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WILLIAM L.
CLEMENTS
LIBRARY
University of Michigan
Gift of
Norton Strange
Townshend Fund








M U R D E R
OF
M. V. B. G R T S W O L D,
BY
FIVE CHINESE ASSASSINS:
TOGETHER WITH
THE LIFE OF GRISWOLD,
AND THE STATEMENTS OF
FOUSIN, CHOU YEE AND CO0N YOU,
CONVICTED, AND
SENTENCED TO BE HUNG AT JACKSON, APRIL 16, 1858.
ALSO–A HISTORY OF THE MURDER, AS MADE UP
FROM THE TESTIMONY ELICITED AT THE COR-
ONER'S INQUEST, AND THE TRIALS.
-
Illustrated with Correct Likenesses of the Murderers,
--~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JACKSON:
T. A. SPRINGER & CO., PRINT
1858.
- -

















ADWERTISEMENT.
Fou SIN, Chou YEE, and Coon}\'ou, it is believed, are the first Chi-
namen who have ever been convicted, in a civilized country, of the
murder of a white man. This fact alone attaches to the crime, and to
the incidents and circumstances attending it, an unparalleled degree of
interest among the entire people, not only in California, but also in the
Atlantic States. Moreover, the plot of the murder and robbery was
certainly one of the most ingeniously contrived, and successfully accom-
plished, that can be found recorded in the annals of crime.
In the following pages as full an account as it was possible to obtain,
from reliable sources, of the life and character of MR. GRIswold, the
murdered man, is given; it will be found to be interesting. Also, a cor-
rect history of the trial, condensed in convenient form, and the statements
of the Chinamen themselves, (the three convicted,) faithfully reported.
These statements were obtained after their conviction, in the jail, and
are as complete as it was possible to secure. The likenesses are from
Ambrotypes, taken two weeks previous to the execution.
If anything can possibly be obtained in addition to that already pre-
pared, between this and the day fixed for the execution, (April 16th,) it
will be embraced in the pamphlet.
THE PUBLISHER.
JACKson, Amador county, Cal., April 5th, 1858.


LIFE OF M. W. B. GRISWOLD.
Maarn was Burex Griswold was born in the County of Saratoga, in the State
of New York, on the 5th day of April, 1817, and was therefore in the forty-first
year of his age at the time of his death, which occurred on the 7th of November,
1857. The parentage of Mr. Griswold, on both sides, was highly respectable;
and a large family connection live and are well known and much esteemed in
various parts of New York State and elsewhere. The family is related to that of
Ex-President Van Buren, and hence the Christian name of the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Griswold was a single man, but not the less endeared to those whom he left
behind. Aged and doting parents live to mourn the untimely and tragic end of a
brave, generous and affectionate son. Brothers have shed manly tears at the recital
of his inhuman butchery, and sistersweep for the memory of the loved and lost
one. A large circle of friends and acquaintances, in various States of the Union,
add their grief to that of the lamented deceased's immediate family and relatives.
M. V. B. Griswold was possessed of very much more than ordinary vigor of
mind and body, and a braver man never walked the face of the earth. The
spirit of adventure and noble daring which was plainly noticeable in his early
youth, was often made fully manifest in his riper years. During an at least some-
what eventful life, circumstances occurred wherein he more than once exhibited
that dauntless courage and cool judgment, united with quick perception and de-
cision of character, which befit a man to fill any station to which he may be called
and particularly qualify him to meet and successfully battle with sudden emer-
gencies. He had frequently been in positions where dangers of dire character
confronted him, but his tact, energy, quick decision and boldness had always car-
ried him successfully through ; he finally fell by the hands of five assassins, who
only accomplished their murderous object after having laid the deepest and
most damnable plot of which there is any record in the annals of California
crime. All the attending circumstances go to show that the murderers were skill-
ed in the art of assassination; and their purpose, when all arrangements had
been completed, was finally accomplished by a fatal blow from an unseen quarter
while the attention of the victim was attracted by accomplices. Griswold knew
no fear, and such was the estimate placed by him upon Chinese character, or,
more properly, the utter contempt in which he held the whole race, that it would
have been difficult to convince him that any danger was to be apprehended from
such a source. This trait in his character made him the more readily a victim to
Asiatic cunning and treachery; had he been a timid man, or a person of suspi-

6,
eious disposition-instead of brave and generous, and therefore unsuspecting of
foul-play—it is more than likely that the assassins, notwithstanding their plans
were deeply and most ingeniously ſaid, would have failed in the accomplishment
of their infamous design. The first blow, and that from the rear, was sufficient
to produce almost instant death; he therefore had no opportunity of defense. Had
he been aware of the danger that beset him, one minute before the blow was
struck, the murderers might have been foiled. Arms were within his reach, and
he probably could, as is reco - din the testimony of Mr. Kilham, upon the stand,
“ have whipped in a fair open fight fifty or an hundred such men as the Chinamen.”
As to the mental, moral and social qualities of Mr. Griswold, it is only ne-
cessary to add a paragraph which has already been published concerning him, as
follows: “He was a man of strong intellect, quick perception, and retentive mem-
ory. Few were more intelligent ; and few possessed equal conversational pow-
ers and general social qualities. He never failed to make a friend of an acquaint-
ance; quick to appreciate and commend worth and the right, he was as
quick and as pointed in his denunciation of error, but always so evidently and
convincingly just that those who felt the sting of his reproof acknowledged him
correct and admired him the more. He was one of the very few persons who
have legions of warm and devoted friends, without a single enemy to mar the
harmony of their good fellowship with mankind.” - -
In the year 1838, when young Griswold had just acquired his majority, he left
the quiet home of his parents in Saratoga for a tour through the Western and
Southern States—at that time regarded as quite an undertaking, especially for one
who could then only be looked upon as an inexperienced youth. After having spent
a few years in making himself acquainted with manners and customs in different
sections of the West and South, in acquiring a general knowledge of the world
and mankind, and in thus preparing himself for the vicissitudes of life; during
which period he made a number of visits to the paternal roof and sought the
counsel of his parents; he in the Spring of 1843 settled in the then infant city of
Milwaukie, Wisconsin. - - - -
At Milwaukie he was employed for three years and six months upon the Gov-
ernment works then progressing at that place, without losing a day of time; and
it was here that he became the intimate friend and associate of Horace-Kilham;
with whom he was afterwards so intimately connected in California. At Milwau-
kie, Mr. Griswold had hosts of friends, who, there is not a doubt, were grieved and
exasperated at the story of his murder. He was there looked upon not only as a
pioneer, but as one of the worthiest young men who had ever made his home on
the shores of Lake Michigan. His memory is fresh in the minds of the old set-
tlers, and will ever be called up with pleasant emotions, clouded only by the rec
ollection of the manner and early period of his decease. -
Farly in 1848, the restless temperament and adventurous spirit of Mr. Griswold
again manifested itself. With one other person, (name not known to the writer
of this,) he started, with only one yoke of oven for a team, via St. Joseph and
the Plains, for California. This, it is worth while to remark, was before the ru-
mored discovery of gold and the consequent excitement had reached that part of
the country from which they started. Mr. Griswold's friends were naturally
enough astonished, when informed of his purpose; and when interrogated as to
his motive for undertaking to make the trip, he made the significant reply that “in
less than two years the development of wealth on the Pacific slope of the Sierra

