How altered ! The old folks used to sup 
Their beverages from the bowl, the stirrup 
cup 
In sociality; or swell the tide 
In mirth or friendship around their fire- 
side. 
Or when good company were;called to dine, 
’Twas the custom then to pass around the 
wine. 
The usual thing, a glass of ale at lunch, 
And after supper try a drop of punch. 
They meant no harm, indeed propriety, 
Such was the rule in good society. 
The pioneer to lend a neighboring axe, 
Claimed the earthen jug, then the only tax. 
The sturdy farmer scarce an acre tilled 
Without, behind the stump it lay, well 
filled. 
Mechanic, laborer, hunter, in good cheer, 
Indulged in spirits or in healthier beer. 
Free from acquired disease, so passed their 
day. 
In vigorous healthjthey rose, inTest they lay. 
Not fearing calls irom furious demons. 
Nor hell on earth—Delirium Tremens— 
Avaunt! ye specters! whisky-craving sad- 
ness ! 
Blue devils! snakes! suicidal madness 1 
The old folks’ ale was made from malt and 
hops, 
Their rum was essence of the sugar crops. 
Merry toasts they gave without a parley, 
In foamy fusions strong, made from barley. 
Without a dread, they would be pleased to 
take 
A little whisky for the stomach’s sake-; 
Or, if high-minded, could their taste enhance, 
By drinking brandy—genuine—pure, from 
France. 
But why continue in this catalogue 
Of things of by-gone days and purer grog ? 
Suffice it t’ say, the world is changed, we’re 
sure; 
’Tis difficult to get a thing that’s pure. 
Notice now the many shakes and shrugs 
Men make to swallow manufactured drugs 
In shape of cordials! why, it is enough 
To make men swear against the cursed stuff 
That brings disease, sin, crime, with all the 
rest 
Of evils, fresh from Satan’s medicine chest. 
Now don’t mistake me. Much as I respect 
Men ol the olden time, I don’t elect 
Their habits as the standard, nor the way 
We ought to live in this enlightened day ; 
Or that their friendly hospitality 
Must be our rule or partiality. 
And while I eulogize an ancient brand 
Of purer liquor, yet I make no stand 
Upon such foolish grounds to build a chance 
Of reformation from imtemperance. 
The Holy Scriptures saith that Bechab’s vow 
Of abstinence was blest from then till now. 
For all the times to come, no change to sever ; 
What God himself has oless’d, is blest for- 
ever. 
All history, tradition tells the tale, 
That men prolong their years robust and 
hale, 
In hearty strength to hoary veneration, 
By self-denial; and in moderation 
Supply with prudence nature’s craving wants 
Of meat and drink, not needing stimulants 
Nor bitter nostrums prescribed by patent 
right, 
Easy to be taken, morning, noon and night. 
Or by the hour, in ounce, or dram, or drop, 
To make one’s self a traveling doctor’s shop. 
Too true, indeed, the maxim now so rife, 
Adulteration kills the nation’s life. 
But purest spirits taken to excess 
Becomes a habit leads to drunkenness. 
With its companions which I need not 
name, 
Once contracted, a life can scarce reclaim. 
Fatal, indeed, this bane of human ills 
Destroys all earthly ties and prison fills 
With fallen creatures, their own conscience 
shocked 
At being so easy led, so cruel mocked, 
Plung’d in fearful crimes by intoxication’s 
Unaccountable infatuation. 
The brain is fired, the baser passions led 
To rule the mortal now already dead 
To self-control, or reason’s prudent sway. 
Virtue disappearing, all shame away, 
Friends, cares ot business, love of home 
forgot, 
Proud man becomes a slave, poor drunken sot. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
Vile, miserable in all its features, 
Such the case with simple-minded creatures. 
But mark the difference in another kind 
Of beings, blest in cultured thought of mind. 
With muscular proportions in the scale 
So equal balanced yet indeed so frail 
To shun temptation. They are easy tools 
When once adapted; always greater fools 
Than other people, when to vice they turn. 
For every feeling in them seems to burn 
To dive in deeper wickedness, and win 
A popularity in every sin. 
Created appetites they must appease ; 
Indulgence to excess becomes disease; 
Their judgment blinded they imagine still 
The mind can reason o’er their stillborn will. 
Till, suddenly, a demon grasps the whole 
Free agency of body, will and soul 
And in its madness with a fiendish speed, 
Propels the action of some fearful deed. 
Then, the mental agony condenses 
In remorse to bring him to his senses. 
Too late, too late! the horrid act is done! 
The dearest friends forsake the guilty one. 
For tho’ their pitying eyes with tears grow 
dim 
It would disgrace them to acknowledge him, 
So lately loved, respected, by them thought 
Irreproachable in honor, now brought 
To degradation, pondering o’er his doom. 
Unthought, uncared for, in a living tomb.— 
A castleated cage where cruel fate 
Shuts every ray of hope outside the gate; 
Menagerie of human woe! Within 
The victims of depravity and sin. 
Coming and going daily are the tides— 
Thieves, burglars, counterfeiters, homicides, 
Fresh recruits, some old veterans in crime, 
Yet innocent,biding each their time 
When judge and jury justly sit to hear, 
Their lawyers talented with wit to clear 
The charge, or till the evidence has built 
Testimony of sure and certain guilt. 
Then no time to pine for late repentance; 
Convicted criminal, get your sentence, 
Crest-fallen, hopeless back to jail, from 
thence 
To death or to the home of penitence. 
And there in lonely meditation cast 
To view the misdemeanors of the past, 
Bereft of nome, of children and of wife, 
To learn the moral of a misspent life. 
Or if by youth or choice there is no tie 
To bind, yet mothers, sisters brothers lie 
Exposed to all the shame, disgrace that tend 
To bring their relatives to such an end. 
Wages of sin, equity disburses 
To the criminal, yet leaves the curses 
Bound our doors for ready cash. Eureka ! 
Sure temptation for the pleasure seeker. 
How plain Ohio’s statute, still the law, 
Can varnish over well, to find a flaw 
In the indictment, just by petty fines 
Smooth over sin, to draw the moral lines 
Of give and take, and not of right and wrong. 
The liquor law is hardly worth the song 
Of groceries, which reap the greatest gain 
Of Western practice in the law of Maine. 
My fellow-citizens ! do you suppose 
Incarceration holds the tithe of those 
Amenable to punishment ? Oh, ho! 
Bight in your midst, in calm assurance, go 
Criminals bad as any in the jail. 
But they have friends who readily go their 
bail 
For each and every crime, or pay the fare 
Thro’ litigation; or just on the Square 
Compass it in friendship, to let it slip. 
For what’s the odd’s it we’re In fellowship ? 
All these are good; we dare not throw a shade 
On any skilled in such a trade, 
Nor by an imputation in the least, 
Ignore the ancient travellers in the East. 
Oft do we mourn the loss, but to condemn 
Ourselves, to pity, we are not of them. 
Philanthropic mystery, two in one, 
Friends by the Signet of King Solomon. 
Then wh-. are punished? those by fortune 
thrown 
Upon their own rescources, by their own 
Extravagance are left without redress, 
Poverty-stricken, poor and penniless; 
No friends nor influence, they have no fee 
To palm the prosecutor and be free. 
For e’en in homicide we often see 
The crime reduced from first to last degree. 
The manner’s simple, tho’ not often told 
Just calm the conscience with the ready 
gold. 
But he who is not blest with gilded pelf 
Must die the death, be sacrificed himself 
For an example to his fellow man 
Who takes so many months to form a plan. 
Pre-flxed maliciously in purpose, set 
To meditations, deliberate, to get 
Official stepping stones, great ambition 
Send your erring brother to perdition ! 
Bed-ridden judgment, bigoted, endow’d 
By notoriety to please the crowd. 
Clearest case for learned prosecution 
The fee—scientific execution. 
Such wisdom, man’s law of God by Moses— 
’Tis obsolete, for who to-day supposes 
Adultery, Sabbath breakers, the breath 
Of slander, each and all "‘be ston’d to death.” 
The same for other scores! Economy 
In time compels. See Deuteronomy. 
Did Jesus say so, ’mid the crowd’s uproar? 
No! “Saint throw first; Go woman, sin no 
more.” 
Just one point’s sacred, such logic’s fallow, 
A gnat to strain at, a camel swallow. 
Not quoting punishment to pride, “Naaman, 
Wash, be clean,” but hang him up like 
Haman. 
In numbers xxxv is this decree, 
‘Crazed homicides, to refuge cities flee.” 
We have one, tho’ they had nearly seven. 
How! we save trouble, send them straight 
to heaven. 
A foreign patriot soldier saith, 
I fear not harships, nor reads’- death. 
Admitted I am guilty of an act 
Of cruel madness, yet rehearse the fact 
Of services rendered, and in mercy’s name 
Just spare the imfarny, disgrace and shame 
Will be bequeathed ft om the fatal tree, 
And ignominious fame for legacy, 
To save the widow’d relict, offspring young, 
The taunt that one so dear to them was 
hung. 
A momentary pang and all is done 
For him. Who then, is punished ? wife and 
son. 
Now reason which is best; proof is ample ; 
Crime Is no decreased by death’s example. 
If he has any talent in his trade, 
Whate’er his calling, be it pen or spade, 
Instead of double murder let him rue 
The deed by doing all the work of two 
In meeting his atonement face to face, 
A useful servant to the human race. 
Punish, reform, not in coolness giving 
Life to death with curses for the living. 
Such ideas do not shift a suture . 
In the operations for the future. 
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, ancient reason 
Is lead by law, Christ says, out of season. 
If not satisfied with such conviction. 
Let the, argument be proved by fiction. 
Our mind is too much troubled to rehearse 
Far-fetched saws now, but to end my verse, 
Like prosecutors, editors, I’ll go 
From Scripture texts to Shakespeare’s plays 
to show 
That law is fiction, decreed diversion, 
Still immutable like Mede and Persian. 
They pick speeches given in the quarrel; 
We give Othello’s words; ’Tis the moral 
Of others like him; mark the quotation, 
The dying Moor gives his last oration: 
“Soft you, a word or two before you go. 
I have done the State some service, and they 
know it. 
No more of that, I pray you; in your letter, 
Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, 
Nor set down ought in malice: then must von 
speak 
Of one, that loved not wisely but too well. 
Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought, 
Perplexed in the extreme; * K‘ * 
* * * I kissed thee * * * 
• * * Killing myself to die upon a kiss. 14 
THE INDICTMENT. 
Strangest problem, drunkenness with lust is ; 
Sole solution,—retributive justice. 
Proof—metaphysical phrenology, 
Physiological pathology. 
A few more hours to live—prepare— 
I then must die. 
Adieu, my wife; my child, farewell ! 
Kind friends, good byes 
John W. Hughes, Surgeon. 
Cleveland, County Jail. 
Thus was whiled away the long Interval afforded the Doctor, in his 
cell, for the review of, and reflection on, his past career and the fifth act 
of his enacted tragedy. The sultry days of August wore away, Septem- 
ber passed, and October merged into November, offering days which 
were full of mental suffering to the prisoner. The Court of Common 
Pleas opened its sessions on the 13th of November, and on the 25th of 
that month, the Grand Jury returned the following indictment for 
murder in the first degree against John W. Hughes : 
THE STATE OF OHIO, 
Cuyahoga County, SS. 
there by force of the gunpowder aforesaid 
by the said John W. Hughes discharged 
and shot off as aforesaid, then and there 
unlawfully, purposely, with deliberate and 
premeditated malice and with intent there- 
by purposely and of deliberate and pre- 
meditated malice, her the said Tamzen 
Parsons then and there to kill and murder, 
did strike, penetrate and wound the said 
Tamzen Parsons in and upon the back of 
the neck of her the said Tamzen Parsons, 
purposely and of deliberate and premedi- 
tated malice, one mortal wound of the 
length of one inch, of the breadth of one 
inch, of the depth of four inches, of 
which said mortal wound so as aforesaid, 
purposely and of deliberate and premedi- 
tated malice given by the said John W. 
Hughes to the said Tamzen Parsons, she 
the said Tamzen Parsons then and there 
died ; and so the Jurors aforesaid, upon 
their oath aforesaid, do say that the said 
John W. Hughes, her the said Tamzen 
Parsons, in the manner and by the means 
aforesaid, on • the day and year aforesaid, 
at the County of Cuyahoga aforesaid, 
purposely and of deliberated premedita- 
ted malice did kill and murder, contrary 
to the form the statute in such case made 
and provided and against_ the peace and 
dignity of the State of Ohio. 
At a term of the Court of Common 
Pleas, begun and held at the Court House 
in Cleveland, within and for said County 
of Cuyahoga, on the thirteenth day of 
November, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and sixty five, the 
Jurors of the Grand Jm-y of the State of 
Ohio, and of the County of Cuyahoga, 
good and lawful men, then and there re- 
turned, tried, empanneled, sworn and. 
charged to enquire within and for the 
body of the County of Cuyahoga, at the 
term aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, 
in the name and by the State of Ohio, do 
present and find that John W. Hughes, 
late of the County aforesaid, on the ninth 
day of August in the year of our Lord, 
one thousand eight hundred and sixty five, 
with force and arms at the County afore- 
said, in and upon one Tamzen Parsons, 
then and there being, did, unlawfully, 
forcibly and of deliberate and premediia- 
ted malice, make an assault, and that the 
said John W. Hughes a certain pistol then 
and there charged with gun powder and 
one leaden bullet, which said pistol he, 
the said John W. Hughes, in his right 
hand then and there had and held, then 
and there unlawfully, purposely and of 
deliberate and premeditated malice and 
with intent then and there and thereby pur- 
posely and of deliberate and premedita- 
ted malice she the said Tamzen Parsons 
to kill and murder, did discharge and 
shoot off to, against and upon the said 
Tamzen Parsons, and that the said John 
W. Hughes with the leaden bullet afore- 
said, out of the pistol aforesaid then and 
CHARLES W. PALMER, 
Prosecuting Attorney, 
of Cuyahoga County. 
The Doctor was arraigned the same 
day, the 25th, and entered a plea of not 
guilty, when his case was set for Decem- 
ber 4th. PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF THE PRISONER. 
One seldom sees a finer looking man than was Dr. Hughes. He 
was “ the mould of form,” and presented which, in point 
of proportion and devlopment, must needs command the admiration 
not only of underlings and invalids, but of those possessed of 
figures which hint the Apollo. He was five feet eleven inches in height, 
of excellent proportions, and his frame so harmoniously compounded 
and the parts so firmly knit, that his attitude and carriage were at 
once graceful and dignified. He moved about with the ease and grace 
of a woman, while his bearing was at the same time regal. His skin 
was as polished as marble, and his flesh as firm as a granite slab. He 
had, in fine, a perfectly developed organization, andwas the best animal 
in the world. And he had a full-blooded habit. He always wore 
the florid aspect of the hearty, ale-drinking, beef-eating Englishman. 
The head was large and fully developed, especially at its base. 
An inclination to baldness gave him an older appearance than 
was warranted by fact, but the hair he had was of a brown color 
and glossy,' and dressed in the “French twist mode.” He wore a 
becoming moustache and imperial. He eyes were very large and 
blue, and had that strong earnest look which of itself seems to give 
brutes their power of vision at night. The expression of his eyes 
varied widely, and he appeared to have the power of discharging from 
Xhemall expression. At other times they seemed to be set on fire of 
hell, and again they were and gave one the impression that 
they were deep, but impenetrable. They could assume a sinister ex- 
pression, and we can easily believe the statement of Mrs. Christian, 
that the Doctorlooked “venomous” when she told him that Tamzen had 
set her affections on another. The right eye looked larger than 
the other, owing to the fact that it was once knocked so far out that 
it hung upon the cheek. 
The wood cut on the fly leaf of this pamphlet, which was engraved by 
Mr. Tibbetts, of this city, from an excellent photograph taken by aid 
of chemical light, by Mr. Thomas T. Sweney, the well-known army 
artist, gives a very fair and faithful exhibit of the head and face. 
The Doctor was a man of most remarkable nerve, and when all was 
seething around him and the breath of the excited populace puffed up 
hot in Ids face, he was cool and collected as when alone in his office. 
His power of self-possession evinced itself when he was captured; 
when he was brought into court to testify on the examination of his 
companion Russell, and on every trying occasion during the progress 
of his trial. He was statuesque and held the reins of his faculties with 
a firm, resolute hand. There was never a single instance of. halting 
or toning down, but whether listening to the verdict of the jury, ad- 16 
PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF THE PRISONER. 
dressing the court when there was left no hope, hearing the sentence 
pronounced, receiving the news of the failure of the effort 
fort to secure the commutation of his sentence, he was ever borne up 
by nerves of steel and muscles of iron. Though others sank under the 
proceedings, he was never visibly moved, much less unmanned. And 
this was, apparently, the result of no effort; there was no manifest 
working of himself up to the sticking point; nor, on the other hand, 
did he seem indifferent to the issue, and make the impression of a 
hardened villain who cared not for his fate. Life was sweet to him, 
as to all; but he knew from the first that his case was desperate, that 
death must inevitably be his doom, and he committed himself to that 
issue, and saw, without the movement of a muscle or a quickened pulse, 
one dream after another fade into nothingness, and hopes fail, and de- 
sires come to nought. 
The Doctor had the appearance of a man of very considerable cul- 
ture, and his conversation made good his claim upon the attention of 
the intelligent. Members of the medical fraternity acknowledge his 
ability as a surgeon, and it is said that he never in his practice 
betrayed the confidence of his profession. It would seem that his pat- 
rons had faith in his judgment, skill and integrity as a practitioner, for 
they remained till his death his best friends, remembering him in his 
cell, daily, and sending him the delicacies of the season and whatever 
would minister to his temporal wants or gratify his tastes. THE TRIAL. 
The Grand Jury having returned an indictment for murder in the 
first degree against John W. Hughes, the Criminal Branch of the 
Court of Common Pleas, Judge Coffinberry presiding, was occupied 
all the forenoon of Saturday, December 2d, in impannelling a special 
jury, which was composed of the following men: 
Moses Hunt, Brecksville; William: Barr, Brecksville; Buell 
Stearns, Olmsted; Jesse H. Luce, Orange; Henry Fish, Brooklyn; 
William C. Snow, Parma; Marius Moore, Dover; John G. Has- 
serott, Cleveland; Thomas Garfield, Newburgh; Joseph Slaght, 
Cleveland; Lawton Boss, Brooklyn ; Alfred Kellogg, Brooklyn. 
M. S. Castle and R. E. Knight, Esqs., consented to serve as coun- 
sel for the accused, and they, together with William S. Kerruish, 
Esq., conducted the defense; Charles W. Palmer, Esq., conducted 
the prosecution, assisted by Albert T. Slade, Esq. When it was 
announced that Judge Ranney’s services could not be counted on, as 
they had confidently been, Wm. S. Kerruish, Esq., defendant’s orig- 
inal attorney, endeavored to get a postponement of the case to the next 
terra of the court. But the court, although disposed to exercise all 
lawful clemency, could not consent to a postponement after Wednes- 
day morning. At a quarter past ten o’clock Wednesday morning, 
December 6th, the case was called again. Very soon every foot of 
standing room was occupied by an interested public. The roll of 
jurors was called. The defendant sat down among his counsel. Im- 
prisonment had told somewhat on him. He was considerably reduced 
in flesh, and wore a pale, nervous aspect. Charles W. Palmer, Esq,.,, 
opened the case by giving the jury an admirable summary of the inci- 
dents and events which led to the tragic death of Miss Parsons. The 
roll of witnesses on the part of the State was then called, and the 
court addressed itself to the elimination of the evidence: 
TESTIMONY of MR. HAYNES. 
substitute in the'' army, and give Tamzen 
his bounty and leave the country, if the 
prosecution could be stopped, adding that 
it would be better for her, as a continua- 
tion of it would lead to unpleasant disclo- 
sures. 
Joseph B. Haynes sworn: I reside in 
the village of Bedford. Have lived there 
thirty-two years. Knew Tamzen Parsons, 
who was sister of my wife. Have known 
the defendant since December, 1864. 
Was introduced to him in my house by 
Henry Parsons, cousin of Tamzen. Hav- 
ing had information that 'i amzen had 
gone to Pittsburgh with Dr. Hughes, I 
started, at the instance of her parents, for 
that place, on the morning of Dec. 20th, 
and arrived there at night I went to the 
Mayor’s Joffice on the 21st, and, aided by 
several policemen, succeeded in finding 
Tamzen on a room at the St. Clair Hotel, 
where I was shown, by her, a certificate of 
her marriage with Dr. Hughes. The Dr. 
was soon after arrested in the office of the 
hotel, and taken to the lock-up. He was 
soon brought before the Mayor, when he 
•nade a little speech, declaring he would 
never live with his wife again, on account 
of her dissipated habits. He had been 
home two or three times and found her 
beastly drunk, and was resolved to leave 
her. He proposed to me then to go as a 
I next saw Hughes Jan. 2d, the day I 
returned to Pittsburgh ; for I had been 
home. On the 4th inst., I saw him in 
jail. He still expressed anxiety to have 
the prosecution stopped. I next saw him 
on the day of his trial. I saw him again 
on the day of the murder in Bedford. I 
recognized him near the Franklin House, 
in the village. This was about- 2 o clock 
P. M. Had seen Tamzen five minutes 
previous. She and her mother had come 
to my house. Miss Parsons went out in a 
very few minutes. Very soon after, Mrs. 
Parsons went to the gate in front of the- 
house, and started after Tamzen. I soon 
followed and saw a considerable number 
of excited people north of Columbus St 
Ran down to that street and saw that they 
were running to and from Mr. Christian’s 
Came back to Calhoun street, 
where'soon after, I saw a carriage move 
off, very moderately, towards Cleveland. 18 
TRIAL OF DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
The people were running around, en- 
quiring what the matter was; heard some 
of them say Tamzen Parsons was shot. 
Dr. Hughes was in the carriage ; after it 
got to the marble shop it went on more 
rapidly. I got a horse from a neighbor's 
stable and started in pursuit of the car- 
riage; was joined by Elisha Matthews on 
horseback ; we kept on the Cleveland road 
about a mile till we came to the road 
leading west, a mile this side of the vil- 
lage; turned down the west road one- 
fonrth of a mile to the crossing of the 
Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad, where 
we saw a Mr. Scott; he took Matthews’ 
horse, Scott having a revolver ; after pass- 
ing the railroad from one-third to one-half 
of a mile, I saw the carriage stop and a 
man get out who jumped over the fence and 
ran towards the woods ; ran north toward 
Newburgh. When the carriage stopped 
Scott overtook me ; we rode together after 
the carriage, which had turned south after 
reaching Dunham street road; overtook 
the carriage before it had gone one-fourth 
of a mile; came back with the carriage to 
the railroad crossing ; Scott took the car- 
riage from that place ; I parted with him 
at that point. I went to Newburgh and 
with Cleveland officers came toward Bed- 
ford, and when two miles this side of Bed- 
ford met the carriage containing Dr. 
Hughes, Andrews, and others whom I did 
not recognize, I did not identify the per- 
son who jumped out of the carriage and 
xan to the woods. When Tamzen left my 
house she said she was going to Mr. Chris- 
tian s. I left ray house in less than five 
minutes after Tamzen left. 
She then went into the house, got a shawl 
and went out the second time. Shortly 
after the Doctor went into the house, and 
went iiirough into the kitchen. She then 
came inr She said to him, “Doctor, I 
wish you would go away, for father won t 
talk with yon.’’ Mr. Parsons was at that 
time in the kitchen. The old gentleman 
took hold of him and attempted to 
put him out of the door. The Doctor 
cume out into the sitting-room, where we 
were, and sat down on his feet by Tamzen, 
and said to her, ‘T have a home already 
furnished nicely for you, and will make a 
lady of you.” She told him she would 
not go. He took a chair and sat quite a 
while, and asked my son to get a pail of 
water for his horse. Doctor soon got in- 
to his buggy and drove toward the Plank 
Road House. He was gone~an hour, I 
guess, I had gone home, but saw him 
come back. He went into the kitchen at 
Mr. Parsons’, sad down and smoked a 
pipe When I went in, he asked Tamzen 
who I was. She said, “a I 
went back home, leaving my son with 
Tamzen. I saw him go away again toward 
the Plank lload House. 
Tamzen told the Doctor—but just when 
I can’t remember—that she wouldn’t go 
with him to Cleveland, for he had deceived 
her once, and she was afraid he would 
again. He told her his first wife had gone 
home. He had given her money and sha 
had gone home to her friends. 
When the Doctor was on the steps, she 
went to him, and he put his arm around 
her and tried to coax her to go to Cleve- 
land. She told him she couldn't go then, 
and while standing there, she took hold of 
the casement inside the door. My son 
tmk hold of her hand. The Doctor left 
about daylight. 
Eliza Krum sworn: I reside in Bed- 
ford township, just across the street from 
the residence ol Thomas Parsons, on the 
plank rofed, one mile from the village of 
Bedford. Had seen defendent about two 
weeks before the death of Tamzen, about 
twelve o’clock at night. Mr. Parsons 
came to our house, woke us up, and re- 
quested me and my husband to go over 
and stay with his daughter while he went 
to Bedford for her mother. We went im- 
mediately, my son and myself. Dr. 
Hughes stood outside on the front door- 
step. Tamzen opened the front door and 
spoke to Dr. Hughes, saying: “I see you 
there behind the bushes.” He advanced, 
when she shut the door. The Doctor then 
asked for a drink of water, she inside, he 
outside. She got a light, procured a glass 
of water, took it to the front door and 
opened the same. The Doctor had got 
into his carriage, and driven down in front 
of the door, in the road. She spoke to him, 
saying “you must be thirsty.” He asked 
her to come out to the gate, as he wanted 
to speak with her. She went out and 
talked with him until her father returned. 
TESTIMONY OP MRS. KRUM. 
I next saw the Doctor at his examina* 
tion for housebreaking. Saw him again 
the day after that He was in at Mr. 
Thomas Parsons’ house, with a man 
named Parsons, from this city. He came 
into my house to light a cigar an hour or 
so after I first saw the carriage. They 
came between nine and ten o’clock A. M. 
They took supper at my house that night 
—the Doctor and his companion Parsam* 
—and left for Cleveland. 
Next saw the Doctor the day of the mar* 
der. He came to our house about ten 
o’clock that morning with a man whom 
he called either Major Hazen or Hansom 
He asked how Miss Parsons got along, and 
where she was. He was told that she had 
blackberry!ng. Asked for some 
water, and then, stepping to the door, 
said, Mr. Thomas Parsons is in the street 
Spoke to him. Mr. Parsons came through 
our gate, and shook hands, when 
they went round the side of the 
house and talked about half an hour* 
when they, the Doctor and his companion TRIAL OP DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
19 
—went away toward the Plank Road 
House. No one from our house had, in 
the meantime, gone over to Mr. Parsons. 
