To
the Gallows
Part II of II
By: Dusty Williams
At
the hanging on March 26, 1869, Rev. W. P.
Petty was with
Blackmore and Thompson on the scaffold and
read the dying declarations of each,
which were as follows:
The
last words of John Thomson: “I am to die
to-day, and my
sentence is just. I desire to live, for life
is sweet; and I can’t say I am
afraid to die, but I am not willing
to die. As I pass off before you, however, and
join the uncounted company
beyond the flood, I desire to administer a
warning to the young men of my
country, that they may turn to good account.
I
have lived long enough to attest from my own
experience
that a man’s circumstances are inexorable, and
that they make him what he is.
No man is independent of the company he keeps;
he may vainly think so, but
before he is aware of it, that company, be it
good or bad, has molded him into
its own image. Young men, these words issuing
from the trembling lips of a
dying man are worthy of earnest attention!
While yet a boy I mingled in bad
company, and I can see now,
too late
to improve the lesson it brings however, that
my mind and morals took on a
bias, that like the hand of unyielding destiny
has left me to this sad and
solemn hour of my profitless history. I played
at cards and soon was led into
gambling. I took the social glass with my
friends, but soon I detected the
presence of a fondness for the exhilarating
stimulant. It grew into a habit
with me, and not unfriendly, I was beastly and
wildly intoxicated. I was an habitual
and persistent Sabbath breaker; and often
without the knowledge or consent of
my parents, would steal off from home to play
at cards or fish on Sundays. I
have lived a wild and wicked life. While the
war was going on, I was with a
very wicked company, and I did many things
along with my comrades, that I ought
not have done. After the war was concluded by
a peace, I went back to my home
in Missouri, but I was pursued and driven away
from home; from political
differences and private prejudices, I could
not live there in peace. I then
came to Texas-thinking I would make this State
my home; but not long
afterwards, I went back to Missouri, but I
could not stay. Last fall I returned
to Texas and felt almost desperate. I had been
to your State but a short time
when I aided in the commission of the crime
for which I am presently to suffer
and die. I am deeply sorry I did it, but I
can’t undo it now. As to Mrs.
Mallow, with whom I was boarding, she is a
good woman, and entirely innocent of
any connection with our crime. I thought for
awhile that I was safe in the
wickedness I had done- that no one would
accuse me of doing the deed: but
somehow the eve of God seemed to be upon me
and my sin has found me out. I do
believe that a man’s sins, sooner or later,
bloodhound-like, will scent him up
and hunt him down. I have been running in sin
a long time, but it has overtaken
me at last.
And
now young men, as I turn away from you to die,
let me
beseech you to avoid drinking and gambling,
the sins which first started me down
the hill of crime amid the shadows whose base
I must surrender the life I am
unworthy to keep. I hope none of you will feel
bitter towards me when I am
gone. To give up the life I have forfeited is
the highest price I could pay for
my sins; and as the promised flowers of a
coming spring shall presently bloom
over my sleeping form, as the perfume-laden
breezes are to sing my only
lullaby, as I can’t now brush the tears from
the cheeks of the window and
orphans whom I have helped to deprive-the one
of a husband and the other of a
father, and as I would live better if my life
could be spared,-I pray you do
not send your personal hatreds into the grave
after me. My friends, a kind but
long farewell!” John Thompson
The
last words of William O. Blackmore: “I confess
I was
concerned in the murder of the man, for which
I am the truly sorry, and I know
it is but just that I should die.
But
before I do
die, I want to say a few words to the young
men of my country as a warning to
them. In my childhood my parents taught me my
duty to God and man. They didn’t
even allow me to play marbles on Sunday. I was
a good boy up to my fifteenth
year, when I went into the Confederate army
(about 1864, when his name appears
on a list as a follower of Frank James to join
Bloody Bill Anderson).
Unfortunately for me, I went into a company of
very wicked men; they were my
companions, and step by step I imitated their
example, my conscience often
checking me, until I committed the crime that
brought me here. Young men if you
keep wicked profane, drinking, gambling,
company, you will certainly rush to
ruin too. The difference between you and me
is-you are looking forward
upon life, and I am looking backward
upon it. I can see danger where
some of you do not see it, and with my last
breath I warn you to keep good
company or none!
I
understand that some people have, in some way,
accused
Mrs. Mallow of knowing something about the
crime we have committed or some of
the money not yet reported; and I feel it my
duty to say that both charges are
wholly false; she knew nothing of the whole
thing, neither have we given her
any of the money received. She is a good
woman.
I
wanted also to tell you, that though I shall
soon leave
you, I believe God has forgiven me and I have
a hope of soon being at rest. I
have no unkind feelings towards anyone; and in
my heart I forgive all who have
been unkind to me. I am sorry that I can’t
live, that I might undo some things
I have done; but I am not afraid to die. I
believe death will only be the gate
to my beautiful and happy home. I trust you
will not feel vengeful towards me
when I am gone. I have some friends who have
already gone to the beautiful home
of the angels, and I trust through the
boundless mercy of God, that I soon
shall join them. My precious mother still
lives. I know this sad news will
nearly break her heart; but may God sustain
and comfort her.
And
now my friends, my time is come and I waive
you the
kindest farewell!” William O. Blackmore
And so ended the
great hanging at Sherman, the first legal
hanging in the city. Both Blackmore and
Thompson’s names were used by Unionist
afterwards to strike fear in individuals and
to try and better enforce the law
throughout Texas and the surrounding area.
There was even a mention of Thompson
and Blackmore and their execution in Sherman
in the New
York Herald on April
17, 1869. It is not known entirely where the
two men’s remains were interred,
however Blackmore’s letters to his mother
and his half-brother, Mr. Litton,
were also published in the paper. In the
letter to his brother he states:
“Uncle Will Blackmore was to see me last
week, he is in a great deal of trouble
about me; he is a helpless man. I made him a
gift of what I had left, as he
needed it worse than anybody else.” He goes
on to say that, “My remains will be
taken to Uncle Will Blackmore’s and buried.
I want you to come and get my
remains and bury them in the Liberty
graveyard, if it is in your power.” There
was a William Blackmore from Tennessee who
lived near Sadler in 1870. He has a
wife and son known to be buried in Sadler
Cemetery.