-
Nevada mountains, and the commerce of that country, will loom up to an extent
that will astonish the world.” How completely the prediction was fulfilled, is not
only known to Californians, but to intelligent people everywhere.
when Griswold and the person who accompanied him arrived at St. Joseph, they
found that the California train of that year had started about two weeks previous,
and the Oregon train one week. [The emigration of that year, it will be remem-
bered, was not a “drop in the bucket” in comparison with that of any year since
then; the comparatively few who crossed, to either Oregon or California, deeming
it imperatively necessary to travel together for mutual protection—hence there
were but two trains, if the writer is correctly informed, or one for each destina-
tion. Griswold and his partner, however, were determined not to be thus de-
feated, and, with their “one yoke of oxen,” turned their faces to the setting sun.
and boldly set out on their long and perilous journey. -
They made good time, and were not long in overtaking the Oregon train-
Among the latter there was a deal of debate, (which began to assume an angry
character) as to whether the “one yoke” boys should be permitted to join them ;
it was feared by many that with their “short,” and supposed-to-be inferior team,
they would prove a drawback upon the progress of the train. Griswold very
promptly told them that he asked and would receive no favors at their hands—that
the two of them could come through as well if not better without than with the
train and with this exhibition of his independence, “cracked his whip” and
started. By the thousands who have since crossed the Plains, and beheld the
distress and suffering that have been experienced, this “one yoke” undertaking
will be regarded as much more than ordinarily daring—especially when it is re-
membered that in 1848 the Plains were almost an unbroken wilderness, inhabited
only, except at a very few points, by wild beasts and hostile Indians. Crossing
the Plaims then, in either large or small companies, was not the pleasure trip that
some are disposed to pronounce the journey in these latter days. There is a vast
difference “twixt now and then,” even if we ARE still without a Railroad, Tele-
graph, or even a Government Wagon Road and Military Posts.
The refractory ones among the train, seeing Griswold and his associate about
leaving, and with so much independence, speedily came to the conclusion that
they had been too fast, and were probably losing a valuable accession to their
a number. Accordingly, the “one yoke” boys were promptly requested to halt
a and join the train, and all proceeded together. It was not long before they proved
n their usefulness; indeed, the superiority of Griswold over all the others, whenever
t an emergency occurred, was universally acknowledged. Whenever any difficulty
a presented itself, Griswold was the man to take the lead and surmount it. As an
instance: On Green River a number of cattle belonging to the train were stolen
ld by some straggling or marauding Mormons. The stock must be recovered, or the
at most serious inconvenience, if not complete disaster, would follow. A party, fully
d'armed and equipped,” went in pursuit, but returned unsuccessful and disheart.
ened. Griswold was down with the mountain ſever, and had been for some time;
pſ nevertheless, sick and feeble as he was, it devolved upon him to extricate the party
y from the difficulty in which they were placed. He got up from his bed in the
0 night, rodeon horseback thirty miles, encountered the marauders, re-captured the
nstolen animals, and brought them safely back to camp. It was such circumstances
* as this, for he did not seek distinction, that made him the acknowledged superior
l
!
º
f

s -
of a party of pioneers who had at first refused him the poor privilege of traveling
in their company. The stock-thieves were afterwards arrested, tried, convicted
and sentenced to six months in the Chain-Gang at Salt Lake City. Griswold, some
time subsequently, met with one of the rascals in California, and gave him such a
lecture as he would not be likely to forget until the day of his death.
The train having arrived at the point where the Oregon and California roads
separate, Griswold was exceedingly anxious to part company and, with the “one
yoke,” (which had stood the trip as well as the best of them,) make the way to
California. But his partner interposed objections—did not have the necessary
energy, courage and confidence—and was inexorable. The California train was
still so far ahead that there would have been little if any prospect of overtaking
it; and his partner, then “so far away from any place,” could not be induced to
quiet his nerves and leave the company to sally forth in the wilderness with a
single companion. There was no alternative but to go on to Oregon.
The train embraced some forty or fifty wagons, and after leaving the California
road many of them began to fall back; so that when the advanced teams reached
the common destination, those in the rear had still a long and weary distance to
travel. The “one yoke” held out bravely to the last, and was among the first to
arrive. This was early in the fall of 1848. The party first heard of the California
gold excitement while passing through the Willamette Valley. When they reached
Oregon City the rumor was fully confirmed, and the existence of the precious
metal in great abundance on the western slope of the Sierras well established.—
The excitement among the old residents of Oregon was speedily communicated to
the new-comers, who were not sparing in their style of berating what they were
pleased to term their ill-luck in coming to the “wrong country.” They were in a
region where they could only expect to make money after spending years of toil
in hewing down gigantic forests, and then waiting patiently as many more years
for “slow returns” from the products of their farms; whereas, in California, at
that time, gold was “lying around loose,” and almost any man, unless in exceed-
ing bad luck, could pick up his fortune in the course of a few months. How many
of them afterwards made their way to the mines is not important ; but certain it
is that not only Griswold's partner, but the entire train, sincerely regretted that
they had not permitted him to lead them direct from the point where the roads
separated to the new El Dorado. His two years prophesy was already fulfilled.
In the month of April, 1849, after an exceedingly stormy and perilous voyage
down the coast, on a small sailer, Griswold landed at San Francisco. He at once
proceeded to the mines and worked and prospected until the following October-
He first struck his pick in old Hangtown, (now Placerville,) but met with º
indifferent success. At Oregon Bar, however, on the American River, he was on
of the “lucky ones;” he worked industriously and with good judgment, and it
a short time took out a large sum of money. His claim being “worked out,” he
started on a general, hap-hazzard prospecting tour, more for the purpose of seeing
the country than anything else, and visited most parts of the State where gold had
at that time been discovered, without stopping long at any one place, and without
- anything of particular importance occurring to him. -
In October, 1849, “bringing up?” at San Francisco, Mr. Griswold left, with
company of gentlemen, for a trip through Mexico to the Atlantic States. The
writer regrets that want of space in this pamphlet, and the lack of comple"

