The Weekly Republic. (Weatherford, Tex.), Vol. 3, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, July 14, 1893 Page: 4 of 8
eight pages : ill. ; page 20 x 13 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
111
• >
II
■
I'
SENTENCE COMMUTED.
B. J. Stephens Ii to Serve a
Life Term In
THE STATE PJJNITENTIABY
Inatead of Haagisc Bj the Heck—
Got. Hogg Oommatea the Sea-
teace—Stephens' Crime
-A Life Sketch.
The Sentence Commuted.
Yesterday morning Sheriff Cleve-
land received the following order
from James 8. Hogg, governor of
the State of Texas:
Now, THKB*roE«, I. J. 8. Hooo. Governor of
Texas, do, by virtue of the authority vested in
me by the constitution and lawi of thU State,
hereby, for the reasons specified, now on file in
the offlce of Secretary of State, commute the
death sentence assessed against the said K.J.
Stephen! in this case to that of imprisonment
for life; and the sheriff of Parker county, Texas,
is hereby commanded not to execute the penalty
of death assessed against the said R. J. Stephens
in this case, but instead thereof, he is directed
to forthwith convey the said prisoner R. J.
Stephens to the penitentiary of the State of
Texas and deliver him to the superintendent
thereof, there to be confined for Ufe.
In Twtwomt Whkuop, I have hereto
signed my name and caused the seal
[L,g.l of State to be affixed, at the City of
Austtn, this 10th day of July, A. D. 1898
J, 8. HOGG, Governor of TexBs.
GEO. W. SMITH, Secretary of SUte.
a Happy Mam.
On last Tuesday morning R. J.
Stephens was made the happiest
man in Texas. For 21 months he
had been closely confined in the
county jail for killing Geo. Steel-
man on the 23rd day of October,
1891, and since the 13th day of
May, 1893, he had slept the sleep
of a doomed man, entertaining but
little hope of securing executive
clemency in his behalf. On Mon-
day, the day before, sheriff Cleve-
land received and read the follow-
ing letter to Stephens:
Austin, Tex., July 8.—A. H. Cleve-
land, Esq., Sheriff of Parker county,
Weatherford, Texas: Dear sir—I am
directed by the governor to inform
you that after a full and careful ex-
amination of the statement and facts
and all papers presented in the case
of the State vs. R, J Stephens, he de-
clines to interfere. Let the law take
its course; and so inform the prisoner.
Very respectfully your obedient ser-
vant,
R. B. Levy, private secretary.
This letter completely unnerved
Stephens and his last hope of es-
caping the gallows flickered and
vanished as the sheriff finished
reading the document which ap-
parently sealed his fate.
When a representative of the
Repiblic called at the jail a few
minutes later Stephens was lying
down on his bed suffering from the
tortures of nervous prostration.
When asked if he felt like sitting
up he stated that his physical con-
dition would not allow him to do
so. He said: "I feel that God
has, for Christ's sake, forgiven my
sins, transgressions and omissions,
so I forgive those who have trans-
gressed against me. I am resigned
to my fate and expect to meet my
doom on Friday with christian for-
titude."
8uch were not Stephens' feelings
on Tuesday morning, however, at
10 o'clock. M. W. Littleton, who
was at Austin in the interest of a
client, had telegraphed Mr. H. W.
Kuteman that Gov. Hogg had com-
muted Stephens' sentence to life
imprisonment. This telegram was
read to Stephens at 9:40 o'clock,
and when the Republic mm
called at the jail twenty minutes
later he found Stephens Bitting up
in a chair, his countenance beam-
ing with joy, thanking God and
those who had tr ken action in his
behalf.
He talked freely, and asked that
a telegram be sent to his brother
in Arkansas to notify him of the
governor's action.
When asked how he felt, he
said: "I am this morning the
happiest man in Texas. I praise
God for it all. Until a few minutes
ago I had abandoned all hope.
Now I feel like a new man. I want
to thank Father Brannon and Rev.
J. 8. Weaver for their regular vis-
its here, and their interest in my
behalf. I also want to thank the
jailers, who have had me in charge
lor their many kind acts during
my prison life. I professed relig-
ion some seven weeks ago and it
has been a comfort and stay to me
here, and I thank God that I have
found peace with him and all man-
kind. Ton can now burn that
gallows up, we won't need it."
When asked if he had prepared
any statement for the public he
said he had commenced to write
the following letter, but had never
finished it.
to the public.
