THE DAVID G. LAWSON
                                       MURDER
                                           (1875)

                                               
&

                                       
ENSUING

                        TRIAL OF ANDERSON SHIFFLETT,
                        LOUISA LAWSON, SILAS MORRIS,
                                   
& BURRIS WILLIAMS
                                                (1877)

                                         
BY Larry F. SHIFFLETT








                                                                INTRODUCTION

                             DAVID G. LAWSON WAS MURDERED IN 1877.

                   THE CONVOLUTED STORY OF THE ENSUING EVENTS IS
                       DOCUMENTED IN THE VARIOUS COURT RECORDS,
              NEWSPAPER ARTICLES, AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS WHICH
                             ARE PRESENTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.

                   I HAVE INJECTED A FEW BRIEF NOTES, OTHERWISE THE
                      DOCUMENTS ARE LEFT TO UNFOLD THE MYSTERY.

                   I SUGGEST THAT THE READER KEEP AN OPEN MIND AND
                    REFRAIN FROM JUDGMENT UNTIL THE FINAL WORD IS
                                                                   READ.

                       CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE MY WIFE DIANNE, WHO
                     TRANSCRIBED ALL OF THE ROCKINGAHM COUNTY
               COURT
RECORDS; MY DAUGHTER SELENA, WHO TYPED
                      MUCH OF THE WORK; MY FRIENDS, BARBARA AND
              GRAHAM, WHO HELPED COMPILE THE PARDON RECORDS
                                 FROM THE VIRGINIA STATE ARCHIVES;

                              AND MY SON ARTHUR, WHO IS JUST ART.

 

                                        WHO SHOT DAVID G. LAWSON?




                                                          1

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 "Murder in Rockingham"

"About 4 o'clock on the afternoon of Monday last week, Mr. David G. Lawson, who resides
near Roadside in East Rockingham, was shot and instantly killed by an unknown party. A
correspondent of the Rockingham Register furnishes the following particulars in reference to this
terrible act: "Mr. David G. Lawson, residing near Roadside, Rockingham County, Va., was
killed this evening at about 4 o'clock. He was down at the store owned by E. Q. Sanford this
evening in his wagon with two horses, and on his way home, after leaving the pike a few hundred
yards, was supposed to have been killed by being shot from his horse. Two other men who had been
with Mr. L. had left him and taken another road; but they heard the report of the gun, and going to
where it was, found Mr. Lawson thrown from his horse dead! They then sent for a doctor and
Magistrate who came and examined Mr. Lawson. I was there. The doctor said he
was shot in the back. There were three holes, all of which were near together, on the right of his
breast. Two balls went through him and one was found in his shirt. It seems as if no one knows
who committed this deed. Mr. Lawson was an intelligent, hard-working man, about 35 years of
age. He leaves a widow and several small children." Staunton Spectator - March 23, 1875
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"ARRESTED FOR MURDER - On Sunday night last the chief of police of Harrisonburg,
assisted by Mr. Geo. Hutchinson, formerly of Staunton, carried Anderson Shiflett and the
widow of David Lawson from Conrad's Store, in Rockingham, to Harrisonburg, where they are
to be tried for the murder of David Lawson, a year ago. The dead man was shot off his team
from an ambush while driving along the road near his house. The accused have since been living
together." Staunton Vindicator - Feb. 16, 1877
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 "ARRESTED FOR MURDER - In Rockingham County, Anderson Shifflet and the widow of
David Lawson were committed to jail on Sunday of last week, charged with the murder of David
Lawson which occurred about a year ago about two miles from his home. It is charged that
Shifflet killed him and that his (Lawson's) wife was an accessory. Yesterday was the day
appointed for their examining trial before a justice at Conrad's Store."
Staunton Spectator - Feb. 20, 1877
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"CHARGED WITH MURDER - We stated several weeks since that Anderson Shiflett and the
widow of David Lawson had been arrested in Rockingham under the charge of murdering David
Lawson about two years since, near his home, about three miles from Conrad's Store. In an examination
before J. S. Funkhouser, J. C. Walker and David Maiden week before last, the evidence was of such
a character as to induce the justices to arrest a man named Williams as an accomplice. The examination
 was not concluded, and was to be resumed at McGaheysville
on last Friday. David Lawson was shot and killed instantly two years ago, whilst driving his
team on his way home from the mill near Conrad's Store. A few weeks since Shiflett was
arrested as principal and Mrs. Lawson as accessory. We do not know whether Shiflett's first
name is Anderson or Henderson, as the Harrisonburg papers publish it differently - the one as
Henderson and the other as Anderson. The first name of the Williams arrested is not given."

Staunton Spectator - March 6, 1877
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                                                                        2

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"COMMITTED TO JAIL - The examination trial at McGaheysville in Rockingham County, on
the 3rd and 4th inst., of Anderson Shiflet and Mrs. David Lawson, charged with the murder of
David Lawson two years ago, resulted in committing them to jail to await the action of the
Grand Jury. The testimony pointed to the guilt of two others - Burris Williams and Silas
Morris, the former of whom has been arrested and committed to jail - the latter is still at large."

Staunton Spectator - March 13, 1877

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"March 19, 1877 - The Commonwealth vs. Anderson Shifflett, Louisa Lawson, Silas
Morris, & Burris Williams}
Upon an indictment for murder: This day, three of the prisoners, to
wit - Anderson Shifflett, Louisa Lawson, & Burris Williams, late of the county of Rockingham,
who stand indicted for a felony by them committed, were led to the bar of the Court in custody of
the Jailor of the County, and being thereof arraigned, each pleaded "not guilty" and upon their
arraignment, each elected to be tried separately, and therefore these causes are continued until
tomorrow, and the prisoners remanded to jail. Ordered that this court be adjourned until
tomorrow morning at 9:00" Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5

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"March 20, 1877 - This day, three of the prisoners, to wit - Anderson Shifflett, Louisa
Lawson, & Burris Williams
, who stand indicted for a felony by them committed, were again led
to the bar of the Court in custody of the Jailor of this County, and for reasons appearing to the
Court, their trials are continued until the 2nd day of the next term of this Court. The defendants
by their counsel, then moved the Court to admit them to bail, and the Court fixed upon
Wednesday next, March 28, 1877, for the hearing of said motion; and thereupon, the following
witnesses in behalf of the Commonwealth, viz. - Wm. D Maiden, V.H. Lam, Geo. A.
Hutchinson, Samuel Hall, Rebecca Hall, Jesse Wyant, Theophilus Shifflett, Robert
Crawford, Nathaniel Davis, and James Crawford
, each appeared in Court and acknowledged
themselves to be indebted to the Commonwealth of Virginia in the sum of $100.00, to Be levied
from their respective goods and chattels, lands and tenements, for the use of the Commonwealth,
yet upon this condition, that they do each make their personal appearance before the Judge of the
Court in behalf of the Commonwealth against said defendants, and not depart thence without
leave of the Court, and thereupon, the said witnesses were recognized in the same sum, upon the
same conditions for their appearance before this Court on the 2nd day of the next term of the
Court, as witnesses in behalf of the Commonwealth against said defendants, upon their trial; and
thereupon, the prisoners were remanded to jail." Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5

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"March 20, 1877 - B. F. Bonds presented in Court an Account against the Commonwealth of
Virginia amounting to the sum of$13.25 ($8.00 and $6.00) for meals and lodging for Anderson
Shifflett
(for Burris Williams and Louisa Lawson respectively), under arrest for felony, and for
meals and lodging for four (three and two) guards, and livery horses for prisoners and guards, and
ordered to be certified to the Auditor of Public Accounts for payment."

                                                                                Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5

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                                                                        3

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"March 28, 1877 - This day, three of the prisoners, who stand indicted for a felony by then
committed, viz. - Anderson Shifflett, Louisa Lawson, & Burris Williams, were led again to
the bar of the Court, on their motion for bail. Thereupon Burris Williams, by counsel, moved
the Court to admit him to bail for his appearance to answer said indictment on the 2nd day of the
next term of this Court, the day affixed for this trial, and having fully heard and considered the
same, the Court doth sustain his motion, and fixes the amount of bail at $500.00 for himself and
each of his sureties and thereupon the said Burris Williams, together with Moses F. Powell,
Archibald McDaniel, Nicholas Williams, and Samuel Hall, his sureties, (waiving the benefit of
the Homestead exemptions) each acknowledged themselves to be indebted to the Commonwealth
of Virginia in the sum of $500.00, for the use of the Commonwealth, to be levied of their respective
goods and chattels, land and tenements, yet upon the condition that the said Burris Williams doth
make the personal appearance before this Court on the 2nd day of the next term, to answer said
Indictment, and not depart thence without leave of the Court, and thereupon said Burris Williams
was discharged from Custody. Anderson Shifflett and Louisa Lawson withdrew their motions for
bail, and were thereupon remanded to jail. Wm. Thomas McDaniel was recognized as a witness on
behalf of the Commonwealth in the sum of $100.00 for his appearance on the 2nd day of the next
term, and not depart thence without leave of the Court" Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5
 

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"April 17, 1877 - "Anderson Shifflett------------------------the panel of 36 required by law was
completed; and from the panel thus completed, a panel of sixteen were called, examined by the
Court, found to be duly qualified and free from exceptions-------------------------------------"
"April 18, 1877 - "Anderson Shifflett----------not having time to fully hear evidence-----------"
"April 19, 1877 - "Anderson Shifflett-----not having time to fully hear evidence-----------"
"April 20, 1877 - "Anderson Shifflett----------not having time to fully hear evidence-----------"
"April 21, 1877 - "Anderson Shifflett------------having fully heard evidence & Counsel, the

jury retired to consider verdict--------------------------------------------------------------------

"April 23, 1877 - "Anderson Shifflett--------------and not having agreed upon a verdict, again
retired to their room to consider their verdict and after some time returned into the Court and
upon their oath do say, ''We the Jury find the prisoner, Anderson Shifflett, guilty of murder in
the first degree, in the manner and form as charged in the Indictment." E. S. Marshal, foreman
and thereupon, on motion of the prisoner by counsel, the Jury was polled, each responding to the
question, ''Is this your verdict?" in the affirmative. And thereupon, the prisoner, by counsel,
moved the Court, first, to set aside the verdict of the Jury and grant him a new trial, second, for
arrest of judgment, and the Court not having time fully to hear argument of counsel on said
motions, continued the same until tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock.

"April 24, 1877 - "Judge reserves decision until tomorrow-------------------------------------"
"April 25, 1877 - "-----doth over rule the said motion, and it being demanded of him (Anderson
Shifflett)
if anything for himself he had or knew to say, why the Court here, to judgment and
execution against him, of, and upon the premises, should not now proceed, said he had nothing
but what he had before said. Wherefore, it is considered by the Court, that he be hanged by the
neck until dead,
and that execution of the judgment upon him, the said Anderson Shifflett, be
made and done by the Sheriff of the County, on Friday, the 29th day of June next, (1877) between
the hours of sunrise and sunset of the same day." Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5
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                                                                        4

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"CONVICTION OF ANDERSON SHIFFLETT - The trial of Anderson Shifflett for the
murder of David G. Lawson, was commenced in the County Court of this county on Tuesday of
last week, and terminated on Monday morning last, the jury rendered a verdict of murder in the
first degree. The testimony was very voluminous, and occupied four days of the trial. Saturday
was taken up by the counsel in the argument of the case, and the jury was sent to their room on
Saturday evening, after being charged by Judge O'Ferrall. Court assembled at 9 o'clock on
Monday morning, and at fifteen minutes past 9 o'clock it was announced that the jury had agreed.
They were brought into court, when the usual forms having been gone through with, the question
was asked, "do you find the prisoner at the bar guilty of the charge in the indictment ?" To which
the foreman answered, "guilty of murder in the first degree." The scene at the rendering of the
verdict was solemn beyond description, and for some minutes there was almost deadly silence in
the court room. The prisoner was visibly affected by the verdict. We forebear any comments in
regard to the case, as there are several other parties implicated in the murder, and whose trials are
yet to take place. The prisoner was earnestly and ably defended by Gen. J. E. Roller, Rob. B.
Reagan, and John T. Bray, of Greene County.
The prosecution was faithfully and ably
conducted by John Paul, attorney for the Commonwealth, assisted by J. N. Liggett. A motion
for a new trial was made by counsel for the defense and overruled by the court. A motion for
arrest of judgment was made by counsel for the defense, on the grounds of a fault in the
indictment. The motion was overruled, and the Judge proceeded to pass sentence. The following
is about the language used in the sentence as delivered by Judge O'Ferrall: Anderson Shifflett:
- In the discharge of my judicial duties, I am called upon this morning to perform the saddest and
most unpleasant duty of my life. Gladly would I relieve myself of this duty, if it were possible, but
the stem command of the law is, that I only shall perform it. It is hard enough when a Court is
required to pass sentence of confinement in the prison house upon a human being, and thereby
deprive him of his liberty, but when the sentence is a sentence of death, the other dwindles before
it. You were indicted by a Grand Jury of your own county, for one of the most heinous crimes
known to our law; you have been tried by an impartial jury of your countrymen, defended by able
counsel and after a careful and deliberate trial and investigation, you have been found guilty of the
willful, premeditated murder of David G. Lawson, on the 15th day of March , 1875. Under the
finding of the jury, the law declares that you shall die. How terrible is that word and how it chills
every sensibility of our nature and yet, as terrible as death may loom up before you, advantages will
be accorded you that you did not accord to your victim. Without a moments notice, without the faintest
warning - without time even for David G. Lawson to call upon his God to have mercy on his soul, he
was plunged into eternity, and brought face to face with his Maker by your fatal bullet fired from the
cover of the bushes on the road side. But while the avenging arm of the law now raised over you, to take
life for life, it will not descend until you shall have had time to prepare for eternity, and to make peace
with your God. Let me, therefore, urge you as you value your own soul, let me beseech you as you strand
on the brink, to devote all the time allotted you to a preparation for the grave, and not to content yourself
with the hope that by some means or other you may yet escape the avenging hand of the law. It now only
 remains for me to pass the judgment of this Court upon you, and that judgment is that you be remanded
 to the jail of this county, from whereupon you came, and there detained until Friday, the 29th day of
June, 1877,
when you will be taken there from between the hours of sunrise and sunset, by the Sheriff
of this county, and by him


                                                                        5

(Continued)

hanged by the neck until you are dead- dead- dead! And may the God of mercies have mercy on
your soul!" Rockingham Register - April 26, 1877

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"FOUND GUILTY - The jury in the case of Anderson Shiflett, who was tried in Harrisonburg
for the murder of David Lawson about two years ago, brought in a verdict of guilty of murder in
the first degree, on yesterday morning. Mrs. Lawson, the wife of the murdered man, and a man
named Berry Williams will also be tried as accomplices in the crime. Another man named Silas
Morris
, a brother of Mrs. Lawson, is also an accomplice, but he has thus far escaped arrest. The
following are the facts as developed in the case so far as we have been able to learn: About two
years ago Mr. David Lawson, a poor, honest, and industrious man, was shot and killed while
driving his wagon along the road, in the eastern part of Rockingham County, in the neighborhood
of Swift Run Gap. It seems that his wife, with whom he had not lived in perfect harmony,
contracted with and paid her brother (Morris) fifty dollars to kill him, but Morris being a little
timid, paid Shiflett twenty-five of the dollars to do the killing. At the time of the murder, Shiflett
and Williams were the first to give notice of the murder having been committed, stating that they
were in the woods hunting when they were attracted to the spot by the report of a gun. Shiflett
and Mrs. Lawson were arrested some time since, and at a recent preliminary investigation, at
which Williams was a witness, he let slip a remark which implicated himself in the crime. He
said that he "knew Shiflett did do the shooting for he (S.) had paid him twenty-five cents to hold
the horses." The trial of Mrs. Lawson and Williams will be proceeded with at once."