information with reference to many important points, preclude the possibility of
giving anything like a full account of this journey. It would, properly recorded,
form a chapter replete with startling incidents, and could not fail to be highly
interesting; it would also exhibit in a strong light the intrepid character of the
man of whose life this is a brief sletch. A single incident is all that will be
given: Sometime before reaching the City of Mexico, one of the party robbed, or,
rather, succeeded instealing from the others. The quick perception of Mr. Gris-
wold, however, enabled him to readily detect the miscreant, who was conducted to
the City, tried by the authorities there, and sentenced to six years' service in the
Chain-Gang. The detention, costs of proëscution, etc., having exhausted all the
coin Griswold had with him, he was compelled to resort, with his dust, to the
Mexican mint. He bargained with the officers, and was to receive doubloons in
return for his dust. At the propertime he called for his money, but they pro-
posed to pay him of in silver coin; he of course refused to accept it; but they
insisted, with pomposity and violence, that he must take that or nothing. Gris-
wold understood but little of their language, and parleyed with them for several
days. He then procured, successively, two interpreters, and visited the mint to
demand his gold; but he was so positive in his tone and manner, and, conscious
of the justness of his cause and therefore fearless of consequences, spoke and be-
haved so much like the officer of a beseiging army demanding the surrender of a
fortress, that the interpreters became frightened and refused to translate the lan-
guage he made use of He then procured a third interpreter, who proved to be
made of sterner stuff than the former ones, and having armed himself with a
brace of revolvers, again proceeded to the mint, determined to have his money,
and that in doubloons, or at least give the Greasers having control of the estab-
lishment a specimen of American prowess, single-handed. He probably thought
that as Gen. Scott had but a short time before taken the whole city with only a few
thousand men, one individual ought to consider himself equal to the task of cap-
turing the citadel of the mint. Be that as it may, he entered the building with
his pistols presented, and having given them so many minutes in which to pay
him his money in the proper coin, the affrighted officers capitulated without a
struggle and counted out the gold! This was certainly a high-handed proceeding
for a foreigner to take, in that country, but the Mexicans evidently looked upon
Griswold as a dangerous man to trifle with, and so allowed him to depart from the
city in peace; although, he certainly had reason to expect an arrest.
Proceeding via. Vera Cruz, he took steamer at that port, and reached his fath-
er's house, in Saratoga county, on New Years Day, 1850. Here he remained some
six weeks, enjoying the society of the “loved ones at home,” and emphatically
the “observed of all observers”—returned Californians being at that time looked
upon as an order of beings peculiar to themselves. These six weeks were remem-
bered by Griswold as constituting one of the happiest periods of his life. It was
then and there that he last felt, in its full force, the kindliest influence that en-
twines itself about the heart of a man—the influence of Homº.
Bidding an affectionate farewell to his parents, and to brothers and sisters, he
once more sallied forth as an adventurer, Alas! it was his final farewell to them
on earth, Directing his steps to the North-West, he halted at Milwaukie, his “old
stamping ground,” and it is related that he there met with a reception from the
people of which men occupying distinguished stations in life might well have

10
been proud. Old and young, of every class, received him with open arms, and, (in
popular parlance,) literally lionized him. He had lived longer there than at any
other one point since the days of his boyhood; he was best known by the people
there, and to be held in such high estimation by them, was certainly a high com-
pliment to his character.
After spending some time at Milwaukie, he proceeded via St. Paul, Minnesota,
to the “frozen regions of the North,” traveling with Sinclair through a vast wil-
derness of snow and ice, and visiting the most remote stations of the Hudson Bay
Company. He passed through the Red River country of the North, and did not
stop short of the Selkirk Settlements. They penetrated quite as far, in the direc-
tion they traveled, as the foot of a white man had ever trod. From the Selkirk
Settlements he took pack animals for Oregon, and, after a trip full of incident
and peril, arrived “safe and sound * on Christmas Day, 1850.
This trip alone, properly described and recorded, would be amply sufficient to
establish the character of Griswold as that of an intrepid and remarkable man.
The pen of the biographer has handed down, in volumes, to future generations
many names lessworthy of such distinction. In conversation, Mr. Griswold rela-
ted graphically and with much eloquence the incidents of the trip. His memory
was exceedingly retentive, and no circumstance of any importance escaped his
observation. The distinct, complete and beyond a question truthful account he
was able to give, even up to the day of his death, of the twenty different tribes of
Indians through whose territory he had passed, was quite as interesting and en-
tertaining as the best Indian romance the pen of the novelist has ever written. I
had almost forgotten to say that I am informed Mr. Griswold was the first American
who traveled over the exact route above described, and visited the extreme North-
ern settlements of the Hudson Bay Company. - -
Remaining in Oregon only a few days, he sailed for California and arrived at
San Francisco early in January, 1851. After a flying trip through the southern
mines, he met, at Mormon Island, for the first time in California, the tried friend
of his earlier years–Horace Kilham–and also other acquaintances. When
asked “where in the world he had been,” he replied that he had been “looking
after Sir John Franklin, and had learned to eat white bears, seals, dogs,” &c., &c.
Shortly after this he worked with Mr. Kilham near Auburn, and then they pros-
pected together, for quartz, until July, (1851,) when they separated, on the Cala-
veras, Mr. K. coming to the neighborhood of Jackson, where he still resides.
Griswold went as far south as King's river; returned to Tuolumne county, and
mined there with considerable success. In December, (1851,) he went to Sacra-
mento and remained there a few weeks. From that time until the fall of 1854 he
removed rapidly from one place to another, wherever chance or inclination led
him. Sometimes he was on the southern coast, in Los Angeles; sometimes north,
at Cresent City, Siskiyou, Southern Oregon, &c.
For some time in the Spring of 1852, Mr. Griswold was employed by Gen. James
W. Denver and James A. Patterson, on Trinity river, Trinity county, Cal. Be-
tween Mr. Griswold and these gentlemen the strongest personal friendship existed.
Mr. Patterson sent him with two other men to attend his ferry at the mouth of the
South Fork of the Trinity, forty miles from the residence of any white man, and
surrounded by hosts of hostile Indians. The next heard of him he was high up
11
- -
on the Klamath river, among the savages, where he was robbed by them and sup-
posed to have been murdered, as his coat and some papers were found on the per-
son of a hostile Indian killed by the whites. He remained, altogether, about two
years among the Klamath and Rogue river Indians, during the whole of which
time the Indians were quarreling with the whites, and committed many murders.
Griswold's escape, for so long a period, seemed almost miraculous.
In December, 1854, Mr. Griswold sailed for the Sandwich Islands, remained in
Honolulu only a short time, and returned to California in February, 1855. From
March of that year up to the time of his decease he was almost uninterruptedly in
the employ of Mr. Kilham, acting as his general business manager and confiden-
tial clerk. As has already been stated, they were intimate friends and associates
brothers could not have been more so. Mr. Griswold not only possessed the
full confidence of Mr. Kilham, but of the entire community; and his capacity,
experience, knowledge of the world, his tact and general acquirements, and above
all his unimpeachable integrity, would have enabled him at any time to engage
in almost any business upon his own account, had he so desired. He, doubtless
curbed his disposition to seek adventure, and remained in this locality, as an em-
ployee, (refusing a proffered partnership), solely out of a sincere regard for his
friend and his friend's interests. That he “died at his post doing duty,” is not
only testified to by his employer, but by the history of the trial and conviction of
the assassins who murdered him. -
The remains of Mr. Griswold were consigned to their last resting place with the
honors of Odd Fellowship, and the deepest gloom pervaded the entire community.
In Jackson, business was suspended, the houses decked in mourning, and every
possible mark of respect shewn for the memory of the deceased.
A handsome, permanent, and suitable monument has been designed and partly
constructed, and will shortly be erected over the grave.
-
-
-