I went over there and found Mrs. Chris- 
tian. Heard nothing but this, from Mrs. 
Christian: ‘‘You needn’t worry yourself 
Doctor, for her affections are elsewhere 
placed.” He got up immediately and 
left the room. The Doctor looked as if 
he felt bad and hateful. He immediately 
went to his carriage. 
I saw Dr. Hughes drive back, can’t tell 
how long after, and stop at our gate. 
Tamzen had left for Bedford with her 
father. The Doctor asked my husband to 
get in and ride down to the village, His 
companion, Major Hanson, wanted us to 
get them something to eat. My husband 
joined them and rode to Bedford. I told 
the Doctor before he started that Mr. 
Parsons people were going to arrest him 
again. He replied that he would have 
that business all settled- I did not see 
Hughes again before the murder. In 
about half an hour after they left I heard 
of the murder. 
and said they were likely to effect a set- 
tlement. While Hughes was talking with 
Tamzen in the buggy, I heard him say, * I 
am the drunkest I havebeensince—”, and 
that was all I heard. 
On the day of the murder I was cradling 
oafs near the Plank Road House. Saw 
the earring- driving toward the house from 
the direction of Bedford. In about half 
an hour I went-to the house to get a glass 
of beer. Dr. Hughes slapped me on the 
shoulder and said, “Old man, you are just 
in time to get a glass of beer.” He hand- 
ed me a glass, and I drank it. By the al- 
ternate orders of Hughes and Russell, the 
g’asses were filled and drank half a dozen 
times. About that time a Dutchman came 
in. Russell said, “mother, get us some 
beer for this Dutchman.” He drank from 
ten to a dozen glasses. We had several 
glasses after that. Hughes and Rnssell 
went into another room, and I went home. 
While the Dutchman was there he did all 
the drinking. I judged the beer to be 
“present use” ale. The beer-drinking wag 
in a grocery opposite the Plank Road 
House, not in that house. It was remark- 
ed then that Hughes’ face was very red, 
and Russell (the major) rubbed flouron it. 
I do not think the beer drank at the gro- 
cery was very intoxicating; I was as sober 
when I drank the last glass as I was at first. 
After taking dinner at home, I started 
back to work, when my boy said, “there 
comes Hughes’ carriage.” When I got to 
my gate the carriage arrived there. The 
Doctor asked me if Mr. Parsons’ folks 
were at home- Told him I thought not; 
that I heard our folks say they had gone 
down to Bedford. My wife appeared at 
the door, when either Hughes or I asked 
her when Mr. P.’s folks went, and how.— 
They asked me to get into the buggy and 
go to the village. He said again, “Get in, 
we won’t be long.” I sent for my coat, and 
got in with the Doctor and the Major.-* 
There was a driver on the box. Hughes 
told the latter to drive nretty fast. W hen 
we got opposite the postoffice in Bedford, 
Hughes told the driver to haul up there. 
He turned around before he halted, the 
horses heading toward Cleveland. Hughes 
got out and went into Mr. Christian’s tailor 
shop, and was there a moment or two.— 
Was going to get into the carriage, when 
he saw Mr. Thomas Parsons in a wagon 
just back of us. The Doctor walked back 
and met Mr Parsons, and talked a minute, 
and then got into the carriage. He said 
to Mr. Parsons, “Old man, drive up and 
take a glass of beer.” We drove to the 
Fountain House. Hughes went in and 
asked them if they had any beer. They 
said, “Yes.” But no beer was called for, 
Hughes going out immediately. Mr. Par- 
sons didn’t stop. I got out to go into Mr. 
Hammond’s store. When I got to the 
postoffice, 1 heard that the Doctor had 
TESTIMONY OF MR. KRUM. 
William Krum sworn : I was at home 
the night Dr. Hughes entered the house of 
Thomas Parson, about two weeks before 
the death of his daughter. I got up, and 
laid down by my own gate. Dr. Hughes 
was in his own buggy in the road, and 
Tamzen was standing in her father’s yard 
by the fence. Hughes asked her to get in- 
to the buggy and go with him to Cleveland. 
She said he had deceived her once and he 
couldn’t again. He said he had a room 
in Cleveland, well furnished—and added 
that she had no need to alarm the neigh- 
borhood ; they might ‘have a talk, 
and no one know anything about it; that 
the old man had gone down to Bedford to 
get help, but better believe I am pretty 
damned well armed. He added, “I ’spose 
you’ll go down to morrow and spread it 
around.” She replied that she thought 
she should go down to-morry. He said, 
“you can tell Joe Haynes that if I meet 
him in the street I’ll wring his nose for 
him.” She said, what will you do to me 
if you meet me ; He said he wouldn’t hurt 
a hair of her head. 
The conversation between Hughes and 
Tamzen was what I call a tender and 
persuasive conversation, though he called 
her once or twice a fool. 
Next time I saw Doctor was, I judge, 
the next Sunday. He was about twenty 
rods from my house, talking with a colored 
man, named Tibbs. I went and talked with 
them-Hughes told me he had a friend over 
at Mr. Parsons’ house, who was “trying to 
settle his difficulty with them.” referring 
to his trial for breaking into Mr. Parsons" 
house. He soon went out and talked with 
this mao. (I think his name was Parsons) 20 
TRIAL OF DR, JOHN W. HUGHES. 
killed Tamzen Parsons. I turned about 
and saw the carriage starting off towards 
Cleveland. 
which was put in the bottom of the car- 
: riage. Hughes then asked Kewish to go 
and get some beer, and said they would! 
be friends. We then went to the hotel. 
Soon saw Mr. Fish and another man drive 
up, and took the horse that Dr. H. had, 
and dr>ve off toward the Plank Road 
House, Hughes remaining in the bar-room. 
Fish afterward took Hughes t- 'ward the 
Plank Road House, where he said he 
wanted to stop. Hughes at this time first 
said he had been at Chagrin Falls making 
an amputation, and got $3OO for it. Next 
saw Hughes at the same house some time 
afterward. He told roe he had been ar- 
rested for an assault upon Parsons, and 
asked me what time it was that he came 
to see me that morning, and what conver- 
sation took place between us. He said on 
that morning he had come directly from 
Parsons’ house ; that he had had a little 
difficulty with the old gentleman; that he 
refused to leave his premises, and also to 
drive of, after getting into his carriage ; 
that Miss Parsons came out and talked 
with him some time after he was in the 
carriage. He said that Parsons went 
over the way and got some one from the 
house opposite. He then said that his 
examination on charge of assau t would 
take place the next day, and wanted me 
to come and attend it. 
I did not discover anything wrong in 
the Doctor when he came to my house the 
last time, from the Plank Road House.— 
Don't know that he spoke a word going 
down to Bedford. 
TESTIMONY OF DR. WRAY. 
Dr. Ben. F. Wray sworn: Live in Au- 
burn, Geauga Co.; and formerly in War- 
rensville. Know Dr. Hughes; saw him 
at Warrensville two or three weeks be- 
fore Tamzen Parsons’ death. I saw him 
just previous to his trial, and prior to that 
in Warrensville, when he told me he had 
been toChagrinFalls to perform a surgical 
operation. Had been to Parsons house 
the night before, he said. He came to my 
office, two and a half miles South of the 
Plank Road House, at five o’clock A. M.; 
came into my room ; told me to get up im- 
mediately. I said I would see him below 
in a short time. I went down, and found 
him asleep on the sofa. After dinner 
he got up and wanted to know how long 
he had been sleeping. We went to the 
bar-room and drank a glass of beer. After 
he had eaten he drank again, when, start- 
ing toward the door, he motioned me to 
follow him. We went out into the road 
and he asked me if I had heard anything 
of Miss Parsons, almost whispering it to 
roe. I said I had heard her spoken of, but 
not recently. He then asked me if I knew 
where Joe Haynes was, and,a lid I had seen 
him at Bedford—that he was still there in 
business. Dr. H. then asked me if Miss 
P. was in his (Haynes’) family, and when 
I had heard of her, and where she was; I 
told him I did not know her whereabouts. 
Dr. H. hesitated some, and then said'she 
(Miss Parscns) was calling herself Mrs. 
Hughes, and said it was a disgrace to him; 
asked me if I had a revolver or pistol; I 
told him I had neither one ; I then said, 
“Doc., what do jrou want it for?” and he 
replied after hesitation, that if Miss Par 
sons persisted in calling herself Mrs- 
Hughes, he would blow her d—d brains 
out, and would also do likewise by Joseph 
Haynes, He wanted me to go and ride 
with him. < refused, but finally went. He 
said, at the time of his arrest, (I think at 
Pittsburgh,) he had given some valuable 
papers to Miss Parsons, and wished to get 
them in his possession again; that he was 
going to her father’s house, but started the 
Other way, (North,) owing to the horse re- 
fusing to go South ; he said soon, there’s 
a man coming I wish to see, and stopped, 
and said to the man that he (Hughes) 
wanted the sword he had left with him 
(the man) some time before. His name 
was Kewish, and he offered to give Hughes 
the sword if he would go to his house, 
which we did, and Hughes got the sword, 
Ori Carr sworn: Live in Cleveland, 
Was at Bedford when Miss Parsons was 
shot. Dr. Hughes and Russell came to 
my carriage on Bank street, between nine 
and ten P. M., the night before Tamzen 
was shot. They called me “Bug,” a nick- 
name. Russell introduced me to Hughes, 
and he asked me what I’d charge to go to 
Bedford. I told him ten dollars. Russell 
has a saloon under Hughes’ old office, in 
the same block on Ontario street. I drove 
there, left my team on the opposite side 
of the street, went over to Hughes office 
to see if be was ready. Then they got in- 
to the carriage and I drove to several 
houses to get some women to go with 
them, but did not succeed. Hughes told 
Russell he knew where to go, and ordered 
me to drive out Kinsman street. Went 
to Newburg and stopped at the hotel, and 
got a glass of beer. We drove on, Hughes 
directing as to the road, about a mile 
and a half, when he got out, and said he 
didn’t know whether it was best to go on 
to Bedford or stop at the place he had 
mentioned, as they had no grain for the 
horses there. Took some liquor from a 
flask he had. Then we drove to Beford, 
nothing more being said on the road. 
Stopped at the Franklin House. Hughes 
said they wanted to get up by six o,clock, 
and start by seven. Hughes and Russell 
came down about seven o’clock, after be- 
ing called. I got out my team and they 
TESTIMONY OF MR. CARR. TRIAL OP DB. JOH1? W. HUGHES. 
21 
got into the carriage. Hughes directed 
rd&VM) drive on to the Cleveland road. 
He« Mopped me after going'a few rods and 
senile to tell a man standing at a house 
ddbr'ihat he wanted to see him. I told 
the man, who said if Hugheswanted to see 
him he might come to him. Having de- 
livered my message Hughes told me to 
drive on. He said, “That man has cost 
me $150.” Drove on then until we came 
to Krum’s house, where Hughes and Rus- 
sell got out. A little boy from Krum’s 
house went over to Parsons’. He came 
back and said to a woman there, “they 
ain’t there--they’ve gone a black- 
berrying.” Pretty soon Mr. Parsons 
came from his house into the road, and 
Hugh* s called to him. Parsons came to 
Hughes and talked with him, and Hughes 
afterward went over to Parsons’ house, 
staying there half or three quarters of an 
hour. Then we drove on toward the Plank 
Road House, and in about a mile saw cwo 
women coming along, with tin pails in 
their hands. Told Hughes I guessed they 
were the folks We wanted to see. He 
stopped me when we met them, and called 
“Miss Parsons! Miss Parsons!” Mrs. 
Parsons turned around and said, “What 
do you want?” Hughes said, “ Nothing, 
only I want to talk to you.” She started 
on, saying, “I don't want nothing to do 
with you.” Hughes watched them a few 
minutes and then got out and followed 
them, they walking as fast as they could, 
he walking fast too, and coming up with 
them, when the old lady motioned her 
hand to him. When he got up to them 
they slackened their pace and went on 
slowly till a man overtook them with a 
wagon. Could see the old lady motion- 
ing her hand toward Hughes, as if she 
was talking loud to him, he being some 
ten feet from the wagon, but coming 
nearer. The old lady got into the wagon. 
Hnghes approached the girl, who stood 
near the wagon, and talked with her a 
minute, and she then got into the wagon. 
Hughes put his hand on her and talked 
to her some time, until the wagon was 
driven off. I said to him, “ The old lady 
was laying it down to you pretty hot.” 
He said, “Yes, but that is all right.” 
He directed me to go to the Plank Road 
House, where we stopped. We went to 
a grocery across the road, and- had some 
beer; drank about two glasses, when 
Krum came in, and we had two or three 
more glasses of beer. Then a Dutchman 
came in, and ail drank five ot six glasses 
of beer. I had enough and stopped'; the 
Dutchman had engugh and they laid him 
out. They were talking then about going 
to Rocky River. Hughes wanted to go by 
the way of Eight Mile Lock, or Twelve 
Mile Lock, as he had a debt there of $65 
which he wanted to collect. Got into the 
carriage, and 1 was told to drive to Bed- 
ford. Went to Krum’s and stopped. 
Hughes got out and asked a lady there if 
the Parsons’ folks were at home, and was 
told they had gone to town. Heard some- 
body tell Hughes that Parsons’ folks had 
gone to Bedford, and were going to have 
him (Hughes) arrested. He said some- 
thing about settling or fixing it. We went 
to Bedford, Krum going with us. Hughes 
said, “Drive on as fast as you can to Bed- 
ford.” He told me to go to the place 
where he had seen the man in the morn- 
ing. He got out at the post Office, but 
soon we went to the Fountain House 
to get some beer. Hughes saw Par- 
sons coming along in a wagon, and 
Hughes asked him to have a glass of 
beer. Parsons said, “ No, I don’t want 
to be shot.” They got out at the Fountain 
House, and Hughes, as we were going 
in, turned around and went out. Wehaa 
been there quite a little while- I started 
out doors, and saw a lot of peop’e run- 
ning’toward Columbus street I follow- 
ed, -and saw a crowd gathering, and heard 
some one say that Hughes had shot some- 
body. I went back to the Fountain House 
and told Russell, who said, “ Let's go and 
see.” Drove down toward the place where 
the crowd was. Russell did not get into 
the carriage. Saw Hughes coming along 
with a man holding on his arm. I stopped 
my carriage; Hughes shook the man off 
his arm, took out a revolver, swung it 
around, and said, “Don’t another man 
lay hold of me!” He came to the car- 
riage and jumped in. Ashe jumped in 
I jumped off the carriage, went to the 
door and said, “What do you want?” 
He said, “Drive on 1” I hesitated, and 
he said, “Drive on, as I tell you.” I 
got on the carriage and drove on a few 
feet, when a lot of men cried out to me 
to stop the team. I stopped, when Hughes 
shook his pistol at me, and said, “ Drive 
on, as I tell you.’- I drove ahead, when 
a man said, “Stop the carriage; there’s 
a murdererin it.” I stopped,when Hughes 
said, “ You drive on, or I’ll blow you 
through!” I drove on at a pretty good 
pace, and soon Russell came up and got 
into the carriage. We went a few rods 
when Russell got out and got on the car- 
riage with me. I motioned to the people 
to come after and overtake me—was not 
going very fast. Russell told me, “For 
God’s sake drive faster or we’ll be shot!” 
I drove on as fast as we could, till we got 
to a piece of woods, when Hughes’got 
out, stood a minute, asked Russell for 
some money, and Russell gave him some, 
though he said he hadn’t much. He went 
to the woods. The people were coming 
on after us, and I drove on, with Russell. 
I saw Hughes next at the Fountain House, 
after he was arrested. When last I saw 
Hughes before he was arrested, he waa 
running in the woods on the right bant} 22 
TRIAL OF DB. JOHN W. HUGHES, 
side of the road. When we stopped at 
Newburgh, Hughes told the hotel keeper 
he was going to Eight Mile Lock to am- 
putate a limb. The man Russell also was 
called Maj. Hanson or Hampson. Hughes 
told me to call him so. When we left the 
Franklin House the morning of the mur- 
der Hughes appeared very well; at Krum's 
he appeared as usual, and also when we 
left the grocery to go back to Bedford. 
Nothing attracted my attention in his 
manner while we were going to Bedford. 
While in the grocery Hughes’ conduct did 
not differ from that on the night previous. 
He didn’t seem drunk. Couldn't see that 
the “ present Use ” ale affected any of 
the party. When mention was made at 
Mr. Krum’s, on our return, that the Par- 
sons’ folks had gone to Bedford, Hughes 
said, “ we would have that matter all set- 
tled.” He spoke kindly. 
Mra. Eddy said, “ Why, Doctor, do you, 
intend to kill her ? ” He said, “0, 
TESTIMONY OF MISS EDDY, fic 
.1 «(T> 
Ellen Eddy sworn: I live at the Plank 
Road House. Know Dr. Hughes. Saw 
him at the breakfast table at our house 
about two weeks before the death of Tana- 
zen. Doctor asked mother if she had seen 
Tamzen lately. She said, “Yes, she was 
up here the other day to hire a girl to 
work for her sister Libbie.” Mother said, 
“She’s been shot at lately.” She testi- 
ho made the answer above 
given. 
TESTIMONY OF MR. SALISBURY. 
Vial Salisbury sworn: I live in Bedford 
village. Knew Dr. Hughes by sight. Saw 
Dr, Hughes in the latter part of July. Met 
him in the door of the Franklin House in 
the morning. He asked me if I had 
seen Tamzen lately, or knew where she 
was. He said “he must come down soon 
and look her up, for if she wouldn't live 
with him he was going to kill her.” He 
then walked away. 
TESTIMONY OF MRS. EDDY. 
Almeda Eddy sworn : I live at War- 
rensville, at the Plank Road House. Had 
seen Dr. Hughes there about two weeks 
before Tamzen’s death. He staid at our 
house that night, retiring early. He got 
up about seven o’clock the next mor sing, 
and took breakfast there. Ellen Van Al- 
len, Ellen Eddy and myself were present 
while he ate. He asked me if I had seen 
Tamzen Parsons lately. I told him she 
was at our house to hire Margaret Tier to 
work for her sister at Oil Creek. I said, 
“ She has been shot at lately.” He asked 
who had done it? “We don’t know," I 
answered. “The ball went through her 
parasol.” He said. “It’s a pity it didn’t 
blow her brains out; it would have saved 
me the trouble, some time.” He left, 
going towards Bedford, after breakfast. 
Saw him next the forenoon of the day 
he killed her, at a grocery opposite our 
house. After an hour or so he came into 
our bar room and washed himself and 
combed his hair. Saw them drive toward 
Bedford. Dr. Hughes’ face was very red, 
eyes shone, walked straight, his voice was 
firm as usual. When he came with Mr. 
Fish he was quite intoxicated; couldn’t 
walk straight 
TESTIMONY OF MR, ELY. 
J. S. Ely sworn: I live in Newburgh 
Keep the Cataract House. About eleven 
o’clock, the night before Tamzen was shot. 
Dr. Hughes and Russell came to my house 
in a carriage with a driver. They went 
into the bar room, drank, smoked, I think, 
&c. They spoke of going up in the coun- 
try to see a patient; the Doctor had a limb 
to amputate. Staid about fifteen minutes. 
I next saw Dr. H. about four o’clock the 
»ext afternoon. He was under arrest.— 
The Doctor went into the wash room of 
my hotel, washed, combed his hair, and 
had something to drink. Looked as if he 
had been drinking a good deal the day 
previous. 
TESTIMONY OF MB. SALISBURY. 
Vincent Salisbury sworn: I kept the 
Franklin House in Bedford last July and 
August. Was at home the day Tamzen 
Parsons was shot. Heard of it immedi- 
ately. Dr. Hughes staid at my bouse a 
part of the night previous, arriving there 
between midnight and two o’clock in the 
morning. Saw the party, Hughes, Russell 
and Carr to speak to them about seven 
o’clock the next morning, when they came 
into the bar room from taking breakfast. 
Knew only Dr. Hughes. He introduced 
Russell as Major Hansom. He said he 
had been to Independence to amputate a 
limb. Asked him how business was ? He 
said, “good enough for ten more like my- 
self.M They drank whisky twice after 
breakfast, and I think Dr. 
Hughes, had his flask filled with whisky 
TESTIMONY OF HISS VAN ALLEN. 
Ella Van Allen sworn: I live in Bed- 
ford village; have staid at the Plank Road 
House. I saw Dr. Hughes at the break- 
fast table at the Plank Road House once. 
Mrs. Eddy, the Doctor, and Ellen Eddy 
were there. Mrs. Eddy wanted to know 
of Dr. Hughes if he knew that Tamzen 
had been shot at. He said, “ no I didn't; 
who shot her? ’ Mrs. Eddy said the ball 
went through her parasol. He said “it 
was a pity it had not blown her brains out, 
and saved him the trouble some time.” TRIAL OP DR. JOHN W. HUGHES- 
23 
They then paid their bills, and I asked 
him how he had got along with his diffi- 
culty in Cleveland. He said “it was all 
settled.” They then went off. Dr H. was 
a perfect gentleman while at my house. 
got in, followed by Russell, when they 
drove off toward Cleveland. 
TESTIMONY OF MR. LAMSON. 
Amos Larason sworn: I live in Bed- 
ford. Have known Dr. Hughes about * 
year. I was at my house when I saw a 
crowd gather about the corners. Saw 
Price catch hold of a man, who jerked 
away from him. Saw Price catch ho!d of 
him again, and once more he jerked 
away. Saw this man (Hughes) go to the 
eairiage and get in. Heard a cry of ‘Stop 
the carriage!’ and a cry of ‘Murder!' 
I went up town on the run. Went where 
the girl was shot, and saw her body in the 
yard. Two of us got into a buggy and 
started in pursuit of the carriage. On 
the Independence road, met the carriage 
coming back. Hughes had taken to the 
woods. I went with Mr. White to ride 
around this patch of woods. Some six 
or eight of us crossed the fields several 
times, but we couldn’t find him. We 
searched along the railroad track. The 
alarm was given that Hughes was right 
ahead of us. He was in some bushes 
close to the track. Six or eight of us 
went up to him. He said he was willing 
to give himself up. Mr. Wells“searched 
him and we started him towards Bedford. 
Found a common knife, a few small car- 
tridges and a small pistol on his person. 
On the way to the village, Hughes talked 
some. I told him that all I could do or 
say would not make him any better or 
worse. I think I proposed hanging him 
on the spot. He said, ‘ I would as soon 
you should hang me here on a tree as 
anywhere. I knew the penalty before I 
did It. I bought the revolver or pistol on 
purpose to shoot her, and have done it.’ 
He said, ‘I have not done it under any 
excitement or impulse of the moment, 
but had studied the tiing over’—I think 
he said for two weeks. He drew a flask 
out of his pocket, took a drink, when I 
told the men not to let him drink, for he 
probably had poison in the flask. But he 
drark. At Bedford, we put Hughes in the 
carriage, when he started for Cleveland. 
His manner did not differ from that which 
I have always seen in him. He showed 
no excitement. 
TESTIMONY OP MBS. STANBRIDGE. 
Sophia Stanbridge sworn: I live oppo' 
site the Plank Road House. Dr. Hughes 
was at my house the forenoon before Tam- 
zen was shot. Party of three came about 
11 o’clock. The party were drinking 
‘present use’ ale at rny house. They, in 
company with others who had dropped in, 
drank all I had, but my husband came 
from Cleveland with more, a little after 
twelve o’clock. Dr. Hughes brought the 
half barrel into the grocery. He had no 
difficulty in standing on the barrel. The 
Doctor quit drinking before he left the 
‘house. He would drink a little and throw 
the rest on the floor, and I saw him put 
down twoor three glasses behind the scales. 
They left about 1 o’clock P. M. I noticed 
that Dr. H.’s face was very red, and the 
the Major put flour on it Noticed nothing 
unusual in his manner. Seemed to walk 
straight. 
The testimony of Mrs. Stanbridge was 
corroborated by Mr. James Stanbridge 
and Master Theoran Eddy. 
TESTIMONY OF MR. POWELL. 
Francis Powell sworn: I live in Bed- 
ford. I was working in my lot when Tam- 
een was shot. Mr. Christian lived on that 
lot The house is about thirty feet back 
from the front fence. I was about ten or 
twelve feet west of the spot where the 
murder occurred* I saw Tamzen in the 
yard, walking rapidly toward the house, 
and Dr Hughes was following her very 
close. She tried to get into the house, but 
before she reached it, Dr. H. overhauled 
her, took hold of her dress and shot her. 
I asked Dr. H. what he had done. He 
faced me, and said, ‘he had shot her dead.’ 
He stood half a moment, turned round 
and went up to the girl, turned her head 
around and examined the wound. He said, 
* Yes. she’s dead.' 
I was looking towards them when he 
fired. He set the pistol right in her neck, 
taking hold of her dress near the shoul 
ders, with his left hand. First saw the 
pistol as he took hold of her. While he 
was examining the wound, I jumped over 
the fence and ran down town and alarmed 
the people. I left Hughes in the yard. He 
had not yet left the corpse. Saw him next 
going down Columbus street. He had 
got half way to the corners. John Price 
had hold of his arm as they walked down 
together. They went clear down to the 
corners, when Hughes jerked Price off. 
I saw the carriage come from the tavern. 
Russell opened the carriage, and Hughes 
E. S. Libbey sworn: When the alarm 
of the shooting of Tamzen Parsons was 
given, I was' on the Warrensville road 
twenty rods from Columbus street. I drove 
on, and saw a man coming down Columbus 
street, men having hold of his arms. As 
this man reached Columbus street, he 
jerked away from the men holding him, 
drew a revolver, told the crowd to keep off* 
got into the carriage and ordered the dri- 
ver to go on. The driver started, hesita- 
ted when called on to stop but finally 
TESTIMONY OF MR. LIBBEY. 24 
TRIAL OF DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
drove off, as though he didn’t want to drive 
away, but was afraid to stop. Saw the car- 
riage come back with Russell and Carr; 
they were locked up, and I took a double 
barrelled shot gun, got in the carriage with 
others.and started in pursuit. We searched 
the fields near where Hughes was found. 