                                                                                                Staunton Spectator - April 24, 1877

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"Louisa Lawson-----and for reasons appearing to the Court, her trial is continued until the 1st
day of the next term" Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 - May 1, 1877

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"ATTEMPT TO BREAK JAIL - On Saturday night Anderson Shifflett, who is under sentence
of death, attempted to break jail. He was engaged in removing a portion of the partition which
separates his cell from another apartment in which several other prisoners are confined, when he was
discovered by the jailor. It is supposed his object was to gain access to the cell in which the other
prisoners were, and then by their assistance secure his liberty. As a matter of necessary precaution
he has been ironed. "                                                             Rockingham Register - May 3,1877
******************************************************************************

"Anderson Shifflett - Be it remembered upon the trial of this cause, the Defendant by counsel,
excepted to various rulings of the Court, and tendered his several bills of exceptions, which are in
the following words & figures, to wit: Commonwealth vs Anderson Shifflett, &c, which he prays
may be signed, sealed, & enrolled and made a part of the record in the cause, which is accordingly
done."                                 Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 - May 5, 1877 (page 159)
******************************************************************************

"Anderson Shifflett - Be it remembered the rendition of the verdict of the Jury in this cause, the
defendant by counsel moved the Court to set aside the verdict of the Jury & grant him a new trial,
which motion, the Court overruled and thereupon, the prisoner by counsel excepted, and filed his
Bill of Exceptions, which is in the words & figures following to Wit: Commonwealth vs. Anderson
Shifflett, which he prays may be signed, sealed & enrolled & made a part of the record in this cause,
which is accordingly done."                     Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 -May 5,1877
******************************************************************************

 




                                                                        6

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"Commonwealth vs. Silas Morris } Upon an indictment for Murder - This day the prisoner
Silas Morris late of Rockingham County who stands indicted for a felony by him committed, was
again led to the bar of the Court in the custody of the jailor of this County and on motion of the
prisoner by his counsel and for reasons appearing to this Court, his trial is continued until the first
day of the next term & thereupon James Crawford, Samuel Hall, John Mowberry, Frances
Crawford, Jennie Williams, Lydia Baugher, Geo. W. Baugher, Wm. G. Davis, Wm. J.
Rodgers, J. C. Walker, Wm. N. Crawford, Archie McDaniel, Winnie F. Lam and Fannie
Bruce,
witnesses for the defendant appeared in Court and each acknowledged themselves to be
indebted to the Commonwealth of Virginia in the sum of $100.00 each for the use of the
Commonwealth to be levied of their respective goods and chattels, lands, tenants, yet upon this
condition that each do make their personal appearance before the Judge of this Court on the first
day of the next term as witnesses as aforesaid, waiving the benefit of their Homestead exemptions,
and not depart thence without leave of the Court, and thereupon the prisoner was remanded to

jail."                                             Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 - - May 21,1877
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"Commonwealth vs. Louisa Lawson} Upon an indictment for Murder - This day the
prisoner Louisa Lawson late of Rockingham County who stands indicted for a felony by her
committed, was again led to the bar of the Court in the custody of the jailor of this County and on
motion of the prisoner by her counsel and for reasons appearing to this Court, her trial is
continued until the first day of the next term & thereupon the same witnesses as in the case of
Commonwealth vs. Silas Morris were recognized on behalf of the Commonwealth and in behalf of
the defendant Louisa Lawson in the same sum and upon the same conditions to make their
personal appearance before the Judge of this Court on the first day of the next term and not
depart thence without leave of the Court, and thereupon the prisoner was remanded to jail."
"Burris Williams indicted - ordered to appear before the Judge 1st day of the next term"

                                                        Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 - - May 21,1877
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"Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Anderson Shifflett - Convicted of murder in the 1st degree -
new trial awarded --- requested change of venue (motion resisted by Commonwealth's Attorney)
was over ruled ---- trial set for 7/2/1877 ---- Witnesses on behalf of the Commonwealth:

Theophilus Shifflett, James Crawford, Robert Crawford, Lydia Baugher, John W. Mowberry,
Samuel Hall, J. M. Lam, David Gilmer, Joseph Funkhouser, Geo. A. Hutchinson, Rebecca Hall,
Mary F. Crawford, Burris Williams, W. H. Lam, Phoebe Knighten, Jos. H. Stover, Dr. J. H.
Wolfe, Archie McDaniel."                 Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 - June 18, 1877
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"Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Silas Morris - Trial fixed for 7/9/1877"

"Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Louisa Lawson - Trial postponed until future date of the
term"

"Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Burris Williams - Trial postponed until future date of the

term"                                                 Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 - June 18, 1877
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"Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Anderson Shifflett -- found ------ sentenced to be hung on
Tuesday 9/25/1877 ----- between the hours of sunrise and sunset ----- remanded to jail until then"
                                                        Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 - July 11, 1877
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                                                                        7

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"NEW TRIAL GRANTED - In the case of Anderson Shifflett, who was convicted in the
County Court of Rockingham, at the April Term, of the murder of David G. Lawson, and
sentenced to be hung on the 29th of this month, an appeal was taken to the Circuit Court, Judge
Byrd presiding. On Saturday last Judge Byrd entered an order reversing the action of the
county court, and setting aside the verdict. Shifflett will, therefore, have a new trial."

Rockingham Register - June 21, 1877

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"SECOND TRIAL OF ANDERSON SHIFFLETT FOR THE MURDER OF DAVID G.
LAWSON. -
The second trial of Anderson Shifflett for the murder of David G. Lawson began
in the county court on Monday of last week. The whole week was occupied in examining
witnesses and discussing the admissibility of evidence, the counsel for the defense, Messers.
Roller, Berlin and Ragan,
contesting strongly for their client at every stage of the case. The
testimony in this trial was stronger than that elicited in the first, and pointed to the prisoner at the
bar as the principal in the unprovoked and purchased murder. Constable V. H. Lam testified
that Shifflett remarked to him on the evening of his arrest that it was hard that he should bear all
the blame when there were others equally guilty. Jas. H. Lam testified that the prisoner made
similar statement to him. Burris Williams, who is under indictment as an accomplice, and who
turned State's evidence, testified that Shifflett acknowledged to him that he killed Lawson, and
charged him against consequences if he should tell it. Shifflett also said to Williams that Morris,
another accomplice, had told him (Williams) all about it. The argument was opened on Monday
by Capt. Paul for the Commonwealth. Gen. Roller and G. W. Berlin followed for the defense,
the latter closing about 3 0' clock on Tuesday afternoon. Capt. Paul closed the argument and the
case was given to the jury. When Court convened yesterday morning a large and eager crowd
assembled to hear the verdict, of the jury. After the jury roll call, the clerk asked if they had
determined upon a verdict, and the foreman replied by handing over a written verdict, which was
that, "we, the jury, find Anderson Shifflett guilty of murder in the first degree." The roll being
called again, each juror sustained the verdict. The stolid indifference exhibited by the prisoner
throughout the trial was not effected by the finding of the jury, and on his way to jail again walked
with a firm step, as though he did not realize the awful fate awaiting him. The judge has fixed upon
Tuesday, September 25 as the day for Shiflett's execution. Harrisonburg Old
Commonwealth
. "                                                                                         Rockingham Register

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"ANDERSON SHIFLETT FOUND GUILTY AGAIN. - The second trial of Anderson
Shiflett, of Rockingham county, for the murder of David G. Lawson, was concluded in the circuit
court of that county on last Wednesday. the case was given to the jury at 6 o'clock on Tuesday
evening, and on Wednesday morning at 9 0' clock they rendered a verdict of "guilty of murder in
the first degree."
It will be remembered that he was convicted at the April term of the County
Court, and on exceptions the case was carried to the Circuit court, where a new trial was granted.
The prisoner did not evince any unusual emotion when the verdict was rendered. The prisoner
was ably and earnestly defended by Messers. Roller, Berlin, and Reagan, and the prosecution
was faithfully conducted by John Paul."                     Staunton Spectator - Tuesday, July 17, 1877

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                                                                        8

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"TO BE HUNG - On Thursday morning last Judge O'Ferrall sentenced Anderson Shifflett to
be hung. We give below a copy of the very impressive remarks made by the Judge on the
occasion. Shifflett was apparently unmoved during the solemn scene, but we understand was
much affected after reaching the jail. The following is the sentence of Judge O'Ferrall as near as
he could recall it: Anderson Shifflett - At the April Term of this Court you were convicted of
the willful, deliberate and premeditated murder of David G. Lawson on the highway of this
county, on the 15th day of March, 1875, but in the humanity of the law a new trial was awarded
you; this trial has just been had at the present Term, and after a cautious, patient and exhaustive
examination, in which you have had the services of earnest, able and learned counsel in your
defense, another jury of your county men, under the sanctity of their oaths, have found you guilty
of murder by lying in wait, and by virtue of this verdict the law declares that you shall die. Now I
hope you fully realize the solemnity of this occasion. It is an occasion on which it becomes my
most painful duty as the administrator of the law, to enforce the verdict of the jury and to
pronounce the judgment of this court, which will number your days and count the sands of your
life. You stand now on the brink of eternity, to pay the penalty of your crime fixed not only by
human but by divine law itself - "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed."
You imbued your hand in the blood of your fellow man, and in deliberation and premeditation
prompted, hired by the promise of a few paltry dollars, without a moment's warning, deprived
him of that life which had been given him by the creator, and now you stand at the bar of justice
to receive the avenging sentence of the broken law - "Thou Shalt not kill." Would that I could
feel assured that in the few words I have to say, I could impress you with the awful solemnity of
this proceeding, and bring you to a full realization of the terrible consequences that will result to
you in the unfathomable hereafter, if you appear before your God unregenerated, unforgiven -
with your soul still stained with the blood of David G. Lawson. Your crime was committed in
secret; it may be no human eye witnessed it, but remember that the All Seeing Eye from which
nothing can be hidden, witnessed your every movement and saw you press the trigger that sent
the deadly bullet through the body of your victim. I would urge you then, in these the last words
I shall ever in all probability utter in your hearing, that as you leave this court hall this morning,
never, never to return; as you pass from here for the last time under the rays of the same sun that
so often, in the vigor of manhood, warmed both you and him who is dead at your hands; as you
return to the gloomy walls of your prison cell, there to remain until that awful, terrible day which
will end your existence on earth, to wrestle in prayer with your god, and to continue to devote
every moment of the time allotted you to a preparation for the grave. It only remains for me now
to pronounce the judgment of this court upon you, and that judgment is that you be now
remanded to the jail of this county, whence you came, and there confined until Tuesday, the 25th
day of September, 1877,
when you will be taken therefrom, by the Sheriff of this county,
between the hours of sunrise and sunset of that day, and by him hanged by the neck until you are
dead. And may that God who is plenteous in mercy, who delighteth in mercy, and whose mercy is
from everlasting to everlasting, have mercy on your soul." Rockingham Register - July 17, 1877

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"Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Silas Morris - Silas Morris guilty as accessory before the fact
& murder in the first degree - Jury: John A. Yates, J. W. Blackburn, R. B. Jones, T. J. Butler, Joel
Rinker, Wm. M. Martz, Jacob B. Burris, Jacob A. Andes, Harvey Alger, Peter P. Holsinger,
Agnes N. Spitzer, & Geo. W. McFarland, Foreman - Sheriff: D. H. Ralston - Deputies: D. W.


                                                                        9

(Continued)

Bear & Henry J. Ryman - Witnesses for the Commonwealth: Elijah Davis, Lydia Baugher, James
Hall, W. T. Davis, John W. Mowberry, John C. Eaton, Edward Royers, Wm. N. Crawford,
Frances Crawford, Rebecca Hall, David Gilmer, Burris Williams, Virginia Williams, Larkin
Clarke, Samuel Hall, James Crawford, V. H. Lam, Phoebe Knighten, John I. Wood, W. T.
McGahey, Robert Crawford, Thomas Powell, Archie McDaniel, & James Maiden - Witnesses for
the Defence: David Gilmer, Elijah Davis, Lurena Morris, Angeline Lamb, Susan A. Gladden,
Martha A. Shifflett, John C. Eaton, John Ira Morris, Henry Morris, Sampson Davis, Aaron P.
Davis, Jefferson Morris"                     Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 - July 25, 1877

******************************************************************************

"Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Silas Morris - motion for new trial denied - Sentence: by
hanging on Tuesday the 25th of September, 1877"

                                                          Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 - July 25, 1877

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"In the County Court of Rockingham, the case of Silas Morris, charged with being accessory
to the murder of David G. Lawson, was given to the jury on Tuesday, at noon. On Wednesday
morning the jury came into Court with a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree. This is
the second trial of Morris, the first jury having failed to agree. The prosecution was ably
conducted by Jno. Paul, Esq., Commonwealth's Attorney; the prisoner was defended by
Messers. Berlin, Roller and Regan, who did all that skill and energy could to save the prisoner."

                                                                                                Rockingham Register - July 26, 1877

******************************************************************************

"Louisa Lawson----Samuel Hall, Rebecca Hall, Burres Williams, Frances Crawford, James
Crawford, John Mowberry, Conrad Davis, Albert Eaton, Davis Gilmer, Aaron P. Davis, B. P.
Teel, Dr. J. H. Wolfe, Isaac Wyant, John I. Wood, Asa Baugher, John T. Maiden, Geo. W.
Baugher, Thomas Powell, Franklin Davis, Julia Marshall, Columbia Shifflett, & Joseph W.
Baugher, Witnesses in behalf of the Commonwealth and Samuel Davis, Matilda Baugher, Dr.
F. Catterton, Rufus Shifflett, David Gilmer, Jefferson Morris, Haelston Shifflet, Ulia McDaniel,
Henry Morris, Columbia Shifflett, Rial Morris, Martha Roach, Susan Gladden, Elijah Davis, Betsy
Byrd, Winnie F. Lamb, John W. Morris, Henry E. Sipe, Nicholas Williams, John alias Johnny Morris -
Witnesses in behalf of the prisoner"

                                                     Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 - August 20, 1877

******************************************************************************

"CONVICTED OF MURDER - The trial of Mrs. Louisa Lawson, charged with being accessory
before the fact to the murder of her husband, David G. Lawson, was concluded Saturday last. The
case occupied nearly two weeks time. The prisoner was defended by Messers. Roller, Berlin and
Regain, who conducted the case with marked ability, zeal and earnestness, and labored most faithfully
 to save their client from a doom which is terrible to contemplate. John Paul, Esq., attorney for the
Commonwealth, represented the State, and maintained his reputation as an able prosecutor. The case
was given to the jury on Friday evening at 5 o'clock. When the Court met in the morning the jury had
 not agreed upon a verdict. At about 2 o'clock it was announced that the jury had made up their verdict.
 In a few minutes the Court House was crowded with spectators, eager to hear the decision of those
to whose the judgment had been committed the awful arbitrament. In a few moments the jury came
in. They were asked if they had agreed upon a verdict. the answer being in the affirmative, they were
 commanded to look upon the prisoner.


                                                                        10

(Continued)

and say, is she guilty or not guilty of the offense charged in the indictment. The foreman
answered "guilty." At that moment so perfect was the quiet that one could have heard a pin
drop. The prisoner had on a sun-bonnet and her face was completely concealed, so that it was
impossible to see the effect upon her countenance when the verdict was rendered. Thus has
ended another chapter of a history, which can scarce find a parallel in the wildest fancies of
fiction. First, the murder of David G. Lawson, who was shot from his horse while driving his
wagon along the public road. Then the conviction of Shifflett, who was hired to do the bloody
work. Next the conviction of Morris, one of the accessories, who counseled with the other guilty
wretches. And now, the wife of the murdered man is found guilty of the charge of being
accessory before the fact of the premeditated murder of her husband. On Monday a motion was
made by the counselor for the prisoner for a new trial. The Judge reserved his decision until
Wednesday morning. When the court met the court room was crowded with spectators, among
them quite a number of ladies. The Judge having overruled the motion for a new trial, proceeded
to pass judgment upon the prisoner. The address of Judge O' Ferrall to the criminal was deeply
solemn and impressive. The scene was one not to be forgotten by those who were present. The
Judge as well as a good many of those present were moved to tears. At the conclusion of his
remarks, the court sentenced the prisoner to be hung on Tuesday, the 30th day of October next

                                                                                                Rockingham Register - August 1877

*******************************************************************************

SENTENCED TO BE HUNG - Silas Morris, who was convicted in the county court of
Rockingham of being accessory before the fact of the murder of David G. Lawson, was, on
Thursday morning last, sentenced to be hung on Tuesday, the 25th day of September next. The
address of Judge O'Ferrall to the prisoner was appropriate and impressive. The prisoner
exhibited a good deal of emotion. His wife, who was present, was deeply moved and distressed.