THE MURDER—THE TRIALS, &C.
Mr. Griswold was murdered at the residence of Horace Kilham, one mile from
Jackson, at about 10 o'clock, A. M., Saturday, November 7th, 1857. There is no
longer any reasonable doubt that five Chinamen were present and participated,
either directly or indirectly, in the perpetration of the crime. It is difficult to
spell Chinese names in English so as to retain the proper sound: theirs have been
spelled as follows: Fou Sin, tho cook at Kilham's; Chou Yee, the Q ranch cook
*and Fou Sin's friend ; Coon You, (or perhaps more properly Coon Yow) and Coon
See, who were friends and associates, and Ah Hung, the Indian Creek China-
man, who seems to have been the friend of Coon You and Coon see, especially of
the former. Coon See, upon histrial, was acquitted of the murder, but since then,
at the late term of the Court of Sessions in this county, he plead guilty to an in-
dictment for having received stolen money, (taken from Kilham's safe at the time
of the murder :) and was convicted upon an indictment for grand larceny, com-
mitted at the same time and place. Of course, had it been possible to try him a
second time for the murder, the same testimony must have convicted him of that
crime; for being present and participating in a robbery where a man must needs
be killed to accomplish the purpose, the rule of particeps criminis would neces-
sarily apply to his case, whether he struck a blow or not. There was no bill found
against Ah Hung, but from the testimony elicited upon the trial of the others, and
from the statements of the ones convicted, the conclusion is irresistible that he too
was present at the killing. The testimony, from the beginning, has been purely
circumstantial, and has leaked out a little at a time.
[Since the above was in type, Coon See has committed suicide by hanging him-
self in the jail. He probably appealed his case to the court of his own conscience,
which convicted him of a higher crime than that of grand larceny, and receiving
his sentence, became his own executioner. The suicide took place on the night of
Friday the 9th inst. Coroner Kibbie held an inquest, and the verdict of the jury
was in accordance with the facts. The jury unanimously exculpated the Sheriff
and his officers from all blame in the premises—they having used all due diligence
in the way of watching and guarding the prisoner.—Coon See, it seems, was a
soldier in China, and served three years in the army of the reigning power. It
was also talked of among Chinamen that he had spent nine years of his life in a
Chinese dungeon, and that he had been incarcerated there for a high crime. He
had two cousins living in Jackson, who took charge of his dead body and buried
it according to the customs of their country.]

13
Mr. Kilham's place, or rather the one he then occupied, is in the midst of a
thickly settled neighborhood—a number of miners' cabins being only a few rods
away, and the little village of Scottsville within calling distance. His house and
office, (which were under the same roof, the latter being the front room of the for-
mer) constituted the place of general resort for the people of that vicinity. Mr.
K. was an extensive ditch proprietor, and also purchased a large amount of gold
dust, and it was a very seldom occurrence for five minutes in the day to pass with-
out the presence of some one, other than those living or employed about the es-
tablishment. An alarm from the house, at any time would have brought an hun-
dred men to the spot in a few moments. A public road, constantly traveled, pass-
es by the door which opens into the office.
Taken altogether, the murder was not only one of the most foul, but certainly
one of the most extraordinary—one of the most ingeniously conceived and dex-
terously executed—for which offenders have ever been brought to deserved pun-
ishment. The killing took place in broad-daylight, in the office above described,
and the body was concealed, within the house, and a small one at that, su that it was
not found for thirty-six hours, although diligent search had been made. Neither
had they left a single trace, which the eye could detect, whereby the crime could
be detected until they should have ample time to get out of reach. Yet all must
have been accomplished—including the robbery of the safe, from which they took
from $8,000 to $9,000—in the course of a very few minutes of time.
Mr. Griswold was Mr. Kilham's general and confidential businessagent and clerk.
He had one key to the safe—(Kilham the other)—and had full charge of the busi-
ness in Mr. K.’s absence. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1857, Mr. Kilham went to Sacramento,
and returned the following Saturday evening, Nov. 7th. He found the front of
the house closed, from the inside, and entered by the back door; the safe was rob-
bed, and Griswold nowhere to be seen. The China cook, (Fousin,) was also gone.
The following evening, being Sunday, Nov. 8th, the body was found in the China-
man's bed-room, under a low bed, (about 12 inches from the floor,) a board, after
the body was pushed under, having been nailed to the bed-rail and extending to
the floor, to eonceal the body.
A Coroner's Jury was called by G. S. Smith, Esq., J. P., and the death was found
to have been produced by two wounds on the back of the head, inflicted by a blunt
instrument and fracturing the skull, two wounds apparently inflicted by a sharp
instrument on the front part of head, and a cord drawn sufficiently tight about the
neck to produce strangulation. Either one of the blows on the back of the head
would alone have produced almost instant death. Under the bed, with the dead
body, was found a heavy club, dressed and evidently prepared for no honest pur-
pose, and in the same room a leaden slung-shot weighing'some two or three pounds,
and attached to a rope three feet in length.
There is not space in this pamphlet to sum up the entire evidence produced in
the District Court. The indictments were against Fou Sin, Chou Yee and Coon
See and Coon You, Fou Sin and Chou Yee were tried first, and Coon See and
Coon You afterwards.
It was proved that Fou Sin must have known that there was a large amount of
money in the safe. While he was cooking at Kilham's there was, sometimes, as
high as $25,000 in the safe. It was proved that Fou Sin had made the slung shot,
some two or three weeks before the murder; it was proved that Chou Yee was in
the habit of visiting Fou Sin. It was proved that they were both seen at the house

14
at about the time of the murder; that they were seen leaving the house, in com-
pany with three others; that they were shortly after seen in Jackson, and that
they hired horses and left, never returning them, but leaving them at Folsom.—
They were followed to Auburn, (where they were near being captured,) Fou Sin's
vest was found where he had stopped, and in the pocket of it the key of the safe
and other articles identified as having been taken from the safe. Afterwards, Fou
Sinaud Chou Yee were arrested at Marysville, information of their presence there
having been given to Hon. Jesse O. Goodwin by a Chinaman named Ah Cow.—
Knives and pistols were found upon their persons, and upon Fou Sin a purse of
dust and specimensworth over $100, which Mr. Kilham believed was a portion
of the same taken from his safe. A gold chain taken from Chou Yee was recog-
nized by Mr. Kilham as having been stolen from his safe. Portions of a fob chain,
and other property, was also recognized by him. After their arrest, they both
vuluntarily acknowledged that they were present when the killing was done, and
that they received some of the money, but contended that they had not assisted in
the killing. The shirt worn by Fou Sin, (and which he acknowledged to Mr. Kil-
ham he had on the morning of the murder,) was found in his room, torn open in
front as if taken offin great haste, and with blood on the sleves, at the wristbands,
raising a strong presumption that he had taken hold of the murdered man about
the neck, with his arms and hands, and dragged him from the front room through
the kitchen to his own room, where the body was concealed.
There were numerous circumstances, other than those above alluded to, which
taken all together, made up one of the strongest cases of circumstantial evidence
of which there is any record. It was, in short, literally overwhelming; and the
jury, after an absence of a few minutes, came into court with a verdict of guilty
against both Fou Sin and Chou Yee. The prosecution was very ably and efficiently
conducted by Dist. Attºy. Axtell and H. O. Beatty. R. M. Briggs defended the
Chinamen with great energy, and made an eloquent appeal in their behalf.
Upon the trial of Coon See and Coon You, the proof was complete that Coon
You was present at the time of the killing, and participating, either actively or
as a sentinel. He had voluntarily acknowledged to Mr. Redhead, (Collector of
Foreign Miners' Tax,) that he was at Kilham's at the time, and said that he stood
outside as a sentinel, to guard the party against surprise, while the murder was
being committed inside. Coon You was identified by several witnesses as having
been at the house and in company with the party on the morning of the murder,
and was found guilty; but there were doubts in the minds of the jury as to the
guilt of Coon See. He was not as clearly identified as the others, at the house—
although one witness, Maj. Meek, testified positively that Coon See was with the
other Chinamen going to the house, and another witness, Mr. Towne, testified as
positively that he was with the others coming away from the house. He brought
forward, in defense, Chinese testimony to prove, (but without much success,) an
alibi...—Coon See being acquitted of murder, the Court remanded him to the cué-
tody of Sheriff Paugh, to be indicted and tried for a lesser offense, the result of
which, and his consequent suicide, have already been stated.
Coon You and Coon Seebelonged to the Yin Foo party or company of Chinamen.
They do not number, in California, over 3,000 or 4,000. Fou Sin and Chou Yee
were originally from the Canton district, in China. -
[From an Ambrotype by O. Hemenway, Jackson.]
F O U S IN, K, I L H A M 'S COO K.
Fou SIN, the cook at Mr. Kilham's, has been from the beginning looked
upon as the master spirit in the planning and execution of the tragedy.
His statement is given first, and after the reader prunes it to suit him-
self, disbelieving all that does not seem reasonable and that is not
consistent with the facts elicited upon the trial, still it will be found more
than ordinarily interesting, and throws considerable light upon the whole
matter. Fou Sin, like each of the others, endeavors, in his version of
the affair, to screen himself; but when the statements are taken together,
very nearly if not quite the whole truth may be readily arrived at.
As a shrewd, keen and deep thinker, Fou Sin was vastly the superior
of all the others. He was a man capable of accomplishing almost any
l,
º