He was in a little ditch, covered by an oak 
bush just Imge enough.for a man tohideun- 
der. 1 discovered him, lying down with his 
.coatoff. Heardhim say, ‘ Gentlemen,you 
can do what you please with me-hang me 
up to the first pole if you choose. Icame out 
here with that intention, and I’ve done it.” 
As some of them were afterwards firing off 
their guns he said, “Gentlemen, you can’t 
■spare me—lve been under fire before 
I’m not at all alarmed.” I also under- 
stood him to say, “I'm a murderer,” when 
he first spoke, but I’m not positive. He 
was cool and unconcerned 
Cross Examination: Several of the 
• crowd said, “Hang him I” “Shoot him!” 
Saw him take out a flask and drink. Think 
it was three hours from the time he left 
the village in the carriage till we found 
ihim. We were searching the field about 
three fourths of an hour. 
The testimony of Mr. Lihbey was cor- 
roborated substantially by William Gold- 
ling, T. E. Matthews, Warren K. Scotland 
L. C. Haynes. 
TESTIMONY OF MRS PARSONS. 
Mrs. Susan Parsons sworn : Witness 
took the stand, but was so much overcome 
that it was some minutes before the ex- 
amination could proceed. She sighed 
heavily, and revived herself with restora- 
tives. When afterward, she looked on the 
Doctor she nearly swooned away. She is 
a woman of so remarkable appearance, 
that no one could possibly forget her, who 
had seen her. Tall and spare, with thin 
face and large grey eyes, she has a wild, 
untamable and weird expression which is 
unforgetable. Her examination was ex- 
tremely touching, and she had the sym- 
pathies of all present. 
lam the mother of Tamzen. Tamzen 
and I started a blackberrying between five 
and six o’clock in the morning, the day she 
was shot. On our way back we noticed a 
city carriage coming. Tamzen called my 
attention to it. We passed and looked in 
and saw Dr. Hughes. I said, “ Why, 
Tamzen, there’s the Doctor.” Dr. EL 
said, “Mrs. Parsons 1 ” We made no re- 
ply. Then he spoke again, when Tamzen 
told him to go along; we didn't want him. 
He next called to mo, saying, “ Mrs. Par 
sons, it’s you I want.” On looking 
around, he was out of the carriage. He 
said be wanted to talk with me. I told 
him not to come nearer than he was. He 
said he wanted to talk with me and have 
Tamzen give him a paper that she would 
not trouble him any more. I told him, 
“ There is no paper needed ; she isn’t your 
wife, and you have no claim on her.” He 
said he had Major Hanson with him in the 
carriage; that h© had come to give him 
(Hughes) a situation in Cincinnati, and he 
(Hughes) wanted to give Tamzen a check 
on the bank to get some money. I told 
him, “ We don’t want you or your money. 
All Ave ask of you is to keep away and 
leave us alone.” Don’t recollect anything 
more until Mr. Robinson came. He took 
us to our own house, where Tamzen and 
I got out. About an hour after reaching 
the house we started for Bedford. Got 
out of the wagon near the junction of the 
roads in Bed ft >rd. I went with Tamzen to 
the house of Joseph Haynes. Staid there 
ten minutes or so, when Tamzen started 
for Mrs. Christian’s house. She went out 
of the house alone, but turned to me while 
in the yard, and said, ‘‘The carriage has 
come hack.” I Avent to the gate to her, 
and saw another carriage at the Fountain 
House, but did not see the Doctor. She 
Avent along towards Columbus street. I 
next saw her on the sidewalk, and Hughes 
a piece behind. She bad just reached the 
sidewalk on Columbus street. I went 
back into Mr. Haynes’ house, took my bon- 
net and started out as fast as I could, tak- 
ing the shortest cut for Columbus street. 
I got up a little way on that street, when 
the Doctor came down on the other side of 
Dr, D. G. Streeter sworn ; Am a physi- 
cian living in Bedford. I saw Tamzen 
Parsons’ body about, half an hour after she 
was shot. It was still warm. Made no ex- 
amination of the wound at that time, a 
wo-nd in the back of the neck, just below 
the base of the brain, and in the center of 
the neck. The next day I made an ex- 
amination, the body being in a vault. I 
found that the wound was caused by a 
small ball, entering the neck just below the 
base of the brain. The ball passed through 
the vertebra of the neck into the very up- 
per portion of the spinal marrow. The 
ball went upwards. About three inches 
from that, above and back of t,be right ear, 
there was a mark about an inch long.— 
“The center of the mark was about oue- 
eight of an inch wide, running to a point 
each end, direction upwards. 
The hair was moved by whatever caused 
the wound. I don t think that which pro- 
duced the first wound could have produc- 
ed the second. My opinion is, that the 
mark was occasioned by a pistol ball strik- 
ing there and glancing oft-. A ball strik- 
ing as the first did, and penetrating the 
upper portion of the spinal marrow, or 
“medulla oblongata,” would cause instant 
death. Several persons, medical and oth- 
ers, were present at the second examina- 
tion. Made no removal of the outer parts 
of the head. Merely probed the wound 
- on the examination. 
TESTIMONY OF DR. STREETER. TRIAL OF DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
25 
the road, buttoning up his coat. Saw Mr. 
Powell coming, who said, “O Mrs. Par- 
sons, the Doctor has shot your daughter 
dead.” [Here the witness gave way, sob- 
bing violently.] I w'jnt to the yard as 
quick as I could; was the first one there. 
Mrs. Christian opened her front door just 
as I got into the front yard. Tamzen’s bo- 
dy was lying in the yard. [Here Tamzen’s 
veil was exhibited—the one she had on at 
the time of the murder. The witness 
again went into a hysterical fit ] This 
veil hung down Tamzen’s back. The veil 
was almost new. When taken off it was 
in the same condition it now is. [The ex- 
amination was frequently interrupted by 
her overmastering emotion.) 
gate open, and when he got to her, put his 
hand on her shoulder and shot her. Af- 
ter bo had shot her the first time he cock- 
ed his pistol and shot her again. She 
screamed and fell down. I was standing 
in the front stoop. My mother was stand- 
ing by me. My mother said to Dr. H., 
“ how could you do it ? the poor girl is 
dead.” We then went in and shut the 
door. Stood at the front window and 
looked out. Saw Dr. H. go down near 
the gate when he came back. He looked 
at her a while, when he went away. Dr. 
H. said nothing when my mother spoke 
to him. He was looking at her at the 
time. 
TESTIMONY OP MASTER CHRISTIAN. 
John Price, sworn: I was working 
with Mr. Powell in his lot in Christian’s 
vard, digging a trench, the day Tamzen 
Parsons was shot. As I was throwing out 
a shovel full of dirt, I heard a pistol shot 
and a scream. I turned around and saw 
the girl fall. I jumped out of the trench 
and saw Dr. Hughes step about three steps 
from the girl toward the gate, when he 
walked back, stooped down and put his 
finger in the wound, saying, “ You are a 
dead girl.” He then walked out to the 
gate, down street. I went to the body 
and saw the blood flowing down her face. 
I followed him and caught hold of his 
right arm, about four yards from where 
the murder was committed, and led him 
down to the junction of the roads. He 
said, “ What are you agoing to do with 
me?” I told him I would let him know 
when we got down to the corner. No- 
thing more was said till we got down to 
the corner. When there, he pulled way, 
drew his revolver and said, “No man 
t»uch me.” Saw his carriage coming up, 
containing Russell and a driver. He got 
in, Russell helping him, vdien they tried 
to start away from the crowd. Mr. Gol- 
den and I stepped up to drag Hughes out. 
Bussell sat on the front seat, Dr. H. on 
the back. I laid my hand on Hughes’ 
f boulder, when Bussell pulled his revolver 
and putting it near my face, said, “letgoof 
that man or I’ll blow your brains out.” I 
heard Bussell “ holler ” to the driver to 
drive on. Went back to the yard, and 
found the body still lying there. 
TESTIMONY OF MR. PRICE. 
Mathew O. Christian sworn: Am a 
son of Mr. Christian, and sixteen years 
old. When Dr. H. went by, about nine 
o’clock in the morning, the driver came 
over and told my father there was a man 
in the carriage who wanted to see him. 
Father said he might come there if ho 
wanted. Between one or two o’clock p.m., 
on the day of the murder, I saw Tamzen 
coming toward our gate, and Dr. Hughea 
after her. When opposite our house she 
turned her head and said to Dr. H., “No, 
I won’t stop.” Then she turned across 
the street toward our gate. I ran and 
opened the gate, she passed through and I 
let the gate go to. The Doctor crossed the 
road, and when near the gate took a pis- 
tol from his pocket, cocked it and went 
through the gate. When about ten feet 
from the door he caught hold of her, put 
his left hand on her shoulder, and said, 
“ you won’t stop, will you?” and put the 
pistol to the back of her head and fired. 
She dropped her head a little and said, 
“ O dear!” when he cocked hie pistol 
again, fired, and she dropped. My 
mother was standing in the front door, and 
said, “O Doctor, how could you do so,” or 
something like. that. He said nothing. 
Mr. Powell standing in the ditch said, 
“ You old villain, what have you done ?” 
He said, “She is shot dead,” and turned 
toward the gate. I then went into the 
house. Saw him go down the street, fol- 
lowed by Mr. Price. Tamzen seemed to be 
scared when she went through the gate, 
and in a great hurry. 
TESTIMONY OF MISS CHRISTIAN. 
W. M. Heston sworn: The day of th» 
murder was at Wise’s carriage shop, when 
the alarm was raised. Hughes was brought 
to Cleveland in the carriage he had at 
Bedford. Messrs. Cook, Wells, Strong 
and myself came in with him. Heard 
Hughes say he had done what he had in- 
tended to do if she would not be willing 
to consent to go with him ; that she was 
his lawful wife. He was explaining tp 
Wells where he intended to shoot her; he 
put his finger up to Wells’ head and useji 
TESTIMONY OF MR. HESTON. 
Miss Amelia Christian sworn: I am 
daughter of Wm.Christian and am thirteen 
years old. 1 came down to Bedford with 
Mr. Thomas Parsons’ people the day of 
Tamzen’s death. After we got out of the 
wagon, I saw Tamzen again in about twen- 
ty minutes. She was in the road, and Dr. 
Hughes was just stepping oft’the sidewalk 
on the opposite side of the road. When 
he got nearly to the gate at the side of the 
rQgd, he pulled out his pistol, pushed the TRIAL OP DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
some medical terml don’t know. Hughes 
took Ja flask from his pocket, held it up 
and shook it, drank the contents and gave 
the flask to Mr’ Strong. He then gave 
the pistol or revolver to Mr. Wells, when 
they got through with it on the trial. Be- 
fore reaching Newburgh McKinstry had 
met us, and came back with us. Hughes 
said he had been from the highest circles 
of Europe to the lowest of this country; 
had been In the Crimean war and had 
been in service in this country; that half 
his life was spent in that manner, and 
now the balance would end in a love 
tragedy. Don’t remember any more he 
said about his life. I handed the pistol 
to Hughes, and he took it apart and show- 
ed us the inside, and handed it back to 
Mr. Wells. He said he had replaced the 
cartridges he had fired from his pistol, 
and thought at one time he would put it to 
his mouth and blow his brains out; then 
thought he would lie down and take a 
nap. I said he took it very cool. He said 
in response that he was no coward. 
TESTIMONY OP MR. CHRISTIAN. 
William Christian sworn: On the day 
of the murder Hughes came to my shop 
about one o'clock ; asked me if I had 
seen Miss Parsons that day. Told him I 
had not. He asked me where my wife 
was. Told him she had gone to Mr. Par- 
sons’ house some hours ago and I had not 
seen her since. He then said, “My 
friend, you have been too busy in my af- 
fairs of and related what a good 
friend he had been to me and my family, 
which indeed was true. At this lime Cor- 
nelius Haynes entered, and said he wanted 
me to measure him for a pair of pants. 
The Doctor lowered his tone than, and I 
could not hear all he said, but it seemed 
to be something of a threatening charac- 
ter. In fifteen or twenty minutes after 
he left, I heard of Tamzen being shot. 
I never saw him intoxicated. 
A. J. Wells sworn; Witness corrobo- 
rated previous testimony in relation to 
the discovery and search of Hughes. On 
the way to Cleveland, Hughes said he 
came out there for the purpose of killing 
the girl, as she didn’t comply with his 
wishes. I asked him what reason he had, 
and he replied that he didn’t want any- 
body else to possess her; that she should 
not become anybody else’s wife. He said 
he had bought the pistol for the express 
purpose of killing her ; that he had sent 
his wife home to the Island, and he wanted 
to live with her (Tamzen); that he under- 
stood she was going to marry somebody. 
He put his finger on my head and showed 
the place he shot her. He wanted to kill 
her instantly so that she would not suffer. 
He crossed his fingers in explaining how 
he shot her, and said a shot given as he 
indicated would be instant death. He 
said he shot twice, and the last time he 
had his left hand on her shoulder. I 
asked him if he would have shot any of us 
that were in pursuit of him, and he said no 
one except Joe Haynes. I asked him why 
he would have shot Haynes, and he said 
Haynes had caused all this trouble. He 
said he had not slept well for some time 
back, but he could sleep well to-night; 
that he had been thinking over this matter. 
He gave me the pistol to remember him 
by; said it would probably have to 
come into court as evidence, and after they 
got through with it I could have it, His 
manner was cool and calm. 
TESTIMONY OF MR, WELLS. 
TESTIMONY OF MR. STRONG. 
A. O. Strong sworn: I was present 
when Hughes was arrested. I said to 
him, “Doctor, you might as well give 
yourself up—there are too many of us.” 
He said he would. On the way in, Hughes 
said he bought that revolver for the pur- 
pose of doing the deed he did if she didn’t 
comply with his wishes. He said he had 
relieved his mind of a great load, and 
that he would meet her on the other side 
of the great water. He spoke of sending 
his first wife to the Isle of Man for the 
purpose of getting this girl to live with 
him; that the first time he saw her 
he set his affections on her. He said he 
was willing to give his life for hers; that 
they could do what they chose with him, 
hang him, or what they chose. He said 
he meant that no other man should ever 
possess Tamzen. I asked Hughes if he 
would have shot Joe Haynes if he had 
seen him. He said he might have done 
it at the time his excitement raged so 
high; that he wouldn’t wish to harm any- 
body else. Something was said about 
Haynes wanting to marry Tamzen, but I 
don’t recollect what it was. He said some 
might think he was deranged, but he was 
not; he was in his right mind. His man- 
ner was not excited. TRIAL OF 08. JOHN VT. HUGHES. 
27 
TESTIMONY FOR THE DEFENSE. 
Thomas Lowe sworn: I reside in 
Chagrin Falls. Had lived at the center 
of Warrensville before moving to the Falls. 
Have known Dr. Hughes two years and a 
half, makinghis acquaintance in Warrens- 
ville. He left my house in January, 1864, 
and went to Bedford to live and practice 
medicine. About a month after he went 
into the army. Saw Dr. H. at my house 
in Warrensville after he returned from the 
army. Came in a cutter. He was then in 
officers’ uniform. Next forenoon he 
came to my house in the same cutter. 
Miss Tamzen Parsons came’ with him. 
Can’t tell the date. They occupied the 
public sitting room after dinner. Occu- 
pied no other room together that I know 
of. [Objection was entered to the revela- 
tion of this intercourse, but the court 
ruled in favor of defense] They left 
about five o’clock going toward Cleveland. 
I talked with them about half an hour. 
They seemed to be on friendly terms. I 
have seen Dr. H. under the influence of 
liquor. Never saw him so affected that 
his walk was not good. His face would 
then assume a purple color. He was 
nervous the next day, but not when ‘tight.’ 
Was, always very easily excited when 
drunk, and looked wild with bis eyes. 
Have seen him in that condition several 
days, and even a week on a stretch. This 
excitement would increase as he continued 
drunk Once he acted so bad, fighting 
with his wife, &c., that I ordered him to 
leave the house. 
TESTIMONY OF MR, LOWE. 
Oscar Russell sworn c I have known 
Hughes about two years. Was with him 
the day of the murder. I had been with 
him all the night before. Met him at the 
Sr. Nicholas saloon, Bank street, about 
eight or nine o’clock that evening. He 
was there when I went in. We drank 
there, don’t know what, for I was drunk. 
I don’t know that Hughes was drunk. We 
stayed there five or ten minutes. [Witness, 
detailed visits of himself and Hughes to 
several drinking places, and their drink- 
ing. ] Think the Doctor proposed to go 
home, but am not sure. He didn’t go, be- 
cause I proposed to go riding to Rocky 
river. I went to Carr’s carriage, and 
Hughes asked him what he would charge 
to take us riding all night, and come back 
in the morning. I saw a pistol lying in 
Hughes’ trunk, in his office;when we were 
there. I said, ‘ That’s a nice shooter you 
have.” Hughes said, “Yes, I’ll put it in 
my pocket.’ He also took a flask and had 
it filled down stairs. I proposed going to 
Rocky river, and Hughes did not object 
When the driver said he could not find some 
women he had been looking for to go with 
us, Dr. H. said he could find some in the 
country, and we started. At Newburgh 
Hughes engaged rooms at the Cataract 
House, and said we would be back and 
stay there all night. I was asleep on the 
way to Newburgh, and also when going 
from Newburgh toßedford, At Bedford we 
were to be called at seven in the morning. 
Hughes said we had better get home and 
attend to business. In the morning we 
drank whisky several times, both before 
and after breakfast. We started home, 
and lasked Hughes where the women were 
he was going to see, and he said he would 
show them to me on the road home. At 
the grocery opposite the Plank Road 
House, Hughes and I drank ale about 
twenty-five times. [Witness corroborated 
generally the account of witnesses for the 
prosecution in regard to putting flour on 
Hughes’ face because it was red, and to 
the proposition to go to Rocky river by 
way of independence that Hughes might 
stop there and collect some money.] At 
Krum’s house Hughes proposed to me to 
go to Parsons’ house, introduce myself as 
Major Hanson, tell them hewas out there, 
and they would send out for him, which I 
refused to do. While going back to Bed- 
ford from Krum’s, I was asleep. I was 
sitting in the bar-room of the Fountain 
House, Hughes having gone out, when the 
driver, Carr, came in' and told me there 
was a muss. I ran out and saw Hughes 
TESTIMONY OF MR. RUSSELL. 
Have seen him reel a few times when 
he was far gone with drink; but he usu- 
ally carried himself well. 
The testimony of Mr. Lowe in regard to 
the effect of liquor on Dr. Hughes was 
corroborated by that of Mr. Wm Skinner. 
TESTIMONY OF MRS. OWENS. 
Mrs. Kate Owens sworn: Reside in 
Cleveland. Have known Dr. H. between 
three and four years. Know where he did 
business in August last. Was at his office 
on the 6th and 7th of August. He was 
there on Sunday the 6th, but not on the 
7th. Was there in the evening. Word 
was left on his slate that he would be 
back in a little while. That was his habit. 
On Monday evening before the murder I 
found this entry, “I will be back in a few 
moments.” I went! there about half past 
eight, and waited till nine. I had profes- 
sional engagements with Dr. Hughes. 
Had been my family physician off and on, 
about three years. 28 
TRIAL OF DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
coming around the corner, keeping all off 
him with a : ev, Iver in his band. He came 
to me just at the carriage, and told me to 
get in, which I did. He got in and point- 
ed the revolver at the driver, and told 1 im 
to drive on, saying, “Drive, or I’ll shoot.” 
I got out then,and c'imed up to the driver. 
I never told any man to let Hughes alone 
or I’d blow his brains out. I hadn't any- 
thing to blow anybody’s brains out with. 
When Hughes came up to me at the car- 
riage, his face was red asfire.his eyes just 
as it popping out, and he was mightly ex- 
cited. I told the driver to drive, or we 
would both be shot, and he drove as fast as 
he knew how. Don t remember of giving 
Hughes any money after the shooting. 
Hugh es boarded with me from July 14, 
1865. till the time of his shooting. I saw 
Hughes drunk once before this affair ; his 
face was very red, and he talked a great 
deal. 
city. Keep a grocery on Ontario street. 
Hughes was in my place between eight 
and nine o’clock, with Russell, the evening 
they went to Bedford. They drank some- 
thing then, I think. Dr. Hughes got a 
half pint flask filled with whisky there.— 
Was going into the country, he said, to see 
a patient. Have seen Hughes in liquor. 
When drunk his face was red. Never 
knew li ra to stagger any, no matter how 
much intoxicated. He was ugly at such 
times. 
TESTIMONY OF JAMES BROWN. 
James Brown sworn; Reside in this 
city. Keep a saloon on the corner of 
Bolivar and Pittsburgh streets. Dr. 
Hughes was in my saloon the night before 
the murder, with Russell and a hack 
driver, about nine o'clock. They drank 
there. Saw nothing out of the way in 
them. 
I don't know when the Doctor came to 
the city. He came to board with me early 
in July. I saw him only once deep in 
liquor. He talked fast, his face was very 
red, and he told me of his troubles. ‘I 
came near going to the penetentiary,’ he 
said. I asked why. ‘For having two 
wives,’ he replied. 
TESTIMONY OF MR. QUINLAN. 
T. J. Quinlan sworn : Live and do busi- 
ness at No. 174 Ontario street. Hava 
known Dr. Hughes three or four years.— 
He opened an office opposite my place 
last summer. Saw him the evening be- 
fore the murder. He was in my store ten 
or fifteen minutes about eight o’clock. He 
said he was sleepy and tired, and was go- 
ing home to bed. Have seen him under 
the influence of liquor. His face would 
get red, when drunk, and his eyes grow 
larger, but his walk was steady. Very 
few would ever know he was drunk. 
J. D. Keegan sworn : Reside in this 
city. Have known Hughes since the spring 
of 18G2. He is a physician. I am a drug- 
gist. Have seen Hughes quite frequently 
under the influence of I quor. The effect 
of liquor on him was always very marked; 
it made him very reckless, and he seemed 
to have no re; arl for his character and to 
be indifferent as to what he might do while 
in that condition. When drunk he seemed 
utterly demented and senseless. Was al- 
ways much'flushed then, eyes bloodshot, 
talkative and so offensive in what he said 
that I forbade him coming to my store.— 
It didn’t affect his walk much. When 
sober he was very gentlemanly. 
The cross examination developed the 
fact that while intoxicated, the Doctor’s 
talk was very incoherent and at random, 
often bombastic and boastful, so that one 
might judge of his state by his talk. 
TESTIMONY OF MR. KEEGAN. 
TESTIMONY OF MASTER NICHOLS. 
Edward Nichols sworn; Am fourteen 
years old. Know Dr. H. Was in his em- 
ploy two weeks and three days. The en- 
gagement ended on the arrest of Dr. H.— 
1 ran errands, made his bed, &c. Saw a 
pistol in his office ; think it was silver- 
mounted, and a four-shooter. First saw 
it about eight days after I went there. 
Cross examination: Saw the pistol under 
his pillow. Saw it every morning when I 
made the bed. 
TESTIMONY OF MR. EASTWOOD. 
TESTIMONY OP MR. FRANCIS. 
Alfred Eastwood sworn: Reside in War- 
rensville, a few rods from the Plank Road 
House. Am not acquainted with Dr. H. 
Saw him last time at a grocery near said 
House, the day Tamzen Parsons was shot 
Dr. Hughes and the rest were pretty wel. 
set up when I went in. I mean, intoxica- 
ted or drunk. 
Philetus Francis sworn: I reside in 
this city. Was a carriage driver in July 
and August. Did not know defendant.— 
I know Oscar Russell. Saw Russell and 
Hughes together near Weddell House an 
eveningo r two before the murder. They 
asked me what I would charge to drive 
them to Rocky river. It was the evening 
they Avent to Bedford. Couldn’t say 
whether they had been drinking. 
Charles Norway sworn: Reside in War* 
rensville near the Plank Road House. 
Was in my shop, a dozen rods from said 
house, on the day of the murder. Saw 
Hughes that day at Stanbridge’s grocery* 
TESi'IMONY OF MR. NORWAY. 
TESTIMONY OF MR. McGUIRE. 
Paul McGuire sworn: Reside in this TRIAL OP DR. JOHN TV. HUGHE?* 
29 
I was invited in by Dr. H. Took a glass 
dnink. I saw them when they had just 
come. 
Have never seen him staler when drunk, 
and a person not acqua ed with him 
would not discover that he hs drunk. 
TESTIMONY OP MR. CUBBON. 
TESTIMONY OF MR ELY. 
John Cubbon sworn: Have lived in 
this city twenty-three years. Born in the 
Isle of Man. Knew Hughes there when a 
boy, and his parents. 1 was brought up 
in Hughes’ father's house from the time I 
was ten years old till I came to this coun- 
try. Hisgrandmother Jane Kenwitchwas 
insane and committed suicide. Other 
members of the family on the grand- 
mother’s side|were insane ; one certain, 
and, I think, two, committed suicide, and, 
1 suppose from insanity. His grandmother 
was subject to fits of intermediate in- 
insanity. She commit ed suicide about a 
year after her husband’s death, but had, 
meantime, live or six of these tits. [The 
question was asked, “What elfect had 
drink upon the father of the deceased?” 
Objections were raised. The convictions 
of the Court were that such testimony 
should be excluded.] The conduct of 
Hughes when he is. sober is gentlemanly 
and proper. [Objections were raised here 
as to the latitude allowed the defense, the 
Court in its convictions inclining to the 
view of the prosecution. 
LS. Ely sworn. Have known Hughes 
about two years ; saw him at my home on 
the day ot the murder, after his arrest. 
He did not seem to be intoxicated, but 
his face was very red and his eyes wild 
and excited. Saw him the night before, 
and judged he had been drinking a great 
deal 
TESTIMONY OP MR. LEWIS. 
William Lewis sworn: Knew Hughes 
when he was a boy at school, and when he 
lived at Warrensville. Knew nothing bad 
of his general character. 
Cross examination: Heard of Hughes 
running away with Miss Parsons, and 
thought that was against his general char- 
acter, but this was after I knew him at 
Warrensville, 
TESTIMONY OP MISS PaUSONS. 
Charlotte Parsons sworn: Have known 
Hughes two or three years. Am sister- 
in-law to Tamzen Parsons' father. Was 
at Hughes’ oihce tne day before his trial 
at Juotice Porter's. He engaged to come 
to my house on Sunday to treat my ears. 
At Tamzen s house, 1 told her that JJr. H. 
was going to operate on in years at my 
house, and uskv-U. her when sue was com- 
ing. She said she wanted to c-me the 
worst way, but mother was up to Haynes’, 
and, she said, " You know x musutsay 
any mure.’ ', 1 told Tamzen Hugties was 
coming up Sunday, aud asked her it she 
wasn t coming up. She replied as belore 
stated. 
