Life and bloody career of the executed criminal, James Copeland, the great Southern land pirate

The day arose clear and beautiful on which the sentence of the law and of outraged humanity was to be executed on the man who had so often violated their most sacred behests. The sky was blue and serene; the atmosphere genial; all nature was calm and peaceful; man alone was agitated by the various strong emotions which the execution of the fatal sentence of retributive justice on a fellow-man could not but create.

The place of execution was distant from the city of Augusta one-quarter of a mile. The gallows was erected on a beautiful elevation that was surrounded by the verdure of shrubby oak and the tall, long-leaf pine. The ground was everywhere occupied by thousands of spectators, gathered from Perry and the surrounding counties, to witness the solemn scene. It was indeed one that they will long remember.

About the hour of noon, the prisoner, after being neatly clad, was led from the jail by the officers of the law, placed in the ranks of the guard formed for the occasion, and the procession moved slowly toward the fatal spot.

Soon the doomed man appeared on the gallows. The death warrant was then read to him, and he was informed that he had but a short time to live.

He proceeded to address the awe-struck and silent multitude. He especially urged the young men present to take warning from his career and fate, and to avoid bad company. His misfortune he attributed principally to having been misled while young.

When he had concluded, a number of questions were asked by the immediate spectators, in relation to crimes which had transpired within their knowledge; but he would give no direct answer—shrewdly eluding the inquiries.

The Sheriff then asked him, in hearing of many lookers-on, if the details of his confession, previously made to that officer, were true. He replied that they were.

His hands were then tied and the cap pulled over his face, and he was told that he had but a few moments to live. He exclaimed, “Lord, have mercy on me!” and he was praying when the drop fell, and a brief struggle ended his blood-stained career.

GRAND JURY.

John McCullum,
Lemuel Strahan,
John W. Carter,
Allen Travis,
Lewis H. Watts,
James Chappell,
G. W. Rawls,
Wm. Jenkins,
Peter McDonald,
Malachi Odom,
Joseph G. Young,
Jas. M. Bradley, Sr.,
Stephen Smith,
Wm. Hinton,
Edmund Merritt,
Sidney Hinton,
Jos. T. Breeland,
Henry Dearman,
Lorenzo Batson,
John Fairley, Foreman.

WITNESSES.

Wm. Johnson,
Chancey B. Stevens,
Wm. Laudman,
Gibson Waley,
John Anderson,
Wm. C. Griffin,
Moses Fullingam,
Laoma Batson,
Jas. Batson,
David Dubusk, Sr.,
Jefferson Williams,
David Dubusk, Jr.,
Wm. Griffin,
Peter Fairley, Sr.,
Peter Fairley, Jr.,
Alexander Fairley,
Sampson Spikes,
Westley Spikes,
W. H. Nicols,
John Fairley, Prosecutor.

MEMBERS OF THE COPELAND AND WAGES CLAN.

J. Baker,
C. W. Moore,
W. W. Ratlief,
G. Buskings,
J. Harper,
J. Bowings,
J. W. Westly,
J. Whitfield,
J. Whitlom,
J. Porter,
J. Butler,
J. Hopkins,
J. Harper,
W. P. Hobs,
W. C. Whelps,
Jasper Whitlow,
E. Sharper,
T. Powell,
J. Doty,
D. Doty,
S. S. Shoemake,
J. Gillet,
W. Brown,
J. Taylor,
S. Teapark,
J. Pool,
John Copeland,
T. Copeland,
Henry Copeland,
Wm. Copeland,
J. Elva,
H. Sanford,
R. Cable,
J. Hevard,
G. Daniels,
G. H. Wages,
C. H. McGraffin,
Chas. McGrath,
J. Welter,
G. Welter,
A. Brown,
D. Brown,
N. McIntosh,
E. Myrick,
J. F. Wright,
J. Dewit,
W. Ross,
W. Sanferd,
J. McClain,
S. Harden,
J. Harden,
J. Waters, Jr.,
G. Clealand,
— Moulton,
— Overall,
G. Young,
Thos. Hix,
J. Alfred,
J. Kelly,
A. Watson.

Note.—If the guilty should not, by any means be screened, yet if positive doubts exist, the suspected should have the benefit of such doubts. Accordingly the initials to the names of Moulton and Overall have been omitted; as the jury on “trial” expressed doubts as to what particular parties Copeland referred to in the names given. There are many by the same name, and even part of the same initials, yet have no affinity in anything else. It is said that “public sentiment is seldom wrong, and never wrong long;” therefore with all the circumstances before it, it is requested that the public will approach the subject with an unprejudiced mind, and decide faithfully and justly to all parties concerned.

LETTER OF JAMES COPELAND TO HIS MOTHER.

(Written the night before his Execution.)

Augusta, Mississippi, October 29th, 1857.

Mrs. Rebecca Copeland:

My dear Mother—It is with painful feelings indeed, that I attempt writing to you on the present occasion. I take this opportunity, knowing at the same time, that it is the last one of the kind which I shall ever be permitted to enjoy while here on earth. It is long and much that I have suffered while in prison since my first confinement in Mobile county, and yet it seems as though nothing will pay the debt but my life. I have had my trial and was convicted upon a charge of murder, and I have received the awful sentence of death. The sheriff told me to-day, that to-morrow at 2 o’clock I will be hanged, according to the order of court. Oh, my dear mother, what an awful sound is this to reach your ear. Oh, would it could be otherwise; but you are aware that I justly merit the sentence. You are knowing to my being a bad man; and dear mother, had you given me the proper advice when young, I would now perhaps be doing well. It is often I have meditated on this subject since my confinement in prison, and often have I recollected my good old father’s advice when I was young, and repented a thousand times over, with sorrow and regret, that I have failed to receive it as good, benevolent advice. If such a course I had taken, I have no doubt, but what I would be doing well at this time. But it is too late now to talk of things past and gone. The time has come when I shall have to take my departure from this world, and it pains my heart, to know that I have to leave you and my brothers and sisters; and much am I mortified to think how distantly you have treated me while here in prison. Not the first time have you been to see me; but I can freely excuse you for all this, and I do hope you will prepare to meet Jesus in Heaven.

Dear Mother, long has the time been that life was not any satisfaction to me. I am now in the dungeon with the cold and icy bands clasped around me, and cold as clay. Much have I suffered, but after two o’clock to-morrow, my troubles will all be over, or worse than they are at present. This I am not able to tell. I have been preparing to meet my God, praying diligently for mercy and for the pardon of my sins, but I do not know whether my prayers have been heard or not.—The Scriptures say “that the spirit of the Lord shall not always strive with man,” and again say: “he that calls upon the Lord in the last hours shall be saved.” If so, I feel some spark of hope, but I tell you this hope is hanging upon a slender thread.

Dear Mother, it makes the tears trickle down my cold checks to have to pen this statement to you. Dear Mother, I have to close this letter. My heart is overflowed already, so when you receive this, you can keep it as a memorial, and remember that poor Jim is no more on earth; that he has bid you a long farewell.

Dear Mother, it appears as though my heart will break at the very thought of this. Oh, could I but see you once more before my death, it would give my aching heart some relief; but we have to part without this pleasure.

Now my good old Mother, I bid you a long farewell, forever and forever.

JAMES COPELAND.

MYSTIC ALPHABET

Used by the Copeland and Wages Clan, in their secret correspondence and documents.