16
thing he might undertake. The above likeness of him is a very superior
one, as will be testified to by all who knew him; the features are exact,
and the picture will be as readily recognized as even the original Am-
brotype itself.
Fou Sin spoke the English language sufficiently well to be clearly un-
derstood. In taking down his statement, language approximating as
nearly as practicable to his own was used :
I am twenty-six years old. I was born within about three day's trav.
el of the city of Hong Kong; in Canton county, China. My father is a
stone-cutter, and is living on a farm (a very small piece of land in China,)
near Hong Kong. I have one brother—he lives in Hong Kong. My
Mother is dead. At an early age—some twelve or fourteen years of
age—I was allowed to go on board of an English brig, commanded by
Capt. Simmons, and went to a port in England—I don't know what one.
The Captain would not permit me to go on shore, lest I should be in-
duced to run away from him. He brought me back to Hong Kong in
about a year and a half. We stopped at a great many ports, but I do
not recollect enough concerning the voyage to tell anything definite
about it. I returned to Hong Kong in the same vessel, having been ab-
sent about eighteen months. I was then placed in a store at Hong
Kong to learn English. I staid there but a little time; and in 1848,
when I was sixteen years old, I went as cabin boy on board the Ameri-
can ship Capt. Tiger, commanded by Capt. Boyd, and have not been at
Hong Kong since. I left with the Captain without asking my father's
consent. At Singapore I left the Capt. Tiger, and remained in that
city as an English officer's boy for a period of three years. I sailed
from Singapore on board the French ship Benan, Capt. John Criny, as
steward, and was out whaling for three seasons, obtaining provisions, &c.,
at the Sandwich Islands. From the Islands we sailed around Cape
Horn and to New Bedford, Mass., where we remained two or three
weeks, discharging oil, &c. The Benan returned to the Sandwich Islands,
and I left her at Honolulu in Oct. 1854. I remained at Honolulu
twenty months, cooking for a wholesale merchant named Aldrich. He
had a wife and children, and I got along first rate. In the early part of
1856, Ishipped as steward on board a schooner commanded by one Capt.
Ross, running in the trade between the Islands, and made several trips
on her. On the 1st of July, 1856, I went on board the steamship Young
America, (which had been purchased at New York by the Russian Goy-
ernment,) commanded by Capt. Hudson, and sailed on her as second
stewart to the Amoor river. We touched at Japan, ten days, on
the way. The Young America arrived at the mouth of the Amoor river,
Aug. 16th, 1856, and was immediately transferred to the Russian offi-
cers. The Americans were permitted to take what merchandise they
had aboard on shore and sell it. I went on shore, and shipping to go
on board a Russian man-of-war, I stopped at the Russian barracks, un-
til Sep. 22d, when we sailed for Petropoloski, carrying provisions to the
soldiers at that place. We stopped at Petropoloski ten days; many of
the houses had been burnt and blackened, and the entire city exhibited

17
very forcibly the effects of heavy canonading against it. Taking in
baliast, we sailed for San Francisco, where we arrived after a voyage of
some three months and a half, on New Years Day, 1857. I was never
in California previous to that time. I do not remember the name of the
Russian man-of-war; it was some Russian name.
I remained in San Francisco, before coming up country, about nine
months. I first boarded at a sailor boarding house, kept by a negro
named overton, on Pacific street. In about three week I went to cook-
ing for one Capt. Nickerson, who was keeping a boarding house and ho-
teſ on Broadway. Staid there six weeks, and then went back to the ne-
gro boarding house; Overton got me a place as cookin another hºtel ºn
Pacific street, kept by Moses & Lawyer, both negros, I stopped with
them two months, and for two months after I was about the city with
nothing to do, and slept and eat in a Chinese barber shop. Then I got
into a scrape at a Spanish dance house, on Pacific street. I was in the
house looking on, when a drunken negro, named Jim Slaughter, com:
menced cursing me, calling me “a d-d Chinaman,” etc., and advanced
upon me as though he was going to fight with me. I pulled out my
knife and told him “G-d d-d you, I'll cut your throat.” The negro
did not see the knife but somebody else did, and called out : “Look
there a Chinaman is cutting somebody with a knife.” An officer came
right up and arrested me; I dropped the knife on the floor, so that he
did not see me have it, but he found it and picked it up, and somebody
told him that was the one I had drawn. I was bound over to the Court
of Sessions, and remained in jail two months. No witness appearing
against me the Grand Jury did not find a bill, and I was discharged.
After this I went on board the P. M. S. Co.'s Panama steamer Golden
Age, as third cook, and run on her for a short time. Left the steamer
and cooked six weeks for a man named Faben, who kept a hotel and
boarding house on Sacramento street, San Francisco. I was then idle
for six weeks, and during this time I got into a fight in a Chinese brothel.
One or two of the party got pretty badly hurt, and one or two were ar-
rested and punished; I only fought with my fists, was not hurt, and es-
caped arrest.
About the last of September, 1857, I left San Francisco and came to
Jackson. The way I was induced to come to Jackson is this : When
Ilanded from the Russian man-of-war I met Chou Yee ; he and I had
been friends and associates in the Sandwich Islands; he had arrived at
S. F. but a short time before I did. Chou Yee stopped at a Chinese
house in the city two or three months, and then went to the mountains.
At the time I am now speaking of Chou Yee was down at S. F. on a
visit. Finding me out of work and out of money, he told me I had
better come to the mountains—that I could get plenty of cooking to do
up there. So I borrowed money from Chou Yee, and came up with him.
Chou Yee had been cooking at the Q Ranch, and had hired another
Chinaman to cook for him while he should be absent at San Francisco:
but his “sub” was of no account, and the proprietor had to hire another
cook—a Dutchman—which caused Chou Yee to lose his place. We then
came on to Jackson together.