TESTIMONY OP MR. ANDREWS. 
Mr. Andrews sworn : Know Hughes; 
saw him on the day of the murder, three 
miles on this side of Bedford, after his 
arrest. He looked like a man that had 
been drinking considerably. His face 
was red, his eyes looked very wild. Have 
seen Hughes drink several times, but nev- 
er saw him stagger; he is very slow in 
speech when drunk; have never seen him 
excited. 
aESTIMONY OP MRS. ROBINSON. 
Mrs. Harriet Robinson sworn : Live in 
Bedford, Know Hughes oy sight, not 
personally. Was very well acquainted 
with Tamzen Parsons. She wao at iny 
house twice after Hughes arrest lor as- 
sault. iShe called at my home to get a 
carriage to attend the trial. I said, “ iam- 
zeu, 1 siiould think you would be afraid 
io be out at night, lor fear you wilt be 
disturbed.” tike replied she thought he 
would not injure her, or hurt a hair oi her 
head. She told me what had happened 
the night he was at her house, anti said 
next morning she was going to withdraw 
the suit. 
TESTIMONY OF MR. TEAR. 
Jas. Tear sworn: Have known Hughes 
since he has been in Ohio and knew his 
father and grandfather. His grandfather 
committed suicide when insane. It was 
common talk that an uncle of his com- 
mitted suicide in Demararra, but I don’t 
know of it positively. 
Crass examination: I know nothing of 
insanity m Hugnes’ family except what 
has been told me since I' came to this 
country. 
TESTIMONY OP MR. CAMPBELL. 
O. B. Judd sworn: Have known Hughes 
since 1861. His reputation was that of a 
quiet, gentlemanly man. Saw him once 
intoxicated; ho was apparently wild and 
know what he was about. 
Cross examined: I heard nothing 
against him except his going to Pittsburg, 
getting into the Penitentiary, and neglect 
of his business. 
TESTIMONY OP MR. JUDD. 
Edward B. Campbell sworn: Have 
known Hughes for tiveyears. Saw Hughes 
when a member of the bth Dragoon Guards 
in the English army, during the Crimean 
war. Also saw him when he was Assist- 
ant Surgeon of the 85th Regimental Corps 
d’Afrique in the Federal army at Vicks- 
burg, m charge of a marine hospital 30 
TRIAL OF DR, JOHN W. HUGHES. 
‘John Burk sworn : Knew Dr. Hughes 
in Warrenkv de. His reputation, so far 
as I heard, was that of a good moral man, 
when attending to his business. Until the 
reports of the affair with Tamzen his repu- 
tation was good. 
William Krum recalled for further ex- 
amination: At the grocery near the 
Plsnk Road House, Hughes said to me he 
wanted to see Miss Parsons; that he 
wanted to have a talk with her. He said 
he had met them on the road, but “Suzie 
(Mrs. P.) was so full of hell he could not 
talk to her.” He said he wanted make 
provision for her support, so she could 
draw her money every three or six months, 
or year ; or if she got married he would 
give her a cheek for $5OO on a bank. Said 
he had word from Gov. Brough to go to 
Nashville and take charge of a general 
hospital. This conversation was private 
between. Hughes and myself in a separate 
room. 
OF MR, BURKE. 
the jail physicians, who were called and 
gave him as before stated. I was present 
at all interviews between the prisoner 
and others. I had no conversation the 
first night, but about ten o’clock he 
begged for liquor, saying “for God’s sales 
give me some beer.’’ 
TESTIMONY OF TURNKEY SMITH. 
H. S. Smith sworn : Have been jailor of 
the county jail for the last three yearsu 
Saw Hughes the first time when he was 
brought in after his arrest; should judge 
he was pretty drunk when brought in ; his 
face was very red and he had a wild look 
on his countenance. The next morning 
he had the shakes ; called Dr Boeder who 
ordered me to give him whisky and laud- 
anum, in doses of about twenty-five 
drops of laudanum with a drink of whisky 
three or four times a day for about a week. 
Also give him valerian three or four times 
a day. While giving him the medicine 
his appearance was one of being troubled 
with the delirium tremens ; his appearance 
and conduct since then has been good. 
Dr. P. Boeder sworn ; Am a physician 
of the County Jail; was called to see 
Hughes next morning after his arrest, 
about nine o’clock; he labored under 
great mental excitement, and showed 
some of the symptoms of delirium tre- 
mens; his face was flushed, eyes protrud- 
ing and his pulse was frequent and weak ; 
his tongue was coated and feverish ; I or- 
dered whisky ; I did not visit him again 
until next day, and continued to call fre- 
quently. The symptoms of delirium are 
those t have described. 
TESTIMONY OF DR. ROEDER. 
TESTIMONY OF DR. STRONG. 
Dr. Strong sworn : Am a physician and 
surgeon—have treated cases of delirium 
tremens to the number of over one hun- 
dred. The higher and greater the develop- 
ment of the brain, the greater the excite- 
ment produced Have known Hughes 
four or five years. Have seen him intoxi- 
cated. His face was florid, language very 
intemperate, but when sober, found him 
to be a perfect genleman. Think that the 
effect of liquor on him would be that of ex- 
cessive excitement. He was when intoxi- 
cated inclined to be quarrelsome, but did 
not stagger. 
Dr. P. Thayer sworn : I am a physi- 
cian. Have known Hughes since his ar- 
rival in Warrensville. Saw him under the 
influence of intoxicating liquors frequent 
ly. Could always notice by his face if he 
had been drinking. At one time in July 
last I saw him perform an operation 
when he had been drinking; he was ner- 
vous but he performed the operation; dur- 
ing the time I saw no muscular effect of 
liquor. 
TESTIMONY OF DR. THAYER. 
TESTIMONY OF DR. STREETER. 
Dr. D. G. Streeter sworn: Know Hughes 
From Jan. 1 to March 12, 1865; I boarded 
with him at the Franklin House in Bed- 
ford. Have seen him intoxicated three or 
four days at a time. Liquor seemed to 
increase his muscular power. Saw him 
once after several.days excessive drinking 
start to see a patient to perform an am- 
putation. He asked me if I would not 
had with him a mechanic’s saw and a 
butcher knife; he said that a French sur- 
geon had recommended them in a case of 
emergency. He was going to use therm 
Think he had surgery on the brain. 
TESTIMONY OF DR. MEYER.- 
Dr. Wm. Meyer sworn ; I am a.physician 
—do not know Hughes. (Described the 
symptoms of delirium tremens on differ- 
ent temperaments.) 
TESTIMONY OF SHERIFF NICOLA. 
Sheriff Nicola sworn : Am Sheriff of 
Cuyahoga county; saw Hughes at the 
door when he was brought in, the night 
of his arrest. I was called by the 
Deputy Sheriff the next morning between 
eight and nine o’clock to see Hughes, 
who appeared to be under great nervous 
excitement. I was advised to give him 
whisky, which I refused unless advised by 
TESTIMONY OF MBS. KBUM. 
Eliza Krum sworn: I remember the 
night Dr. Hughes was at Parsons’ house, 
in July last. Saw his buggy in the road, 
searched it and found a bottle of liquor 
in it. Took it home with me. It would 
hold near a quart. Should think it w*e 
either cherry or blackberry brandy. TRIAL OF DR. JOHN W. HUGHES 
31 
TESTIMONY OP MR. McKINSTRT. 
TESTIMONY OF MRS. QUILEMAN. 
Thomas McKinstry sworn; Have lived 
liere about thirty years, and have been in 
police business twenty years. Remember 
the day, in August last, of the arrest of 
Hughes. I left in pursuance of a dis- 
patch received from Bedford after the 
murder, to make the arrest. Got to New- 
burgh where I met Hughes. Started on 
the road to Bedford, to reach the place 
where Hughes left the carriage for the 
woods. Just before getting there, met 
the carriage with Hughes in it, he having 
been arrested. I got into the carriage 
and came to the jail. The party stopped 
about five minutes at the Cataract House 
in Newburgh. Hughes looked to me like 
a man who had been on a long drunk. 
That was his general appearance. He is 
evidently a man who can stand a great 
deal of liquor. His walk was not affected, 
>ut his face and talk revealed the fact of 
intoxication. Have known him four or 
five years. His face was bloated a good 
deal, and of purple color, his eyes very 
much bloodshot. He was very nervous; 
was close by him in the hotel, and when 
combing his hair his hands showed that 
his nerves were all unstrung. Ho talked 
in a bravado manner, rather boasting of 
what he had done. After he washed, the 
Dr. went to the bar and drank a glass of 
ale. Think he drank two glasses. Have 
frequently seen Doctor Hughes intoxicat- 
ed. When in liquor he was foolish, and 
did not seem to care what he did. 
Mary Quillman sworn; Have known 
Dr. Hughes since May, 1862. lured in 
his family on Bolivar street, three years 
ago, about five weeks. I have seen him 
under the influence of drink. He appeared 
very sullen, his eyes were glassy, his face 
very red, seemed very nervous, and some* 
times got very much excited. His walk 
was never noticeably different when drunk. 
Saw him once when very ugly. He had 
been away all night. He came to me in 
the kitchen. I asked what he wanted. He 
took hold of me with both hands, and I 
had to defend myself. I had the stove 
handle in my hand; struck him across 
the arm with it, when he let go. Have 
seen him drunk several times since I left 
his house. 
An affidavit of the defendant, made to 
support a motion for continuance of the 
case, was here read by his counsel. It 
alleged that the defendant was unable to 
procure the attendance of J. J. Patterson 
and Geo. S. Kirftball, medical officers of 
the United States army, well acquainted 
with defendant, who would swear they have 
often seen him intoxicated, and in this 
state very singularly affected, suffering 
under total aberration of mind, while his 
muscular system was unaffected; that 
it was essentially necessary to arrest him 
often to prevent injury to himself and best 
friends; and that this effect was, in their 
opinion, entirely due to the influence of 
liquor, but was involuntary. The motion 
Cross examination : When intoxicated 
he would talk foolishly and incoherently, 
and do foolish things. He seemed to know 
perfectly well what was going on around 
him when I saw him in the carriage. He 
recognized me, and spoke to me. He 
conversed freely and coolly about the 
transaction. 
for continuance having been disallowed, 
the allegations of the affidavit were ad- 
mitted as testimony. TRIAL OR DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
THE ARGUMENT. 
Twelve solid days were devoted to the taking of evidence, the 
donhle extract of which we have given above. On the 19th of De- 
cember, in the presence of a vast auditory, Albert T. Slade. Esq., 
opened the argument on the part of the State: 
Gentlemen of the Jury; After a long 
and patient examination of this extraordi- 
nary case we are now drawing our labors 
to a close. This is a case involving the 
highest consequences, not only to the pris- 
oner, but to the community. Subsequent 
developements have fully sustained the 
position taken by the prosecutor at the 
opening. Against the prisoner at the bar 
we can have no personal feeling, but we 
must deal with him as a criminal who has 
committed the highest crime known to 
law. The prisoner has had every lenity 
shown him by the Court; eminent counsel 
has been assigned and nothing has 
been left undone to extenuate his great of- 
fence. But while every man is presumed 
to be innocent till proven to be guilty, 
when once shown to have violated the law, 
then to Waver in conviction is treason to 
duty. The highest sanction is necessary to 
protect life. For the frightful increase of 
murder, robbery, and other high crimes 
there must be some cause. "What is it? 
It is because when crimes are detected 
there so much uncertainty of punishment. 
There is even admiration for the great 
criminal, after the momentary excitement 
has passed away. The people every where 
are asking if a man can be convicted of 
murder in the first degree in Ohio. 
Now what is the crime alleged against 
the defendant? The learned prosecutor 
has stated that it is the highest crime known 
to the law of the State. Let us now turn 
to and examine and review the law and 
evidence in the case. 
What is the crime of murder? In the 
common law of England murder was the 
taking of life by man in his right mind, 
with malice, &c. In our statutes discrimi- 
nation is made. Murder in the first and 
second degrees and manslaughter are rec- 
ognized. Murder in the first degree is the 
taking of the life of another with deliber- 
ation and premeditated malice. Murder 
in the second degree is the taking of life 
purposely and maliciously, with or with- 
out premeditated malice. To constitute 
murder in the first degree under our stat- 
utes, the act must be done purposely, de- 
liberately, premeditatedly and with malice. 
The advocate entered into a definition 
and analysis of these terms, purpose, de- 
liberation, malice, &c. Authorities were 
read, as follows, to show that “purpose” 
means intention, the making up of the 
mind to commit an act: Wharton's Ameri- 
can Law on Homicide, pp. 184-5-6, 878! 
Wright's Ohio Reports, p. 399. 
The second element to be considered is 
deliberation. Premeditation may be 
ranked with deliberation. It means to 
weigh, consider, revolve in mind, an act 
before its accomplishment. The follow- 
ing authorities were cited: Wharton 
on Law of Homicide, pp. 372 3-4 ; Whar- 
ton’s American Criminal Law. pp. 378, 
413 ; Twelfth Ohio Reports, State vs. 
Shoemaker, pp. 43, 53 ; also State vs. Tur- 
ner. 
The third ingredient is malice. Whar- 
ton on Homicide, pp. 33, was read. There 
are two| kinds—expressed and implied. 
In the fii st there is a lying in wait to com 
mit the act, and the committing of 
it with sedate, deliberate mind, and 
with a formal design. The evidence is 
circumstantial. In the second the act 
may be perpetrated or consummated while 
the person is doing another unlawful act 
' This will suffice for the statement of 
the law in the ease. Of the fact of mur- 
der by this defendant there is no question. 
Let us now turn to review the evidence in 
the case, by way of refreshing our memo- 
ries. (The indictment was here produced 
and read.) 
The advocate then reviewed the 
history of the affair, commencing with the 
seduction of Tamzen Parsons, an 
phisticated country girl, whose youth and 
ignorance made her the easy victim of this 
cool, calculating man. He narrated the 
flight to Pittsburgh, the marriage, the pur- 
suit of Haynes, the discovery by Tam- 
zen that her husband was a bigamist; hia 
arrest and trial, his incarceration and her 
return home; his sudden appearance four 
or five months later, and immediate at- 
tentions to Tamzen, telling her he. had 
sent away his first wife that he might 
take her to live with him in Cleveland. 
He detailed his subsequent actions ; his 
breaking into Mr. Parsons’ house on the 
night of the 25th of July ; his visit to Dr. 
Wray at Warrensville, the next day, asked 
him if he had a pistol, and saying, on 
Wray’s asking him what he wanted of it, 
“If that d—d bitch don’t stop calling her* 
sel Mrs" Hughes, I’ll shoot her;” his stay 
at the Plank Road House that night, and 
his remarks to Mrs. Eddy at breakfast the 
next morning, Wednesday, the 16 th. 
“Pity it hadn’t blown her d—d braing 
out and saved me the trouble gome TRIAL OR OR. JOHX W. HUGHES. 
33 
time,” in response to Mrs. E’s tell- 
ing him that Tamzen had a ball re- 
cently pass through her parasol; his drive 
to Bedford that morning and statement to 
Mr, Salisbury, that “he must hunt up Tam- 
zen, and if she won’t live with me i’ll kill 
her;” his trial before Justice Porter the 
next Saturday, for the crime of house 
breaking; his settlement of the difficulty 
with Tamzen, through the mediation of 
Mr. Henry Parsons, and Hughes’ solemn 
promise never to have more to do with or 
to say to this girl ; his violation of this 
promise within two weeks all this going 
to show the thread of the intention in 
Hughes mind to kill this girl as an alter- 
native. He was not intoxicated when he 
made these statements to Mrs. Eddy and 
Mr. Salisbury, and from them we can see 
the latent purpose, the absorbing thought 
of Tamzen, the desire to have her live with 
him, and his forming deepening intent'on 
to slay her if she refuses to comply with 
his request. The murder, the flight and 
capture were depicted with great pict 'rial 
and dramatic power. The precision with 
which Hughes fired, aiming at the vital 
point; his taking money from Russell as 
he left the carriage in flight, and his run 
to the woods to reach the cars, his cool- 
ness after the capture, and the statements 
of intention by the defendant on the ride 
to the city, show that he was in his right 
mind, that the murder was a deliberate 
rational act. There is nothing to show 
that he was in a frenzy and in such a men- 
tal state as to make him irresponsible for 
his act. 
intoxicated, the fact ofintoxication should 
have no weight. And precisely the same 
application must be made in this case. 
He laid down the further proposition 
that it makes no difference whether 
Hughes formed the purpose to kid Tam- 
zen Parsons two weeks or two months be- 
fore the deed was committed. As guilty 
in one case as in the other. Nor does it 
mutter how mi\ch liquor he may have 
drank, if he knew what he was about at 
the time of the murder. 
The advocate concluded his plea with 
the following recapitulation: 
Gentlemen, let us for a moment pass in 
review this case, bloodiest in the annals 
of crime. The facts cannot be denied. 
The defendant himself boasted over the 
ruin he had wrought, “that he should meet 
the murdered one across the great waters.” 
Seems to me even nowand here he might 
see ‘•wandering by, a shadowlike an angel, 
with bright hair, dabbled in blood.” 
Tamzen Parsons died in defense of her 
virtue. When the seducer came in the 
person of a man of pleasing address and 
finished education, with a forged decree of 
divorce in his hand, he found her a mere 
child yet at school. She yielded to his 
machinations and was lured from home 
and friends. The forger became the big- 
amist and wrote on his forehead the hor- 
rid crime of adultery. Her friends follow- 
ed, she learned of his deception and was 
rescued from the jaws of a remorseless 
prostitution! Anon the Forger, the Big- 
amist, the Adulterer was doomed to con- 
finement for a year within the walls of a 
prison. After four months, we find this 
poor wife, the mother of his child, true to 
her womanly instincts, wending her way 
through our city, procuring signatures for 
his pardon. She obtained it. What prom- 
ises he makes we know not. Does he 
come to her with contrition and gratitude? 
No ! He banishes her and his child. For 
what? That he may again set his snares 
for the young and unsuspected Tamzen, 
that he may lead her to a life of prostitu- 
tion to end her days with those falleu ones 
who are bought with a price. 
The forger, the bigamist, the adulterer, 
seeks, again his prey, plies his arts, The 
mother of the child hovers near. Tamzen 
says : “You have deceived me once, you 
can not again.” He will not desist— 
counts upon his strong control. He is 
mistaken, she will not yield. She seeks 
the house of refuge given by a Christian 
woman—nearly entered—he sees all id 
lost, he cannot possess her—he draws— 
takes deadly aim—fires, and Tamzen dies 
to live in Heaven. The forger, the biga- 
mist, the adulterer, John W. Hughes, walks 
forth a murderer. 
Let a monument be raised in memory 
of fallen virtue, which the young and fair 
The advocate then entered on the con- 
sideration, how far the question of drunk- 
enness should enter into the palliation or 
mitigation of crime. If a man has formed 
the purpose to commit murder, it makes 
no difference if he became drunk before 
committing the deed. The case of the 
People vs. Rogers, Smith’s New York Re- 
ports, p. 13, was cited in confirmation. 
Further extracts were read from the same 
authority and also from Wharton's Crimi- 
nal Law, sth revised edition, Ist /olurae, 
p. 38, sec. 38, 39—a1l in proof that volun- 
tary drunkenness is no excuse for crime 
committed in that state. Also sec. 41, 
note P. sec. 42. Also Wharton and Stelly, 
sec. 67. 70—that intoxication, though it 
reduces a man to a state of temporary in- 
sanity, is no defense of crime. It would 
not shield a man if he was sane before he 
became drunk. Also sec. 72, Eighth Ohio 
State Reports, State vs. Nichols, p. 435. 
A drunken malice is as dangerous and 
quite as wicked as a sober one. Indoxica- 
tion, Mr. Slade argued, must be consider- 
ed, like any other fact, to discover the 
status of a man’s mind. If counterfeit 
money is found on the person of a man so 
drunk that he knows nothing of it, the fact 
of drunkenness refutes the evidence of 
crime. But if he had it before he became 34 
TRIAL OR DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
can look upon when we are dead and 
gone. 
From this sad tragedy we learn 
in the first degree. To make that out the 
State have to establish five things : First, 
the killing ; second, that it was malicious ; 
third, that it was purposely done; fourth, 
that it was done with deliberation ; and 
fifth, that it was done with premeditation. 
What now are we to unde; stand by these 
several elements which constitute mur- 
der? It is a rule of interpretation, thal 
we are to give effect to each of the words 
of the statute or of an instrument which 
we wish to interpret. 
“ The triumphs that on vice attend, 
Shall ever in confusion end ; 
The good man suffers but to gain, 
And every virtue springs from pain. 
As aromatic plants bestow 
No spicy fragrance, while they grow, 
But crushed or troudten to the ground, 
Diffuse their balmy sweets around.” 
Gentlemen, we throw upon you the bur- 
den of this case. It rests with you. You 
have solemnly sworn to decide this issue, 
according to the law and the evidence.— 
Mercy rests not with you, not with the 
judge, but with the Governor of the Chair 
of State. You are to do justice-nothing 
more, nothing less. I ask you in the name 
of that community so cruelly outraged, 
that waits patiently to see whether under 
any circumstances, the highest penalty 
can be enforced—I ask you in the name 
of violated chastity every where—l ask 
you in the name of God whose image has 
been so cruelly defaced, and finally, I ask 
you in the name of the very law itself, to 
this day mark by your verdict your esti- 
mate of the protection which shall be 
given to the poor man’s child. 
Here various authorities were cited to 
show the meaning of the several words 
above named, a d the general conclusion 
deduced that the meaning of the first sec- 
tion of the Crime's Act containing the 
above words, and under which the defen- 
dant is charged, is that the killing must 
be done in pursuance of an intention or 
design to kill, which intention must have 
been formed before the party attempted to 
execute that design, and that he must 
have stopped to consider, to weigh in his 
mind that design; that if the act was com- 
mitted whilst the defendant was in a fit of 
anger or of rage induced by the deceased, 
he Would not be guilty of the charge ; that 
if the intention to kill was formed whilst 
the defendant was subject to any passion 
which disqualified him for deliberation, 
and that intention was executed whilst 
still under the influence of that passion, 
he would not be guilty; that the intent 
to kill, although not essential to constitute 
murder at the common law, is by the first 
section of the Crime’s Act made an ingre- 
dient of that crime. [Fouts vs. State, 8 
Ohio State, p. 98 ; Rollins vs. State, 8 Ohio 
State, p. 131 and Kain vs. State, p. 306.]; 
that deliberation and premeditation, al- 
though not an essential element of mur- 
der at common law, is by the same section 
made an element of that crime; that the 
presumption of law arising from proof of 
killing alone is that t was murder in the 
second degree and not murder in the first 
degree ; that the jury have in addition to 
the finding of a homicide, to find express- 
ly and from the proof, an additional 
element of deliberation and premedita- 
tion ; that no extent of proof of malice 
simply will warrant the finding of delib- 
eration and premeditation, but that, in 
addition to the proof of malice, there must 
be proof of deliberation and premeditation 
as distinct facts and elements of crime; 
that drunkenness is competent in a charge 
of murder in the first degree to he proved 
to the jury for the purpose of showing 
that the defendant did not at the time of 
committing the act have sufficient under- 
standing o intend the act, and that drunk- 
enness is competent in all cases where the 
intention is an element ot the crime. 
[Pigman ds. State, 14 Ohio, p. 555; Ibid, 
p. 435; Nichols vs. State, 8 0. S. Rep. p. 
435.] 
ARGUMENT OP MR. KNIGHT. 
Gentlemen of the Jury: The business 
here, committed to your charge is one of 
the most important that ever arises in 
,the affairs of men. The inquest that you 
now hold is one that involves the life of 
the unfortunate prisoner at the bar. And 
in a matter of such great importance it is 
of the utmost importance to the faithful 
discharged that duty, that you look well 
to yourselves to see that in making up 
your judgment you shall be uninfluenced 
in any degree by prejudice or passion, and 
that your deliberations shall be entirely 
free from, and your conclusions totalis un- 
affected by, either passion or prejudice. 
A man of great uniformity of temper and 
strong predispositions to vice, after hours 
of drunken revelry and dissipation and in 
an unfortunate moment when madness, 
like a had usurped the 
dominion of his mind and subverted rea- 
son from her seat, committed what the 
prosecution and the populace see fit to 
characterize as murder. And hence there 
has arisen a powerful prejudice against the 
defendant. I ask you in behalf of jus- 
tice, in the name of liberty, which it is 
your duty to shield and protect, that you 
shall remaim unaffected by it. Let its 
storms wail as wildly, madly and furious- 
ly as they may around this temple, and 
gather and beat until it shall rock upon 
its foundations, still no breath should en- 
ter here. / 
I pass now, gentlemen, to a considera- 
tion of the. law, as applicable to this ca«e. 
The defefndAnt-is charged with murder TRIAL OF DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
35 
Now, gentlemen, this much with regard 
to the law for the present. I wish to call 
your attention to a few facts which have 
been given you in proof, and, first, I wish 
to invite your attention to a startling fact 
disclosed in this investigation in regard 
to the peculiarity of the defendant’s troub- 
les and the melancholy results, and the 
troubles of his ancestors and their equal- 
ly unfortunate results. You cannot fail 
to remaak it as an impressive coincidence, 
that the kind of trouble which led his an- 
cestor (his grandmother) to commit suicide, 
was the deep grief that gathered and set- 
tled upon her heart at the loss of her hus- 
band. Thus she became at once subject 
to fearful visits of awful madness, and in 
a few months after her loss, in one of her 
fits of insanity, she terminated her life. 
So when the defendant realized the fact 
that she, whom he most loved, had for- 
saken him, he, like his unfortunate ances- • 
tor, became suddenly wild, a maniac, and 
in its awful visitation, he took the life of 
Tamzen Parsons and contemplated taking 
his own. It is a singular coincidence that 
the same character of trouble should befal 
him as befel his ancestor, and it is equally, 
. singular that it should fall with such fear- 
ful and yet such singular effect upon each. 