                                                                                            Rockingham Register - August 2, 1877

*******************************************************************************

"At a County court held in and for the County of Rockingham at the court House thereof on
Monday, August 20, 1877 - Commonwealth vs. Louisa Lawson} Upon an Indictment for
Murder -
This day the prisoner Louisa Lawson late of the county of Rockingham who stands
indicted for a felony by her committed was again led to the bar of this court in custody of the
Jailor of this County and therefore the Venuement summoned for the trial of felony cases at this
term of the Court were called twenty three of whom appeared: Wm. C. Simmons, Joseph
Howver, B. F. Kiger, Jacob Sirnmeans, John D. Heatwole, John C. Hidecker, Henry C. Beery, B.
F. Showalter, D. W. C. Koogler, R. S. Gowl,1. R. Price, Adam Pifer, Geo. W. Keller, Abraham
Brennerman, Peter W. Roller, V. Batton, S. S. Bowman, Geo. R. Eastham, & Jackson Knupp and
thereupon the panel of thirty-six was completed by the Sheriff summoning from a list furnished by
 the Judge sitting. The following names to wit: John S. Fridley, Wm. Moomaw, John W. Gaither,
John F. Ranhof, Robert G. Crakley, Hiram Coffinan, Jacob Whitmer, John H. Ralston, Dr. James H.
White, J. H. Herring, Joseph Coffinan, Joseph Spitzer, and David Cupp, and from the panel thus
completed a panel of Sixteen were called examined by the Court on their Voindire found to be duly
qualified and free from ------ Viz.- Joseph Howver, Jacob Lineweaver, John D. Heatwole, John C.
Hidecker, R. A. Harrison, B. F. Showalter, Geo. W. Keller, S. S. Bowman, Geo. R. Eastham, Wm.
Moomaw, D. W. C. Koogler, John W. Gaither, Hiram Coffinan, Jacob Whitmer, John H. Ralston,
and John A. Herring, and therefore the prisoner was furnished with


                                                                        11

(Continued)

copy of therefore and having stricken therefrom the names of four of the persons of said panel
Viz.- Joseph Howver, Jacob Lineweaver, John D. Heatwole, John C. Hidecker,R.A.
Harrison, B. F. Showalter, Geo. W. Keller, Geo. R. Eastham, Wm Moomaw, John W.
Gaither, Jacob Whitmer and S. S. Bowman
thereby constituting the jury who being thus
elected, tried and sworn well and truly to try and true deliverance make between the
Commonwealth and the prisoner at the bar and a true verdict render according to the evidence
and not having time to fully to hear the evidence were adjourned until tomorrow morning at 9
O'clock."                                         Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 - August 20,1877

******************************************************************************

"Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Louisa Lawson - found guilty as an accessory before the fact -
John D. Heatwole, Foreman -" Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 - Sept. 1, 1877
"Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Louisa Lawson - Sentence; by hanging on Tuesday the 30th
of October, 1877"                             Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 - Sept. 5, 1877

******************************************************************************

"It appearing to the court, that it is the desire of Silas Morris to bind his daughter, Mary NeUy
Morris, an infant under the age of fourteen years as an apprentice to D. H. Ralston, as evidence
by a writing filed signed by said Silas Morris, the consent of the court is hereby given to the
binding of the said infant. The said D. H. Ralston shall, in addition to what is required of him in
chapter 122 of the code of 1873, pay to the said apprentice when she shall attain the age of 18
years, the sum of $50.00 and a good suit of outer and underclothing."

                                            Monday, September 17,1877 - Rock. Co. Minute Book 5 (Page 392)

Note: Mr. Ralston is the Sheriff of Rockingham County at the time.

******************************************************************************

"Confession of Shifflett and Morris HARRISONBURG, VA., Sept. 13, 1877.

"Anderson Shifflett and Silas Morris within the last few days have in close and confidential
conference with their counsel, with the attorney for the Commonwealth, with the judge of the
court and with Mr. Ryman, the deputy jailor, who stays in their cell with them at night, and have
made confession of their connection with the murder of David G. Lawson, and for which they
are now under sentence of death. Shifflett, however, contends that Sam'l Hall; the chief witness
for the Commonwealth in the case, procured for him the gun with which he killed Lawson. That
part of the confession which criminates himself is doubtless true, but his effort to connect Hall
with him in the murder, it is believed has not the slightest foundation in fact. Morris admits his
connection with the murder, stating he simply "lied" for them, and paid Shifflett a part of the
money for killing Lawson." We learn, through private letters written on last Sunday,
that the above telegram which has been going the rounds of the papers for several days past, is
incorrect in several important particulars: Shifflett, we understand, has made a confession, which
will not be made public until after the execution. Morris still protests his innocence. Mr.
Ryman does not stay in the cell with the prisoners at night. Shifflett was so anxious to see his
wife and family that Mr. Ralston, the jailor, sent for them on last Saturday, and when the
messenger arrived at their home he found the whole family sick with the measles, and their
baby had been buried that morning. When this news was communicated to Shifflett his cries
and screams were distressing in the extreme: "Oh Lord have mercy! Oh Lord, hear my prayer!"
&c. He seemed inconsolable, and kept up the most lamentable wails until midnight of Saturday.
He has been under deepest


                                                                        12

(Continued)

conviction of his sins for several days past, and on Sunday morning he professed conversion, and
gave vent to exclamations of joy and comfort, saying: "It won't be long till I will be with my
baby, and Oh, how happy I will be."                                 Staunton Spectator - September 18, 1877

******************************************************************************

"THE EXECUTIONS NEXT TUESDAY - It will be seen from the following that Judge
O'Ferrall declines to order a public execution of Shifflett and Morris. We commend this action
of the Judge, as preeminently proper. Editors of the Register and Commonwealth, -- Gentlemen:

I have received various letters from different sections of the county urging me to order a public
execution of Anderson Shifflett and Silas Morris now confined in the jail of this county, under
sentence of death. I also received, on last evening, a petition signed quite numerously by citizens
of Harrisonburg, for a removal of the place of execution from the jail yard, to some point beyond
the limits of the town. While I fully appreciate the motives of the parties from whom the letters
referred to have been received, (for I presume they have been prompted by motives of the public
good, and not by a depraved and morbid curiosity,) and while I can understand, appreciate and
sympathize with the desire of the petitioners, I feel that my sense of propriety and morality, and
my conception of the public good, will not allow me to direct a public execution. Our lawmakers
in their wisdom, have declared, that an advanced civilization requires that no public exhibition
shall be made of the struggles and death agonies of the poor creatures, who may be so
unfortunate as to bring down upon their heads the avenging blow of an outraged law. I cannot
but think that public executions are so shocking to the finer sensibilities, and revolting to decency;
that the day is not far distant when they will be abolished as relics of barbarism. Steps will be taken
to preserve and protect persons and property in the vicinity of the jail, from any annoyance. During
last week I requested His Excellency, the Governor of Virginia, to place our very efficient volunteer
company, the "Harrisonburg Guards," under the orders of the Sheriff, on that day, and he has done
so, and I have no doubt the Mayor of the Town will see that the police force is sufficiently increased
to insure good order. Regretting that my sense of duty will not allow me to comply at least with the
 request of the petitioners, among whom are many ladies. I am, respectfully, yours, CHAS. T.
O'FERRALL
, Judge Rockingham Co. Ct. Sept. 18, 1877.

N. B. - It is proper to state that no one will be allowed to witness the executions, but those
required or permitted by law. C. T. O'F."                     Rockingham Register - September 20,1877

******************************************************************************

"The murderers, Shifflett and Morris, will expiate their crime on the gallows on Tuesday next.
Up to this time Judge O'Ferrall has seen no reason to interfere with the provisions of the law,
which requires executions to be private."                     Rockingham Register - September 20,1877

******************************************************************************

"It appearing to the Court that it is the desire of Silas Morris to bind his son William Jefferson
Morris, an infant under the age of 14 years to Thomas J. Atchison of this County. The court
doth hereby give it's consent to the binding of the said infant until he shall attain the age of 21
years, to the said Thomas J. Atchison, upon the following conditions, to wit: The said
Atchinson is to teach or have taught, the said infant, reading, writing and common arithmetic,
including the rule of three; he is to furnish him during his apprentice with good clothing and food,
and give him when he attains the age of 21 years, a good horse worth not less than $100.00, saddle
 & bridle and a good dress suit of clothing."

                                            Monday, September 25,1877 - Rock. Co. Minute Book 5 (page 396)
******************************************************************************





                                                                        13

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"SHIFFLETT AND MORRIS. SHIFFLETT TO BE HUNG TODAY MORRIS
RESPITED UNTIL OCTOBER 23RD - SHIFFLETT IS BAPTIZED - SAYS HE DID NOT
KILL LAWSON.- Today, September 25th, is the day appointed for the execution, at
Harrisonburg, of Anderson Shifflett and Silas Morris, for the murder of David G. Lawson. A
telegram from Mr. D. H. Ralston, Sheriff, received yesterday evening, states that "Silas Morris
has been respited until the 23rd of October." On last Sunday, at his own request, Shiflett
received the holy ordinance of baptism. Before he was baptized the officiating minister, Rev. Mr.
Barr,
warned, him of the awful responsibility resting upon him, telling him that there was but a step
between him and death - that the angel of God, or Satan with his cohorts were waiting to waft his
spirit to the bright land above, or to drag his soul down to hell.- With all the solemn
warnings which could be given him, he made in substance, the following statement, which is in
conflict with previous confessions of guilt made by him. He had several times before admitted
that he shot Lawson, and when asked whether Lawson spoke after he was shot or not, he said he
did not know, as he was not close enough to hear him. He said that he stepped out of the ambush
into the road, after Lawson has passed the point where he was concealed, and took deliberate aim
and shot him in the back. The following is about what he stated on Sunday last, just before being
baptized: 'I did not kill David G. Lawson - I never agreed to kill him, but I knew, or thought he
would be killed on the day he was killed, and I started from and got within a half or three quarters
of a mile of the place where Lawson was killed, on the side of the Ridge near Mr. Davis's, so I could
hear, and was there five or ten minutes when I heard the rattling of the wagon and the report of the
gun. I immediately went back home. "Silas Morris never paid me or offered to pay me any money
to kill David G. Lawson, and he never tried to hire or persuade me to kill him. He did say to me, on
the Sunday week before,- 'I suspect they are going to kill Dave.' "Samuel Hall tried to hire me to kill
Lawson. He offered me $20 or $25 to kill him, and Susan Gladden's statement in Court was correct,
for she heard him (Hall) offer me the money, but I told him I did not want any such money, and he
replied that he could get two other men to do it. Samuel Hall never gave me any money to kill him,
but some time after he was killed Samuel Hall did give me some $2 or $5 , I do not know which,
not to say anything about what he had said to me about killing Lawson. ''Mrs. Lawson never hired
or tried to hire me to kill her husband, but she did say to me, at her Spring, before he was killed, that
 if I would kill him I would be paid for it. She said 'I have no money - but you will be paid.'" Shiflett
 will be hanged in the jail yard this (Tuesday) morning, between the hours of 9 and 11 o'clock."

                                                                                        Staunton Spectator - September 25, 1877

******************************************************************************

"EXECUTION OF ANDERSON SHIFFLETT - PROTESTATION OF INNOCENCE ON
THE SCAFFOLD - BREAKING OF THE HANGMAN'S ROPE - AN AGONIZING SCENE -
A PRAYER FOR ONE MORE GLIMPSE OF DAYLIGHT. Harrisonburg, Va., Sept. 25,1977-
The execution of Anderson Shifflett, one of the three parties convicted of the murder of David G.
Lawson, in the mountainous region of East Rockingham, on the afternoon of the 15th of March,
1875, took place here today within the jail enclosure. Up to yesterday, it was believed by almost
everybody who had attended the trials of the persons charged with the killing of Lawson that
Silas Morris, Shifflett's confederate in the crime for which he has been hung, would have been
executed at the same time, but a respite from Governor Kemper arrived by special messenger
from Richmond at noon yesterday, and Morris has another month in which to seek to establish his
claim to exemption from the penalty paid by Shifflett. The execution was comparatively private,


                                                                        14

(Continued)
the persons present in the enclosure in the rear of the jail embracing not more than forty or fifty.
Amongst those were several reporters for the press of Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, St.
Louis
, and the Associated Press.

Shifflett rested very uneasily the night before his execution, groaning and tossing upon his couch.
The sacrament was administered to him in his cell at 8 A. M. by Rev. David Barr, of the
Episcopal church, assisted by Rev. William G. Eggleston, of the Southern M. E. Church, in the
presence of one or two special friends of the condemned. After the conclusion of the services of
the sacrament, the hymn commencing "Jesus, lover of my soul," was sung, the condemned
seeming to engage heartily in the exercises. Shifflett had made a profession of religion, and said
that he felt that when he left this world he would soon be with his Maker.

The platform was erected in the rear of the cell occupied by Silas Morris and Louisa Lawson,
under sentence of a death as participants in the murder for which Shifflett has been hung. The
scaffold was a plain, rough platform, with steps. It had a fall of four feet. The Harrisonburg
Guards
, whose services on the occasion had been called into requisition by the Governor,
surrounded the jail to prevent the crowd from getting near the prison; ropes were stretched
across the street near the jail, and the impatient and curious crowd was thus kept at a distance.
So eager, however, were some persons to see the execution that they climbed upon the house
tops
and chimneys surrounding the jail.

Shifflett was taken from his cell after the conclusion of the religious services, and supported on
either side by High Sheriff D. H. Ralston the jailor and one of his deputies, conducted through
the corridor into the enclosure where the scaffold stood. He was neatly dressed in a new suit of
dark cassimer clothing, was bareheaded, and had just been shaved. He was weeping violently as
he passed to the scaffold, and doubtless appreciated fully the horrors of the situation. He had
evidently broken down and was full of dread; he held his hands to his face as he passed to and
mounted the steps of the scaffold, and continued weeping and groaning almost all the time. Rev.
Mr. Barr,
his spiritual friend and adviser, read Shifflett's statement from the scaffold as follows
"I Anderson Shifflett, do on this 25th day of September, 1877, make the following statement and
call god to witness that he is true: About four weeks before the murder of David G. Lawson,
Samuel Hall offered me money (about $25) to kill him the said Lawson or put him out of the way
in some way. I refused to kill the said Lawson for the said Hall. I did not kill the said Lawson at
all. When Lawson was killed I was on a knoll, or side of the mountain 3/4 of a mile from the
place where he was killed. I expected he would be killed then, and went to that knoll to hear the
shot fired and did distinctly hear it. I had not been there for more than ten minutes when the shot
was fired. I went home. I cannot say who killed him. After the said Lawson was killed the said
Samuel Hall offered me the money to kill the said Lawson, told me he would pay me money if I
would say nothing about him having offered me money to kill Lawson. He paid me two dollars to
 keep silence about it. When Wyant met me on the road I was turkey hunting. It was in
February, when snow was on the ground, and not about one week before Lawson was
murdered. Burris Williams testified falsely when he said that I confessed on the wagon, that I
killed Lawson and that everybody knew it. Silas Morris never persuaded me, nor did he offer or
pay me money to kill Lawson. He told me a short time before Lawson was killed that he suspected
 they were going to kill him, but did not say




                                                                        15

(Continued)
who he thought would kill him nor when they would do it. Mrs. Louisa Lawson did not speak
to me more than a half dozen words for two years before her husband was killed. She said this to
me, "I you were to do it you would be paid for it, but I've got no money."
I confessed two weeks ago that I had killed Lawson, but that confession was a falsehood. I did
it because I was promised money and wheat for my children, $18 in money and two bushels of
wheat. One dollar of it was paid to my wife while she was sick. It was arranged between Silas
Morris, Louisa Lawson
and myself. It was to bring Sam Hall and Burris Williams in for
swearing our lives away. This is my dying statement. And now praying the merciful God to
forgive all my sins, and looking to Jesus Christ for salvation, I say farewell.

Signed, Anderson (his X mark) Shifflett

                                                    THE EXECUTION

After prayer on the scaffold by Rev. Mr. Barr, the rope was adjusted about his neck and the
black cap drawn over his face by Sheriff Ralston and his deputy, Mr. Switzer, Shifflett all the
while crying and moaning in a great agony and fear, exclaiming, "God knows that I am innocent.
" Deputy Sheriff Bare then cut the rope which held up the platform and Shifflett fell to the ground,
 the rope which was cotton, threeeights of an inch in diameter, snapped like a thread, and scarcely
breaking his fall. The effect of the fall was a simple concussion, the condemned man soon recovering
 and continuing as before his piteous wailings. At five minutes past ten he was again carried to the
scaffold, a heavier rope having been procured and adjusted about his neck, and the black cap was
again adjusted. At this point he begged that the cap might be lifted so that he could see daylight
once more ere he went into the darkness of the eternal beyond. His last request having been granted
he looked wistfully at the sun and then at the spectators, and said," Good-bye, gentlemen, all of you;
I am innocent! innocent! innocent!"

At nine minutes past 10 the rope was again cut and the body of Anderson Shifflett was dangling
in contortions beneath the scaffold. He was pronounced dead in eleven and one-half minutes,
death having been produced by strangulation, and not by dislocation of his neck. the body of
Shifflett, for whose burial a plain pine coffin had been prepared, was handed over to his brother,
who carried it to his former home in the mountains of East Rockingham for internment.

Public sentiment here is, notwithstanding his denials of his connection with the murder, that
Shifflett was guilty, and justly suffered the extreme penalty of the law.

                                                    History of the Murder.