18
After staying in Jackson nine days, I started alone to go to the Cos-
umnes, I got the name mixed up with Folsom, and went on to that
place before discovering my error. I returned to the Cosumnes, staid
there three or four days, and then came back to Jackson. After I had
been in Jackson a day or two, the Chinese stage agent took me to Mr.
Wickham, who asked me if I could cook. I told him I could, and he
then employed me to go and cook for Mr. Kilham. The next morning
Mr. Wickham went out to Mr. Kilham's with me, and I commenced
work. After I had been cooking there about 16 days, I got five dollars
from Griswold, to pay Chou Yee. Chou Yee was there at the time. He
had been to see me two or three times; and about six days after I had
got the five dollars for him, he was there, just to see me. Mr. Griswold
was in the front room of the house, and I was out back of the house,
splitting wood. Chou Yee was standing there, talking with me. At
this time, Coon See, Coon You and Ah Hung came along the road and
went in at the front door. I had never seen them before, except Ah
Hung; I had seen him in a Chinese gambling house in Jackson, once.
Chou Yee asked me what they were going in there for 2 I replied that
I supposed they wanted to get a little dust changed. About this time I
said that I must go in and get dinner. It was now about 10 o'clock, A. M.
I went into the kitchen and commenced paring potatoes. Chou Yee
came and stood in the kitchen door, talking with me. Coon See went
out of the office, and came around to the back door and into the kitchen.
He said: “Hello, friend, you’ve got business?” I say, “O, yes, I've
got a place.” He said that he wanted to talk to me about something. I
asked him what it was. He said: “Your master is very rich, ain't he?”
I replied, “Yes—I don't know how rich he is—he has money and buys
gold dust.” Coon See then said that he “wanted to do something here.”
I asked him what He said that he “wanted to rob the money out of
the house.” I told him that if he wanted to rob the house, he should
have told me about it before, and I would have gone away ; but I told
him that I was there and he must not rob the house. Then he told me,
“You can go away now, and I will come back some other day, soon, and
rob the house—you go away now.”
Coon See then went out of the kitchen and around outside into the
front room again. I remained in the kitchen. By and by I heard
Griswold make a noise or groan. I pushed open the door that leads out of
the kitchen into the front room. Coon You immediately pointed a pis-
tol at me and told me not say a word; but I did say, “G did n
you, what for you kill the man that way?” Coon You replied, “G-d
d n you, don't you say another word or I will kill you too—I will
shoot you.” Ah Hung was choking Griswold with both hands, and
Coon See tied the cord about his neck. Ah Hung put his hand in Gris-
wold's pocket and took out the safe key, and he and Coon See both went
into the room where the safe was. I don't know which one opened it,
nor how much money they found and took out.
When they came out of the room where the safe was, Coon You
asked them, “what are you going to do with that dead man now * Bet-
ter shove him under the bed in that little back room”—the same one

19
where Islept. Coon See said “let him lay where hº is.” Coon You
replied that “you can't get away if you let that man lay there.” Then
Cºon see and Ah Hung dragged the body into the little back, T00m,
and put it under the bed. Coon See asked ºne if there was a piece of
board outside. I told him “I don't know if there is, you can go and see.”
Then Ah Hung went out and found a piece of board, and having ºut it.
off with an axe, to the right length, he nailed it on to the side of the
bed, so that it nearly touched the floor, in order to hide the dead body.
After this they came into the front room and Coon Seº said, " Jesus
look at that blood we must clean that of or people will gome in and
find out about it before we can get away?” Ah Hung took a towel and
bucket of water out of the kitchen, and washed up the blood.
when I first opened the door out of the kitchen into the front room,
Coon You was standing there with a large stick or club, with which he
had struck Griswold, in his hand. He dropped it and pointed his pistol
at me.
while Coon See and Ah Hung were robbing the safe, concealing the
body and washing up the blood, Chou Yee was sitting down in the kitch-
en, right back of me. Coon You stood holding his pistol pointed at me.
These things accomplished, Coon You inquired, “now which way are
we going?" Coon see said, “well, we will go down to Jackson,” and
then turning to me asked “which way are you going " I answered,
“you had all better go away—I don't go no place–I can stay here—ſ
won't go away.” He said I had better come. I told him no. He said,
* G-d d_d you—you no go away.” I repeated that I would not. Then
he said, “You no go away, G-d d-d you, I shoot you, and kill you all
the same as that man under the bed.” Then I said, “I would go away, but
I havn't got one d-d cent of money to go away with.” Coon See re-
plied, “I will give you one share of what we got out of the safe.”
Then all five of us left the house, and passing by Jackson went out
among the trees a little way from “The Gate.” Here I said : “I cannot
walk any more on my feet—I am tired—I will go back to Jackson.”
Then Coon You, Coon See and Ah Hung talked among themselves as to
“what they would do with these two men here.” Coon See says to Ah
Hung: “How much have you got in your pocket 7” Ah Hung pulled
out a small bag or purse, and said that was all he had. Coon See then
told him—“Give it to them two men and let them go which way they
please.” I took the purse, and Chou Yee and myself started back
towards Jackson.
Coon See called and asked which way we were going, and when I told
him to Jackson, he wanted to know if we were going to stay there. I
told him no-that we would go away in the stage next morning. He
said, “You had better go to a stable, get horses and go away now, or
somebody will catch you to-night, sure—go whichever way you choose.”
Chou Yee and I then went to Perrin's livery stable, (about 10 or 11
o'clock on the morning of the murder), and got two horses. We arrived
in Folsom about 7 o'clock that evening, put the horses in a stable there
and went to Sacramento in the cars next morning. Chou Yee went into
a Chinese barber shop and had his head shaved. The barber told me

20
that being Sunday, there would be no boat for San Francisco. I went
down to the levee and found out certain that there would be no boat that
day, and then went back to the barber shop and told Chou Yee. The
barber told us that there was a stage at 3 o'clock that afternoon for
Marysville. He called in a Chinese stage agent and we paid our fare to
Marysville. -
I went and bought some Chinese clothes, with the view of taking off
the American ones I had on, and went into a barber shop to get shaved.
As I came out, I met Ah Kin, of Jackson, and Coon You on the street
together. Ah Kin wanted to know where I was going. I told him to
Marysville. He said, “Marysville ain't a good place for you ; you had
better go to Auburn—they will never be able to find you there.” [Coon
You had told him all about the murder, I suppose..] I asked Ah Kin
if he could get stage tickets for us to go to Auburn, in the morning, and
he said he could. I asked him where we could stay that night. He
showed us a coffee house and told us to stay there, get up early in the
morning and go out of town a little way to a house near Lisle's bridge
over the American river, and get on the stage, for Auburn, at that place.
Chou Yee and myself did so, and got to the house at the bridge before
the stage came along. The landlord told us we could wait there until
it came along. Before the stage got along, five Chinamen came walking
from the direction of Sacramento. They asked us where we were going;
we told them to Auburn; they said they were going to Auburn, too.
When the stage came, one of them said to the landlord : “Stop these
two Chinamen—they have been doing something in Sacramento.” The
landlord stopped us, and the stage went on. None of the five other
Chinamen went to Auburn. Shortly after Ah Kin and three other
Chinamen, making nine in all, came along. One, named Ho Tung, asked
Ah Kin if we were the right ones; Ah Kin said we were, and then Ho
Tung wanted us to go back to Sacramento with him. I told him all
right—we would go back—and we all started. I said to Ah Kin, “What
are you going to do with us?” He answered, “O, G-d d-n, I don't
know what they are going to do with you.” Ho Tung walked behind
us, Ah Kin before, and the other Chinamen all around us. When we
had got along a little way they knocked me down and took the bag of
dust from me. I had had it weighed in Sacramento—it contained 106
ozs, or about $1,800. They then said to me, “Now you go away.” I
said, “no, I ain't got one d-d cent, and I can't go away now.” They
asked me again if I wouldn't go away, and I told them no. Then Ho
Tung and two or three others said, “If you don't go away we'll kill you
and throw you into that ditch.” I turned around and asked Chou Yee
what we had better do. He said we had better go back to Sacramento
and go to the Station House. When Ah Kin heard us talking about
going to the Station House, he told the others they had better give us
back a little, so that we could pay stage fare and go away. Then they
poured out a small handful of dust to each of us.
Chou Yee and I then started walking for Auburn. We arrived there
Wednesday afternoon at 3 or 4 o'clock; went to a Chinese coffee-house
to stop, and put our things down in the house. The landlord told us we