It certainly indicates clearly that some in- 
firmitv, defect, or predisposition on the 
part of his ancestors, has been transmitted 
to him as the hereditary accumulation of 
the morbid predispositions of his ancestors 
for generations, exalted and intensified in 
the organization of the defendant. And 
it is also a singular coincidence, that the 
same character of trouble which led his 
grandmother to commit suicide, led him 
to contemplate the same melancholy pur- 
pose. For you will not forget what you 
were told by Mr. Parsons about the bot- 
tle oc prussic acid which he had prepared, 
and which he then had in his vest pocket, 
and with which he then intended to com- 
mit suicide. Gentlemen, there is nothing 
now better settled than that predisposi- 
tions to insanity are transmissible from 
parent to offspring. Nay, more, I cite 
you the authority of Wharton and SteL. , 
Medical Jurisprudence, to the fact that 
predispositions to lying, cheating, drunk- 
enness, theft and all other moral vices are 
as transmissible as gout, consumption, 
deafness, blindness and almost all other 
constitutional diseases. [Wharton and 
Stelle, Medical Jurisprudence, section 
108.] And if that be so, and it is so, then 
I can clearly understand how the unfor- 
tunate defendant comes to be possessed of 
peculiarities of temper and mental ten- 
dencies and susceptibilities which charac- 
terized his ancestors, and you then have 
also the key to the fact that the effect of a 
great disappointment on him would be 
like the same on his ancestor. 
ity in all its forms was simply believed to 
be a visitation of God, on which we might- 
look with wonder and grief, but to which 
it was our duty to bow submissively. It 
was not thought that it was a condition of 
the mind, which might be traced to a prop- 
er and adequate cause, either growing 
out of some hereditary defect or developed 
by the circumstances of habits of its unfor- 
tunate subject. But now it has come to 
be well understood that insanity is attrib- 
utable, like any disease of the body, to 
causes which operate to its development. 
And now in the light of recent investiga- 
tions, the origin and causes of insanity 
have been searched out, and the great 
truth established that insanity is trans- 
missible by inheritance. The birthright 
of my unfortunate client was a powerful 
tendency to insanity, derived from his an- 
cestors generations ago. 
In the early part of the present century, 
insanity was not permitted to be given in 
defense of crime, but as its origin and ex- 
tent were gradually studied and under- 
stood. its claim to a hearing in excuse for 
crime came to be recognized and adopted, 
and now not only the insanity of the de- 
fendant himself, but the insanity of his 
ancestors may be shown in his defense. 
Man is a peculiar being, and strangely 
compounded of different natures marvel- 
lously mixed. On the one hand, in the 
nobility of his reason and the infinity of 
his faculties, he is allied to angels and to 
God; and on the other, in his passions and 
necessities, he is linked by an inevitable 
fatality to the beasts of the field. 
“How poor, how rich, how abject, how august', 
How complicate, how wonderful is man 1” 
It was the full realization of the marvel- 
lous mixing up of large extremes, which 
led the poet in astonishment to exclaim: 
Oh what a miracle to man is man ! ” 
My client was subject to a wild and 
foolish infatuation in affairs of love, but 
he is not the first or only one who has be- 
come the deluded victim of infatuation. 
They have existed in all ages of the world. 
But sometimes this infatuation takes one 
hue, and sometimes another. It has man- 
ifested itself in one person in a morbid 
and overruling desire for money. Midas, 
for some service that was rendered by him 
to Bacchus, was told he should have what- 
ever he wished. And so absorbing was 
his desire for gold that he wished that 
whatever he touched might be turned into 
gold. And from those my thological times 
until now there have been these whose 
whole being has been absorbed and over- 
shadowed by this ruling passion. 
Sometimes it manifests itself in dreams 
of ambition and glory. A diadem casts 
its maddening gleams into the eyes of 
ambitious men, and they long for that 
giddy elevation, and are ready to ‘‘wade 
This doctrine of hereditary insanity is 
comparatively new. Not long ago insan- 36 
TRIAL OP ER. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
through slaughter to the throne.” Every 
desire is for that end, and every thought is 
how they can gain it. 
Sometimes it takes a religious turn, and 
from the time when Peter the Hermit went 
back from Asia to Europe, and kindled a 
fire of enthusiasm which lighted up all 
Europe, and which led to the famous Cru- 
sades, until to-day, there have been re- 
ligious enthusiasts who, in the wildness 
and blindness of their enthusiasm, have 
looked on a martyr’s death with indiffer- 
ence. 
lies not in the greatness of our intellect 
or'the power and activity of our moral 
force. If the intellect alone is the power 
which exercises moral control over any 
individual, then the most intellectual men 
would be the best. But is such the case? 
No, gentlemen. Lord Bacon, one of the 
most intellectual of men, on account of his 
vice and crime has been char-acterized as 
the “brightest, wisest, meanest of man- 
kind.” And it was in a felon’s cell that 
he gave birth to those wonderful lucubra- 
tions which fell on the earth like an apoc- 
alypse of nature, and from which arose 
the “exhaltaions of a new intellectual 
morning” that has arisen into a still in- 
creasing day, the genial sun of which has 
warmed into life a giant brood of useful 
arts and a still more giant bi'ood of useful 
sciences, and which roiled hack that cloud 
of darkness which enveloped the earth for 
a thousand years. 
Our safety from vice cannot be found 
in the strength of intellect, but alone in 
the complete ascendancy of the moral na- 
ture. The great intellect and attainments 
of defendant could have no force in re- 
straining the wild, morbid and overpower- 
ing passions which were his inheritance. 
Again, it takes the more tender form of 
love. Paris stole the Grecian Helen and 
fled with her to Troy, and this illicit love 
led to ihe siege and utter destruction of 
Troy. Mark Antony, the greatest of 
Rome, gave up the world for Cleopatra. 
Leander swam the Hellespont for his love. 
Henry YHI., of England, under the influ- 
ence of this passion, threw off the power 
of the Church of Rome in England, and 
established himself as the head of both 
Church and State, and thus led the way 
for the emancipation of the English peo- 
ple from the fearful tyrannous grasp a *d 
authority of the Roman Church. 
And So all through the world’s history, 
both in ancient fable, and in ancient and 
modern history, we find numberless ex- 
amples of those over whom the tender 
passion held complete control My unfor- 
tunate client is one of the latter class. 
Love is the ruling passion with him. It 
absorbs all others. It rises out of his 
temperment as natural as perfume issues 
from the rose. To this peculiartendency 
of his temperament he adds the morbid 
predisposition, in the same direction 
which he inherited from his ancestor. And 
to both of these he superadds the stimulat- 
ing and exciting effect of intoxication 
These tendencies of temperament and 
hereditary morbid predisposition, excited 
and intensified by intoxication, gives that 
passion a supreme and absolute control 
over him. And the whole strength and 
current of his being sets in that direction, 
and makes the object of his love every- 
thing to him. 
Here there follows a lengthy argument 
showing that with a weak nature the de- 
fendant was possessed of a most powerful, 
psssionate nature, which,where it found an 
object meeting its fancy, made him be- 
come wildly and madly attached thereto ; 
that Tamzen Parsons, the deceased, wa3 
that object; that he loved her madly and 
blindly, and, when he found the object of 
thatlovehad forsaken him and turned away 
from him, the awful passion of love wa3 
disappointed, and he, under the influence 
of disappointment, became insane, and 
when that fearful cloud and paroxysm 
crossed his mind his intellect became 
eclipsed, and, failing in self-control and 
judgment, perpetrated the fearful deed. 
The speaker concluded by asking the 
Here the speaker discussed at great 
length the evidence in the case in relation 
to the question of insanity and drunken- 
ness, andthe peculiar temperament of de- 
fendant, and the effect on his tempera' 
ment of intoxicating liquors, and reading 
from various scientific and literary au- 
thorities in support of his propositions, 
and proceeded as follows : 
jury, when they retired for deliberation, 
to so deeide that when they should separ- 
ate from their labors there and return 
homo again, they might say in their devo- 
tions and prayers to God, 
“That mercy I to others show, 
That mercy show to me.” 
But the prosecution say, and truly, too, 
that the defendant is a person of extraor- 
dinary intellect and of rare learning. We 
admit it. But is a great genius proof 
against vice and temptation ? By no 
means. The power to control our actions 
Mr. Castle confined himself th roughont 
a seven hours’ speech, to the discussion 
of the evidence taken by the State, re- 
viewing it generally and in parts with mer- 
ciless analysis and criticism, and p Ring 
upon it such construction as he claimed 
ARGUMENT OP MR. CASTLE, TRIAL OF DE. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
37 
was warranted by fact or proof, in the light 
of reason. He worked his way through 
this mountain of evidence, with commend- 
able industry, persistency, and heroic 
endurance, not to speak of the ability with 
which he discharged his obligations to 
the defendant. His argument abounded 
with passages of eloquence, pathos, in- 
vective, satire, and impassioned appeal, 
Which thrilled all present—which no re- 
port can do justice to, from the fact that 
this advocate’s power is a personal, mag- 
netic force 
His theory of the ease, authorized by 
the evidence, is, that Tamzen Parsons was 
not a mere child, as represented, but a 
person come to responsible womanhood; 
that was a mutually reciprocal pas- 
sion burning in the hearts of her and 
Hughes ; that she knew he was a married 
Brian; that the claimed forged bill of 
divorce must have been executed in Pitts- 
burgh after the elopement and with her 
knowledge; that she never gave over her 
love for him, albeit she listened to the 
solicitations of her friends and returned 
home,—for. on the night of the 24th of 
July last she testified her willingness and 
even desire to keep his company when her 
father had gone to Bedford for an officer 
to arrest Hughes for house breaking and 
assault, and by holding an interview of 
two hours’ duration with him at the yard 
fence ; that at no subsequent time did she 
manifest the slightest ill will toward him ; 
that he loved her with a wild idolatry 
albeit it was an illicit love ; that all his 
day was but a thought of her, at. d she his 
dream by night, so that life was nothing 
to him without her; that, when baffled by 
the opposition of her fwends, and set on 
fire of hell by excess.ve drink, with his 
predispositions, while intoxicated, to in- 
sanity, reason forsook her seat as Tamzen 
flitted across his path on that dark day 
when he slew her; that the murder was 
the sudden impulse of a brain crazed by 
drink, and no deliberate, malicious act. 
The advocate devoted much time to’ihe 
ventilation of the alleged threats made by 
Hughes to take Tamzen’s life ; viz. that 
to Dr. Wray, on the 25th of July, when 
he said that if she did not stop* calling 
herself Mrs. Hughes he would kill her; 
that to Mrs. Eddy, the next morning, at 
breakfast at the Plank Road House, in 
response to her informing him that a bul- 
let had been fired through her parasol : 
“ Pity it hadn’t gone a little lower and 
blown her d—d brains out, and saved me 
the trouble some day; ” and that to Vial 
Salisbury, at Bedford, the same day: “I 
must hunt her (Tamzen) up, and if she 
won’t live with me, I’ll kill her.” He 
dwelt long and loud on the essential ab- 
surdity and improbability of his making 
such statements when his love for her is 
considered, his desires and efforts to get 
her to live with him. It is inconceivable 
that, if he meditated her murder, or de- 
sired to take her life, that he should thus 
drum up witnesses of the contemplated 
deed, and so plan things as to make his 
conviction fatally sure. It was the poison 
he had swallowed in copious draughts 
which killed Tamzen Parsons—not John 
W. Hughes. 
Mr. Castle’s voice giving out, he was 
obliged to give over the case into the 
hands of the Prosecutor, C. W. Palmer, 
Ksq. That gentleman entered upon a 
statement of facts and interpretation of 
evidence in the case, weaving a web of 
iron threads. 
Gentlemen of the Jury; I stand before 
you for the last time in the discharge of 
the responsible dudes connected with the 
investigation of this important case, not 
to measure rhetorical blades wi.h my 
friend who opened for the defense, in the 
shadowy region of metaphysical and theo- 
retical speculation, in which for the great- 
er part of his address he roamed, nor to 
test pinions with my other friend who 
closed for the defense, who has so long 
delighted us by his adventurous flights of 
eloquence. The business of the hour re- 
quires of me to render such aid as I may 
in elucidating the truth from the testimo- 
ny rehearsed in your hear-ing, and to that 
task, impressed with the solemnity of the 
duty I have to discharge, I now address 
myself. It is truth which is at issue here. 
I shall show you that we have established 
every point made in our opening state- 
ment. 
ARGUMENT OP MR. PALMER. 
This is a complete drama, with a begin- 
ning, all the consecutive stages of devel- 
opment, and a tragedy for a biting conclu- 
sion. One year ago to day (Friday, the 
21st) this defendant was brought before 
the Mayor of Pittsburgh, charged with 
the crime of bigamy. All this tragedy 
has been developed in one short year that 
is just past. Let us review it. The cur- 
tain rises in the quiet village of Bedford, 
and two characters came upon the stage, 
a little over one year ago. Who are they? 
One has been before you for the last two 
weeks, a mature man of the world, educa- 
ted and polished; the other, an unsus- 
pecting country maiden, seventeen years 
of age, inexperienced, confiding, who now 
sleeps quietly in the cemetery at Bedford. 
This man sought that virtuous, artless 
maiden in her secluded home, at a time 
when she was deprived of her mother’s 
watchful care, and plied the arts and fas- 
cinations at the command of a cultivated, 
experienced man of the world. His hon- 
eyed words meant lust. “Love!” For- 
gotten by him were all the lessons of 
childhood, solemn marriage vows, the 38 
TEIAL OF DK. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
pleadings of his innocent boy,who claimed 
from him the legacy of a fair name. 
On Monday, December 19th, 1864, the 
parties leave Bedford for Pittsburgh. 
The mother of Tamzen hears of the flight 
on the same day, and sends .her son-in- 
law in pursuit, on the 20th. Lured thith- 
er by the tempter, he prevailed over this 
unsuspecting maiden’s heart and induced 
her to take this step by the exhibition of 
a bill of divorce, which he had forged for 
that purpose. They had been married. 
On the 21st he was arrested on the charge 
®f bigamy, and flung into jail to await 
trial, and she, bitterly deceived, returned 
to her father’s honse. And the curtain 
falls upon a felon’s cell, its inmate lep- 
rous with lust, a forger, a bigamist and 
an adulterer. 
drink, and when he arrives that night at 
the Plank Road House he is drunk. His 
purpose is more distinctly stated before 
Mrs. Eddy, at breakfast on the morning 
of the 26th, when, in response to her in- 
formation that a ball recently passed 
through Tamzen’s parasol, he said, “Pity 
it hadn’t gone a little lower and blown 
her brains put, and saved me the trouble 
sometime.’' He is still brooding over his 
disappointment, the thwarting of his dar- 
ling purpose, and in these statements we 
get glimpses of the state of his mind to- 
ward the girl. A few hours later he meets 
Vial Salisbury, and tl e expression of his 
purpose is no longer vague or even indis- 
tinct. “If she will not live with me, I’ll 
kill her.” He is arrested on Thursday on 
the charge of house-breaking, examined 
on Saturday before Justice Porter in this 
city, Tamzen herself making affidavit 
against him. That act of herS makes his 
failure all the more apparent, and his 
prospect of success now seems hopeless. 
He buys the pistol that day, the pistol with 
which two weeks later he shot her. 
In January he was convicted and sen- 
tenced to the penitentiary of Pennsylva- 
nia. During those four or five months of 
imprisonment what was passing in his 
mind ? This imperious nature brooded 
over his failure to carry out his designs., 
He could not brook it. He would show 
Tamzen Parsons, when he got out, that he 
would accomplish his purpose. His will 
becomes more relentless and determined, 
and he makes a resolve not to be toiled 
again. For, accepting, in early summer, 
the boon of liberty from the hands of his 
devoted wife, whom he treated with equal 
cruelty and meanness, he was no sooner 
released from the penitentiary than he 
makes his appearance here in July last, 
and sets about completing his foiled pur- 
pose. He sends away his wife and child 
to his native Isle of Man, that they may 
offer no impediment. Three several times 
the defendant himself expressly said that 
he sent them away in order that he might 
get Tamzen to live with him. He will 
live with her. 
He meets Henry Parsons that evening, 
who advises him to settle that difficulty, 
and offers himself as a mediator. Here 
is a gleam of hope to Dr Hughes’ mind» 
If she can be reconciled unto him, he 
thinks, he may still win her with his 
charms. They go to her house the next 
day, Sunday, where Henry Parsons, after 
a four hours’ interview with Tamzen, 
gains her consent to stay the prosecution, 
but on the proviso that the Doctor shall 
solemnly promise to molest her no more. 
He was maddened by yeason of the length 
of time taken to s>-itle, even on these 
terms, and told Parsons that he had made 
up his mind, if she did not stay the prose- 
cution, not to go to trial on that charge 
house-breaking), but on another, pulling 
a pistol from his pocket, and adding, “I 
would have shot her dead, taken to the 
1 woods, and (drawing a vial of prussic acid) 
de -troyed my own life.” This shows his 
state of mind. 
On the night of the 24th of July these 
characters come upon the stage again. 
He enters her father’s house late at night, 
seeking an interview with Tamzen. For 
four long hours he exercises all his powers 
of fascination and persuasion, in vain. 
“ You have deceived me once, and you 
shall never do it again,” she reiterates in 
answer to bis passionate urgings and en- 
treaties. He drives off, foiled again, and 
by this young girl, towards Warrensville. 
That imperious will has once more been 
balked, and his spirit chafes and rages 
at the result of the interview. He sees 
Dr. Wray at the Warrensville Plouse, on 
the morning of the 25th, and in conversa- 
tion with him the feelings of Dr. Hughes’ 
heart are shown and his purpose vaguely 
expressed. He is provoked, angry, and 
the first sparks of a kindling revenge 
show themselves. He asks Dr. Wray if 
de has a pistol. “No; why?” “That 
h—(j _— (Tamzen) is calling herself Mrs. 
Hughes, and if she doesn’t stop I’ll blow 
her brains out.’ ’ He indulges freely in 
The settlement was made, the promise 
given. Here was new hope for the suc- 
cessful issue of another effort. That 
strong will, never yet baulked, was not 
willing to acknowledge itself conquered 
by a village maiden. He awaited an op- 
portunity, and on Tuesday evening, Au- 
gust Bth, it occurred. He met Russell; 
they drank, Russell proposed a drive, the 
defendant engaged for a ride to Bedford. 
Here is a twin villian who will aid him, 
perchance. If they meet Tamzen, and 
she refuses to go with him, they may kid- 
nap her. The pistol and flask of whisky 
are taken by Hughes. They are necessa- 
ry attendants in all purposes and deeds 
of violence and blood. They start with 
the double lie of calling Russell Major 
Hanson and that their errand is the am- 
putation of a limb. Hughes was not TRIAD OE DR. JOHN W. HUGHES- 
39 
drunk. He gave all the directions on the 
road. Arriving at the cross roads near 
Bedford, Hughes ordered the driver to 
stop. Why? He was debating whether it 
were better to go ‘‘there” that night or 
wait until morning. He had failed in one 
noctural visitation. He would try his for- 
tune in daylight. They stop at the hotel. 
It is not corroborated that Hughes drinks 
much the next morning. They set out, 
see Mr. Christian in the street. Hughes 
sends for him. with the remark, “That 
man cost me $50.” It was he, her Avarm 
personal friend, who brought Tamzen into 
the city to file an affidavut against the 
Doctor. It shows that he was brooding 
over this matter. He evidently wished to 
learn where Tamzen was, Avhether at his 
house in the village or at her father’s, so 
as not to lose his journey. They tirove 
on, Hughes ordering the driver to turn to 
the left, on the road where Mr. Parsons 
lived. He sought a private interview, 
believing it in his poAAmr to revive her 
love for him. He meets Mrs. Christian at 
Mrs. Parsons’ house, and learns that Tam- 
zen and her mother have gone blackberry - 
ing. When she tells him not to trouble 
himself, for Tamzen has set her affections 
elsewhere, he looked “venomous,” and 
drove off toward the Plank Road House. 
Soon meeting the object of his search, 
Hughes orders the driver to stop. The 
women Avould not stop, but he followed on, 
overtook them and parleyed about mat- 
ters of receiving papers, giving checks on 
the bank, &c., as a ruse to throw Mrs. P. 
off her guard, and gain a private talk 
with Tamzen. It is refused. Robinson 
comes along in a wagon, and will take 
the Avomen home. Hughes parleys, an 
intervieAv is refused, he tells Tamzen he 
will live with her it h a has to hang for it. 
No one else shall have her if he has to 
SAving for it. She still denies him an in- 
tervies; he put his hand to the pocket 
where his pistol was, but catches Robin- 
son’s eyre, drops his hand, and as theyr 
drive on Avalks back to his carriage, and 
thence to the Plank Road House. He 
needs stimulus, he falters in his pur- 
pose. They drink and post back to 
Krum’s opposite Parsons’ house, ask for 
Parsohs’ family, and, learning 'hat they 
have gone to Bedford, Hughes says drive 
on to Bedford. He goes first to Chris- 
tian’s shop. Why? To find out where 
Tamzen is, Avhether at his house, having 
rode to toAvn Avith his wife, or at Joseph 
Haynes’. He accosts Mr. Parsons and 
asks him to drink. Why? To find out 
where Tamzen is. Just then be spies her 
go ng to Christian's house, and gives pur- 
suit. She was alone. Here and now. or 
never, was Opportunity to see her alone. 
If he fail now, his final avowed purpose 
must be executed. She flies, he pursues, 
she says, “No, I will not stop, ’ rushes 
through the gate opened by the boy Chris , 
tian, which is then by him closed. Hughes 
draws his revolver, cocks it ere he reaches 
the gate, opens it, speeds up the walk, 
and within ten feet of Mrs. Christian’s 
open door, lays violent hand on Tarazen’s 
shoulder and fires. She utters a cry so 
piteous, it would have melted a heart oth- 
er than adamant. He fires again, and 
Tamzen’s spirit soars to where the wicked 
cease from troubling and the weary are at 
rest. 
The speaker detailed the flight and cap- 
ture with graphic power. The coolness, 
the run to the woods for the railroad, the 
manifold declarations of the prisoner, tes- 
tified to his saneness of mind after the 
murder. He continued: 
Now what crime has been committed ? 
has any? We admit and accept the bur- 
den of proof as to deliberation and pre- 
meditation of this act. By five different 
declarations, four of which were made 
when sober, viz. to Wray, Mrs. Eddy 
Messrs. Salisbury, Parsons and Robinson, 
we establish that deliberation. We have 
shown it by the circumstances of the act, 
and by the declarations of the defendant 
after his capture. 
Noav what is the defense? It is hard to 
tell- Is it insanity? No one swears to it. 
But it Avas uncontro lable impulse, say the 
detense,—to what? love ? They cite 
Othello’s love. But the love of the noble 
Moor was an honest love. He never com- 
mitted forgery. Was it drunkenness ? 
That Avas no excuse in the eye of law, the 
purpose to kill her having been proven to 
have been formed two Aveeks before. If 
drunk, as claimed, he wrought himself in- 
to a frenzy by drink as a means to an end. 
But nobody swears that he was drunk. 
He was cool, collected, deliberate. The 
fact of intoxication, not the amonnt of 
liquor drank, must be proven. 
The speaker proceeded to consider 
what were the mental states of the defend- 
ant. Avhat inspired his acts, and named 
desire for an object, disappointment, an 
ger, jealousy and revenge as springs of 
action, discussing their power, natural 
operations, effects, consequences, &c., 
and showing by his exercise of these, as 
well as by a consciousness of the act in all 
its bearings, his full memory of all the 
details, that the defendant acted like a 
rational, not an insane being; and this 
view is supported by his prior prepara- 
tions and conduct, as well as subsequent 
action. Did he knoAv Avhat he was about? 
Was he mistaken Avhen he told why he 
had done the deed ? 
I will not stop to speak of the flimsy 
fabric reared on his appearance the morn- 
ing after his arrest, and talk about delir- 
ium tremens. He Avas excited, it is 
claimed; he trembled and looked wild. 40 
TRIAL OF DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
Ah ! we can imagine what the horrors of 
that night would be to his guilty soul. We 
can imagine in his dreams, if he could 
sleet) at all, the ghost of his murdered vic- 
tim passing before him, as did the visions 
of his murdered victims before the guilty 
Richard on the eve of Bosworth Field, and,, 
like him, in terror he started in his fitful 
sleep, exclaiming; 
der in the first degree? What, by your 
verdict, wil! you my ? That two weeks’ 
deliberation, five declarations of fell pur- 
pose, the purchase of a pistol for the 
avowed purpose, declaring motives and dol- 
ing all ordinary acts resulting from such 
motive, exhibiting motive, reason, deliber- 
ation, will, consciousness, and, after the 
deed, clear memory, describing the act 
with coolness—if all this be not murder 
in the first, degree, pray, what is it? Is 
there such a crime possib'e? 
“ O coward conscience how thou dost afflict 
me! 
It is now dead midnight— 
Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling 
flesh. 
What do I fear? Myself? There’s none else 
by: 
Is there a murderer here ? No—yes; I am; 
My conscience hath a thousand several 
tongues, 
And every tongue brings in a several tale, 
And every tale condemns me fOr a villain. 
Perjury, perjury in the highest degree; 
Murder, stern murder in thedir’st degree-; 
All several sins, all used in each degree, 
Throng do the bar, crying all —Guilty! 
Guilty 1” 
Gentlemen of the jury, my duty is done. 
I fullv appreciate the solemnity of the is- 
sues that crowd thickly as I entrust this 
case to you for the performance of your 
duty. The consciousness of having so 
done win be an abiding consolation. The 
serenest reflection you can have, in after 
years, on recalling the scenes of this me- 
morable trial, will be the conviction that 
you here did your duty, responsive to*tbe 
solemn obligations of your oath to render 
a verdict according to law and the testi- 
mony. And wh n these walls have crum- 
bled, when judge and jury, counsel and 
spectators, are gathered to meet the dread 
arbitrament of the future, may you, each, 
be able to sajr, in reference to this case, as 
I now can, I did my duty. 
After alluding to the degrading charac- 
ter of this defense, which would go to 
make the human will a whiff of smoke, 
which cannot resist temptation on occas- 
ions, the advocate said: 
Pray, gentlemen, what will make mur- 
CHARGE OF THE COURT. 
On the conclusion of the argument by Mr. Palmer, Judge Cof- 
finberey proceeded to read the following admirable charge to the 
Jury : 
The prisoner at the bar stands charged 
•by the indictment, with the willful, delibe- 
rate, and malicious murder of Tamzen 
Parsons, in the county of Cuyahoga, and 
.State of Ohio, on the 9th day of August, 
1865, by shooting her in the back of the 
neck with a pistol ball. 
To this indictment a plea of not guilty 
has been entered on behalf of the prison- 
er, and this constitutes the issue which 
you are impannelled and sworn to try. 