On the15th of March 1875, - more two years and six months ago - a startling and horrible
murder was committed in the eastern part of Rockingham County, Va., near a locality in which
lawlessness, violent dealing and vice in all it's forms had long been with many the rule of action.
The locality is within the shadows of the Blue Ridge mountains, and is inhabited, with of course
many honorable exceptions, by unenlightened, superstitious and utterly depraved men and
women. So desperate were many of the characters residing here that it was considered dangerous
for strangers to visit alone this retreat of lawless, vicious people. This is the locality in which a
number of deserters form the Confederate service sought refuge during the early part of our civil war,
and General Jackson found it necessary to send a force of infantry with a piece or two of artillery
to dislodge and arrest them. Some years ago a tin peddler with a handcart and his wares entered this
dangerous region. He had the imprudence, after taking two or three drinks of brandy, to show his money.
He was never heard of again. Suspicion attached to some desperate character with whom he had last
been seen,


                                                                        16

(Continued)

but no arrest was made, nor will the manner of the ''taking off" of the murdered peddler ever be
disclosed, perhaps until the day of final reckoning.
This locality hangs right upon the outer verge of a section in which there is probably as much
refinement and intelligence as are generally found in the best portions of the country. Occupying
an area of about ten square miles, it stretches from the base of the Blue Ridge, in Rockingham
County, to the eastern base of the mountain in Greene and Albemarle Counties. The main
highway, a well graded turnpike, leading from Harrisonburg in the Shenandoah Valley, to
Stanardsville, Greene County, passes through the heart of this now well known locality. It was
upon another public county wagon road, a few hundred yards from this highway, in the open light
of the day, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the period already indicated, that David G.
Lawson,
an industrious and comparatively well-to-do and seemingly happy and contented farmer,
residing in this region, was shot dead whilst passing over the road, driving his team home from a
mill in the vicinity. He was shot in the back with a musket or rifle, two balls taking effect and
killing him instantly. His team stopped in the road when the gun cracked, and the lifeless body of
the murdered man was shortly afterwards found lying under the wagon or the heels of his horses.
He was shot from a thicket of pine which lined the roadside, the murderer quickly hiding himself
in the deepening shadows of woods and undergrowth which covered his retreat.

The dead body of Lawson was carried to his former home and a coroner's inquest summoned, but
this inquest failed to elicit much direct information leading to the detection of the person or
persons engaged in the killing. Suspicion, however, began to point to parties who might have had
a motive to commit the murder, and among the suspected ones were the wife, Louisa Lawson
now the widow of the deceased; his brother-in-law, (Mrs. Lawson's brother) Silas Morris;
Burris Williams (brother of the wife of Silas Morris), and a man named Anderson Shifflett.
These parties were all shortly afterwards arrested and underwent examination, but it was found
impossible to identify then distinctly with the murder, and they were turned loose.

The murder created intense excitement in the neighborhood, and the friends and relatives of the
murderer man resolved to spare no efforts to bring the guilty to punishment. Detectives from
abroad were employed and set up on the track of the suspected parties, but no light seemed to
dawn upon the transaction until about a year after the murder, when a man named Samuel Hall,
who had been an inmate of Lawson's family occasionally, struck the key which began to unlock
the secrets of the bloody deed. This man Hall, who was a shrewd, bold, but uneducated person,
readily ingratiated himself into the confidence and affections of the widow Lawson, pretending to
be courting and expressed a wish and purpose to marry her. Through his power over her, she
made admissions to him which implicated her brother, Silas Morris and Anderson Shifflett and
placed her own life in peril. After long delays and the miscarriage of numerous well arranged
schemes for the apprehension of Shifflett and Silas Morris, they were at length caught and
committed to jail in Harrisonburg. They were both twice tried, and both times found guilty of
murder in the first degree, and condemned to be executed on Tuesday, the 25th of September, but
by the interposition of Gov. Kemper, the execution of Morris was stayed until the 23rd of
October Shifflett was 37 or 38 years of age, and married a few weeks ago in his cell to the woman
with whom he had several children. He was a small sized, wiry looking man, with a rather
meaningless, vacant face, except that nerve and determination were distinctly indicated. He never
smiled and seemed indisposed to look anybody in the face. He was utterly ignorant, and must


                                                                        17

(Continued)

have been a heartless creature, as he evidently was hired to murder and did deliberately murder
poor Lawson, who had never done him any harm, for the sum of twenty dollars.

                                                THEORY OF THE PROSECUTION

The theory of the Attorney for the Commonwealth in his vigorous prosecution of these cases was
this: That Silas Morris in connection with his sister, Louisa Lawson, determined to get rid of
Lawson by murder, for the purpose of obtaining control of what little property he had and with a
view of gratifying Mrs. Lawson's resentment against her husband, with whom she had frequently
disagreed. It was in proof that Mrs. Lawson had frequently expressed her wish to get rid of her
 husband. Unwilling to do the deed themselves, they hired Anderson Shifflett, who was known
to be a desperate man and to possess the requisite nerve to do so horrible an act. These people
were all superstitious and believed in witchcraft. Hence they concluded, after conferring together,
 that they would visit an old fortune teller, named Lydia Nighting, to see if she could "put a spell"
on Lawson, so that he might be gotten out of the way. The fortune teller informed them that she
could do this, but it would require six months before they could get rid of him. This did not suit
 them, and Anderson Shifflett declared his willingness to put him out of the way in a shorter time
 than that suggested by the fortune teller. Their plan was arranged on Sunday, the 14th of March,
and on the next evening Shifflett stationed himself in the pines near the road where Lawson would
pass with his team to and from the mill, and finding him alone shot him as before mentioned.

                                    HOW THE CASE WAS WORKED UP

Great credit is due to the officers and other persons employed by the State for plans and
arrangements for the detection and arrest of the criminals. Amongst these were Capt. Jos. H.
Kelly,
chief of police of Harrisonburg; V. H. Lamb, constable (a one legged man who had his
right leg shot off in a desperate raconteur with a desperate man), and his brother, residing near
where the murder was committed; George Hutchinson, of Harrisonburg, and one or two
gentlemen were active and vigilant and exhibited courage in the work they were engaged in. The
men, Morris and Shifflett, were always upon the lookout in their mountain retreats, and always
prepared for the exigency of their apprehension. It was well known to their captors that, they
were desperate and dangerous men, and that any attempt to arrest them would be resisted with
force of arms. Yet, they were caught and handed over to the court of Justice.

We clip the following additional particulars from the Old Commonwealth.

Shifflett had told several stories before this, and the evening previous to the execution, when
Henry Ryman, who took Mrs. Shifflett and her children out to Mr. Jos. Moyers, near town,
Mrs. Shifflett said: "Anderson killed Lawson; that it would not do to keep it a secret any
longer." This statement was made voluntarily to Ryman, without any solicitation, whatever.

His remains were placed in a coffin and handed over to Wm. C. and Turner Shifflett, who took
them to Solomon Shifflett's in Greene County where his mother requested he should be
buried.

The cost to the State for the two trials of Anderson Shifflett was $660.59; the two trials of Silas
Morris, $955.87; the trial of Mrs. Lawson, $598.33, making a total of$2214.79. These costs do
not include the pay of witnesses, &c., before the Magistrates. There were additional costs for
arrest, boarding, and guarding the prisoners of$123.85, and the work is still unfinished."

Staunton Spectator - Tuesday, October 2,1877

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                                                                        18

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"SHERIFF RALSTON - This gentleman has been somewhat censured for the- breaking of the
rope in endeavoring to carry out the mandates of the Court on Tuesday last. On the day previous
he went to a store to buy some rope, and the kind first used was recommended by the merchant.
It was purchased and tried and it's capacity was tested several times by trying it with an anvil
weighing 187 pounds, with a considerable fall. Shifflett weighed 166 pounds. The rope tried
was thrown away and another piece from the same coil was used on the day of execution. No
censure can attach to Sheriff Ralston for the accident. He was deeply moved by it's occurrence
and suffered really more than Shifflett. - OLD COMMONWEALTH'

Staunton Spectator - Tuesday, October 2, 1877

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"Harrisonburg's Hanging! - Anderson Shifflett was hung in the Jail yard at Harrisonburg on
Tuesday last. He passed a sleepless night on Monday night and Tuesday morning declined
partaking of an excellent breakfast prepared for him by Sheriff Ralston's family. On Tuesday
morning Jos. T. Williams shaved him, and Sheriff Ralston presented him with a good suit of
black cashmere, new shirt, stockings, and waiter shoes. I suppose it is the best suit of clothes
Shifllett ever wore. About eight o'clock Revs. Mr. Barr and Eggleston administered the
sacrament to him. There were also present in his cell, to him truly an angel of mercy, Miss Anna
Gray.
After the sacramental services, religious exercises were engaged in for an hour or two. At
9:40 o'clock Sheriff Ralston entered the cell and said to the condemned man, "It is time to go."
Shifflett
replied, "I am ready." He entered the jail yard, accompanied by Sheriff Ralston and
Rev. Mr. Barr. The Sheriff' was the first to ascend to the scaffold, closely followed by Shifflett,
who then sat down on a chair, and Mr. Barr asked him if he had anything to say. He replied,
"No, read that." Then Mr. Barr read in a tremulous though distant voice, the following as
ANDERSON SHIFFLETT'S LAST STATEMENT OR CONFESSION.

"I, ANDERSON SHIFFLETT, do on this 25th day of September, 1877, make the following
statement and call God to witness that it is true: About four weeks before the murder of David
G. Lawson, Samuel Hall offered me money (about $25) to kill him the said Lawson or put him
out of the way in some way. I refused to kill the said Lawson for the said Hall. I did not kill the
said Lawson at all. When Lawson was killed I was on a knoll, or side of the mountain 3/4 of a
mile from the place where he was killed. I expected he would be killed then, and went to that
knoll to hear the shot fired and did distinctly hear it. I had not been there for more than ten
minutes when the shot was fired. I went home. I cannot say who killed him. After the said
Lawson was killed the said Sam'l Hall offered me the money to kill the said Lawson, told me he
would pay me money if I would say nothing about him having offered me money to kill Lawson.
He paid me two dollars to keep silence about it. When Wyant met me on the road I was turkey
hunting.
It was in February, when snow was on the ground, and not about one week before
Lawson was murdered. Burris Williams testified falsely when he said that I confessed on the
wagon, that I killed Lawson and that everybody knew it. Silas Morris never persuaded me, nor
did he offer or pay me money to kill Lawson. He told me a short time before Lawson was killed
that he suspected they were going to kill him, but did not say who he thought would kill him nor
when they would do it. Mrs. Louisa Lawson did not speak to me more than a half dozen words
for two years before her husband was killed. She said this to me, "If you were to do it you
would be paid for it, but I've got no money."


                                                                        19

(Continued)

I confessed two weeks ago that I had killed Lawson, but that confession was a falsehood. I did it
because I was promised money and wheat for my children, $18 in money and two bushels of
wheat. One dollar of it was paid to my wife while she was sick. It was arranged between Silas
Morris, Louisa Lawson
and myself. It was to bring Sam Hall and Burris Williams in for
swearing our lives away. This is my dying statement. And now praying the merciful God to
forgive all my sins, and looking to Jesus Christ for salvation, I say farewell.

Signed, Anderson (his X mark) Shifflett

During the reading Shifflett sobbed most piteously, frequently exclaiming ''MY GOD I AM
INNOCENT! I never done the deed, as sure as you are a living man. The Lord Jesus Christ have
mercy on my soul and many similar expressions. The crowd present exhibited by their looks a
considerable sympathy for the unfortunate man. After Mr. Barr concluded the reading, he
offered a prayer for the soul of the man and extended his hand to bid him farewell. Shifflett
caught him by the hand and said goodbye Mr. Barr - I am going to die an innocent man. May
god have mercy on my soul. Sheriff Ralston then requested him to arise, when Shifflett said,
"Oh my god! Are you going to hang an innocent man? Why oh why, have I to be hung when I
 am innocent, innocent so help me God." Sheriff Ralston, assisted by the Deputy sheriff, then
 tied his arms and legs, placed the black cap over his face, adjusted the rope, and left the platform.
As they were descending the steps, the cries of Shifflett were heart rendering - he, praying and
 protesting his innocence alternately. At precisely 9:55 Deputy Sheriff Bear, with a hatchet, cut
the rope that sustained the trap, and Anderson Shifflett FELL IN THE PIT BENEATH THE
GALLOWS. The rope, which was a white cotton one three-eights of an inch in diameter, snapped,
 making a noise resembling the explosion of a percussion cap. The rope had been tied with an anvil,
weighing 175 pounds, the day before and stood the test. Shifflett lay in the pit forty-five seconds
before he spoke, and for that time everyone present stood horrified and helpless. He was lying on
his right side with his legs under his back. His first expression was, "My God! Why do you try to
 hang an innocent man?"
the deputies and several of the guards of the jail present, got him out
of the pit and laid him down on the grass. He turned over on his stomach and cried loudly; between
bursts of sobs he asserted his innocence, and prayed. A new rope was quickly obtained, a hempen
one five-eights of an inch thick, which was adjusted to the top of the beam of the scaffold by
Deputy Sheriff Scott. At 10:03 SHIFFLETT WAS AGAIN CONDUCTED TO THE PLATFORM.

After the black cap had been put on his face the second time, he begged that it be removed for
him to see the light of day once more. The request was granted and he said, "Gentlemen,
goodbye; I am an innocent man. My god have mercy on me. I never in all my life done such a
thing, as sure as you are born, I did not. The cap was then readjusted. He then complained of it
being too 'tight and hot on his face, and begged that air be given him. The last words of
Anderson Shifflett were, "I am innocent. May God have mercy on my soul." At 10:09 o'clock
Deputy Sheriff Bear again cut the rope, and Anderson Shifflett's body was swung

                                    BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH

He spun around several times, and for six minutes he could be seen breathing heavily and rapidly.
His pulse at 10:14 o'clock was 72; at 10:17 it was 25; and at 10:22 o'clock Drs. Wm. O. Hill and
Rives Tatum pronounced him dead. He was permitted to hang until 10:45 o'clock when his body
was cut down - the usual coroner's inquest held, placed in the coffin and delivered to his
brother, who started for the former home of Shifflett to bury him.



                                                                        20

(Continued)

Mrs. Lawson had been removed from her cell to another; the one she had occupied would have
given her a full view of the execution. Morris' cell window was darkened by a piece of carpet.
The excitement in town was not very great, I suppose that there were not more than 200 people
crowding the ropes, which had been placed across the streets at the different approaches to the
jail. The Harrisonburg guards, Capt. O. B. Roller, were on duty from 8 o'clock until 12. A
detachment of six were present in the jail yard. The noise made when the rope broke was heard
for several squares distant. The thud of the second effort to execute him, was distinctly heard by
the Guards patrolling on the pavement. Shifflett was in his 41st year."
                                        LURAY , VIRGINIA, THURSDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 4, 1877

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THE END - The annals of history fail to furnish a parallel, in cool, premeditated atrocity to the
murder of David G. Lawson, of Rockingham County, Virginia. The parties to this assassination,
their condition in life, and their relation to the victim, invest the case with peculiar interest. A
recital of the details, as furnished on the trial of the murderers, is more like a romance than reality.
The murder was perpetrated on the 15th of March, 1875, and it took two years of careful,
persevering, patient effort to discover the perpetrators of the horrid crime.

The victim, David G. Lawson, lived about 25 miles from Harrisonburg, the county seat of
Rockingham County. He owned a farm of some 300 acres of tolerable fertility. His farm lies at
the western base of the Blue Ridge mountain. He had been married some seventeen years to
Louisa Lawson, by whom he had several children, only two ( boys, aged 10 and 16) of which
are living. Lawson was an honest, industrious, sober man, and good citizen. His great fault was a
passion for women. The other characters in this terrible drama will be described as they are
introduced. We give now the history of this bloody tragedy as it was developed at the trial of the
murderers.

Some years before the death of David Lawson, he seduced a Miss Hall, who lived in the
neighborhood. After this her took her on the premises, and kept her as a concubine. By her he
had one or more children. In the meantime Mrs. Lawson proved untrue to her marital vows,
and for this her husband whipped her several times. The conduct of both husband and wife soon
produced a very unhappy state of feeling in the household, and Mrs. Lawson began to look about
 for happiness elsewhere than in her husband's affection and confidence. She conceived the horrid
plan of getting rid of her husband by having him murdered, so that she could, as she supposed she
would, come into undisputed possession of his property, and be at liberty to marry whomever she
pleased. She called in her brother Silas Morris as advisor in the matter. She then agreed to give
Morris a house and lot and four acres of land to have her husband, "put out of the way." Morris
called on Anderson Shifflett, a resident of the neighborhood, and contracted him to kill Lawson
for twenty-five dollars, the money to be paid as soon as the work was accomplished. Shifflett took
 in as a partner Burris Williams.