My time is short. I haven't
anything much to say. I don't
think I ought to be punished the
way I am under the circumstances.
If there had been no lies sworn on
me it would not have been so.
Either there was a great deal of
prejudice against me when I had
my trial or there are men who will
swear anything on a man.
R. J. Stephana
Was born in Choctaw county,
Miss., on the 18th day of July,
1853. He was raised on a farm
and was deprived of educational
advantages further than a meager
attendance on the common schools
of the country. When he entered
his eighteenth year he decided to
cast his lot among the unknown
members of the human family.
Accordingly he packed his trunk
and turned his back upon parental
ties, and started for Texas. He
reached Galveston, Texas, on the
first day of January, 1871, where
he remained only a few hours, be-
fore going to Houston. At Hous-
ton the gay and giddy whirl of
city life offered him no induce-
ments to abandon the habits and
customs of former days, so he con-
cluded to go to Lee county in
search of employment upon the
farm. In this venture he was very
successful. A few days after his
arrival in Lee county, he succeeded
in securing profitable employment.
Here he established for himself a
reputation and character of un-
questionable repute, and enjoyed
the esteem and confidence of those
with whom he aséociated. On the
18th day of February, 1879, he was
married to a daughter of Col. W al-
ter Beaty, one of the foremost citi-
zens of Bastrop county. The union
was a happy one, and Stephens and
his young wife lived happily to-
gether for seven years. On the 6th
day of April, 1886, the siler.t reaper
of death entered his happy home
and took from his fireside his
chosen life partner, leaving him
a widower with four children, three
boys and one girl. And Stephens
says the dark shadows of misfor-
tune and sorrow commenced to fall
upon his pathway from this hour.
He had only been a citizen of Par-
ker county some five months, when
he consigned the remains of a de-
voted wife and an affectionate
mother to the grave. He arrived
in Parker county on the 6th day of
December, 1885, and settled near
Brock post office, and continued to
till the soil and earn an honest
living by the "sweat of his brow,"
until this section of Texas was vis-
ited by droughts in the years of
1886-7. Being disheartened and
disgusted with future prospects he
left Texas and settled in Arkansas,
where he remained some 18 months.
He then returned to Texas and lo-
cated for the second time in Parker
county in the same community he
had abandoned, where he engaged
in farming and continued to live
up to the time of his arrest and in-
carceration in jail. Prior to the
hour he shot and killed Geo. Steel-
man he was regarded as an honora-
ble, hard-working man, and he had
many warm, influential friends in
this county
ficed his lib<
the life-bloo*
the time he sacri-
y in the act of taking
}f his fellow man.
Bfc hens' Crime.
On the 28 day of October, 1891.
R. J. Stephe , t waylaid and assassi-
nated Geo. Sftelman about 8 o'clock
at night whjile he was en route from
the bome of his parents to his own
residence. On the following day
Stephens was arrested and placed
in jail. He was tried and convict-
ed of murder in the first degree at
the following November term of
the district court of Parker county.
The trial jury returned a verdict of
guilty on the 20th day of the fol-
lowing Decernt>er and assessed his
punishment at death. The case
was appealed to the court of crimi-
nal appeals of Texas. On the 17ih
day of December 1892, that court
affirmed the decision of the lower
court, and Stephens was duly sen-
tenced toTtarTg by the neck until
he was dead by J udge Patterson at
the last term of the district court
of Parker county on May 13 h,
1893. In affirming the verdict of
the trial jury E. J. Simkins, judge
of the court of criminal appeals of
Texas, says:,
Seldom, perhaps, has a case been present-
ed to this court more marked with evidence
of express malice than this. For more than
a year defendant had been on intimate terms
with deceased's wife, and had several times
urged her to abandon deceased, and go with
him to California; in fact, had done so on
the day of the homicide, and she declined,
because it would prevent her getting a di-
vorce. Deceased's wife did the sewing for
defendant, and occasionally shaved him. and
rode with him to town. He was often seen
going to the house in deceased's absence.
Deceased knew of the intimacy, and was
troubled about it, but never said a word
about defendant to any one. His wife
stated on the stand that she did not care for
her husband; that he was unkind to her
children by a former husband. A short
time before the killing, defendant borrowed
a gun which he kept hid in the woods for
two days, trying to get a chance to shoot
deceased. About lo days prior to the hom-
icide he borrowed a pistol, and returned it
to the owner, stating that it was too small.