The State asserts that he is guilty, as 
charged in the indictment; this he denies; 
.and the burden of proof rests upon the 
State, and it is incumbent upon the prose- 
• cution to prove his guilt beyond a reason- 
able doubt, of some one of the offenses, 
.of which it is possible to convict under 
this indictment; and if it has failed to 
make such proof it becomes your duty to 
return a verdict of not guilty. 
MEASURE OF PROOF. 
It is proper that I should commence my 
charge as to the law governing the case, 
by calling your attention to some of the 
distinctions between the rules of evidence 
and the measure of proof which obtain in 
civil and criminal cases. In a civil case 
the mind of each juror should be as a 
sheet of white paper, or a clean slate, 
without any presumption for or against 
either party. But in a criminal case, such 
as this, it is the duty of the jury to pre- 
sume the defendant to be innocent until 
he is proven by the evidence to be guilty. 
In civil cases when a party has made out 
hi s case by a preponderance of ail the evi- 
dence in the case, or by the weight of the 
evidence, as it is sometimes termed, he is 
entitled to a verdict in his favor But in 
criminal cases the State is not entitled to a 
verdict of guilty upon a mere preponder- 
ance of evidence, but to warrant a con- 
viction the evidence must establish the TRIAL OF DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
41 
guilt of the defendant beyond a reasona- 
ble doubt. 
provides “that if an}' person shall unlaw- 
fully kill another without malice, either 
upon a sudden quarrel, or unintentionally 
while the s'ayer is in the commission of 
some unlawful act. every such person 
shall be deemed guilty of manslaughter, 
and upon conviction thereof shall be im- 
prisoned in the penitentiary and kept at 
hard labor not more than ten years, nor 
less than one year.” 
Murder in the first degree under our 
statute embraces two classes of cases: 
Ist. Killing purposely and of deliber- 
ate and premeditated malice. 
2d. Killing purposely in the prepara- 
tion or attempt to perpetrate a rape,arson, 
robbery or burglary, or by administering 
poison, or causing the same to be done. 
As it is not claimed in this case that the 
prisoner was perpetrating, or attempting 
to perpetrate, either of the crimes named 
in the second class of cases mentioned in 
the statute, it is not necessary to ask your 
attention further to this class of cases. 
The ingredients of the crime of murder 
in the first degree in the class of cases 
with which we have to do, are: 
1 st. The killing of one human being by 
another. 
2d. The purpose or intentiomto kill. 
Sd. That the killing be done of delib- 
erate and premeditated malice- 
Murder in the 2d degree is when one 
person kills another purposely and mali 
ciously but without deliberation and pro 
meditation. 
Manslaughter is the intentional killing 
of another without malice upon a sudden 
quarrel, or the unintentional killing of 
another while the slayer is in the commis- 
sion of some unlawful act. 
The first subject for investigation in 
prosecution for murder or manslaughter 
usually is whether one person has-been 
killed by another, but in this case it is ad- 
mitted that Tamzen Parsons was killed 
by the prisoner at the bar, on the 9th day 
of August last. This being ad mitted, you 
will proceed to the consideration of the 
circumstances preceding and attending 
the homicide, and determine from them 
whether the defendant is guilty of any 
crime, and if of any, of what crime he ia 
guilty. 
Intention.— You have seen from the 
reading of the statute that to justify a con- 
viction for murder in the first degree you 
must find from the evidence that the^pris- 
oner intended to kill the deceased, Tam- 
zen Parsons ; and to justify a conviction 
of murder in the 2d degree, you must be 
satisfied from the evidence that he intend- 
ed to kill some human being, and did, in 
fact, kill Tamzen Parsons. 
The purpose or intention to kill can on- 
ly be directly shown by the declarations 0f 
the prisoner previous to or at the time Gf 
the act, or by his subsequent confessions. 
But whilst this is the direct means of 
Applying these rules to the case in 
hand, it becomes your duty upon taking 
your seats as jurors, to presume that the 
prisoner at the bar was innocent of the 
crime charged against him in this prose- 
cution, and this presumption of innocence 
you were to adhere to and entertain until 
it should be overcome or rebutted by evi- 
dence lending to prove guilt. And so 
long as there is reasonable doubt of guilt 
in your minds, you are to give him the 
benefit of that doubt. The doubt, how- 
ever, which should work an acquittal of 
the defendant, should be a reasonable, 
actual and substantial one ; not a merely 
speculative or possible doubt, for which 
no reason can be assigned. 
If, after you have carefully and impar- 
tially weighed and considered all the 
evidence, and all the circumstances of the 
case, as they have been given in evidence, 
you do not feel an abiding conviction, a 
moral assurance of the prisoner’s guilt, 
your verdict should be not guilty. But, 
upon the other hand, if you are assured 
from the evidence that the defendant is 
guilty as charged in the indictment, or 
that he is guilty of murder in the second 
degree, or of manslaughter, no sentiment 
of tenderness or sympathy with the de- 
fendant should prevent you from render- 
ing a verdict in strict accordance with 
your honest convictions and judgment in 
tire premises- 
Under this indictment the defendant 
may. upon proper evidence, be convicted 
of either “murder in the first degree, 
murder in the second degree, or of man- 
slaughter,” as the charge for the higher 
or greater crime embraces charges for 
both the lower or minor grades of homi- 
cide The better to apnrehend the sense 
and meaning of either of these crimes, it 
will be well to give your attention to a 
brief analysis of each. 
The Ist section of the Crimes Act de- 
fines the crime of murder in the Ist de 
gree as follows: “If any person shall 
purposely and of deliberate and premedi- 
tated malice, (or in the perpetration or 
attempt to perpetrate any rape, arson, 
rotibei'y or burglary, or by administering 
poison, or causing the same to be done) 
kill another, every such person shall be 
deemed guilty of murder in the Ist de- 
gree, and upon conviction ther :of shall 
suffer death.” 
The 2d section, defining the crime of 
murder in the 2d degree, provides “that 
if any person shall purposely and mail 
ciously, but without deliberation and pre- 
meditation, kill another, every such per- 
son shall be deemed guilty of murder in 
the 2d degree, and upon conviction there- 
of shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary 
and kept at hard labor during life.’’ 
The fid section, defining manslaughter, 42 
TRIAL OP DR. JOHM "W. HUGHES. 
proof, it is not by any means the only 
evidence by which the intention or pur- 
pose to kill can be proven. The manner 
and purpose of the killing may afford as 
satisfactory and conclusive evidence of 
a purpose to kill, as the voluntary con- 
fession of the party. 
If a rational person voluntarily shoots 
another through the brain or heart, or 
other vital part with a pistol, musket or 
rifle ball, or stabs another with a sword or 
dagger in a vital place, or cleaves the 
skull with an axe or heavy iron bar, it is 
almost impossible to avoid the conviction 
that the perpetrator of such an act of 
deadly violence intended to kill. The re- 
lation between such acts and the intention 
or motive which prompts them is well rec- 
ognized, and the law implies or presumes 
the purpose from the act, In the language 
ot the books, the law presumes that every 
man intends the natural and probable con- 
sequences of his own voluntary acts. And 
this legal presumption but expresses the 
sense and judgment of every inteligent 
mind. 
_ Although deliberation and premedita- 
tion are necessary ingredients in the crime 
of murder in the Ist degree, it is not nec- 
essary that it should have been medita- 
ted and deliberated on, for any' partic- 
ular length of time. It is sufficient if the 
intention or purpose to commit the crime 
has been distinctly formed in the mind 
before its execution, and it is immaterial 
as to the length of time which transpires 
between the forming of the design or pur* 
pose and its execution .A moment’s re 
flection upon it, and entertaining’the pur- 
pose or intention for any perceptible per- 
iod of time is all the deliberation and pre- 
meditation which the law requires. The 
mind must conceive the design to kill, the 
reason must perceive the nature and con- 
sequences of the act. and judgment elect 
to do it. When all these concur they con- 
stituo all the deliberation and premedita- 
tion requisite to make a killing murder in 
the first degree. 
To constitute homicide, or killing, mur- 
der in the first degree, there must be an 
intentional killing, with deliberation and 
premeditated malice. 
The distinction made by our statute be- 
tween murder in the first and second de- 
grees is this; In murder in the first degree 
the killing must be done purposely and of 
deliberate and premeditated malice. In 
murder in the second degree, the killing 
must be done purposely and maliciously, 
but without deliberation and premedita- 
tion. In murder in the first degree, the 
malice goes before or proceeds the act of 
killing, whilst to constitute murder in the 
second degree, the malice goes ivith or ac- 
companies the act of killing. 
If, therefore, you should find from the 
evidence in this case, that the prisoner at 
the bar voluntarily used such a kind and 
degree of violence towards Tarnzon Par- 
sons as would necessarily or in all proba- 
bility result in her death, you will be justi- 
fied in presuming and finding by your ver- 
dict that he intended to kill her. 
You will take into consideration all the 
facts and circumstances of the case which 
go to show the intention or purpose of the 
defendant in doing the which resulted 
in the death of Tamzen Parsons at the 
time and place charged, and if in your 
judgment they prove bejmnd a reasonable 
doubt that the defendant then and there 
intended to kill her, the State has made 
out this element of the crime of murder 
in either the Ist or 2d degree; but if the 
intention to kill is not so proved, the pris- 
oner is entitled to a verdict of not guilty. 
MALICE. 
We will now ask your attention to the 
technical meaning of the term malice, as 
used in the statutory definition of mur- 
der. 
As used here, malice includes not only 
hatred, ill will and revenge, but every 
other unlawful and unjustifiable motive. 
It is not confined to ill will towards any 
one or more individuals, but it is evidenc- 
ed by any action proceeding from a wick- 
ed and corrupt motive. To justify a con- 
viction for murder, it is not necessary to 
show that the slayer entertained a mali- 
cious sentiment, or spite and ill-will espec- 
ially towards the person slain—but it is 
sufficient if the evidence proves a general 
malignity, a depraved inclination to dan- 
gerous and deadly mischief, fall where it 
may, or a reckless cis regard of the lives 
and safety of others. In the language 
of another, it means that general maligni- 
ty, that disregard of the lives and safety 
of others which proceeds from a heart void 
of a just sense of social duty, and fatally 
bent on mischief. 
This legal malice may be promoted as 
well by motives of avarice, bigotry or jeal- 
In order to constitute a homicide, or the 
killing of one human* being by another, 
murder in the first degree in this class of 
cases, there must not only be clear and 
satisfactory proof of an intentional kill- 
ing, but the evidence must show ihat it 
was done of deliberate and premeditated 
malice. 
DELIBERATION AND PREMEDITATION. 
Deliberation and premeditation are acts 
of the mind, requiring the exercise of rea- 
son, reflection, judgment and decision, and 
these cannot exist in any case where the 
faculties of the mind are deranged, or 
destroyed to such an extent as to deprive 
the party of his free agency and render 
him incapable of understanding the na- 
ture and consequences of the act he was 
doing, or about to do, or of discrimina- 
ting between right and wrong. TRIAL OR OR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
43 
ously, as by hatred, revenge or cruelty. 
If one human bsing voluntarily and un- 
lawfully takes the life of another from 
any unlawful and improper motive, it is 
done, in legal contemplation, malicious- 
ly- 
Malice may also be express or implied. 
Express malice is where one person bills 
another with a sedate, deliberate mind and 
formed design—which formed design is 
usually evidenced by external circumstan- 
ces, discovering or indicating that in- 
ward purpose. 
This kind of malice is usually shown by 
lying in wait, antecedent threats or men- 
aces, evidence of formed grudges, concoct- 
ing schemes, or providing means or weap- 
ons to compass the death of the party 
slain. Seeking one with a view to kill 
him, or by an unusual degree of cruelty, 
deliberation and precision attending the 
act of killing. This is the kind or degree 
of malice which must be proven to make 
the case of murder in the first degree. 
character as a peaceable law-abiding citi- 
zen. 
That evidence was permitted to bo 
given for the sole purpose of enabling you 
to judge of the relations between the pris- 
oner and Tamzen Parsons, that you may 
the better understand their relations to 
each other, and the history of their inti- 
macy, and as affording you the means to 
judge of the intentions, motives and sen- 
timents of the defendant toward her, as 
affecting his guilt or innocence of the 
crime charged against him in this indict- 
ment, and you are not at liberty to use it 
for any other conceivable purpose. 
INSANITY. 
The defense of insanity is interposed in 
behalf of the prisoner, and if this defense 
is clearly made out, to the satisfaction of 
the jury, by the weight of the evidence, or, 
in other words, by a preponderance of the 
evidence in the case, it is a perfect bar to 
a conviction for any crime whatever un- 
der this indictment. 
IMPLIED OR CONSTRUCTIVE MALICE 
But in reference to this defense it is met 
upon the threshold with a legal presump- 
tion that the accused is of sound mind, 
that his mind is not so diseased or alienat- 
ed as to exonerate him from punishment 
for the commission of a criminal act. This 
legal presumption of sanity you are not 
at liberty to disregard. It is essential to 
justice and to the safety of society, that 
you should entertain this presumption of 
sanity and act upon it, until you become 
satisfied from the testimony and circum- 
stances of the case that the defendant was 
of unsound mind at the time of the kill- 
ing, and therefore not responsible for his 
con duct. 
It is not necessary, however, that in- 
sanity be established beyond a reasonable 
doubt; it is sufficient if it is shown by 
clear and satisfactory evidence; by a pre- 
ponderance of the proof that he was in 
fact insane at the time of the commission 
of the act. 
is where* there have been no previous 
threats, manaces or preparation, but where 
there are such circumstances attending 
the act of killing as are the ordinary indi- 
cations of a wicked, malicious and blood- 
thirsty spirit, as when one person kills 
another suddenly, without provocation, or 
without any considerable provocation, or 
when a person in a sudden affray, without 
necessity, makes use of a deadly weapon 
and kills an adversary therewith, from the 
proof of such circumstances the law im- 
plies that kind of malice which is a neces- 
sary ingredient in the crime of murder in 
the second degree. 
When malice is once shown to exist to- 
ward the person killed, it is presumed to 
have continued down to the perpetration 
of the meditated act, unless there is evi- 
dence or some circumstance in the case 
repelling or overcoming such presump- 
tion. 
Evidence tending to prove that the 
prisoner and Tamzen Parsons were found 
together in Pittsburgh, and of the state- 
ments and conduct of the prisoner whilst 
there, has been given by the prosecution, 
and also evidence of the arrest of the de- 
fendant in this city for some alleged of- 
fense, or some indignity to her family af- 
ter his return to this city. 
But, gentlemen, this evidence was not 
admitted as tending to prove the defend- 
ant guilty of bigamy, forgery, adultery, 
assault and battery, or immorality, and 
you have no right to entertain it or con- 
sider it for any such purpose; nor should 
it in the least affect the general character 
of the defendant in your deliberations, 
serving and accepting so much of it as 
was called out by the State in cross exami- 
nation of witnesses who were called in be- 
half of the prisoner, to testify to his 
But it is not sufficient to show that pos- 
sibly the prisoner’s mind was so *far dis- 
eased or alienated as to render him incapa- 
ble of committing crime. Nor is it suf- 
ficient, if the evidence merely shows that 
ir is probable that his mind was in such a 
condition ; but to make evidence of insani- 
ty available as a defense, it must be such 
as to reasonably satisfy your minds that 
the defendant was in fact insane at the 
time of the commission of the act. Never- 
theless, evidence of drunkenness, anger, 
jealousy, morbid conditions and nervous 
excitement is admissible as affecting the 
question of intention, deliberation and 
premeditation. 
For the purpose of improving the con- 
dition of the defendant’s mind at the time 
of the commission of the act, it is compe- 
EXPERTS. 44 
TRIAL OF DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
tent for the prisoner to call witnesses who 
are familiar with his peculiar mental 
characteristics under the influence of in- 
toxication, and also to call physicians and 
others, whose professions and associations 
in life are such as to have made them 
familiar with the faculties and operations 
of his mind, and these persons may testify 
to matters of opinion or science in reference 
to the probable condition of his mind at 
the time of the commission of the act. 
if he understands the nature and charac- 
ter of his act audits consequence’, and 
that it is wrong and criminal for him to 
do it, such partial insanity is not sufficient 
to exempt him from responsibility. 
If it is proved to your satisfaction that 
the defendant’s mind was in a diseased 
and unsound state, and that for the time 
being his mental disease was such, that in 
refe.ence to this mental act.it overwhelmed 
his reason, conscience and judgment, and 
that in committing it he acted from an ir- 
resistible and uncontrollable impulse, 
and not as a voluntary agent, he was not 
answerable to the law and should be ac- 
quitted. 
Such testimony is legitimate, and when 
used for its true and proper purpose, that 
of affording you assistance in determinat- 
ing the condition of the prisoner’s mind, 
it may be of the first importance. But 
after all much of it is frequently merely a 
matter of opinion, and should be received 
and acted upon by a jury witli great cau- 
tion, and should there be great conflict, or 
manifest and irreconcilable inconsistency 
in their testimony, or if in your judgment 
it is not sustained by reason and" facts 
you are not bound to adopt their opin- 
ions. 
INSANITY FROM DRUNKENNESS. 
With reference to insanity from drunk- 
enness, the law discriminates between 
criminal acts which are the immediate 
results of a fit of drunkenness, and 
which are committed while the party is 
yet intoxicated, and such acts are the re- 
sult of a settled, permanent, or intermit- 
tent insanity, which has been remotely 
produced by previous habits of intemper- 
ance. 
You are ndt to be intimidated by your 
homage and respect for the learning and 
intelligence of professional witnesses, from 
determining the question o*' sanity and 
drunkenness for yourselves, as well as 
every other question of fact in the case. 
The question of sanity or insanity is for 
you and you only to determine, and the 
fact that scientific men may regard the 
accused as sane or insane, drunk or mor- 
bid, does not relieve you of the responsi- 
bility of deciding for yourselves. It is 
both your right and duty to hear their evi- 
dence, to consider it carefully, and to give 
it all the credence and influence it may 
seem to deserve, but the question after all 
is left to your own good sense and judg- 
ment, and you are to determine it accord- 
ing to the preponderance of all the evi- 
dence and circumstances of the case. 
When the mind has become diseased by 
a habit of intemperance, and is so far 
alienated, as to be unable to discriminate 
between right and wrong, and to 
precomhend the nature and conse- 
quences ‘of a criminal act, the party is 
no more amenable to the penalty of the 
law than if his insanity were the act of 
God. And so it is if the act were committed 
during an attack of the delirium tremens, 
which rendered him insane for the time 
being, and which delirium was the result 
of a previous habit of intemperance, or of 
long continued drunkenness. 
But when the crime is committed by a 
drunken man whilst intoxicated, under the 
influence of drunken frenzy or madness, 
and who is not insane when sober, his 
drunkenness and the temporary insanity 
or madness produced by it is no excuse or 
palliation whatever. The law Will not 
permit him to screen himself from pun- 
ishment for his criminal acts by proving 
his own gross vice and misconduct. 
A settled fixed insanity, however caused, 
is a good defense. Drunkenness is no ex- 
cuse whatever. The frenzy, passion and 
madness of voluntary drunkenness is not 
that species of insanity which excuses 
crime. 
DEGREE OF INSANITY. 
This leads to the consideration of the 
degree or species of insanity or mental 
misrule and alienation, which absolves a 
party from legal guilt and punishment for 
crime. 
The rule of law, as I understand it to be 
on this subject, is this; That “a man is not 
entitled to an acquittal on the ground of 
insanity, if at the time of the alleged of- 
fense he had capacity and reason sufficient 
to enable him to distinguish between 
right and wrong in reference to the par- 
ticular act he is doing or is about to do, 
and understands the act, and his relation 
to the party injured. If he has not a knowl- 
edge or consciousness that the act he is 
doing is contrary to the dictates of justice 
and right, injurious to others and in vio- 
lation of the dictates of duly, he is not 
amenable to punishment for his act. 
But, although his mind may be morbid 
and laboring under partial insanity, still, 
But that settled insanity or delirium, 
which is caused by previous habits of in- 
temperance or long continued drunken- 
ness, is a good defense, notwitstanding the 
fact that the party have lucid intervals. 
But if the act were committed during a 
sane or lucid interval, the fact that a 
parly is subject to intermittent insanity is 
no excuse. 
One reason for this discrimination is, 
that men voluntarily get drunk, and some- TRIAL OF DR. JOHN W. HUG ES. 
45 
times f>r the very purpose of bracing 
their nerves and inflaming their passions 
to the con. mission of crimes which they 
have meditated when sober,but which they 
then lack the nerve, courage or disposi- 
tion to perpetrate. But no man volunta- 
rily becomes permanently insane, or 
seeks tobringon a fit of delirium tremens ; 
and if it even were done for the sole pur- 
pose of committing violence upon another, 
the delirium would be more iikeiy to de- 
feat than to accomplish such purpose. 
But if a person were made drunk by 
the machinations of others, without any 
intention or fault upon his part, and 
should injure or kill another during the 
fit of intoxication, and whilst his mind 
was so disordered as to be unable to 
comprehend the nature of his act, or to 
distinguish between right and wrong, he 
would net be amenable to punishment. 
In all cases where it becomes material 
to know, as it does in this case, whether 
the act of killing was done of deliberate 
and premeditated malice, which consti- 
iutes murder in the Ist degree, or whether 
jt was done maliciously, out without de- 
liberation and premeditation, making it 
murder in the first degree, the tact of 
drunkenness may be proved. 
The experience of mankind proves that 
as a general rule a drunken man acts with 
less judgment and circumspection, and 
more from sudden impulse and passion, 
than he would when sober, and as delib- 
eration and premeditation are acts of the 
mind requiring some degree of sedateness 
and reflection, it is competent fur the de- 
fendant to show what was his condition as 
to intoxication, as tending to prove that at 
the time of the commission of the act he 
was incapable of deliberation and pre- 
meditation, or if he was capable of them, 
that in consequence of drunkenness he 
was less likely to have meditated and de- 
liberated upon the act than he would have 
been if sober. 
DRUNKENNESS, EVIDENCE OF, AND ITS EF- 
FECTS. 
It is also competent for the defense to 
prove that the prisoner was drunk at the 
time of the killing, as leading to show 
whether the act was done with delibera- 
tion and premeditation. 
But if the evidence shows that the pur- 
pose to kill was formed before he became 
drunk, or if he got drunk to brace his 
nerves and harden his mind fur the act of 
killing, then, however delirious he may 
have been at the time of the act, it can 
avail him nothing by way of defense or 
mitigation, and the drunkenness would 
not reduce the offense to murder in the 
second degree Lee me illustrate the idea 
I wish to convey by showing the applica- 
tion of this principle to another class of 
eases. A person charged with passing 
counterfeit bank notes cannot palliate or 
excuse his crime by showing that he was 
drunk at the time of passing them. But 
inasmuch as a knowledge ot the base and 
counterfeit character of the bills passed is 
a necessary ingredient of the crime of ut- 
tering and publishing counterfeit bank 
bills, he may prove that he was drunk, as 
tending to show that he did not possess 
this guilty knowledge of their true char- 
acter. As it requires some degree of 
skill and judgment to determine whether 
a bill is genuine or counterfeit, and as ex- 
perience teaches that one whose senses 
are steeped in intoxicating liquors is not 
so capablo of exercising the skill and 
judgment as the same person would be 
when sober, it is proper that his condition 
as to his_ intoxication should be shown, 
that the jury may be better able to judge 
of his capacity to distinguish the true 
character of the bills he had passed. 
So in this case, if the prisoner is guilty 
of murder in either degree, drunkenness 
is no excuse or mitigation of the crime, 
but evidence of his condition as to intoxi- 
cation is received as tending to show of 
what crime he is guilty. 
Butif you should find, from the evidence 
in the case, that the defendant meditated 
the act when sober; that he prepared 
mems and sought opportunities for its 
commission; that he determined that in 
case he should not be able to induce her 
to live with him, or submit herself to his 
pleasure, he would take her life, and that 
he finally killed her in pursuance of that 
purpose, such killing wou[d be murder in 
the Ist degree, however insaue or frenzied 
he may have been at the time from drunk- 
enness. 
In passing upon the subject of delibe- 
ration and premeditation, you should care- 
fully consider the means and the manner 
of the killing, the demeanor and conduct 
of the defendant at the time and imme- 
diately subsequent to the adt, as well as 
that tending to show his condition before 
the act. 
DRUNKENNESS AND IDIOSYNCRASIES. 
The defendant has offered evidence 
tending to show insanity in one or more 
of his lineal ancestors, and that his own 
mind has been frequently affected in a 
singular and extraordinary manner as a 
consequence of intemperance. Upon this 
subject you have as well the evidence of 
witnesses here in court, as the statements 
of the defendant as set forth in the affida- 
vit made for the continuance of the case, 
which are to be received and treated by 
you in all respects as if Drs. Patterson 
and Kemble had appeared in open court 
and testified to those statements before 
you ; that while his gait was unaffected 
and his physical powers apparently un- 
impaired, his reason was clouded and de- 
stroyed to such a degree that it became 
necessary to put him under restraint to 
prevent him doing deadly harm to himself 46 
TRIAL OP DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
and his friends; that such condition was 
not what is usually known as delirium tre- 
mens. but that it was a peculiar temporary 
condition, which some of the witnesses 
cannot ascribe wholly to intoxication. 
This evidence, it Is claimed, in connec- 
tion with evidence tending to prove that 
the defendant was intoxicated and delir 
ious from anger, jealousy and disappoint- 
ment at the time of the commission of the 
act, exonerates him from responsibility 
before the law. 
If, gentlemen of the jury, you should 
find from the evidence that this temporary 
condition did not in fact exist, but that 
it was the direct result and effect of vol- 
untary drunkenness, intensified by some 
peculiar taint or morbid condition of the 
defendant’s mind or temperament, not 
amounting to insanity or delirium until 
rroused to activity by the excessive use of 
ardent spirits, and that be knew that in- 
toxication would produce this mental con- 
dition, and, knowing it, became drunk 
and committed the act under drunken 
frenzy, such temporary madness is no ex- 
cuse for the crime, although it may have 
been aggravated by such peculiarities of 
temperament and morbid mental con- 
dition. 
But this evidence, like evidence of mere 
drunkenness, is admissible as affecting 
the question of intention, deliberation and 
p emeditation. 