There were two unsuccessful efforts made by the hired assassins to kill Lawson. The first was a
by log-rolling, when Shifflett and Williams tried to roll a log on their intended victim; but the
log did not roll the "right way to kill him." The second attempt was made by Shifflett while out
hunting with Lawson, when he "snapped a cap at him." They then consulted a fortune teller, who
resided a good many miles from them. She said she could "put a spell on Lawson, but it would
require six months in which to do it." This was too slow a process for the impatient wife. They
intended to seize the first suitable opportunity to destroy their victim. The opportunity offered


                                                                        21

(Continued)

itself on the 15th of March, 1875. On that day, David G. Lawson took his team of three horses
and wagon, and drove to a mill some five or six miles distant from his home. After he left,
Shifflett was soon informed that the long looked for opportunity had come in which he could kill
Lawson. He made his arrangements accordingly. In the afternoon Lawson started for the home
he was never to reach alive. He was riding the saddle horse. The day was favorable for deeds of
darkness. It was cloudy, misty and gloomy. About 5 o'clock he was within two miles of his
home, driving leisurely along the road. The spot chosen for the assassination was aptly selected.
On either side of the road was a good many trees and underbrush. Behind one of the trees stood
the assassin with a Springfield musket, charged with powder and ball. As Shifflett heard the
rumbling of the wagon wheels along the road, he peeped out from his hiding place to be sure that
was his victim who was coming. The assassin's place of concealment was on the left side of the
road to Lawson, and Lawson came along, perfectly unconscious of the terrible fate that awaited
him. As soon as he reached an "opening" Shifflett fired. The fatal bullet did it's work. It
entered his back near the spine, and passed through the body, inclining upwards, came out in
front, a little to the right of the center of the heart. He must have died instantly. Two men who
were at work a few hundred yards from the spot, heard the report of the gun, as well as the cry
''woa,'' and hastened to the place, where they arrived in about ten minutes. When they reached
the place, Lawson was lying between the wheel horses dead. The bullet was found between his
shirt and vest. One of them kept watch while the other hastened to Lawson's house to give
information of the dreadful affair. On the way they saw some neighbor, who, on being informed
of what had happened, hurried to the spot. In perhaps two hours Mrs. Lawson reached the
place, and stepping a few yards from the body, inquired "is he dead!" On being told that he was,
she said "well let us go home, we can do no good here, when the coroner comes they can bring
him to the house." This indifference on the part of Mrs. Lawson excited suspicion against her,
which was enhanced by her subsequent stoical indifference in regard to her husband's death. An
inquest was held, but nothing was elicited sufficient to justify an indictment. Detectives were put
on the track, but nothing clearly pointing out the murderers was developed. In the meantime,
Samuel Hall continued his attention to the new widow, and rumors derogatory to Hall were
circulating. Finally, he told some citizens if they would be patient he would, ''work up the case."
Mrs. Lawson, who it seems, was exceedingly fond of Sam Hall, made a will in which she
devised the most of her property to him. He, in the meantime, had engaged to marry her. Hall
asked for the will, but she would not consent to give up the will until they were married. Having
secured her confidence, she revealed to Hall the entire plot by which her husband was killed.
Having obtained all the necessary information, Hall notified the officers of the law, and Shifflett,
Burriss Williams, Silas Morris, and Louisa Lawson were arrested. They had their
examination before the Justices in February and March, 1877. They were committed to jail to
await the action of the Grand Jury. True bills were found against Anderson Shifflett for the
murder of David G. Lawson, and against Silas Morris, Burriss Williams and Mrs. Lawson, as
accessories before the fact, at the March term of the County Court of Rockingham.
Shifflett was tried at the April term of the Court, found guilty and sentenced to be hung.
Exception were taken to some of the rulings of the Court, and an appeal to the Circuit Court of
the County. The decision of the lower court was reversed, and a new trial granted. He was tried
again at the June term, convicted and sentenced to be hung on the 25th of September. Silas


                                                                        22

(Continued)
Morris
was tried at the June term, but the jury failed to agree, the jury standing ten for guilty and
two for acquittal. He had a second trial at the July term, was found guilty and sentenced to be
hung on the 25th of September. Mrs. Lawson was tried at the August term of the Court, found
guilty, and sentenced to be hung October 30. Since their conviction they have all professed
religion. They have been faithfully counseled by Rev. D Barr, of Emanuel Episcopal church, and
Rev. W. G. Eggleston, of the M. E. Church, South. On Saturday last, the rite of baptism was
administered upon Shifflett by Rev. Barr.
Some days since, Mrs. Morris, the wife of the condemned man, went to Richmond with a
petition which she has been circulating, asking for a commutation of the sentence of Silas Morris.
On Monday a special messenger from the Governor arrived with a respite, putting off the execution
 of Morris for 30 days.
Shifflett
has a wife and several children. Morris has two children, and Mrs. Lawson two boys, aged
ten and sixteen years. Some two weeks since Shifflett made a statement, in which he confessed to having
shot Lawson. On Monday afternoon he made the following as his dying statement, which was read on the
scaffold by Rev. Barr. "I, Anderson Shifflett, do on the 25th day of September, 1877, make the
following statement, and call God to witness that it is true. About four weeks before the murder of David
G. Lawson, Samuel Hall offered me money, (about $25) to kill the said Lawson for the said Hall. I did
not kill the said Lawson at all. When Lawson was killed, I was on a knoll in the side of the mountain,
three fourths of a mile from the place where he would be killed then, and went to that knoll to hear the
shot, and did distinctly heat it. I had not been there more than ten minutes when the shot was fired. As
soon as I heard the gun fire I went home. I cannot say who killed him. After the said Lawson was killed,
the said Samuel Hall, who offered me money to kill the said Lawson, told me he would pay me money if I
 would say nothing about the offer he had made me to kill Lawson. He paid me two or three dollars to keep
silence about it. When Mr. Wyant met me in the road, I was turkey hunting, and it was February, when snow
was on the ground, and about a week before Lawson was murdered. Burris Williams testified falsely when
he said that I confessed on the wagon that I had killed Lawson, and everybody knew it. Silas Morris never
persuaded me to kill the said David G. Lawson. He told me a short time before Lawson was killed that he
expected they were going to kill him, but not say who he expected would kill him, nor when he expected they
would do it. Mrs. Lawson did not speak to me more than half a dozen words for two years before her husband,
the said Lawson, was killed. She said this to me: If you was to do it you would be paid for it, I have got no
money -- alluding to killing of Lawson. I confessed two weeks ago that I had killed Lawson, but that confession
was a falsehood. I did it because I was promised and wheat for my children, eighteen dollars in money and
two bushels of wheat. One dollar of it was paid to my wife when she was sick. It was arranged between
Silas Morris and Mrs. Louisa Lawson and myself It was to bring Hall and Burris Williams in for swearing
our lives away. This is my dying statement. And now, praying the merciful God to forgive all my sins, and
looking to Jesus Christ for salvation, I say farewell. ANDERSON SHIFFLETT.

Shifflett was executed in the jail yard of this County, Tuesday, at 10: 10. He ate no supper,
passed a sleepless night, and took no breakfast. At 8 0' clock this morning, the sacrament was
administered to him in his cell by Revs. D. Barr and W. G. Eggleston. During the service and up to the
 time of his death, he prayed and groaned continually. At 9:30 o'clock he came out of the jail, supported
 by Sheriff Ralston and D. S. Switzer. He was almost completely broken down and


                                                                        23

(Continued)

totally unnerved. He had to be assisted up the steps of the scaffold. Rev. Mr. Barr then (for
Shifflett) read his dying statement, in which he declared his innocence of the crime. He persisted
to the last in asserting his innocence. After reading the statement, Rev. Barr offered up a prayer,
and bade the prisoner goodbye. Sheriff Ralston, assisted by his deputies, Scott, Switzer,
Blakemore, Bear and Bowman,
then placed the noose around his neck, drew the black cap over
his face, and in a moment or two the rope holding the platform was cut. Unfortunately, the rope
broke, and the condemned man fell to the earth slightly stunned. There could not possibly be any
blame attached to the officers as the rope had been thoroughly tested before. In a few minutes
another rope was procured and the unfortunate criminal was taken to the scaffold a second time.
In the meantime he was asserting his innocence and praying for mercy. At 10 minutes past 10
o'clock the fatal rope was cut, and Shifflett hung dangling in the air. In 11 minutes Drs. Hill and
Tatum pronounced life extinct. He struggled very little although his neck was not dislocated.
After hanging 28 minutes he was taken down and placed in the coffin, to be delivered to his
friends who were to call for it to-day. The scaffold was a plain superstructure, located at the
Southern side of the jail yard, 8 feet long, 3 feet 10 inches wide at the top and 5 feet at the
bottom. It was 11 feet high and had a fall of 4 feet. The trap was hung on hinges with a rope
spring. There were not over fifty persons in the yard, including the clergy, reporters and
physicians and witnesses. The Harrisonburg Guards, Capt. O. B. Roller, commanding, were
on duty, guarding the square in which the jail is located, but there were very few strangers in
town, and such was the perfect order that there was not the slightest disturbance. The cries of the
condemned man during all the sad ceremonies of the execution, were pitiable. Whilst his hands
were being tied he begged the sheriff not to tie them too tight, that it hurt his wrists. After the
cap had been drawn over his face the second time, he asked the officer to let him see daylight
once more. The sheriff very kindly lifted the cap, and after looking around at those present, he
said "I bid, you all good bye." He struggled very little, and evidently died without much pain.

Rockingham Register - October 1877

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"LETTER FROM HARRISONBURG To the BALTIMORE SUN - Harrisonburg, Va.,
Oct. 4, 1877 - A brother of Anderson Shifflett,
hanged here the 25th of Sept., shot himself
accidentally on Monday last, near Mt. Vernon Iron Works, in Augusta Co.. He was hunting
squirrels, when by accident his gun was discharged, the load passing through his heart and killing
him instantly. He was about 27 years of age and had a family. Shifflett's accomplices in crime are
expected to share his fate, although Mrs. Morris is actively engaged in an effort to avert her
husband's sentence."
******************************************************************************

"AGAIN RESPITED - Silas Morris and Louisa Lawson, under sentence to be hung on the
23rd of this month for the murder of David G. Lawson, of Rockingham Co., were today granted
a respite by the governor until the 21 st of December for the following reasons: It is alleged that
developments brought to light since the trial of these parties indicate others in the said murder,
and that an investigation is now on foot on the part of the proper authorities of Rockingham Co.
which is expected to throw much light upon the cases of Silas Morris and Louisa Lawson, as
well as others not now indicted, and the Judge who tried them, as well as many leading citizens,
having asked a respite therein, the execution of Silas Morris and Louisa Lawson is postponed


                                                                        24

(Continued)

until Friday, the 21st day of December next. The Commonwealth can lose nothing by affording
time for investigation, for capital punishment is productive as most good when inflicted deliberately
and after reasonable inquiry has been exhausted. Jas. L. Kemper"

                                                                                       LURAY, VA., Thursday, October 27,1877

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"RESPITED - Silas Morris, who was to have been executed on Tuesday last, and Mrs. Louisa
Lawson,
whose execution was appointed for Tuesday next, have both been respited until the 21 st
of December next. " Rockingham Register - October 1877

******************************************************************************
"An effort was made on Saturday and Monday last to secure indictments against Samuel Hall
for complicity in the murder of David G. Lawson. The grand jury, after thorough investigation
reported "not a true bill." Hall, it will be remembered, was one of the most important
witnesses against those who were convicted."                         Rockingham Register - October 1877

******************************************************************************
"Commonwealth vs Burris Williams} Upon an indictment for murder - This day came the
Attorney for the commonwealth as well as the defendant Burris Williams in discharge of his
recognizance entered into at a former term of this court, and therefore the Attorney for the
Commonwealth with the assent of the Court entered a Nolle Prosequi and therefore it is
considered by the Court that the defendant be discharged and hence without day of court."
                                Rockingham County Court Minute Book #5 - Monday, November 19, 1877
Note: In a criminal case, an entry of record by the prosecutor of no intention to prosecute
the case further is a Nolle Prosequi.

******************************************************************************
"Summary of Valley News - Unless Gov. Kemper should take some further action in their
cases, Mrs. Louisa Lawson and her brother, Silas Morris, will be hanged on next Friday in
Harrisonburg. Anderson Shifflett was hung in September, being the principal in the murder of
David G. Lawson, the husband of Louisa Lawson, and she and her brother, being accessories,
Were sentenced to the same fate, and would have been hanged in October, if they had not been
reprieved by the Governor till Friday next. The Old Commonwealth says: "Mrs. Louisa
Lawson
seems resigned to her fate, and when we called at the jail Tuesday found her cheerfully
at work at quilting. She has made five quilts since her confinement, besides doing much other
work. "                                                                             Staunton Spectator - December 18, 1877

******************************************************************************
"VALLEY NEWS - Louisa Lawson and her brother, Silas Morris, were not hanged in
Harrisonburg last Friday, as the Governor commuted their punishment to confinement for life in
the penitentiary."                                                              Staunton Spectator - December 25,1877

******************************************************************************
"CRUEL AND BARBAROUS - The wife of Silas Morris, the man on whom the death penalty
has been commuted to imprisonment for life, informs us that she was most cruelly and
barbarously treated while in the laudable task of ministering to the wants of her husband.
Woman's devotion to a man is a noble thing, and where is the man whose heart is so callous,
when as in this instance, Mrs. Morris devoted her whole time to save the life of her husband, who
 would not pass a withering condemnation on people that were so forgetful of civilized life as to


                                                                        25

(Continued)

rob this woman of her all. She informs us that she was stripped completely of every article she
had in the house, her hog stolen and carried off, and her poultry and a lot of wheat and tobacco
appropriated. Such barbarism ought to be brought to the surface, and perhaps it would be well to
escort a few more denizens of that noted locality to a place where the dogs could not bark or bite
them." Rockingham Register - December 27,1877

******************************************************************************

"Returning His Thanks! - Silas Morris requests us to return his heart felt thanks to Sheriff
David H. Ralston and wife; Deputy Isaac Winegord and Turnkey Ryman, who all exhibited
great kindness to him while imprisoned; also to Mr. Geo. W. Berlin, Miss Annie Gray, Mrs. M.
Teiter, Rev. David Burr and Eggleston for being instrumental in inducing Gov. Kemper to
change his sentence. He speaks in the most feeling terms of the noble conduct of all parties and
desires this public acknowledgment."                             Rockingham Register - December 27, 1877

******************************************************************************

"STATEMENT OF SILAS MORRIS - On Friday last, Silas Morris, who was convicted of
complicity in the murder of David G. Lawson, and who was sentenced to be hung, after his
sentence had been changed by the Governor to imprisonment for life, sent for Mr. Giles Deiver,
to whom he made the following statement which he claims is true. He commenced by saying: "I
am 34 or 35 years of age. Have always tried to live honest and do what was right. I was on the
mountain sawing timber for staves; Samuel Hall was helping me. We would saw a number of
cuts and then roll them down the mountain to the foot, where Lawson would load them on
wagons and haul them to the place where the staves were made. Some of the cuts would roll
against the trees and stop. On one occasion Lawson had not cuts enough at the foot of the
mountain, while we (Hall and myself) were rolling a number of logs down. Hall proposed to
me to start several logs on their downward course and kill Lawson, as the mountain was steep
and the cuts large. Had we started some of these logs on the roll down Mr. Lawson would have
been crushed to death. I told Hall that would not do - that Lawson had always been a good
friend to me. This was in Feb., before Lawson was killed. After telling Hall it would not do, he
said he was joking.

I was a substitute in the army for Lawson. He was always very kind to me, did more for me
than my own Father. He told me shortly after the war that when he got a home of his own he
would provide a house for me. Soon after he bought the farm on which he lived when he was
killed. He told me that as soon as he got Crawford out of the house, I should have it free of rent.
I had reason to believe that Hall meditated the life of Lawson. I know I did wrong in not telling
it; would have done so had I been certain that he intended to do so. I knew that Lawson was
staying of nights generally with Rebecca Hall, and Sam Hall was staying at Lawson's house and
I thought that I might be mistaken in thinking Hall had any idea of taking Lawson's life, and
should I be mistaken they would say that there was no fuss until I came on the place. I didn't
know that Lawson was to be killed on the day he was killed, neither did I know that he was to
be killed at all, but had some fears that it might be done. The day Lawson was killed I was at the
house in which James Crawford lived, on Lawson's place, the house into which I was to move to
in a few days. I was then decking the house for the purpose of moving in it in a few days.
Crawford's wife and mother were at the house all day. In the month of January of February
before Lawson was killed, Hall, Lawson, and myself were hauling wood down the mountain.
The mountain was very steep; both of us had to assist Lawson down the mountain with his wagon.
On one occasion


                                                                        26

(Continued)

Hall proposed to me that we would throw Lawson under the wagon and let it run over and kill
him; we could say it was an accident and would be believed. Hall said there was a person in
Connellysville who could put a spell on a person which would kill in a short time. Hall told me
that there was a woman by the name of Lydia Nighting near Rawley Springs, who could do the
same thing and gave me $2.50 if! would to go up there and see her. I took the money and agreed
to go but did not go no further than Harrisonburg. On my return I told Hall that the old woman
told me just what he had told me about the person at Connellysville, except that it would take
$50.00 and six months to kill him. Sometimes afterwards I found out that Hall would know that
I had not been at Nightings. I did go but did not say anything about Lawson, but talked to her
about other matters. If I had wanted to take Lawson's life I could have easily done so without
any responsibility resting upon me. We frequently worked in the new ground together chopping
down timber. I could easily have felled a tree on him and told it as an accident, or I would have
knocked him on the head with my ax and then chopped down a tree on him, I had no wish to his
life of the life of anyone else. The story that I was to have a house and five acres of land in case
of Lawson's death is all false. Lawson had but recently purchased the farm on which he lived and
I knew that it was not paid for and that Mrs. Lawson had no house or land to give.