- 21
could go out and look about the place, and then return tº supper at five
o'clock. While we were out, I noticed white men and Chinamen Cl’OW-
ding about the house where we had stopped. I asked a Chinaman what
he matter was. He said he supposed it was a fire. Then 1. saw all
American coming across the street, and I asked him. He said that a
Chineman had kied an American at Jackson—that he was in that house
here, and that they were going to take him. Then I was frightened,
(we were about 100 yards from the house where the crowd was,) and
bhou Yee and I started off and ran as fast as we could for four miles.
Westopped at or near Ophir, with a Frenchman who lived in a cabin
and mined with a rocker. He was a very good man. Chou Yee staid
There one week, and went to Long Bar; I staid two weeks, and then
went over to Long Bar also | While I staid at the Frenchman's in
Ophir, I went out with his shot-gun ºry day and killed game for him.
Ghºu Yee was in a wash-house at Long Bar. I staid two or three
days in the wash-house with him, and then went to clerking in a Chinese
stºre at $15 a month and boarded. I staid there abºut five weeks, when
Ah King, who owned the store, sent me down to Marysville to buy
twenty-five sacks of rice. When I was abºut to start, Chou Yeo said
he would getoo, and we went together. Chºu Yee went to keeping a
wash-house in Marysville, right away. We had been there some four or
five days, when I met a Chinaman named Ah Cow. He asked me if I
knew anything about the murder of a white man at Jackson by Chine-
men. I told him yes—that I was the cook at the house—that three
men whom I did not know came there and killed the man and robbed the
house. He asked me why I left; I told him “they made me scared."
He asked if I got any money. I told him yes–$1800—but some Chi-
namen had robbed it all away from me at Sacramento.” Ah Cow said:
*0, well, that's no murder—let them go to h-ll you've got a good place
now.”
I did not think Ah Cow would betray me. I have known him in the
Sandwich Islands, whither he had fled from California, for having killed
another Chinaman and robbed him. I had screened him there for three
or four months, in my house; and then finding that there was no reward
offered for him, I assisted him to go into business in Honolulu. He re-
turned my kind treatment of him, at the first opportunity, by betraying
me into the hands of the officers, the consequence of which is that I am
to suffer death. I suppose he betrayed me for the sake of a part of the
reward offered.
I had told Ah Cow I wanted to buy rice. He told me he could take
me to an American store, kept by Williams, where I could buy rice
cheap. He took me up stairs in an American gambling house, to see
Williams, as he said. There were three or four persons who I believe
were officers sitting there playing cards. Ah Cow asked for Williams.
They said he was not there but would be in a few minutes, and that if I
wanted to see him I had better sit and wait until he should come up—
Ah Cow said, “you sit there while I go and look for him—I will be
back in five minutes. Just as Ah Cow had passed out of the door, one
of the officers reached out his hand and locked the door and took the

22
key out. I thought this a strange proceeding. Just then another one
seized me by the left arm. I tried to draw my pistol, but somebody else
seized me by the right arm. Then they took my pistol, knife, money (or
rather dust,) and watch. In about half an hour they took me to the
station house, and the next morning to the jail. Chou Yee was arrested
about the same time, in another part of the city, and also at the instiga-
tion of that rascal Ah Cow. I told Goodwin and Kilham, at Marys.
ville, that I knew who killed Griswold, but that I did not know their
nameS.
Fou Sin having thus completed his story, without interruption, that
which follows was given in answer to questions propounded to him:
The bag of dust taken from me at Marysville belonged to Ah King,
the Long Bar merchant by whom I was employed. He had placed it in
my hands to buy rice. It contained about $113.
I knew Ah Cow in Honolulu as early as 1854. He was in jail at that
place eighteen months, for stealing.
I saw Ah Look, [or Luck, who keeps a coffee house in Jackson, at
Sacramento the Sunday after the murder. I gave him $385, which
he was to return to me at San Francisco; I couldn't go there, and of
course didn't get the money. After I was put in jail here, I sent to
him for the money, but he denied having it. One day he came along out-
side of the jail and said, “you never fear Fou Sin–I'll get a good law-
yer for you from San Francisco.” Since my conviction I have asked him
for money, but he denies having received any from me. -
Ah Hung was going to put the key of the safe in the stove. I did
not know what it was and asked him to let me see it. He gave it to me
and I put it in my vest pocket. I did not at that time intend to go away,
and thought I would take care of the key.
The shirt with blood on the sleaves I pulled off two or three mornings
before the murder. It was laying on my bed along with a number of oth-
ers, and the sleaves must have been hanging down from the bed when they
pushed the body of Griswold under—I don't know of any other way the
blood could have got upon them. Don't know how it came to be torn
open in front, but suppose it must have been caught on the crank of the
windlass sometime when I was drawing water out of the well. [This
story, aside from its being exceedingly unlikely on its face, is in direct de-
nial of his confession to Kilham, after his arrest, that he had the shirt
on the morning of the murder.]
While they were robbing the house, I was frightened from alarming
the neighbors by Coon You's pistol. When I came to Jackson I did not
know where Coon See, Coon You and Ah Hung had gone, and thought
that if I went and informed the officers or anybody else they would blame
the murder on Chou Yee and myself, and that we would be hung certain.
It was before the butcher came that the man got the rope. After-
wards the butcher came and I got the meat. He was mistaken about
seeing Griswold, or any Chinamen except Chou Yee and myself there
that morning. Griswold was not in the house until after he left, and it
was a half hour after he (the butcher) left before Coon See, Coon You
and Ah Hung came along and committed the murder. [The butcher un-