On the nay of the homicide he borrowed
five dollars from deceased's wife, with which
he bought the revolver used in killing her
husband. It was a large 44 caliber. That
evening about SVclock he went with it to
deceased's hous^i and asked when he would
be home, and st&sa he would as soon kill
deceased as a do ji His wife stated that he
was at his father's (who lived 400 yards
distant,) and would not be home until after
supper, as he ate supper there; that he
would come home between 7 and 8 o'clock-
There is no evidence how he occupied the
intervening time, but defendant claims to
hav* gone near to his own house, a mile
distant, at dark, and worked on the fence
till 7, when, without going to his house or
eating supper, he started to the house of de-
ceased's father, to ask Henry Bush to help
him do some work. He says that he stop-
ped at deceased's house on his way some 15
minutes, but it is unquestioned that he was
just at the clump of bushes,—the only hid-
ing place on the way between the houses of
deceased and his father, in the mean time
deceased, having eaten supper with his pa-
rents, started home. He had been gone but
a few minutes when the faring was heard.
At the first shot the father cried, "rhey are
shooting my son," and ran out the front
door. The father, mother and Henry Bush
say there were four shots fired, and in the
direction of the house. They went out, and
found him dead, his head towards ahis
father's house, loo yards off. The tracks of
deceased were traced from the house al-
most past a clump of live oak bushes on the
side of the road, where they were seen, as
stated by several witnesses, to turn back
suddenly, and run diagonally across the
road, followed by defendant's tracks. Just
where he turned, deceased's hat was found
lying where it had dropped. About 15 or
20 steps further deceased fell on his knees,
hut got up again, and ran, and his body was
found 50 yards up the road, face downward.
From the bushes to where the body was
found the defendant's tracks were traced
with those of deceased, and it was shown
that both were running, and witness Bush
says, "After the first shot, I heard them run-
ning, but no hallooing." From the evidence
oi premeditation and preparation; the rela
tions between defendant and deceased's
wife; the fact that defendant ascertained the
time of deceased's retain; at the time ap-
pointed for the return the defendant was at
the live oak bushes, the only place he could
secrete himself on the way between the house
of deceased and his father's; the tracks on
the ground; the fact that it was deceased
who fell on his knees, and not the defendant,
—apparently rendered it in the minds of the
jury wholly improbable that there was any
troth in defendant's explanation that he was
on his way to engage Bosh to help him in
his work. It seemed clear to the jury that
defendant waylaid deceased with a pistol
prepared for him, and deceased attempted
in vain to escape. The jury evidently be-
lieved, if there was a straggle, it was not the
attack of an injured husband seeking revenge
for a wif<¿* dishonor which he had meekly
borne tor months, but rather a dying man,
mortally wounded, struggling with his as-
sassin. They may have thought that the
blood saturating the Ueeves and breast of the
defendant's coat, and the single blood stún
'in the center of his back, caused perhaps by
the grip of a bloody hand that had sought in
vain to staunch the blood flow, was con-
sistant with a struggle, but the absence of
blood from the neck, shoulders, and hat of
R. Barnhill.
H. WlCKENS.
W. L. Venable :
BARNHILL&CO.,
Blacksmiths and Woodworkmen,
—MANUFACTURE—
gagh, Dooi$, Bluidg,'{Saloon and Bank Fixtufega ¡Specialty
. ALL, WORK FIRST-CLASS.
NORTH MAIN ST. WEATHERFORD, TEXAS.
J". IR,. WILLIAMS,
—Weatherford, Texas,—
Undertaker
V
c
a
Embalmer.
WITH BEJÍÍ C. HENRY.
A Full Lioe of Coins, Caskels and Undertakers Supplies.
Open Day and Night—Residence opposite Public School Building
WEATHERFORD COLLEGE
For males and females,has suuerior advantages, hea thfiil locution, scholarly teachers,
successful record, patrmssre of the best people, and the confidence of everybody. First
terra open3 September 4,1893. For catalogue or particular , upply to
r> 8 SWITÍ5IÍR. Weatherford^ Xex,
defendant was fatal to defendant's statement
that deceased had borne him tn the ground,
and was standing behind and over him and
holding him while he fired three successive
shots into his body and throat. But, upon
whatever theory they accounted for the blood
stains on defendant's coat, we think they
were fully justified in discarding the state-
ment of defendant, and it left the case of
deliberate assassination.