                                                    SILAS MORRIS" Rockingham Register - December 27, 1877

******************************************************************************

"THE LAWSON TRAGEDY - A Prison Scene - December 21st, 1877.
Reception of the News of Commutation By the Prisoners, Mrs. Louisa Lawson and Silas Morris.
Yesterday, as the sun streamed high in the Heavens with a Summer's glow, the valley train came
thundering into the Depot at 11 A. M. with unusual excitement. An eager crowd stood upon the
platform, fruitlessly awaiting the arrival of the Governor's envoy with the tidings of commutation
on execution. A dead hush overspread the town, filled with a nameless dread of the unknown
climax. Was it to be life or death to those unhappy prisoners? Even the birds and beasts kept
silence before this awful fate which it had been asserted was precipitated, in some degree upon the
doomed, but the fierce prejudices of the multitude, who cried out without reason, or knowledge -
'Hang them - those vile criminals! The murder of that man Lawson was cold blooded. They
don't deserve quarter - the wretches!" These and such like expressions of denunciation had
suffused the community with a blood thirsty spirit to avenge the crime - black, 'twas true' - which
had rid the State and the world of a monster two years ago, a perfidious husband, an inhuman
parent, though a well to do citizen, if so one could be called who had held himself aloof from the
law and morals, and had defied their penalties as only the Mormon's in America are allowed
with impunity to do. Thereby hangs the tale of degradation with extenuation which has been
comparatively ignored in the hasty judgment passed upon accused and convicted prisoners,
Louisa Lawson and Silas Morris, accused and sentenced on the foul testimony of Sam'l Hall,
(with others) a degenerate son of Adam without education, morals or decency, who, yet in his
debased condition, found advocates to champion his ''veracity, "versus shrewdness and cunning,
and aid him to trample on the virtue of the Commonwealth - the real truth - by perjury of
witnesses as debauched as himself.
Commiseration's, indefinite as futile, at the late hour seemed to possess the crowd, swaying with
the screech of the whistle of the fast approaching train. In a moment the turmoil of arrival was
transformed into a murmur, then a shout of joy, which swept off, like a whirlwind, the load of
doubts and fears and conscientious heart-bums some had staggered under, while their compassion


                                                                        27

(Continued)

had stirred too slowly to avert the impending horror of the gallows, erected a second time to wipe
out the blood stains of the murdered Lawson. Not the envoy, Mr. Charles Todd, of Richmond,
who had borne the first reprieve, granted by Gov. Kemper, for he was behind time, but Hon. John
Paul
, the ex commonwealth's attorney, the new and popular Senator and county's "Saint Paul"
politically speaking, was the harbinger of the glad tidings, unofficially rendered, "commutation to
imprisonment for life." Capt. Paul
is a humane and sympathetic man, though he has borne the
weight of prosecuting attorney's bravely for public welfare and as he proclaimed salvation for the
prisoners, it was thought he was nothing loath. We have heard of wild fires spreading of lightning's
killing and of various magic transitions in a second of time, but it must have been seen to be realized;
the flight of this happy intelligence through the streets of Harrisonburg from end to end. To tell how

the boys ran, the girls screamed, the men and women stared at each other, or rushed to communicate
 to their friends and neighbors the commutation, would require a Dickens or a Bulwer to paint. Faces
that had but a moment before seemed elongated irrecoverably, till the next doom's day, relaxed
into their accustomed oval again - voices, chained by fear and horror into the caverns of silence,
burst forth into rejoicing, and the hour of mourning was over for the town and prison. The Rev.
Mr. Barr,
of Emanuel Episcopal church met Sheriff Ralston and shook hands with a "broad
brim" of satisfaction. He was the first to impart to Silas Morris - whose cell is on the first floor -
the change of sentence, while the sheriff hurried to the upper floor to Mrs. Lawson's cell.
seated by the window in solemn trepidation, listening to the soothing words of Mrs. Treiber, the
wife of one of Harrisonburg's most respected citizens (the former mayor of Cumberland, Md.,
and a native of Zurich, Switzerland) she suddenly caught the sound of Silas Morris's "glory to
God, we're saved!" Rising from her chair with hands clasped over her head, she shouted, ''thank
God!, bless God!, the just God' I knew he'd save us. He knew my innocence - blessed are they
who are persecuted, for great shall be their reward." and fell on her knees praying fervently till
overstrained nature could bare no more, and she fainted with intense emotion. Just after she was
lifted to the bed by Mrs. Clinedinst, the mother of Mrs. Ralston, who has throughout devoted
herself to the comfort of the prisoners.

I became an eye-witness to the affecting sight, which can never be effaced from memory, while
mingling my own tears with the song of the saved. Under the restoratives applied by these ladies,
Mrs. Lawson slowly opened her eyes, which lit on me with an expression that said, "rejoice, for
God has heard our prayers. I'm saved from the wrath of man." She burst into sobs and tears
again and pressed my hand in hers as she tried to sit upright, supported by Mrs. Clinedinst who
urged her to swallow the tea she held to her lips, Mrs. Treiber assisting. But her heart was too
full for anything but exultation in the glory of the Lord. "Thank God for his goodness and mercy
forever," she said. "I knew my Savior loved me - that he would not let me go through the dark
valley alone. He stood by me last night just as I was failing and shrinking from the trial he put
upon me, and I ------ with Him. I fell on my knees and prayed with my whole soul, my whole
heart, and not from my lips only. I prayed to be submissive if it was His will to send me this way
to my reward. I prayed for my enemies that brought me so low, and in a minute I felt I saw a
light about me and the burden was gone. God spoke to me and told me to be comforted and I
shouted "glory! glory!" so loud that all in the jail heard me. I was so happy. My brother had not
faith enough and he groaned and cried all night, but I told him he didn't trust his Savior enough or
pray enough. He must pray without ceasing and then I fell asleep and did not wake until morning


                                                                        28

(Continued)
and then I was full of strength in my Savior." While she was giving this account of her petitions
and anguish, between sobs and tears and joyful utterances, the door opened and her youngest son.
Moses rushed into the cell, followed by John W. Morris, her brother. Here the sacredness of the
meeting some may think: should cause the writer to draw the veil and leave the reader's
imagination to supply the picture. Not so with the journalistic ------, when the interest deepens
and the climax begun is the moment of all others to seize and behold the outpouring of family
affection in the frantic embrace of mother and child, brother and sister, under circumstances so
awfully pathetic, in this instance to focus all the sympathies of our own natures in the tense
realities that mocked the poet's rhythm or the painter's art to read: "Oh Mosey, mother's darling
boy, mother's baby, kiss me. Thank God on your knees Mosey, on your knees, Mosey, for
saving mother. Mother's boy must never forget to do right all his life - never tell a lie - never give
way to bad temper - he must never do wrong - he must be an honest boy, and love his Savior for
ever and evermore." These sentences, broken by sobs and tears and convulsive energy, seemed to
translate the tender hearted child into a complete sense of the situation. He is about eleven years
old. While the tears ran down his mother's pale cheeks, they coursed over his own rosy face from
his soft hazel eyes. As they were clasped in each other's arms he found an outlet for his ecstasy
and pity in speechlessness, alternately patting her with his little chapped hands, roughened by toil
and hardship, sobbing as if his heart would break. The most dramatic scene upon the mimic
stage never equaled this. The indefatigable, -------- brother, John Willis Morris, too came in for
a passionate embrace, and as an exhortation to "live true to his God forever more." And so they
wept, until exhausted, Mrs. Lawson sank back upon the pallet limp and prostrate.
Meanwhile Silas Morris and his wife were bathed in joyful tears and absorbed in like trance
below stairs. Mrs. Morris, who is a model wife, has strongly impressed all who have become
acquainted with her beautiful devotion to her husband, which equals Mrs. Lawson's to her
children. The children of these victims of circumstance and crime are unusually attractive. Nelly
Mary Morris,
ten years of age, adopted by the wife of Sheriff Ralston. 'Verta' Shifflett, the
pet of her dear father. Anderson Shifflett, six years old, taken by the mother of Robert B.
Regan, Esq., one of the prisoners counsel, and young Moses Lawson, an exceptional specimen
of winning ways. The latter is a boy of fine countenance and regular features, open, honest, and
erect. His rich healthy complexion, clear frail brow, beautiful hazel eyes and chestnut hair, would
interest anyone. Mr. Forny, the farmer who employs him about a mile from town, declares him
to be, "one of the best boys he ever saw," industrious, upright and trustworthy, with an excellent
disposition, ambitious to please. He is very fond of books. The older son of fifteen, is to be
provided for by the Governor's Envoy, Mr. Charles Todd, who finds his worth equal to his
misfortune. He will be placed in some situation in Richmond for acquiring a trade. This child
was cruelly beaten, it will be remembered by his father, for not wanting to wait upon 'Becky'
Hall
, the extra companion who was the fountain of misery and disgrace for the whole family.
Mrs. Lawson has won the respect of all who visited her by the display of womanly traits worthy
of a better fate than has been her lot. During her year's imprisonment she has sewed and knitted
diligently for the Sheriff's wife, who gave her occupation and compassion. Stockings and quilts
and dresses have all been made by her skillful hands into a revenue of small comforts to Silas
Morris,
such as tobacco, &c., with trifles for their children.
Her patch work quilts are neat productions - four of them adorn the beds used by the jurors
required to sleep in the jail occasionally, near the prisoner's cell. It is not perhaps generally


                                                                        29

(Continued)

known that there is a spacious room for their sleeping accommodation on the second floor of the
jail, and well furnished by Mrs. Ralston's ----- hands. Mrs. Lawson is a woman of delicate
features, with black hair and eyes. Her small, shapely head is set upon a long neck and slight
figure. Her mouth has an agreeable expression, and her rather timid air (before the commutation)
has given way to ease and amiability, in the consciousness that the friends raised up for her by
faith and works, are still zealous to establish her innocence in full before the world. Her faith is
sublime in the Protecting Power, as in her parting words she said, "God is above all, and will bring
my innocence to light." Miss Gray has continued to discover homes for the children of Morris
and Shifflett, and devotes herself to their welfare, while Messers. Berlin and Regan have never
ceased their labors for refuting the false testimony on which these unfortunates were condemned
to death. H. Louisa Gates"                                            Rockingham Register - December 27, 1877

********************************************************************************

Harrisonburg, Va. January 1st 1882

"To the jurors who tried and convicted Louise Lawson: We hereby certify to you that Silas
Morris has been pardoned by Governor Cameron for the reasons stated in the accompanying
paper which you are solicited to sign. Respectfully, G. W. Berlin"

"I do not know upon what grounds Silas Morris was pardoned, but I do elicit the jurors who
convicted Louisa Lawson to sign a petition for her pardon. Very Respectfully, John E. Roller"

********************************************************************************

"To his Excellency, William E. Cameron Governor of Virginia:

I was the Judge who presided at the trial of Silas Morris, charged and convicted as an accessory
before the fact to the murder of David G. Lawson, who was his brother in law. The conviction
was had upon the testimony of one Samuel Hall, who was according to the evidence and his own
admissions on the witness stand, the paramour of Mrs. Lawson, the wife of the murdered man,
both before and after the murder of her husband. There was some suspicion upon Morris, but
without the testimony of Hall, the prosecution would have failed. He detailed confessions which
he alleged had been made to him by Morris, and while his statements appeared to be
unreasonable, he testified with such an air of truthfulness and his reputation for truthfulness was
so well sustained by witnesses from his neighborhood, the jury credited his testimony and
convicted Morris upon it. After the conviction and sentence, petitions for a commutation of the
sentence were forwarded to His Excellency, Governor Kemper, who communicated with me at
once on the subject. Pending the consideration of the matter, some additional facts were laid
before me in the shape of affidavits, which induced me in view of the character of the testimony
upon which the conviction was had, the relation which the principal witness had to the case, the
failure of the prosecution to show and motive upon the part of Morris for the murder, except so
far as testified to by Hall, and the terrible penalty fixed by law, to recommend a commutation of
the sentence, and his Excellency, Governor Kemper commuted the sentence to imprisonment for
life in the penitentiary. I have never been satisfied with the result of the trial- with the conviction.
I had grand doubts as to his guilt at the time of his conviction, but I could not invade the province
of the jury by setting aside the verdict. There were two trials - in the first, the jury failed to agree.
Time has not removed my doubts, but further reflection and consideration have strengthened them.
At the time of the trial, the neighborhood in which the murder was committed, was greatly
excited. Hall, who was suspected by some persons with complicity in the murder, was very active
in his efforts to secure a conviction. In conclusion, it is my opinion deliberately expressed, that in


 

                                                                        30

(Continued)
view of all the facts connected with the trial and which, passed under my observation, and which
impressed me in a manner I cannot describe: in view of further facts that the law in my opinion
has been already sufficiently vindicated by the execution of Anderson Shifflett, who in my
opinion was the principal beyond a reasonable doubt, and the confinement of Morris in jail and
the penitentiary for about five years, in view of the further fact of his reputed good behavior in
the penitentiary and the dissatisfaction which pervades the minds of a great many persons who
were attendants upon the trial and eye witnesses of what transpired - it is my opinion that this is a
proper case for Executive action, and that your Excellency will be entirely justified in pardoning
Morris and restoring him to his liberty and family. I have declined signing the petition for the
reason that I have preferred giving my own views in the matter and the grounds upon which as
the judge who presided at the trial, I have recommended pardon. Very Respectfully, Chas. T. O
'Ferrall"
                                                                                Harrisonburg, Va., March 17th, 1882

******************************************************************************

State of Virginia "In the Clerk's Office of the County Court of Rockingham County,

I, J. T. Logan, Clerk of the County Court of said County, hereby certify that John A. Yates, John
W. Blackburn, R. B. Jones, T. 1. Butler, Joel Rinker, Wm. M. Martz, Jacob B. Burnes, Jacob A.
Andes, Harvey Alger, Peter P. Holsinger, Cyrus W. Spitzer, and Geo. W. McFarland, were
impaneled and sworn a Jury, at the July Term 1877, of said court, upon the Trial of Silas Morris,
upon an indictment for the murder of David G. Lawson, and at the same Term rendered the
following verdict, To wit: We the Jury find the prisoner, Silas Morris, guilty as accessory before
the fact to murder in the first degree in manner and form as charged in the Indictment, Geo. W.
McFarland, foreman. Given under my hand this the 18th day of March 1882. J. T. Logan, Clerk"

                                                                                                                                    March 18, 1882

******************************************************************************

"To His Excellency, William E. Cameron, Governor of Virginia,

We the undersigned jurors who tried and convicted Silas Morris upon an indictment against him
for the murder of David G. Lawson, respectfully represent to your Excellency that we have
severally read the letter of the Hon. Charles T. O'Ferrall to your Excellency in reference to said
Trial, the character of the chief prosecuting witness and the doubts that have arisen as to his
evidence. And we beg leave to say to your Excellency that we severally concur in Judge
O'Ferrall's views and statement and for the same reasons, advise and recommend the pardon of
Silas Morris, March 22nd 1882. Respectfully, Geo. W. McFarland, Foreman; John A. Yates;
Wm. M. Martz; C. N. Spitzer; Harvey Alger; Thos. 1. Butler; Jacob B. Burnes; John W.
Blackburn; Peter P. Holsinger; R. B. Jones; Joel Rinker."                                         March 22nd, 1882

******************************************************************************

"We the undersigned hereby certify that the foregoing signatures are the true and genuine
signatures of eleven of the jurors who tried and convicted Silas Morris, that the remaining juror,
Jacob A. Andes, has moved to Augusta County, but his place of residence cannot - or has not
as yet - been ascertained, although repeated efforts have been made to find him. D. H. Ralston,
Sheriff of Rockingham County. A. N. Sibert, D. S."