The law in its humanity makes all prop- 
er allowance for the infirmities of our 
weak human nature, but- it cannot and 
does not bend to suit all the morbid con- 
ditions, tempers and idiosyncrasies of in- 
dividual citizens. It rather seeks to con- 
trol our tendencies to evil, so that they 
shall not endanger the peace and safety of 
society - -it is a rule of conduct, which we 
are not at liberty to disregard. In the 
language of an eminent judge, “we are in 
a court of law, not in a school of science ; 
our action must therefore be governed by 
legal adjndicaiion, and not by the theories 
and speculations of the schools.’’ 
witnesses, the misuse of words, tile failure 
of the accused to express his own mean- 
ing, and the infirmity ofthe human memo- 
ry, it is to be remembered that they are 
frequently made without reflection, whilst 
the mind is laboring under depression, 
agitation or intoxication. Ittherefore be- 
comes your duty to scrutinize them close- 
ly, examine well the circumstances under 
which they were uttered, and the appear- 
ance, manner and apparent intelligence, 
candor and consistency of the witnesses 
who testify to them. But if you find, in 
the exercise of such care and scrutiny,that 
declarations or threats indicating malice 
and a purpose to take life have been de- 
liberately made, or confessions of guilt af- 
ter the act, you should give them all pro- 
per weight and influence in your delibera- 
tions, for whilst this kind of evidence is to 
be received with careful scrutiny, it is at 
the same time recognized as one of the 
most effectual means of proof known to 
the criminal law. 
But the value of such deliberations and 
confessions depends upon the supposition 
that they are deliberately and voluntarily 
made, and upon the presumption that a 
rational being will not make admissions 
prejudicial to his interests and safety un- 
less impelled to it by the promptings of 
truth and conscience. 
CHARACTER, EVIDENCE OF. 
The prisoner has called witnesses for 
the purpose ofproving good character. In 
this case it was competent for the defend- 
ant to call witnesses to speak of his char- 
acter as a peaceable, law-abiding citizen. 
It is sometimes argued that the evidence 
of good character is only to be considered 
by the jury in doubtful cases, and that its 
only office is to resolve doubts in favor of 
the innocence of the accused. This con- 
struction of the law would render such 
evidence of but little utility in most cases. 
It is the duty of all criminal courts to 
charge the jury that the prosecution must 
prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, 
and that if they have a reasonable doubt 
of the defendant’s guilt they should re 
solve such doubt in favor of innocence. 
So that in a really doubtful case the de- 
fendant needs no evidence of good charac- 
ter, as he is entitled to a verdict of acquit- 
tal without. But in my judgment the ef- 
fect of evidence of good character should 
not be confined to such narrow limits. It 
is competent to offer it for the purpose of 
rendering the guilt of the accused doubt- 
ful under circumstances when it might not 
be considered doubtful in the absence of 
such proof. 
I here may be cases in which the evidence 
of guilt is so conclusive and overwhelm- 
ing that no evidence of good character 
can make it doubtful. But there may be 
other cases in which the evidence given 
against a person without character, would 
The State has offered evidence of state- 
ments and declarations alleged to have 
been made by the accused, before the 
death of Tamzen Parsons, as well as the 
alleged confessions of the prisoner after 
«he was killed. This evidence is compe- 
tent as tending to prove deliberate and 
premeditated malice, and tending to rebut 
the claim ofthe defense that the prisoner 
at the bar was incapacitated at the time of 
the commission of the act to deliberate 
and meditate upon the deed. But it is my 
duty to admonish you that evidence of 
threats, or declarations indicating malice, 
and evidence of verbal confessions of 
guilt, are to be received and acted upon 
with great caution, for, besides the danger 
of mistake from the misapprehension of 
CONFESSIONS. TRIAL OF DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
47 
leave a conviction in which the proof of a 
high and unblemished character might pro- 
perly produce a reasonable doubt of guilt. 
The general office of such evidence is to 
disprove guilt, but it is also admissible 
in a case of murder to aid the jury in as- 
certaining the probable grade of the of- 
fense, to wit: whether the killing consti- 
tutes murder in the Ist or 2d degree. 
Yon will then consider the evidence 
touching the defendant’s character, recall 
what the witnesses said of it, as well upon 
cross-examination as upon the examina- 
tion in chief, and if you are satisfied from 
it that the defendant had previously and 
down to the commission of this act been 
a peaceable, law abiding man, of a mild 
and pacific character, one not likely to 
contemplate the commission of muider, it 
may aid you in determining whether the 
killing was done of deliberate and pre- 
meditated malice, making it murder in 
the first degree, or whether it was done 
purposely and maliciously, but without pre- 
meditation and deliberation, making it 
murder in the second degree, or whether 
it was committed at a time when the de- 
fendant was so insane as to be incapable 
of comprehending the nature and conse- 
quences of his act, and not amenable to 
the penalty of the law. 
The purpose for which you are empan- 
neled is to ascertain, and by your verdict 
declare the truth in reference to the issue 
And so in reference to a conviction of 
murder in the 2d degree, .you should not 
consent to a verdict of guilty unless you 
are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt 
that the killing was done purposely and 
maliciously, but without premeditation 
and deliberation. Nor can you convict of 
manslaughter until the State has proved 
beyond a reasonable doubt the intentional 
killing without malice upon a sudden 
quarrel, or that he unintentionally killed 
her while engaged in ths commission of 
some unlawful act. 
If you find the defendant guilty of mur- 
der in the first degree, your verdict should 
be, “We find the defendant guilty of mur- 
in the first degree.” If you should find 
him guilty of murder in the second de- 
gree, your verdict should be, “We find 
him guilty of murder in the second de- 
gree only.'’ 
If you find him guilty of manslaughter, 
your verdict should be, “We find the de- 
fendant guilty of manslaughter only.” 
If you find" him not guilty by reason of 
a failure of proof on the part of the State, 
your verdict should be, “ Not guilty.” 
But if you find the defendant was insane 
at the time of the commission of the act, 
and acquit him for that reason alone, your 
verdict should be, “We find that the de- 
fendant was insane at the time of the 
commission of the act, and therefore find 
him not guilty.” 
joined between the State of Ohio and the 
prisoner at the bar. 
Your verdict is to be made up from the 
law and the evidence as they have been 
given you here in court. You are to 
know nothing and care nothing for popu- 
lar sentiment, prejudice or clamor, if they 
exist. You are lifted above outside press- 
ure, if any there be, and set apart from it. 
It must never invade the seats you occu- 
py. They are sacred to truth and justice. 
This temple is dedicated to justice, and 
we are unworthy the seats we occupy if 
weconscientiouslyjpermit sympathy, preju- 
dice, or fear of public sentiment, to exer- 
cise the slightest control over our judg- 
ment or conduct. 
The Jury retired, and the Court ad- 
journed till two o’clock. A tremendous 
crowd filled the room at that hour. The 
prisoner was brought in, and sat with 
irons on his wrists. It was reported that 
the Jury had agreed. A hush was on all 
lips, and in all hearts a stifling sense of the 
awful solemnity of the occasion. The 
suspense was dreadful. The air seemed 
thick with vapors of death, and all breathed 
poison. At precisely three o’clock the 
Sheriff led in the Jury. The moment 
crushed the spectators like an avalanche. 
The roll was called. The Court said— 
“ Gentlemen of the Jury, have you 
agreed?” 
The foreman, Dr. Moore, replied— 
“We have. 
“ What verdict do you return ?” 
“ Guilty of murder in the first degree.” 
The prisoner was not visibly affected. 
Not a muscle moved, not a nerve twitched, 
the color did not come or go in his face. 
He was made of iron. Only once did 
we perceive an effort on his part to nerve 
himself up. There was a convulsive 
pressure of his left forefinger on his hand. 
As the Sheriff stood beside him, the pris- 
oner looked up as if to read on his pale 
face the verdict before it was given. 
The prisoner was remanded to jail, and 
walk: d out firmly, bearing the profound- 
est pity of the spectators. 
M. S. Castle, Esq., gave notice of mak- 
ing a motion for a new trial. It was or- 
dered filed. 
“ WAITING FOR THE VERDICT.” 
It is proper and right in view of the 
consequences to the prisoner, of a verdict 
of guilty of murder in the Ist degree, that 
you should most carefully, patiently and 
impartially consider the evidence you 
have heard, and see to it that your verdict 
shall correspond with and be justified by 
the proofs ; but no considerations of mer- 
cy, and no weak shrinking from responsi- 
bility, must be'permitted to repress or stifle 
the honest convictions of your judgment. 
Upon the other hand, no zeal for the 
public service, or the safety or well being 
of society should influence you to bring 
in a verdict of guilty against the defend- 
ant of murder in the Ist degree, unless 
you are convinced beyond a reasonable 
doubt, that the killing was done by the de- 
fendant purposely, and of deliberate and 
premeditated malice. 48 
TRIAL OR DR. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
THE FINAL ARRAIGNMENT. 
The announcement that Dr. Hughes would be sentenced at nine 
o’clock Saturday morning, Dec. 30th, drew an immense crowd to the 
court room. Long before the hour named the spacious room was 
densely packed. The spectators clambered on the backs of seats and 
on windows to gain a view of the proceedings. A few minutes before 
nine o’clock the prisoner was brought into court for the last time. 
He looked remarkably well, was dressed neatly and presented a very 
tidy and gentlemanly appearance. His manner was cool, collected 
and deliberate. His overcoat and the manacles having been removed, 
he stood several moments conversing with his counsel, Messrs. M. S. 
Castle, R. E. Knight and Wm. S. Kerruish. At precisely nine o’clock 
Judge Coffin berry commanded the sheriff to open court. The pris- 
oner was conducted to a chair near the sheriff's stand, and sat down 
among his counsel. When order had been secured, the Prosecuting 
Attorney, C. W. Palmer, Esq., arose and moved the court that the sen- 
tence of the law be now pronounced in the case of the State of Ohio 
against John W. Hughes. 
The court asked the counsel for the defendant if there were any 
objection. “ None, your honor,” replied Mr. Castle. The prisoner 
was then commanded to stand up, when the court said : John W, 
Hu ghes, have you anything to say why the sentence of the law should 
not be passed against you ? 
The prisoner said he would like to make a statement, and proceeded 
to read the following paper of thanks to court, prosecution and counsel * 
them for their impartiality, and honor 
them for the faithfulness with which they 
have done their duty. Sheriff Nicola is a 
man of tender feelings, yet very strict in 
the discharge of his duty. While further- 
ing the ends of justice he does not forget 
the requirements of the prisoner'. Impar- 
tial, just, not tyrannical, he tempers his 
authority with mercy. His gentlemanly 
demeanor gains him the deserved respect 
of all. I am much indebted to him for the 
kindness, courtesy and forbearance which 
he has shown me during my incarceration. 
To Mr. Palmer and Mr. Slade, who have 
prosecuted the case with such earnestness, 
i must say, that while I admire the ability 
and talent with which they have portray- 
ed the thrilling incidents of the fearful 
drama, I cannot but acknowledge that 
they also have but done the duty which an 
incensed community required of them. 
To Mr. Castle and Mr. Knight, who have 
so ably defended me, I must now publicly 
tender the heartfelt acknowledgments of 
unbounded gratitude for the untiring zeal 
with which they exerted themselves, day 
and night for weeks, to search out every 
mitigation for ray crime, and for the 
touching eloquence with which they 
brought the resources of their acknowled- 
ged talent, learning and ability, to bear in 
Your Honor, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
REMARKS OP DR. HUGHES. 
I have no reason to give against the sen- 
tence ot the extreme penalty of the law 
being passed upon me; for though it chills 
my life’s blood to anticipate the fearful 
moments of such an ignominious execu- 
tion, yet when 1 recall the overwhelming 
testimony of my folly, the powerful evi- 
dence of my crime, with the conciousness 
of my guilt which has accumulated in 
weightiest crimination during the trying 
ordeal of my trial, sober, sensible, and 
truthful as I now am, I must admit the 
verdict of the jury, just ; the sentence of 
the law, inevitable. To your Honor I offer 
most sincere thanks for the true magna- 
nimity you have evinced in procuring me 
counsel, and for the unbiassed deliberation 
and attention you have devoted to the 
trying requirements of such a long and 
tedious investigation as mine have been. 
And I wish you at your earliest conveni- 
ence to assure the gentlemen of the jury, 
who so earnestly and faithfully sat day af- 
ter day to listen and deliberate over the 
fearful amount of testimony and protract- 
ed arguments brought before them, that 
instead, as some may suppose, I have 
prejudiced myself against them, I respect TEIAL OF DE. JOHN W. HUGHES. 
49 
every conceivable form, to rebut if possi- 
ble the crushing weight of the prosecution 
they contended with, and if possible to 
avert the awful fate which now awaits me. 
And Mr. Kerruish, I cannot find expres- 
sions to justify your claims on my grati- 
tude—while those I thought to be my 
friends joined in the well deserved de- 
nunciations, wildly and madly thrown on 
me, the perpetrator of such an outrage— 
even then you did not forsake me—for 
you know my failings. In this as in all 
my troubles you have been my truest 
friend. You know my domestic difficul- 
ties—you advised me. Oh! that I had 
but heeded your counsel, this fearful fate 
would never have befallen me. If the ties 
of nearest kindred bound us, you could 
have dene no more. You have indeed 
been a faithful brother. May Godblessyou, 
If I am permitted, I wish to give a 
brief sketch of the unhappy circumstances 
my past life since the time an unfor- 
tunate matrimonial alliance caused me to 
seek relief in visiting foreign lands and 
finally drove me to enlist in the army. 
While in the army I passed through the 
various positions from a private up to 
orderly sergeant, and then, having passed 
an examination, I received a commission 
as surgeon. I returned to my home after a 
long absence, expecting to find a welcome 
and a happy home. But such a scene as 
met me there was enough to drive the most 
callous person in the world to forsake 
such a home. I rushed from the house, 
and formed a determination never to re- 
turn. I knew not which way I was going. 
I drove out to the country. I attended a 
party, and while there some one told me 
that Harry Parsons, a cousin of Tamzen 
Parsons, was present and very anxious to 
see me. I had been drinking very heavily 
that day. I drove to Mr. Parsons’ house 
that night, but what occurred there I do 
not know. I awoke in the morning filled 
with shame and remorse, for I was waked 
by a tender hand I asked, “Who are 
you ?” and she told me it was Tamzen. 
She said, “Doctor, why do you drink so ?’ 
I saw in that look sympathy and pity that 
filled my whole soul, and I saw my feel- 
ing was reciprocated. While in that con- 
dition a wild mad love took possession of 
me, such an one as I had never experi- 
enced before, an illicit love, one which 
led to an illicit intercourse, and which 
love I have until this day cherished. 
But it was not all passion. Love des- 
troys all baser passion. I went to Pitts- 
burgh, and the next day Tamzen asked me 
to marry her, and, insane as I was, I did 
so. I went to the Mayor of the city, and 
the principal minister of the city married 
us, and it was my intention to seek some 
retired spot, and settle down, and live in 
quiet. And the next day when I was mak- 
ing arrangements to find a place to reside, 
I was arrested and brought before the May- 
or, on a charge of bigamy. I made an 
offer to Mr. Haynes, which, had he accept- 
ed it, would have prevented all exposure 
and the unfortunate events that have since 
happened. But Mr. Haynes, for some rea- 
son which he best knows, refused ; wheth- 
er it was from a virtuous determination to 
vindicate the character of his family, I do 
not know. I was tried. I did not bring 
one word of testimony for my defense in 
that trial. I was brought in guilty' of 
adultery and bigamy. Immediately after 
my trail Tamzen came to the jail, and 
there occurred a scene I shall never for- 
get. But I parted with her forever, as I 
then supposed. After she left I wrote her 
a letter, explaning the whole matter and 
told her it was best that we should not 
meet again. 
Meanwhile I was kept in jail till March, 
haivng been sentenced for a year’. Mean- 
while a reconciliation had taken place be- 
tween me and my wife, and I was pardon- 
ed. 1 returned to this city and opened an 
office on Ontario street. My former pat- 
rons returned to me. I was doing well.— 
I practiced faithfully, and during all my 
practice I have never betrajmd the confi- 
dence of my profession. 
My means were so limited I could not 
furnish a home, and I obtained a little 
furniture and fitted up a suite of rooms. 
In the _ midst of the'-’e preparations I re- 
ceived information that my wife’s passage 
had been paid to return to the" Isle of 
Man. It has been said that I sent her. 
But I did not. I thought of returning 
with her. However, I had not the means 
necessary, and concluded I would not go 
with her. My wife left, and in all this 
there was no thought of Tamzen Parsons 
till nearly a week after my wife had gone. 
Then I received a letter from Tamzen, re- 
proaching me for my neglect of her, and 
asking me to come and see her, since 
there was now no obstacle in the way. 
While considering the matter, I received 
another letter from, Tamzen. I still fought 
against it. Then at that instant an indi- 
vidual of my acquaintance came, in to sec 
me. It was Mr. Campbell, who had been 
an old companion of mine in the Crimean 
war. He asked me to take a drink with 
him, and I indulged in that vice which 
has been my ruin. In the morning I 
went with him to Newburgh, and while 
there we drank heavily. The events of 
the night of July 24th, when I entered 
Mr. Parsons’ house, have been fully re- 
vealed. But Tamzen Parsons never said 
to me she did hot want anything to do 
with me j that I “ had deceived her once, 
and should never doit again.” On the 
contrary, she said she would go with me 
to the end of the world. It was just after 
this interview that I met Dr. Wray, and 
had some conversation with him, and I 
might have made some such assertion as 
he testified that I made. But if I said it, TRIAL OP DR. .TOn?T W. HUGHES. 
it was only a ruse. The next day I went 
to the Plank Road House, and what hap- 
pened there, or what I said, I don’t know. 
I returned to the city on the following 
day, and was arrested for an assault and 
battery by Tarnzen’s father. It was not 
till I saw Tamzen and talked over the 
circumstances with her that I thought she 
had been playing false with me, and the 
next day Mr. Parsons, the druggist, went 
with me and we settled the matter up. 
The next night was a restless one for me. 
I had been drinking a good deal, and 
what dreadful determination might have 
entered my mind I do not know. 
In the joy I felt because a settlement 
had been effected, I might have made 
such threats as I am said to have made. 
But I came to the city fully determined 
never again to have anything to do with 
Tamzen Parsons. I devoted myself to 
my business. On the evening of the Bth 
of August, having been busily employed 
in my office all day, and being very tired, 
I met my friend Russell in a saloon and 
we drank several times, when I proposed 
to go home. On account of some quarrel 
he said he would not go home, and he pro 
posed to go to another saloon and drink ; 
and we went from place to place, and 
drank, and I became vary much intoxica- 
ted, and Russell proposed a ride to Rocky 
River. Went around town on a very un- 
holy-mission, and visited many places, but 
did not succeed in getting any companion, 
and on going to my room Russell asked to 
see my pistol. But there was no thought 
at that time of going to Bedford, nor any 
thought of the murder of any human be- 
ing. It was not till we went to Newburgh 
that any thought entered my mind of 
Bedford. Nor then did I think of such a 
dreadful as this would occur.— 
We went to Bedford, and in the morning 
I wished to return home, but Russell then 
taunted me bitterly about the girl, and I 
told t'ne driver to take the right hand road 
and I went to Mr. Parsons’ house but did 
find the family at home. After leaving 
the house we met. Tamzen with her moth- 
er on the road. The old lady was very an- 
gry, but Tamzen never uttered an unkind 
word. 
We were both very drunk from the ef- 
fects of ale and whisky, and we became 
mad and reckless. We returned to go the 
Twelve Mile Lock and Rocky River, and 
on the way Mrs. Krum rushed out of the 
house and told us Tamzen Parsons had 
gone to town to have me arrested. Ar- 
rived at the village, the old man Parsens 
happened to pass with the wagon, and I 
got out of the carriage to speak with him; 
and at thatmoment Tamzen came toward 
the carriage, and I rushed after her and 
asked where she was going. I don’t 
know what reply she made. It baa been said 
here that I went there with the intention 
of committing the dreadful dead, but that 
is not true. From the moment she pass- 
ed the carriage, I do rot remember the 
particulars of that dreadful tragedy. It 
must have been a legion of devils had ta- 
ken hold of me, for it is contrary to my 
nature to be fcruel. There never was in 
all my life a feeling of revenge to take 
the life of any person. 
From that moment I don't know what 
occured till I found myse.lfin jail. When 
I learned what I had done, if ever a man 
felt the torments of hell, I did. For two 
or three weeks, and while the effects of 
intoxication were passing off, when I think 
what I suffered, I wonder I have any rea- 
son left. It wm then, when I thought 
there was neither hope in heaven or on 
earth for me, I threw my all upon ray 
Maker; and it was then that I received 
assurance that to all such sinners as I had 
been, there was mercy. Earnestly I strug- 
gled, and I received that assurance. It 
has been said that I am a “man of iron.” 
But that power of self-command has been 
given me from some greater source than I 
have within me. 
I am resigned. I have reviewed the 
whole matter and I know that I deserve 
death. But I never deliberated “or pre- 
meditated the murder of Tamzen Parsons. 
Poor girl ! My worst fault was I loved 
her too well. But I must submit. I deserve 
it. I hope that this may be an example 
to all to keep free from the terrible vice, 
the curse that has ruined the families and 
destroyed the hearts of millions. I hope, 
indeed, that the example maybe a lasting 
one. 
I feel prepared. Sometimes an hour 
comes when I remember and think of the 
old church yard at home, and- its long 
range of tombstones where my ancestors 
sleep. When I think of the annals of my 
little native island, there are many recol- 
lections of the good services of my kin- 
dred. When I think of these things I 
sometimes think I would wish to be saved 
from this fearful disgrace; and my poor 
boy—this is an awful legacy to leave him, 
an awful legacy. For that reason, and 
for that reason only, I would wish this cup 
might pass. But God’s will be done. I 
am resigned. 
The prisoner spoke in a slow, deliberate, 
impressive manner, as of one borne down 
beneath the awful weight of impending 
doom. He exhibited no signs of weak- 
ness or depression. His extraordinary 
nerve bore him up well, and there was 
not the slightest tremor perceptible in his 
frame. As he spoke many about him 
were affected to tfears. , 
When he had made an end of speaking, 
the Court proceeded to prohounce the TRIAL OF HE. JOHN W. HUSHES. 
51 
sentence, prefacing it with a statement, 
the substance of which we give : 
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, be- 
tween the hours of ten o’clock of the fore- 
noon and two o’clock of the afternoon of 
said 9th day of February, you be, by the 
Sheriff of Cuyahoga county, hanged by 
the neck until you are dead. 
REMARKS AND SENTENCE OF THE COURT. 
.'John W. Hughes, you stand convicted 
of the wilful, deliberate and premeditated 
murder of Tamzen Parsons, in the village 
of Bedford, on the 9th day of August 
last. 
The Judge pronounced the sentence not 
without emotion. The prisoner was un- 
moved, albeit many ladies in the room 
gave away to tears and sobbings. The 
prisoner resumed his seat, and rested his 
head for a moment on his hand. The 
court ordered the audience to remain 
quiet while the prisoner should be con- 
ducted to the jail. In the midst of pro- 
found silence, save as it was broken by 
the sound of weeping, Dr. Hughes, was 
ironed and led forth to the jail, whose 
grim walls he was never again to pass, 
alive. 
You were tried by an honest jury, and 
defended by the ablest counsel whose ser- 
vices could be procured for you by the 
court. 
Your counsel labored faithfully in your 
behalf, literally exhausting themselves in 
the effort to secure your acquittal,- or to re- 
duce your offense to murder in the second 
degree. But your conduct was indefensi- 
ble, your case was utterly hopeless. The 
evidences of deliberate and premeditated 
malice were such as to close every avenue 
of escape from a conviction for murder in 
the first degree. Your counsel labored 
without hope, and, although many pity 
you, your best friends must acknowledge 
the righteousness of that verdict which 
condemned you to expiate your fearful 
crime upon the scaffold. 
I would not discourage any effort your 
friends may make to secure a commuta- 
tion of your sentence, but in view of its 
apparent hopelessness, I do most earnest- 
ly entreat you to make your peace with 
Hod. 
It is the sentence of the law, that you, 
John W. Hughes, be taken from the bar 
of this court to the jail of Cuyahoga Coun- 
ty, that you be there safely kept until the 
time of execution, and that on the 9th day 
of February, in the year" of our Lord one 
After the prisoner had been escorted to 
jail, on hearing the verdict rendered, he 
told the Sheriff that the finding of the ju- 
ry was just, and that having made his 
peace v/ith God, he should die content. 
Had it been proper he would liked to have 
thanked all parties for the kindness shewn 
him. Eev. J. Monteith held a season of 
prayer with him immediately after he 
was conducted to his cell. The prisoner 
entered into the exercise with deep con- 
trition, his iron nature giving way and he 
weeping like a stricken child. 52 
PRISON EXPERIENCE. 
PRISON EXPERIENCE. 
The Doctor entered the jail under the ■ 
weight of the penalty of death. He had ) 
already solicited Re /. J. A. Thome to act j 
as his spiritual adviser, and he now ad- 
dressed himself with apparent earnestness 
and sincerity to the work of preparing 
himself for death. But this was soon in- 
terrupted when the Doctor learned that 
his friends were making great efforts to 
secure the commutation of his sentence. 
He revived. He passed the time in read- 
ing religious books, writing verses and 
letters, and receiving the calls of friends. 
He conducted himself with such perfect 
propriety in jail,''that he received many 
privileges which he could not otherwise 
have enjoyed. He frequently addressed 
his fellow prisoners, and they all held him 
in the highest respect. 
ful medical men, possessing peculiar 
means of knowledge,) together with the 
testimony of several of the leading physi- 
cians and medical men in said commun- 
ty, given at s»id trial, tended strongly to 
show that the effects of intoxicating 
liquors, proven and admitted to have been 
taken in large quantities, at the time of 
the commission of the crime, operating 
on the defendant’s peculiar temperament 
and organization, might have and probably 
did superinduce such a condition of “mind 
as to incapacitate him for forming a de- 
liberate purpose. That a taint of insanity 
was proven to have existed in the line of 
his immediate and remote ancestors, but 
by reason of the proof on this point being 
principally confined to England, it was 
unable to be made as fully as the facts 
warranted, as we are led to believe. That 
the prisoner’s conduct before the homi- 
cide, at the time thereof and after, was 
extraordinary, and to a great degree inex- 
plicable upon any other hypothesis than 
some, mental bewilderment or aberration. 
That the prisoner is a stranger and a for- 
eigner, without means or friends, whose 
sole vice, as far as shown, was the habit of 
intemperance, and unfortunate connection 
with the deceased victim of his illicit love 
and phrenzy. That the prisoner served 
the country of his adoption faithfully dur- 
ing the War of the Great Rebellion, rising 
from the ranks to the position of Post 
Hospital Surgeon at Vicksburg. And that 
in the opinion of the undersigned, the 
commutation of sentence above prayed 
for, would be a fit exercise of Executive 
clemency, and would satisfy the ends of 
Justice. 