The Gallows Erected.
Complying with instructions,
Sheriff Cleveland proceeded with
preparations for the execution of
R. J. Stephens here to-day. The
scaffold was built by Messrs. Barrt-
hill&Co., and was placed in po-
sition on last Saturday near the
Chautauqua park grounds at the
terminus of the street railway
track. The sheriff received his
rope several, weeks ago. He had
everything in readiness and on
Monday, in accordance with law,
accompanied by his deputies and
several citizens, he went out to the
grounds to test his rope and the
gallows.
A sack filled with sand, weigh-
ing 216 pounds, was tied to the end
of the rope. This was dropped
some eleven feet, successfully dem-
onstrating the solidity of both the
rope and scaffold.
Carter Colling*. (
For The Republic.
Carter, Texas, July 11.—The
working season of our farming peo-
ple is about over and the time is
being occupied by protracted meet-
ings, of these meetings Carter is
blessed with a full quote.
The Rev. J. L. Woods, of Califor-
nia, closed a two weeks meeting on
Thursday, June 28th, followed by a
union meeting by the Presbyteri-
ans and Methodist, conducted by
Rey. J. C. Hines and G. G. Ellis,
assisted by Rev. W. E. Green,
Rowland and Sid. Seisill.
The Rev. W. E. Green preached
to a large and attentive audience
on Sunday at 11 o'clock. At 3
o'clock p. m. a children and young
people's meeting was held under
the able management of Bev. J. C.
Hines. Following is a brief out-
line of this interesting service:
Opening address, by Rev. J. C.
Hines.
"How to train your Children,"
by Miss Anna Gilliland.
Brief Recitations by Misses Dicey
Taylor, Mollie Prague, Hallie Blair
and Beulah Tackitt.
Closing speech.—'"A Sister's In-
fluence," by Miss Fannie Prague.
Speeches and Comments to the
young people were delivered by
Revs. Hines, Seisill, Ellis, Green
and Rowland.
Great and wonderful are th^ im-
pressions recently made upon the
minds of this people. Carter has
been considered for years as a kind
ot "Devil's stage-stand," between
earth and destruction, but a
change has taken place, the vilest
sinners are searching the scriptures
for light and knowledge; while the
old scarred veterans are shouting
praises to God, and almost every-
body carries a Bible or Testament
wherever they go.
The weather is extremely warm
and we are needing rain. Corn
has done its do, which is not up to
the average. Wheat and oats are
good, cotton clean and growing
nicely. Mortal.
Authon News Budget.
For the Republic.
Authon, Texas, July 8.—We did
not get to go to the picnic the 4th,
but Mrs. Chatterbox cooked a
fourth of July dinner, and we
agreed at the dinner table that we
were not sorry that we did not go
to the picnic.
Crops in our parts are good; but
we need rain. We Lad a light
shower last Sunday.
We had singing at Peaster last
Sunday., evening, conducted by
Messrs. Moore and Kuykendall, of
Poolville; also a lecture by Geo.
Cooper on the subject of Music.
The occasion was one of interest to
all and will long be remembered.
Work is progressing nicely on
Bro. Roland's new house.
Mr. Frank Steven's house and
contents was destroyed by fire last
Sunday nigjtit. The cause of the
fire is unknown. A relief commit-
tee is at work ip his behalf.
J. C. Hardberger is building an
addition to hiB dwelling.
People generally are nearly done
work and are beginning to enjoy
some leisure.
The Peaster school will open
about the first of October, with
Profs. Bryson and Stanley as prin-
cipals, and all the friends of the
school expect success under the
leadership of such good men.
Geo. Cooper will teach at the
Lewis school-house again this
school year.
Dr. W. A. Morgan and family
have just returned from a visit to
Bell county. The doctor reports
fine crops in that section.
A new school district has been
made embracing Aut hon, and the
new school is a good one and needs
a good teacher.
itlr. Charley Fleming started
west this week to look at the coun-
try and assist in threshing of
wheat for a short time.
Several young men who live in
this part of the country, haye gone
west, and some have returned bet-
ter satisfied.
With best wishes for the Repub-
lic, we say, 'hurrah for Lanham.'
Tom Chattibbox.
■MMÉSMWt* WlMKi'l
■MP
■Mb
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
The Weekly Republic. (Weatherford, Tex.), Vol. 3, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, July 14, 1893, newspaper, July 14, 1893; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth182283/m1/4/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.