******************************************************************************

"While I was not counsel for Silas Morris, I gave close attention to the process of the case, and
the evidence introduced at the trial of the case, . referred to in the above petition, and remember
with some distinctness that evidence, and in justice to the living and the dead, most earnestly


                                                                        31

(Continued)
endorse the recommendation made in the petition in favor of the pardon of Silas Morris. And
with equal earnestness would endorse the pardon of Mrs. Lawson. B. E. Patterson, Atty. at
Law; A. K. Fletcher, Merchant; W. W. Williams; Pendleton Bryan, Mayor of Harrisonburg;
Sam'l R. Stirling, County Treasurer of Rockingham; Thos. J. Butler; Geo. E. Sipe, Atty. at Law;
J. K. Smith, Publisher of "Old Commonwealth"; A. N. Silbert, D. S.; D. S. Lewis, Atty at Law;
L. L. Lewis; C. W. Bear, D. S. ; Dan'l Dechert, Ed. Spirit.; Giles Devert, Ed. Rockingham
Register; C. Douglas Gray, Register in Bankrupts; Chas. D. Harrison, Atty. at Law."

                                                                                                                                    April 20, 1882

******************************************************************************

"I have never been fully satisfied in my mind as to the correctness of the verdicts rendered in the
causes against Silas Morris and Mrs. Lawson. (J. T. Logan, Clerk of the County Ct. of
Rockingham Co., April 20, 1882} I was such at the time of the trials. I have no personal
knowledge of the facts in regard to this case but have heard a number of persons of standing
express doubts as to the correctness of the verdict on the case.

Geo. W. Grattan Commonwealth's Atty."

******************************************************************************

"Harrisonburg, Va., April 24, 1882 Charles L. Todd, Esqr

Dear Sir, We have gotten up a very effective application for the pardon of Silas Morris and also
a very fair one for Mrs. Lawson. We did not go amongst the ignorant masses and appeal to their
passions or pity, but we have the recommendations of the judge who tried the case, eleven of the
12 jurors who convicted Silas Morris ( the 12th could not be found), the clerk and sheriff of the
County of Rockingham at the time of the trials, Lawyers who were present or participating in the
trials, the editors, and proprietors of all three of the public tribunals and newspapers published
then and now in Harrisonburg; also other officers of the court; the present attorney for the
Commonwealth, the County Treasurer; the officers of the United States Court and of the
Revenue Department, the Mayor of Harrisonburg and other prominent citizens, All men of
character and influence, and just such men as never would have signed such papers had they not
deeply felt the propriety and necessity of correcting a wrong which they now believe was
committed through the agency of the only man who was or expected to be benefited by the
murder of Mr. Lawson, and who when he was ready to break with Mrs. Lawson and carry off
his plunder; knew but too well that he could not safely do so without first destroying Mrs.
Lawson
and Silas Morris, and who therefore swore their lives away to save himself The thing is
now too plain to be misunderstood, and justice may yet overtake that haggard wretch who rarely
comes out of the dark recesses of the Blue Ridge, and is still trembling with fear of possible
contingencies, for he is still closely watched, and as the paper upon file in the Governors Office,
or in other repository in Richmond, will show, he twice escaped indictment for this offense by
an accident as it were, 9 or 10 grand jurors voting for an indictment against him at one term and I
think eleven at the next term. Please examine these papers closely and also those on file in
Richmond, sent there upon application for a commutation of the death sentence, and bring to your
aid such influential men as you can and bring this matter before the Governor as forcibly as
possible and secure the discharge of Silas Morris and Mrs. Lawson if possible, Silas Morris
especially, for I believe him to be as innocent of this crime as you or I, and no man understands
this case better than I do. Respectfully, G. W. Berlin"                                                 April 24, 1882


 

                                                                        32

******************************************************************************

                                                Z. W. Picknell
                             GENERAL COMMISSION MERCHANT

                                                Richmond, Va. August l lth, 1882

To His Excellency, Honorable Wm. E. Cameron, Governor of Virginia,
Dear Sir,

            I beg to furnish for your consideration the facts in relation to the trial & conviction of Silas
Morris, a Prisoner now confined in the Penitentiary, for whose pardon the accompanying papers
signed by Mr. C. L. Todd explains the grounds for such application.

            Silas Morris was tried in July 1877 for the crime of Murder. Judge O'Ferrall presided at
his trial, he was convicted July 25th/77, on the next day July 26, 1877, sentenced to be executed
on the 25th day of September/77, respited till October 23rd/77, and again till December 21st/77.

            Before the expiration of his last respite to life on the 19th of December/77, his sentence
was commuted by Governor Kemper to imprisonment for life in the Penitentiary.

In making this brief statement of the facts regarding the trial and conviction of this unfortunate
man, I beg to add my most earnest wishes that they nay have the favorable consideration of your
Excellency - Very Respectfully, Your Obt. Servant, Z. N. Picknell"
 ******************************************************************************

"To His Excellency Hon. Wm. E. Cameron, Governor of Virginia, Dear Sir,
           
Having learned that the application for the pardon of Silas Morris, now confined in the
Penitentiary for the crime of being accessory to the murder of David Lawson some 6 years ago in
Rockingham Co., together with the papers which accompanied said application; and which I had
the honor to place before your Excellency some two months ago, had been lost. I respectfully
ask the privilege of restating said petition, in this manner - As your Excellency will doubtless
remember, these papers, upon which the prisoner mainly relied for the interposition's of your
mercy, contained a very strong letter from Judge O'Ferrall, who presided at his trial, directed to
yourself, and giving very convincing reasons for the supposition that Morris was convicted upon
unsufficient, and interested evidence; almost, if not wholly, upon the evidence of one Sam Hall,
who was the paramour of the murdered man's wife, and who was suspected by many to have been
the real criminal, at the time of the trial, and the interested character of whose testimony is now
conceded pretty generally by the bar of Rockingham.
            The papers also contained as appeal for his pardon signed by eleven, out of the twelve
jurors, who found the verdict vs. him. The signature of the twelfth juror would doubtless have
been obtained also, but he had removed from the County, this whereabouts were unknown.
            The papers also contained a petition for his pardon signed, as well as I can remember, by
the editors of all three ofthe Newspapers of Harrisonburg, - signed by every office holder of that
town, including the National, State, and Corporate officers, - signed by almost the entire bar of
the County, - and signed by the leading Merchants, farmers, & citizens of Harrisonburg & vicinity.
            These papers were all obtained in his behalf, without the use of money, or influence of any
sort, by his wife, a very humble and illiterate woman, who visited Rockingham for the purpose in
the Spring of this year, & whilst giving such time as she could to the personal canvass of her
husband's cause, earned her daily bread by serving as a domestic in a worthy family of
Harrisonburg.
            The petitioner, Silas Morris, has now served about 5 years of his term, and I am informed
both by Supt. Williams, and his guard, that his deportment has always been of the very best


                                                                        33

(Continued)
character - no prisoner in the institution excelling him for obedience, and willingness, and general
good behavior.
            In addition to his noble wife, who has shown unsurpassed fidelity, and constancy, and
devotion to him during these sad 7 dreary years of separation (all of which, to be near him, she
has passed in Richmond as a domestic in my mother's family) he has I think five children, all
needing his support, and protection, for they are very poor.
            Trusting that your Excellency may find in his application, backed as it is by the
recommendations of the Judge & Jury, and endorsed by many of the leading citizens of his
County, sufficient grounds upon which to grant a pardon to this suffering man, thereby resolving
him to a life of usefulness to society, and of comfort, and support to his bereaves & wholly
dependent family, I beg to subscribe myself most respectfully Your Obedient Servant, Chas. L.
Todd
- on behalf of Silas Morris, Convict. August 7, 1882"
******************************************************************************

                               "APPLICATION FOR PARDON OF Silas Morris

                    Received -                                         Presented by - Z W. Picknell

                    Sentenced - July 26, 1877                 Court - Rockingham County

                    Judge - C. T. O 'Ferrall                     Crime - Accessory to Murder

                    Sentence - To be hung                         Respited -

                Commuted - To Imprisonment/or life in Penitentiary 19th December, 1877

                    Pardon granted - Dec. 9th 1882             William E. Cameron"
******************************************************************************

"To His Excellency William E. Cameron, Governor of Virginia,

We the undersigned jurors, who tried and convicted Louisa Lawson upon a charge of felony for
participating in the murder of her husband David G. Lawson, respectfully represent to your
excellency that a serious doubt having arisen as to her guilt, by reason of the character,
subsequent conduct and bad reputation of "Sam Hall", the chief witness against her, and without
whose evidence she could not have been convicted, and therefore we respectfully recommend to
your favorable consideration, her application for a final pardon, as we doubt the propriety of
keeping her in confinement any longer under existing circumstances. The evidence of "Sam Hall"
against her was almost precisely the same as his evidence against Silas Morris, her brother, for
participation in the same crime, and he having been pardoned by your Excellency upon the
recommendation of Judge C. T. O'Ferrall and the jury who tried and convicted him, and upon the
recommendation of attorneys, editors, and others who heard those trials, upon the ground of
e unreliable character of "Sam Hall's" evidence, we can see no reason why she should not be
pardoned also. Given under our hands the 1st Day of January 1883. Respectfully, John W.
Gaither, Joseph Hoover; Jacob Lineweaver; Jacob G. Whitmore; John D. Heatwole; Robert A.
Harrison"                                                                                                                 January 1, 1883
 ****************************************************************************

"To Hon. Wm. E. Cameron, Govr - of Va., Sir, I was Commonwealths Attorney for
Rockingham county at the time Silas Morris and Louisa Lawson were tried as accessories
before the fact, to the murder of David G. Lawson, and prosecuted in both cases. The chief
witness was the same in both cases. Your Excellency having recently pardoned Silas Morris; the

grounds on which he was pardoned, will justify your Excellency in extending executive

clemency to Louisa Lawson. Resp. John Paul                         Harrisonburg , Va., Jany 15th, 1883"


                                                                        34

******************************************************************************

"G.W. Berlin, Attorney at Law, Harrisonburg, Va., March 13th 1883 - To His Excellency -
Wm. E Cameron, Governor of Virginia: Dear Sir, By reference to the letters of Hon. C. T.
O'Ferrall and myself, and the petition signed by Gen. J. E. Roller; D. H. Ralston - Sheriff of this
county; Daniel Dechard & Son - Editors of "The Spirit of the Valley" of this place; J. K. Smith
- Editor of the "Old Commonwealth"; Giles Devier - Editor of "The Rockingham Register" of
this place; Wm. J. Pointz - Deputy U. S. Marshall; the clerks of our courts and a number of
Lawyers and others of this town & vicinity, soliciting a pardon for Silas Morris. Your Honor
will perceive that the same persons also advise the pardon of Mrs. Lawson, who is still confined
in the Penitentiary, although her brother Silas Morris has been pardoned, And the pardon of
both, as your Honor will see, was recommended upon the ground that neither could have been
convicted without the evidence of Sam. Hall, who was so deeply interested in convicting them,
and whose evidence subsequently proved so unsatisfactory and unreliable, especially when there
was as entire absence of motive on their part, while there was a motive on his part, to commit this
crime. All these facts are fully set forth and discussed in the petitions, letters & papers now in the
Executive department, that were sent to Gov. Kemper, seeking a commutation of the sentence,
and more recently to your Honor, praying for a pardon for them, and upon which Silas Morris
was pardoned by your Honor, last fall or the early part of the winter, and I know of no reason
why the same clemency should not be extended to his sister, Mrs. Lawson, for the same reasons.
I herewith enclose to your Honor a petition in favor of Mrs. Lawson signed by a number of the
jurors who convicted her, also a recommendation to the same effect signed by Hon. John Paul
the Commonwealth's Attorney who participated in the trials when they were convicted. And if
any further petitions or other papers for her pardon are necessary they will be furnished.
Respectfully, G. W. Berlin"                                                                                     March 13, 1883

******************************************************************************

"To Wm. E. Cameron, Govr. Dear Governor, Sometime ago, at the instance of some
ladies deeply interested in security the pardon of Louisa Lawson, I wrote you to this effect.
Mrs. Lawson and her brother Silas Morris, whom you recently pardoned, were convicted as
accessories to the murder of David Lawson. The testimony was the same in both cases. The
chief witness against both being Sam'l Hall. If your Excellency found enough in the papers
presented in favor of Morris to justify his pardon, I see no reason why Mrs. Lawson should not be
pardoned on the same grounds. Your Friend, John Paul."             Harrisonburg, Va., August 3, 1883

******************************************************************************

"To His Excellency, Wm. E. Cameron, Governor of Virginia,- On the day of - ,1877,
Anderson Shifflett of Rockingham County, Virginia, was convicted upon an indictment for the
murder of David G. Lawson of said County and sentenced to death and was executed
accordingly. At the same time, Silas Morris and Louisa Lawson, the wife of said David G.
Lawson,
were also indicted as accessories to said murder and were tried, convicted and sentenced
to be executed for said alleged crime. The evidence against Mrs. Lawson was that she had hired
Shifflett to kill her husband, and the evidence against Silas Morris, her brother, was that he was
employed by Mrs. Lawson to negotiate with and hire Shifflett to do the killing, for which she
was to pay Silas Morris $25 and give him a piece of land. This was the evidence of Sam Hall, a
man of the lowest instincts, who lived at Lawson's and was the paramour of Mrs. Lawson at that
time (before her husband's death) and took complete possession of her and Lawson's property


                                                                        35

(Continued)
immediately after his death and continued there for more than a year thereafter, during which time
he professed to have learned these facts from Mrs. Lawson and Silas Morris by their confession,
but was the only person who derived any benefit or advantage from Mr. Lawson's death, for
during his stay there, in one way or another, he absorbed all of Lawson's personal property and
the land was sold to pay Mr. Lawson's debts. The evidence upon the trial of Silas Morris
disclosed the fact that he and Lawson were the best of friends, he was living on Lawson's farm
enjoying a house and lot, firewood and pasture free of rents and was furnished employment at fair
wages by Mr. Lawson had not paid for his farm and that his death at that time would and did
result in it's sale to satisfy vendors lien, which would and did deprive both Silas Morris and Mrs.
Lawson
of a home, and that this state of facts was well known to both Silas Morris and Mrs.
Lawson
before and at the time of the death of Mr. Lawson. And it was also proved that Mrs.
Lawson
had no means to pay Silas Morris either in money or land, for any such services as
detailed by said Sam Hall. And after the conviction of Shifflett, Morris, and Mrs. Lawson, so
strong was the general impression that Hall himself was at the bottom of the whole affair, that
twice the grand jury of said County, came so near indicting him for the murder of Mr. Lawson,
as to lack but two or three votes the first time his case was before the grand jury, and lacked only
one vote the second time at a subsequent term. All these facts, and the general bad character of
the witnesses who testified against Silas Morris and Mrs. Lawson, created such a doubt in the
minds of the people as to their guilt, that many people and many of the jurors who tried and
convicted Silas Morris and Mrs. Lawson, and some of the lawyers who were connected with the
trials, or observed the witnesses and evidence, applied by petitions and letters to Governor
Kemper
for a commutation of their sentence, or recommended the same for the reasons stated.
And Judge O'Ferrall, who presided at the trial, also recommended the same upon affidavits of
after discovered evidence. And upon these petitions, letters and affidavits the commutation of the
sentence against Silas Morris and Mrs. Lawson was accordingly granted by Governor Kemper
in November or December 1877. Since which time they have been inmates of the Penitentiary of
Virginia and have conducted themselves in such a manner as to receive the approbation and
commendation of the officers and managers of the institution. And the undersigns refer your
Excellency to the petitions, letters, and evidence and affidavits aforesaid, on file in the proper
office in Richmond and also to the officers and managers of the penitentiary for farther
information in reference to the face here in stated. And the undersigned farther show that today
the connections of Silas Morris and Mrs. Lawson with the murder of David G. Lawson is
involved in as much doubt an uncertainty as in 1877 when their conduct and sufferings have been
such as to appeal to our sympathy, while the character and conduct of the chief witnesses against
them have not improved upon the incidents of that murder and the trials aforesaid, only tended to
increase the doubts and uncertainties then existing, and the common instincts of humanity appeal
to us to give them the benefit of those doubts. Besides this, Silas Morris has five little children
who require his care and attention, and a noble wife who through all these trials and tribulations,
and this disgrace and suffering, has maintained an untarnished name and reputation, and has done
all in her power to provide for and relieve the sufferings of those children, and hold up and sustain
the drooping spirits and fading hopes of the husband, whose character before the death of Mr.
Lawson
was unassailed, therefore the undersigned most earnestly solicit your Excellency to
pardon Silas Morris and restore him to his family. And while it is true that Mrs. Lawson yielded


 