EFFORTS TO SECURE A COMMUTA. 
TION. 
About two weeks after the sentence was 
passed against the prisoner, his attorney, 
William S. Kerruish, Esq.., drew up the 
following petition to Governor.Cox, pray- 
ing for the commutation of the sentence 
of Dr. Hughes to imprisonment for life : 
To his Excellency, 
the Governor of the State of Ohio : 
Tour petitioners, residents of Cuyahoga 
County and the City of Cleveland, in said 
State, respectfully ask tihat the sentence 
of death passed upon John W. Hughes, 
convicted of murder in the first degree at 
the November term of Court within and 
for said County, be commuted to impris- 
onment for life at hard labor in the Peni- 
tentiary. And for cause your petitioners 
say that the trial resulting in said convic- 
tion was had,at a time and in a commu- 
nity laboring under a great pressure of 
excitement and prejudice against the pris- 
oner; that while your petitioners do not 
deny that the trial was in itself impartial, 
yet it is proper to affirm that the prisoner 
was denied the presence of two important 
witnesses by_the Court’s refusal, under the 
rule, to continue the cause on the defend- 
ant’s application, compelling him in lieu 
thereof to abide by his statement of their 
testimony—that said testimony, (which 
was the testimony of competent and skill- 
These petitions -were numerously signed 
and Rev. J. A. Thome bore them to Colum- 
bus and laid them before the Governor. On 
the 2d of February, Sheriff Nicola received 
the following official letter, which quenched 
the hope of a commutation: 
Executive Department, \ 
Columbus, Feb. 1,1866. J 
Sib ; I am directed by Governor Cox to 
inform you that an application has been 
made to him for the commutation of the 
sentence of John W. Hughes, now in your 
custody, and that he has declined to inter- 
fere with the execution of the law. 
Very respectfully, 
your obed’t serv’t, 
W. T. COGGSEHAXL, ' 
Secretary. 
To the Sheriff of Cuyahoga 
County, Cleveland, 0. PRISON EXPERIENCE. 
53 
Dr. Hughes received the intelligence in a 
very calm manner. The following verses 
express his state of mind at that time : 
I the murder of William Beatson, at Cuya- 
j hoga Falls, April 13th, 1853. It was 
I brought from its long retirement amid 
county lumber in Akron, Summit county, 
and erected in the northeast corridor of the 
jail, the identical spot on which it stood 
on the former occasion. It consists of two 
upright posts of pine, united at the top by 
a heavy pine bar, through the center of 
which was driven a large iron staple to 
which the rope was fastened. Immediate- 
ly below and back of the cross-piece was 
the trap, which was newly constructed 
and fashioned like double doors, hinged 
at either side to the platform, and kept 
in place by a lever -which was secured by 
an iron bolt. The drawing of this bolt 
caused the lever to give way, and the trap 
doors to open downward. The drop or 
trap was four feet six inches wide. Behind 
it was constructed a platform eight feet 
four inches in length and about six inches 
in width. It was reached by a flight of 
twelve steps. The rope was manufactured 
especially for the occasion by Mr. John 
Craig, of this city, and was one inch in 
diameter, and three inches in circumfer- 
ence. It was securely fastened to _ the 
cross piece which was pierced with the iron 
staple aforesaid, and gave a fall of six 
feet two inches. The noose was formed 
by the regular “hangman’s knot,” and the 
lower portion of the rope was slushed with 
soap so thoroughly that a pressure of 
five pounds caused the noose to perform 
the function designed. An arm attached 
to the lever under the drop, rose about six 
inches above the platform. A slight pres- 
sure on this raised the lever and drew the 
pin, when the trap instantly fell. 
DR. HUGHES TO HIS FRIENDS. 
Of trifles the world is composed, 
Like minutes that grow into years; 
So friendship, in pity reposed, 
Allays our most troublesome fears. 
Away from all comforts at home, 
From all the desires of my heart, 
Not building on pleasures to come, 
With feelings of hope I must part. 
A moment of phrenzy, unthought, 
A second of madness defined— 
What change in the creature is wrought 
The soul in such horror entwined ! 
To review the dear scenes of the past, 
Is but a renewal of strife 
To a mind so constant o’ercast 
la weighing the issues of life. 
Grateful thanks is all I can give 
For merceis which others deny. 
Oh! that I were destined to live 
To recompense you bye and bye. 
Your efforts are sadly in vain; 
The plea was a day dr two late. 
Remonstrance its malice to rain 
Had hopelessly finished my fate. 
Yet your prayers shall he to my death 
Like the hidden treasure of leaven, 
My spirit to raise by their breath 
To waft it to Jesus in heaven. 
I pray, and I never forget 
To ask of my best friend above, 
For blessings on those in whose debt 
I am bound by their pitying love, 
The Doctor maintained a cheerful disposi- 
tion, and having made his peace with God, 
as he felt assured, became possessed of a 
longing to depart. He seemed at first to 
have Unitarian tendencies and predilec- 
tions, but as his hour approached, he grew 
into strange sympathy with the Spiritual- 
ists, and at last received the rite of extreme 
unction from Father Gallagher, of the 
Catholic Church. 
The day dawned, and with early light 
the people thronged the streets and all 
seemed animated and eager, driven by 
impulse and impelled by curiosity. The 
ground was covered with moist snow, 
and whatever noise broke the _ stillness 
caused the air to echo like an immense 
hollow globe. This was the last morning 
of the prisoner, and these echoes were 
among his latest monitos of the world he 
was soon to 1-ave. 
THE FATAL DAY. 
On Thursday morning the Doctor 
swallowed a dose of morphine, which had 
been smuggled into him by some of his 
friends. Fortunately for the end the law 
holds in view, it was an over-dose. A fit 
of violent vomiting was induced, by which 
the drug was expelled. Drs. Maynard and 
Cushing were summoned, and soon gave 
the patient relief. His wrists were then 
manacled, and his arms caught behind 
him, as a preventive of further self de- 
struction. 
ATTEMPT TO COMMIT SUICIDE. 
At seven o’clock Marshal Schmitt drew 
up the entire police force of the city with- 
in the jail yard all dressed in complete 
uniform. The entrances to the enclosure 
were strongly guarded. About eight o’clock 
the hungry crowd began gathering outside 
the paling, a force which was augmented 
every moment. They stood hour alter hour 
in the moist snow, gazing at the dull pile of 
stone which inclosed a man who figured 
in their imaginations as a human form 
begirt with real and fantastic shapes,—an 
adulterer, a seducer, a bigamist, a mur- 
derer, a felon under doom standing on a 
painted scene, with Death for a back- 
ground. Only those were admitted to 
the jail who had been previously furnished 
THE SCAFFOLD. 
Ihe machine of death used for the exe- 
cution of Dr. Hughes was that on which 
James Parks, alias James Dickinson, met 
his ignominious death, June Ist, 1855, for 54 
PRISON EXPERIENCE—THE CLOSING SCENES, 
with tickets by sheriff Nicola. Spectators 
not to exceed a score were in attendance. 
After ten o’clock Rev. J. A. Thome, 
spiritual adviser to the condemned, arrived 
and the prisoner was in close conversation 
with him, in the north hall of the jail un- 
til eleven o’clock. He expressed gratitude 
to him for the interest he taken in his 
case, but told him frankly that he did not 
concide with the religious views held by 
Mr. Thome; that he did not believe in 
Christ as the Son of God, &e., but inclined 
to the faith of the spiritualists. He talked 
coolly, but like a crazed brain, and it was 
painful to listen to the conversation. 
INTERVIEW WITH MR. THOME 
At half past nine o’clock the hearse be- 
longing to James Howland’s undertaker 
establishment, inclosing a coffin, was 
driven into the jail yard. The coffin was 
furnished by the Mona Society of this city, 
which is composed of Manxmen, the 
countrymen of Dr. Hughes. It was made 
of rich materials, silver mounted and of 
rosewood highly finished. 
THE LAST NIGHT AND MORNING. 
Dr. Hughes retired about nine o’clock 
om Thursday night. As his manacled 
hands were caught up behind him, he 
was compelled to lie on his side. A double 
bed was made for him and his guard, Mr. 
Bissell, on the lower floor of the jail near 
the stove. The Doctor slept soundlyunder 
the influence of the morphine he had 
taken, for about four hours. The. irons 
hurt him, the position was painful, and he 
awoke in consequence. After walking 
around half an hour, he again took to bed, 
and slept till morning. He arose in a very 
easy, cheerful frame 'of'mind, was washed, 
shaved, and then made a change of under 
clothing, after which he ate a very hearty 
breakfast. He entered into covers a- 
tion with his guard, and talked as 
cheerfully and hopefully as at any time 
during his incarceration. He expressed 
no fear, no apprehension, no dread. 
At seven o’clock Father Gallagher, of 
the Catholic Church, who had administer- 
ed the rite of extreme unction to the 
prisoner on Thursday, made application 
for admission. But the Doctor had just 
finished a letter to him, stating that his 
presence was not desired; that he (the 
Doctor) still adheres to the Catholic faith; 
that he had no fears; is well, and hope- 
ful of the future, and feels greatly re- 
lieved; that for reasons which he could 
not then give, the Father could not be ad- 
mitted to see the prisoner'. 
The sheriff gave Father Gallagher the 
communication, which he afterwards de- 
stroyed, and immediately retired. 
At eleven o’clock the Sheriff notified 
the Doctor that his hour drew nigh, and 
that, if he ’'desired to bid the prisoners 
good-bye, he might now have such op- 
portunity. tie accordingly made the tour 
of the west side of the jail, attended by the 
turnkey and several police officers, visiting 
each of the cells in which the prisoners 
had been locked. He spoke very kindly 
to all, calling each by name, and address- 
words suited to the case of each. To a 
young negro he said: ‘‘You and your race 
are now free. Your first duty is to learn 
to read and write, and then use your edu- 
caton as a real man should. Remember 
all the words I have said to you before. 
Fear God and obey His commandments. 
Good bye.” The colored man said “God 
bless you, Doctor,” when the latter moved 
on. To another he said : “Leave off your 
frivolous and dissipated habits. When 
you go out of this jail, strive to get into 
good society. Shun evil associations. God 
bless you.” To a third, “You’ll do better, 
my boy, when you get out of this. Be a 
good boy.” To Anthony he said : 
“You are my oldest friend here. You 
have been in the jail with me six months. 
Yon have been a good boy. Take the ad- 
vice I have given you, and all will be 
well.” In passing along he met on the 
verandah a friend, and said : “Mr. 
I have got to say the last word to you. I 
am going to brighter, fairer and better 
world. I shall expect to see you there. 
Give my best wishes to your wife. Don’t 
set me down as the black-hearted villain 
I have been reported.” To another pris- 
oner he said; “Be a good man, read your 
Bible and believe, and practice its pre- 
ceipts.” In the next cell he bid farewell 
to two young men; “Nothing but 
laziness is the matter with you. You 
ought not to be here. When you 
get out, go into some good work.— 
You might do well. This is plain talk, 
but they are my last words to you. Re- 
member that cleanliness is next to godli- 
ness. Keep yourselves in b tter trim.” 
They all promised to remember his 
words. 
HUGHES MAKES THE TOUR OF THE JAIL. 
COOLNESS OP THE PRISONER. 
That remarkable nerve which has made 
Dr. Hughes the wonder of all who have 
been cognizant of his bearing since his ar- 
rest, remained firm and rigid to the last. 
Between 9 and 10 o’clock be moved about 
freely among the spectators, his wrists 
ironed, quietly smoking a cigar and talk- 
ing pleasantly and without reserve to all. 
There was something painful in the spec- 
tacle. Under doom of death, which 
would fall ere three hours rolled away, he 
walked around as if assured of an immor- 
tal life here on earth. He was very neatly 
dressed, and his face bore little or no in- 
dication of the rash attempt be had made 
he previous day to take his life by poison. 
He next met on the stairs, Kate, the 
matron of the jail: “You have been like THE CLOSING SCENE. 
55 
a mother to me, Kate, since I have been 
here. I hope you will continue to do as 
much good as you have done me. You 
have dispensed on every hand nothing but 
charity.” Kate was affected to tears. All 
the prisoners listened attentively to what 
he had to say, and invariably said, “God 
bless you, doctor.” 
CONVERSATIONS, REVELATIONS, INCIDENTS 
It was now fully half past eleven o’cloek. 
The Doctor sat down byr the stove, and 
talked cheerfully with all. His nerves 
were still somewhat affected by poison, 
yet there was not a tremor perceptible in 
his frame. He owned to us that he took 
morphine enough to kill five men, about 
ten o’clock Wednesday evening, just af- 
ter the departure of Father Gallagher ; 
that he began to feel its effects immediate- 
ly, but that, having partaken largely of 
oj'ster soup, the milk acted as an anti- 
dote to the poison. He expressed him- 
self annoyed at the result. He had de- 
sired to die an easy death, and by self- 
murder, to avoid the ignominy of dying 
on the scaffold. 
The Doctor then returned to his cell to 
hold a parting interview with his counsel. 
He thanked them cordially for the ef- 
forts they had made in his behalf. On 
being notified that a delegation of the 
Mona’s Benefit Society had arrived, he 
descended, and passed between them as 
they were drawn up in file, and took each 
by the hand, and made the following 
INTERVIEW WITH HIS COUNSEL. 
REMARKS TO THE COMMITTEE: 
THE CLOSING SCENE. 
“ Friends: lam approaching my doom. 
I have to abide the issue. I have com- 
mitted a great crime, and am soon to suf- 
fer the penalty. I want you to know, that 
in all my career in the Old World there 
was no blot on my name. This is my 
only crime. I don’t remember firing that 
pistol. It was not J, W. Hughes who did 
it;—I was propelled by evil spirits during 
a fit of intoxication. I ought to have 
been an honor to you all. I have had 
worse and better advantages than any 
Manxman in this city. I had wealth, 
education, and position in life. I had the 
best advantages that our little, beautiful 
Island could give. Our family stood 
number one. No Manxman can deny 
that. But I have committed a henious 
crime, and for which I am about to give 
my life. When I give it, the debt will be 
paid. 
In our century, superstition and ignor- 
ance handed down these things to pos- 
terity, and do so till this day. But, gen- 
tlemen, I wish you to remember that mur- 
der is no consistent part of J. W. Hughes ; 
I was led by the feelings of illicit love 
and jealousy. I was overwhelmed by in- 
toxicarion. I was impelled to do the 
deed for which I am to suffer. At the 
same time, gentlemen, I ask your pardon 
arid that of all my countrymen for being 
a disgrace instead of an honor to you. 
And I beg of you, not to point the finger 
of scorn at my boy, but take him by the 
hand and to your heart; and cultivate in 
him those virtues which will make him an 
honor to the country of his adoption. I 
wish my name to rot on yonder scaffold. 
Let my boy not hear it. 1 hope he may 
be adopted by some one, who will give 
him a fair name. 
My poor remains—l give them to you, 
gentlemen. It matters little to me what 
becomes of this carcass. Let it be put in 
a lot, and when you pass it, think of it— 
of the man. Take it as a warning. 
Think of it as being the remains of 
ona of your unfortunate countrymen. 
At 12:35 p. m.,. the prisoner mounted the 
scaffold, with firm step, preceded by Sher-_ 
iff Nicola, arid followed by Deputy Sheriff 
Ridgway, Rev. J. A. Thome, Mr. Smith, 
the turnkey of the jail and Ex-Sheriff 
Spangler. Dr. Hughes stepped at onco 
upon the trap, and faltered. 
The Doctor attempted to speak, but 
could not, and, turning to Rev. J. A. 
Thome, said, “Won’t you pray first? I 
can’t say anything till you pray.” 
Oh God! Our Father who art in heaven, 
hallowed be thy name. We bow to Thy 
divine will. With Thee are the issues of 
life; Thou hast given human life. We are 
fearfully and wonderfully made—made by 
Thy hand and stamped with the immage of 
our heavenly maker. Thouhasthedged about 
tiffs human life in Thy care and wisdom, 
ail this priceless worth, with safety and 
both of divine and human lav/. And now 
oh Lord,we are brought to the verge of the 
life of a fellow being, and we have come 
to speak to Thee humbly supplicating 
Thy mercy for him who is soon to be no 
more in the land of the living. For a 
deed of fearful crime, is this fellow being 
of ours brought to this verge of earthly 
life. His hands have been imbued 
in the blood of a fellow creature, 
and now must he expiate this high 
crime by yielding up his own life. 
Oh, God, we know that thou regardest 
Thy creatures upon this earth with 
great compassion, even though they 
be among the chief of sinners. And now, 
with all his sins, and vices, and crimes 
upon this, our brother man, we plead with 
Thee in Jesus Christ, our mediator, once 
his mediator, that Thou will have mercy 
upon him through the bosom of Christ, 
which cleanses from all unrighteousness. 
Cleanse his heart of those bloody sins of 
which we trust he has been penetent and 
sorry in the depths of his heart. And do 
Thou graciously forgive our brother. Forgive 
him though his sins are great, and grant 
PRAYER BY MR. THOME. 56 
CLOSING SCENE. 
that he maybe prepared through the blood 
of Jesus Christ, by faith in the blood shed 
for the remission of sin, to stand before 
Thee in that great day. Grant that his 
spirit ipay go to the bosom of God who 
gave it/ We beseech thee that thou wilt 
remember the wife and child that are now 
to be left desolate by this event of 
to-day. Remember them in their dis- 
tant home; shield them with the kindness 
and care of a heavenly father. Be with 
that boy who bears the name of him who 
is abont to expiate his guilt upon the gal- 
lows. May he grow up to be a good man, 
and do thou efface from his memory what- 
ever mark or stain may be left upon his 
young life by this sad event. May he live 
to be a man whose influence in life as far 
as it is possible shall vindicate the name 
that has been so stained by his father. 
God in mercy now hear, and, grant in 
mercy the prayer we offer before thee, and 
have mercy on the spirit of him who is 
about to appear before thee through the 
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and save 
him; and to the Father, Son and Holy 
Ghost be everlasting praise, forever and 
ever. Amen. 
Look in the second chapter of Numbers 
and you will find some examples of mur- 
ders with premeditation, and purpose, and 
deliberation, in Moses taking the life of 
an Egyptian, and then he comes and pro- 
claims simself a priest, prophet and king, 
and by his law I suffer, and every other 
murderer. I would admit that life is dear 
to all, and ought to be protected; but if 
a man takes the’life of another, it is the 
greater madness to retaliate upon him in 
this manner. If the people of Bedford 
had taken my life at the time I committed 
that deed, I would have said that is na- 
tures law and comes from the heart; but 
when aftes six months of preparation and 
deliberation over the matter, by those in 
official position, I say then they murder— 
they murder, gentlemen! What is the 
advantage to society to take my life, or 
any man's, in comparison to employing 
him for the rest of his days in some use- 
ful employment? and if J. W. Hughes has 
any ability for anything, then keap him in 
confinement and employ him in useful 
labor and make a good man of him, and 
turn him out a reformed man, and give 
him an opportunity to atone for all the 
evil he mayhave done society. 
This death penalty is ridiculous, and if 
you will consider over it you will find it is 
wrong- One life is as good as another. 
What advantage is it to take my life ? 
None ! It is not an example to deter oth- 
ers from crime. Did I remember this in 
that wild fit of drunkenness, did I remem- 
ber pointing that pistol ? No, I don’t re- 
member it this hour. 
The reverend gentleman laid his hand 
on the head of Dr. Hughes, when the lat. 
ter offered the following: 
Our Father, Thou the great God forgive 
me, a miserable sinner, and in Thy mercy 
show to human wisdom the folly of the 
different ways they have to approach 
Thee. Oh, God, grant the enlightenment 
of the human race, and may soon appear 
all our different sects of religion who have 
their different ways to come to Thee, that 
Thy knowest them all. Oh, have mercy, 
look on me a sinner, in a few moments I 
will be with Thee and will know the great 
secret of futurity. Oh, God, that Thou 
would impart to humanity what is a great 
secret. Have mercy upon all that see me. 
Have mercy upon all that know me—up- 
on all that have known my fate, andgrant 
that it may be in word, and that it may be 
in conscience a great example to all. 
I would ask all for the Mediator’s sake. 
Amen. 
PRATER BY DR, HUGHES. 
Yet it is the law and we must abide by 
it—the law of man but not of God. lam 
convinced of it. For six months I have 
had every sect of religion to visit me, and 
they came in to tell me which is the way 
to heaven. Do I believe them? No! What 
is man’s 1 way to heaven ? The same 
as his way on earth. Do unto others as 
we we wish to be done to. I have thought 
it all over fully and conscientiously 
and have come to the conclusion that my 
life in another world will be the same as in 
this, with the exception that there all will 
will be pure. I have considered this over 
for six months, and intended to give my 
own life up to my exit out of this world. I 
intended to take my own life, bui did not 
succeed. I took enough to take me out of 
the world, but it is the great Spirit’s will 
that I should not, and I have not done it. 
(Turning to the sheriff he said) My broth- 
er ! Gentlemen, this man has treated me 
like a brother from the first the last, 
and Mr. Thome, my spiritual adviser 
is my dearest friend. I respect him as my 
father. I never had a father. Gentlemen, 
I never knew what a father was. He is 
my father, and I love him as a father, and 
feel my whole heart borne up to him as a 
father. And if I could, I would thank 
Mr. Thome—And now may the grace of 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and 
the blessing of the Holy Spirit be with us 
and our friend. Amen. 
SPEECH OP DR. HUGHES. 
My Friends This is indeed a sad fate 
I would wish you to remember it, not as 
an example, but as the acme of human 
justice. Do you suppose that I think for 
a moment that the law of man is just in 
taking my life ? No. Men’s law is but 
the law of a murderer like me, who made 
that law, Moses. And who was he ? The 
greatest murderer we ever heard of. CLOS ING SCENE. 
57 
him for aT ’ s wrinciples arid doctrines. 
Eut his : not my ideas. Since I have 
been in this prison I have had every set of 
religion visit me. You cannot tell me of 
one that I have not had to talk to me. I 
argued with them cn al1 their opinions and 
learned all the secrets of their hearts on 
the matters of salvation, and dare I deny 
them? Mo. I have talked with my spir- 
itual adviser not because I believe as he 
does. I love him es a father, but at the 
same time my mind is not his mind. I 
don’t believe to-day—God forgive me if I j 
say anything wrong—that Jesus Christ 
was the son of God. My anatomical 
knowlegge and everything says that the 
immaculate conception is not right. It is 
against nature and philosophy. It is 
against human nature. I believe that no 
purer spirit, no better man ever lived on i 
earth than Jesus Christ, and that in the j 
spirit world he is next to the great | 
Creator himself--as far as we know, j 
At the same time 1 will tel! my experi- j 
ence, tell what I know in my own soul. I 
I know from experience that there is j 
communication with those who have de- ! 
parted from this life. I am to-day about | 
to suffer the extreme penalty of the law, 
but at the same time am sure I shall bo i 
with you after the execution as I am now. I 
I don’t believe in Spiritualism particular j 
ly, because I have never seen any medi- 
ums, nor have I everjseen the indications 
of this. At the same time every creature, 
I don’t care who he is, will know that at 
some time in his life he has been in 
licenced by some pecuilar idea or senti 
ment he never would have thought of 
himself. So far as I know, I believe the j 
doctrines of Spiritualism. I thank my 
spiritual adviser who has spoken to me in 
relation to heaven and the sufferings of 
Jesus Christ and I believe in him as a 
mediator, but I don’t believe in his mir- 
aculous birth. I believe in him as being 
the purest man, the purest spirit that ever 
ascended on high. And I have taken the 
advice and counsel of Mr. Thome as a ; 
friend and a father. He came here in a | 
moral way to reform every one, and he i 
laid such a foundation in my name that I 
1 have finally taken the belief I now have | 
given- If 1 thought for a moment that 1 
was going to brimstone and hell and that | 
kind of thing for eternity, I should fear, 1 
or did I think I was going to heaven and ! 
sit there for all eternity, and do nothing 
but sing, I should be a fool. They can 
kill this body but they cannot kill this 
soul. This soul soars alott to the great 
! Being that gave it being. It has its work 
| odo and I believe this moment, that I 
I shall be as much here after this execution 
j as now before it, I believe I am here. 
| Sheriff—2Time is going.” 
j “ Hughes—“ Yes, sir.’ 
I will say just in conclusion, the Sheriff 
jhas been a brother to me. The Jailor, 
| Mr. Smith, has been a father to me. If it 
were his own son he could not have done 
1 more than he has done for me. God bless 
him. Good bye Mr. Smith. 
1 go, gentlemen, not to the land of per- 
dition but to the land of progression, and 
while I admit the justice of the law of 
Ohio to-day I say it is foolish and vain. 
And if you should say to me that because 
that rope goes around my neck and chokes 
me to death that it is going to prevent any 
crime. I say it is foolish and vain, for in 
the condition in which John W. Hughes 
was when he committed this crime, no 
example on earth would prevent any man 
from doing just as he did. I submit to the 
law of the land, believing it a cruel mur- 
der to take my life. From the time I fir- 
ed that pistol up to this hour, 1 don’t re- 
member the firing of that pistol. Do you 
think all the examples on earth would 
have prevented any man in that condition 
from doing as I did ? No. it is a mistake. 
No; I hope my example will not be re- 
membered as an example of the death 
penalty, but for the folly of it. 
He commenced his speech at 12 45 and 
closed at 1:1. • The Sheriff’, with eyes in- 
flamed by weeping, then informed the 
condemned that it was his pain'ul duty to 
inflict on him the extreme penalty of the 
law. Deputy Sheriff George Eidgway 
fastened tire irons on his wrists, and, with 
the aid of the turn-key, pinioned his el- 
bows and knees. The Doctor tore off his 
col ar and coat, and tossed them below, 
with a smile. During the proceeding, he 
said to the spectators, “ Good bye.” And 
again he exclaimed, “ 0 Grave ! where is 
thy victory? and 0 Death! where is thy 
sting ? ” Before the rope was adjusted he 
called; “Mr. Kerruish! Good by«!” The 
rope was then put around his neck and 
the black cap drawn over his face. The 
Sheriff touched the arm of the lever, and 
the trap instantly fell at seven minutes 
past one o’clock. The neck was instan- 
taneously broken. Not a muscle moved. 
There was absolutely no indication of 
pain, and not a perceptible tremor. The 
body swayed to and fro, and did not come 
to rest until the pulse had ceased to throb.