                                                                        36

(Continued)
to the weakness and frailties of humane nature, and allowed herself to become the victim of Sam
Hall
, as the evidence accompanying the letters and petitions aforesaid fully shows. Yet she too is
entitled to the benefit of the doubts aforesaid, and she too has children who need her advice and
care, and therefore her case is also presented to the favorable consideration of your Excellency.
All of which is respectfully submitted, G. W. Berlin, Attorney at law, Harrisonburg , Va." 1883
******************************************************************************
"Charles W. Fellows, While I do not remember the details of the case referred to in the
foregoing petitions and can only refer to in the foregoing petition and can only refer your
Excellency to the paper already on file in the office of the Governor at Richmond. Yet I do
concur with all my heart and soul in what is said of the wife of Silas Morris and most earnestly •
endorse the recommendations made in said petitions in favor of the pardons of Silas Morris and
of his restoration to his family and in favor of the pardon of Mrs. Lawson. John E. A. Allen,
Attorney at Law, Harrisonburg, Va. F. A. Dangerfield D. H. Rolston, Sheriff of Rockingham
Co. B.B. Botts, U. S. Collector Wm. J. Printz, U. S. Commissioner James Sullivan, P.M.,
Harrisonburg, Va."                                                                                                                       1883

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                                    "APPLICATION FOR PARDON OF Louisa Lawson
                       
Received - April l1th, 1883 Presented by - Hon. John Paul and others
                           
Sentenced - August 1877 Court - County Court of Rockingham
                                               
Judge - C. T. 0 'Ferrall Crime – Murder
                       
Sentence - 1st Sentence, Capital punishment, 2nd Imprisonment during life
                                   
Respited - Commuted - Pardon granted - June 21st, 1884
                                                            William E. Cameron"

********************************************"**********************************

"IN THE LEGISLATIVE AND ON THE BENCH

During my judicial service there were numerous episodes, some of which I think: will bear relating.
On a road at the western base of the Blue Ridge range a most atrocious murder was committed.
A fanner returning home on evening with his wagon was shot from the wayside and fell dead
under his horse. In a little while a passing neighbor found him, and spreading the news others
gathered and the dead man was carried to his home. Suspicion pointed to three persons - the
widow, her brother, and another man of bad reputation - as implicated in the murder. They were
arrested, but their was no evidence against them, and they were discharged; but the suspicion
would not down, and two years after the commission of the crime they were again arrested. At
their first hearing they had simply denied any participation in the killing or knowledge as to the
murderer.
At their second hearing the man- with the bad reputation was not so discreet, and he insisted upon
talking, and the more he talked the stronger became the suspicion, and when the hearing was
over he had done much to lead himself to the gallows, and he and the widow and the
brother-in-law were committed to jail to await the action of the grand jury. Detectives were
employed and the whole community in which the murderous deed was done was active in
following up clues and searching for testimony. Finally the grand jury met and indictments were
found against all of them - against the man with the bad reputation, whose name was Anderson
Shifflett,
as principal, and against the brother-in-law, whose name was Silas Morris, and Louisa


 

                                                                        37

(Continued)
Lawson, the widow, as accessories before the fact. In the summer of 1877 they were tried, and
in each case the jury with solemn faces returned a verdict, "guilty as charged in the indictment."
This meant death to all, for under the Virginia statutes murder by lying in wait, or by poison, or
any other willful and deliberate murder, is punishable by death, and an accessory before the fact
suffers the same penalty as the principal.
Shifflett, the principal, was a low, debased creature, with the superstition of a cotton-field negro
in the days of slavery, and believed in omens and apparitions and signs. He had been raised amid
environments that made him pale and crouch upon the appearance of an ill omen - he could not
help it any more than a horse can help trembling at the sight of a cane. During his trial a bird flew
into the court hall through an open window and seated itself upon a wire stretched across the hall,
directly over him. He saw it, and instantly he turned ghastly pale, his head dropped, and he sank
down in the chair perfectly limp. It was one of his ill omens; it meant death to him. He was the
most dejected, crushed, and pitiable looking human being I ever saw. In his mind his doom was
sealed. Before the bird came he had been bright and seemed to think that at least he would escape
the gallows; after it winged it's way into the tribunal of justice and lighted just above his head, all
animation disappeared, his eyes became dull and lifeless, and he gave himself up to the fate which
he was sure awaited him. He was convicted as I have said, and was executed; but I am sure none
of my readers will think that this little creation in God's inscrutable plan could direct the current
of justice or give token of either good or evil to a human being. It has been well said,
"Skepticism makes a man mad, and superstition renders a man a fool."
The trials of these cases stand among the most celebrated criminal trials of Virginia. As they
progressed the developments of the plot to murder Lawson were like turning over the leaves of a
terrible novel, in which marital infidelity was being portrayed in it's hideous colors, and plans by a
woman to rid herself of him to whom she had plighted her faith, pictured in blackest hue. the
evidence against Morris and the widow - brother and sister - showed, as found by the jury in each
case, that the affections of the wife of Lawson had been alienated from her husband by a young
workman on Lawson's farm, and through the assistance of Morris, her brother, Shifflett had
been hired for a paltry sum to murder Lawson, and that the plot had been deeply laid and carried
out with the adroitness and cunning of men trained in the art of mysterious murder.
The evidence in the case of Shifflett was absolutely conclusive of his guilt as the principal. As to
the justice of his conviction I never entertained the slightest doubt, and in no way did it connect
either Morris or the widow with the bloody deed; but the evidence on their trials was entirely
independent of that in the case of the principal, and with their convictions I was not well satisfied.
The star witness was the young workman to whom I have alluded, the admitted guilty lover of
Lawson's wife, and who, tiring of her after Lawson's death, discarded her and came forward as a
willing witness to testify to admissions by her of guilt, and also of statements and circumstances
pointing directly to Morris as an accessory before the fact. He was as untutored mountain
fellow, but "as sharp as a steel trap, " and as hard to trip as a Texas bronco. He stood the fire
of the cross-examination, conducted by the able counsel, without a slip or a break, and sustained
his reputation for truth by many of his neighbors. The juries believed him and convictions
followed. Motions were made in arrest of judgment and to set aside the verdicts, and were
overruled, as it was the province of the jury to consider, and weigh the evidence, and they had
believed this star witness, and the judge under the law could not set the verdict aside, even if he
would have rendered a different verdict if he had been a member of the jury.


 

                                                                        38

(Continued)
In a few days sentences of death were pronounced, and hand in hand brother and sister, in
charge of the jailer
, were taken back to prison to await the awful day of execution, with only one
ray of hope - executive clemency. The sentence ofa woman to the gallows had few precedents in
the history of criminal jurisprudence in Virginia. Many may have deserved it
, but, with the rarest
of exceptions, Virginia juries had never got to the point of consigning a woman to death by the
halter
.
So this conviction and sentence created wide-spread interest, and aroused the Governor, the
chivalrous
James L. Kemper, and he wrote me to give him the facts in the case, which I did. A
little while before the day of execution came he respited both convicts
. Before that respite
expired he wrote me, as near as I can recall his words, as follows
: "Can't something be done to
save the neck of
Mrs. Lawson. She is a woman. I do not want her hung if there is any
reasonable ground to prevent it
." I replied: "You have all the facts. I feel as you do and would
gladly recommend clemency, if I could do so consistently with my judicial oath. If the evidence
was true (and the jury has so held), she is guilty of deliberate, premeditated murder of her
husband, and under the law the penalty is death
. You have all power, and if you extend clemency
I shall never criticize you
; but if clemency is extended in the case of the woman, it should be in
the case of the man
, for the evidence was stronger against her than against him."
A second respite came from the
Governor; then soon a letter to me to the effect that the thought
of hanging a woman had so wrought upon his feelings as to disturb his slumbers, and in his
dreams he could see her dangling
in the air, and in her death struggles. I replied substantially I
had previously written him
.
In a few days two young men from the neighborhood of the place of murder - strangers to me -
came to my office and said to me:
"Judge, we want to talk with you about the Lawson murder
cases. We want to tell you what we know
. We don't know whether it will amount to anything or
not." I told them to proceed. They then related to me conversations they had had with the star
witness, the gui
lty lover of Lawson's wife - startling in their nature and directly contradictory to
his testimony on the witness stand on material points. I sent for the
Commonwealth's Attorney,
and in his presence they repeated what they had told me. He and I conferred and we both agreed
that their statements were very important, and if they had been made in court and before the jury
they would have tended to break down the testimony of the star witness and to have induced a
different verdict
. But who were these young men and what were their characters for truth and
veracity? These were questions for inquiry
, and the inquiry was undertaken by the
Commonwealth's Attorney
. Soon he reported that they were of good character and fair repute,
and I at once wrote to the
Governor recommending executive clemency in both cases - the
brother-in-law and widow
.
The Governor acted instantly and commuted the sentences to- imprisonment for life in the
penitentiary, and sent the commutations to the Harrisonburg jail by a member of his staff, a
gentleman who took great interest in the cases -
Captain Charles L. Todd, a prominent and
esteemed citizen of
Richmond at this time. Thus by the desire of Governor Kemper to avoid, if
possible, the
hanging of a woman, and his several respites, the- lives of these two human beings
were saved from death on the scaffold. Time blazed the way, and it has always looked to me as
though the hand of God was in their deliverance; that He had induced the two strange young
men to come forward and tell their story, they not knowing whether or not it would have any
effect upon the question of
life or death.


 

                                                                        39

(Continued)

Morris and the widow of the murdered man were conveyed to the penitentiary to serve life
sentences, as they had every reason to believe. So far as they could see, nothing else was before
them; yet no doubt they hoped that some day to breathe the air of freedom, hear the birds sing,
see the flowers blooming, the woodlands in their verdant foliage, and the fields bearing their
crops, for "hope is the last thing that dies in a man."

All these people were mountain people - born and reared at the base or in the gorges and passes
of the Blue Ridge, whose beautiful range divides Virginia's Piedmont and Valley sections. The
wife of Morris had lived all her life amid the environments of her humble mountain home,
uncultured and untutored, but she displayed a fealty to her husband and a nobility of character
rarely found even in the most cultured walks of life. She went with her husband to the very gates
of the prison, there bade him goodbye and heard the heavy hinges creak and the huge bolts shoot
into their sockets as the gates closed. Then out into the strange city she went, seeking the home
of Captain Todd, who had been the Governor's messenger to convey the tidings of executive
clemency. Into this warm and hospitable home she was received, and in it she lived for almost
eight years, visiting her husband in prison, carrying him food from the table of he benefactor,
whispering words of hope and cheer into his ear as often as the prison rules would permit. With
unfaltering belief in her husband's innocence she undertook to secure a pardon. She made visit
after visit to Rockingham to secure signers to a petition. At first she met with little
encouragement, but she persisted.

After three- or four visits she secured- many signatures, among them several of the jurors. In the
meantime the feeling was growing that the verdict was wrong, and on her next visit she obtained
the name of the last juror and a large number of the county officials and prominent citizens of the
county. Returning to Richmond, with her benefactor, Captain Todd, she went to the Executive
Office
, laid her petition before- the governor, and made her appeal for the pardon of her husband.
The Governor took the matter under advisement, with the result that he not only pardoned her
husband, but the widow of the murdered man as well.

So after eight years of prison life, eight years of patient and persistent work, eight years after
prayer, weeping and heartaches, eight years of a wife's loyalty and devotion to a man, felon clad
and from whom the law would have divorced her any day, this untutored but noble woman
received the fruition of her labors, and with her pardoned husband returned to the very
neighborhood where they had formerly lived and started life anew.

Several years ago I learned they had prospered and were doing well. Morris had conducted
himself properly, and was an orderly, law abiding citizen, and his wife, as she richly deserved,
had the respect of everybody.

In concluding my account of these trials, convictions and sentences, followed by respites,
commutations and pardons in the last two, I must refer to a most pathetic scene- at the sentencing
to death of Mrs. Lawson. During her trial her little son, eight or ten years of age, was constantly
by her side. When I came to pronounce the sentence of the law, the most painful duty of my
official life, nothing I said seemed to touch her until I made an incidental allusion to her little son;
instantly she threw her arms around him and wept as though her heart would break. It was a most
striking exhibition of a mother's love. She had been apparently almost callous - she had nerved
herself for the terrible ordeal, but her strength and willpower gave way at the mention of the child


 

                                                                        40

(Continued)

she had borne and nurtured. The court hall was crowded with strong men, the eyes of many of
them strangers to tears, but there was not one strong enough to choke back his emotions or keep
tears from flowing; there was not a dry eye in the hall.

This lad, after the removal of his mother to the penitentiary, was adopted by the sheriff of the
county, David H. Ralston, a man whose heart was as kind as ever beat in a human breast, and
well indeed did he do his full part by the unfortunate lad. He sent him first to the common school
and then to the graded school. The boy was a good student, progressing rapidly, stood high in
his classes and carried off many honors. When he attained his majority he went to the Western
State
, and some years ago I heard he was succeeding well,

How true the oft quoted lines: "Honor and shame from no condition rise; Act well your part,
there all the honor lies."

The Commonwealth's Attorney who prosecuted in these cases was John Paul, who afterwards
served a term in congress and then was appointed United States District Judge for the Western
District of Virginia. He was one of the ablest prosecuting attorneys I have ever know; his
congressional service was creditable, and his career as Judge from 1883 to 1902, when he died,
was marked with ability and with an honesty and uprightness of purpose that drew plaudits from
the bar of his district, and stamped him as a just, impartial, and incorruptible judge.

The leading attorney for the defense was John E. Roller, and well did he act his part and do his
duty. Astute, cautious, and watchful, never tiring, never lacking in quickness to object to what he
conceived to be an improper question and the maintaining his position with great force; searching
and severe in the cross-examination of opposing witnesses, and drawing most skillfully from the
witnesses for the defense every point favorable to his clients. Between the two - Paul and Roller
- it was indeed a battle royal and a fight to the finish. They were both young men, neither forty -
the latter, who was the junior, not more than thirty-five."

FORTY YEARS OF ACTIVE SERVICE by COL. CHARLES T. O'FERRALL
Note: Charles T. O'Ferrall served as Governor of Virginia from 1894 to 1898.

******************************************************************************

"The murder trial of Anderson Shifflett was held during the May term, 1877. He was
convicted on circumstantial and perjured evidence. A woman heard S. Morris make a bargain
with Shifflett to kill Lawson. She told her husband and he notified Sheriff D. H. Ralston.
Morris and Shifflett lay along the path where Lawson came down the mountain. Shifflett's
nerve failed him, so Morris took the gun and killed Lawson. A few hours later the body was
found. Morris and Shifflett were arrested. At the trials Morris testified that Shifflett had
carried out their pact. He, Morris, was sentenced to life imprisonment. On his and the woman's
testimony Shifflett was convicted and hung. Levi Byrd was then Deputy Sheriff When the trap
was sprung, the rope broke. While they were procuring another, Shifflett requested that the
black cap be removed so he could see daylight once more, and again protested his innocence.
One of the old Harrisonburg Guards, who was on duty, related that Byrd and Shifflett sat on
the casket, which had been covered with an old blanket. He still protested that he was not the
actual killer. Several of the Guards, affected by the scene, burst into tears, sat their guns down
and left the scene. Some years later, Morris on his death bed in Richmond , confessed to a
minister that he was the murderer."                         SKETCHES OF HARRISONBURG 1840-1940

******************************************************************************


 

                                                                        41

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"That Murder Mystery Editor Greene County Record: I noticed in the Record of June 2, an
article clipped from Page news and Courier's Shenandoah correspondent that prayer led to
solving a murder mystery. The writer calls it interesting. He missed the mark by a long shot.
Lawson was murdered in a half mile of Swift Run post office not Bacon Hollow as the writer
said. Salem Methodist Church near Beldor post office not No. 2 Furnace. I was then about
16 years old and I heard that prayer. Rev. Fox did pray that the trees might die to the home of
the man that did the murder. I watched the case with the keenest interest. That was 1876 and all
the forest pine trees in that section died and other places as well, but the oak timber didn't die. It
was called the pine borer; later on the chestnut borer or blight. I believe in prayer because I am
a praying man myself, but that prayer was never answered, not by the trees, but Anderson
Shifflett paid the penalty with his life, an innocent man. The man that murdered Lawson was
named Williams. He was accused of the killing of Lawson right in the beginning, and was in jail
for months for the charge. The finger of scorn was pointed to Williams till the day he died.
Shifflett was a poor hard working illiterate man. It was nothing short of mob violence to put
that deed on him and' screen the guilty party. It has been 57 years since that happened. It appears
to me like any newspaper that will dig up an old skeleton that's been buried more than a half
century, an unjust one, is hard up for news to create sentiment, to say the least. I am Sincerely
yours,

W. J. Shifflett.                                                                                      Elkton, Va., June 18, 1932"

******************************************************************************

Local family lore handed down includes the following information:

Some say that Burris Williams on his death bed asked for a notary public for the purpose of
confessing the crime, but either died before the notary arrived or could no longer talk after the
arrival.

Louisa Lawson, after her release from prison, moved to Washington D. C. and later to California.

David and Louisa Lawson's son, Moses, went on to be a lawyer or engineer, but moved from the
area to the Midwest.

David and Louisa Lawson's son, George, stayed in the area, married and had a family.

Silas Morris, after his release from prison, returned to the Elkton area and resumed normal family
life, an honest and law abiding citizen.

******************************************************************************

                                      Who shot David Lawson?