23
ºf see Griswold at the house, and at least two Chinamen be-
º º and Chou Yee. It is morally certain that the fatal blow
was struck in a very few moments after the butcher had left.
I made the slung shot, but it was not used to kill Griswold. It was
hanging up in my room. I made it to carry with me. when I should
come to Jackson, at night, to use in case I should get into a fight in a
Chinese brothel. The wounds on the back of Griswold's head were of a
character that could scarcely have been made with a club. - He must
have been struck with the slung-shot, or a hammer, or something of the
* seen Coon see at Kilham's by himself, to change dust, two or
three weeks before the murder. Then he and Ah Hung game together
and got dust changed. Finally Coon You came along with the other
two, and they committed the murder. . . -
I never saw the rope until they were tying it on Griswold's neck. Ah
Hung brought the club they struck Griswold with—he came there using
it canº Coon You held it in his hand when I pushed the door open
between the kitchen and the front room.
when I talked with Coon See in the kitchen, he told me that he would
come another day and rob the house. This is the reason I gave no
alarm to Griswold: I intended to tell him, after they should leave, to
“ look out for them.” -
I have heard Coon See talking in the jail here that he was in jail a
long time in China for killing a man He was in the Chinese army
three years.
Coon You has said in jail that he was a robber and pirate in China,
and that he was a great scoundrel there.
As a dying man, knowing that my end is at hand, I aver all that I have
said to be the solemn truth.
I think my brother and father will send for my bones after I am dead
and take them home to China. I think Ah See will do something for
me after I am dead; he told me the other day, as he passed along by the
jail, "Don't be scared, Fou Sin; after you are dead I will look out for you.”
I would some rather they would send for my bones, but do not care
very much. I have seen so many people burried at sea; their bones can-
not be sent back, and white men in California allow theirs to rest where
they are burried. But I would a little rather they would send and take
me back to the Flowery Kingdom; I hope and think they will. Then
hath the spirit peace forever.
Fou SIN's STATEMENT IMMEDIATELY AFTER ConVICTION.—The evening
of the day on which he was tried, after the jury had brought in a ver-
dict of GUILTY, Fou Sin was visited by Senator Goodwin, (who had ar-
rested him in Marysville,) Mr. Kilham, and Mr. Carvalho, (Chinese In-
terpreter.) He then made the following statement, which has never been
made public ; it is published now in order that the reader may compare
it with what he had to say but a little time previous to the day fixed for
his execution:
Fou Sin states that while at work, as cook, at the house of Mr. Kil-

24
ham, a Chinaman by the name of Coon See (jointly indicted with Fou
Sin, for said murder) come to Mr. Kilham's and inquired how much wa-
ges he got, to which he replied $30 per month, then Coon See said that
was very little money; that there was a good deal of money kept in the
house, and that he would do something. That Chou Yee was a friend of
his (Fou Sin); lived in Jackson, and came to see him, at Mr. Kilham's,
often. That on the morning of the murder Chou Yee was with him at
Mr. Kilham's ; that Coon See and Coon You, (all jointly indicted with
Fou Sin for the commission of said murder, ) and a Chinaman from indi.
an Creek, named Ah Hing, were all at Mr. Kiſham's ; that Coon see
told him he wanted to do something ; that he wanted the money in the
safe; that he asked him how he could get it that Coon See said, if no
other way, he would kill the man there, (Mr. Griswold). That he told
him if he was going to do that he would go away, as he did not want to
be there if they were going to kill Mr. Griswold; that he would be ta-
ken soon ; that Coon See, Coon You and Ah Hing went into the house,
leaving him and Chou Yee outside in the kitchen ; that when he was
paring potatoes he heard a noise in the dining room; that he wentim.
mediately and looked into the door and saw that Coon You had struck
Mr. Griswold with a club, and that the other two in the house were
drawing a rope around his neck, and they told me if I said anything they
would ſix me the same way they had the white man; that we concealed
the body and started towards Jackson ; that I told the remainder of the
party that I could not walk, being very lame and sore at the time; that
Coon See said “you can ride.” I said, “Yes, I can ride.” Coon See
then gave me a bag of gold dust, with 106 ounces in it, and said that
was for me and Chou Yee. We then procured horses in Jackson and
started towards Folsom, near which place we left the horses. We went
to Sacramento, where we met a Chinaman by the name of Ah Kin, who
told us where we could stop over night. Ah Kin told us to go out next
morning towards the bridge, over the American river, to a certain house
and stay until the stage came along, for Auburn, and then get in and go
That he (Fou Sin) and Chou Yee went out to the bridge, when they
were taken and held by nine Chinamen, and robbed of all the money;
that Ho Tung took the money and handed it over to Ah Pung, after
which I told them that I would go back to Sacramento, to the Station
House ; that I had no money and I would be taken sure ; that Ah Kin
said that I was a fool, that they would not tell, &c. After this Ah
Pung took the bag of dust, and told me and Chou Yee to hold our
hands, and he, Ah Pung, poured out a single handful of dust for each of
us, to pay our expenses, and told us to go ; that we then went to Au-
burn, and stopped at a house there; that while supper was being pre-
pared, myself and Chou Yee went out to see the town, and that while
so engaged we saw a great many persons rushing into the house where
we had put up; that he inquired what all that meant.
Then a man told him that some Chinamen had killed a white man aſ
Jackson, and that some Chinamen had just stopped there, and that the
were looding after them. I knew they were after us, and we started ſº
Ophir immediately, where I stayed about two weeks; Chou Yee stai

25 -
about one week, when he went to Long Bar on the Yuba river, where H
joined him, at which place Istayed about five weeks. Chou Yee is a
washer. We went to Marysville two or three days before we were ta-
ken, where we found Ah Cow, whom I knew in the Sandwich Islands-
He learned everything, and I suppose gave information so as to get the
rewards offered for our arrest and delivery to the authorities of Amador
county, California. [Signed in Chinese characters by Fou Sin.]
ATTEST : J. O. Goodwin,
CHs. T. CARWALHo.
LETTER FROM FOU SIN TO HIS FATHER & BROTHER.
The following letter from Fou Sin to his father and brother, at Hong
Kong, in China, will be read with more than ordinary interest. Fou
Sin wrote it, in the Chinese language, in his cell, about ten days previous
to the day of the execution. It will be read with more than ordinary
interest; it is a peculiar production, and, in a literary point of view,
certainly possesses merit. The original letter will be duly forwarded, as
directed by Fou Sin, to his father and brother in China ; it was deemed
proper to open it and have it translated, for obvious reasons. Notes
are added to the letter by Chou Yee, (spelled Teu Yee,) Coon You,
(Koon You,) and even by Coon See, (Ah Koon See,) the one who
hung himself in his cell, and against whom Fou Sin was supposed to en-
tertain the most bitter hatred. The translation is by CHAs. T. CAR-
v.ALHo, Esq., the accomplished Chinese Interpreter in the employ of the
City and County government of San Francisco. It will be seen that
the interpreter spells the name of Fou Sin, Fou Seen, which is no doubt
nearer correct. There were two envelopes, the translation of which
will be found below: ºn
OUTSIDE ENVELOPE.
“The within letter I will trouble you to take to the Man. Lee Store in San
Francisco, and there deliver it to Ngae Lee in person, who in his turn will for-
ward the enclosed sealed envelope to my family, for which I will feel obliged,
“Cheung See, on receiving this, will in his furn see that this be delivered to the
Man Lee Store in San Francisco.
“Forwarded by Fou SEEN, Folded with hands of exceeding good will.”
INSIDE ENVELOPE,
“OPEN Not THE WITHIN. Folded with hands of exceeding good will.”
True translation. - -- - C. T. CARWALHo.
FOR THE IMFORMATION OF HIS EXCELLE.W. Cy My F.4-
THER: In the 4th year, 4th month of the Emperor Ham Fung's reign, I took
passage aboard of a ship and came to the Sandwich Islands, on the 25th day of
the 10th month following. There I began to get work. In the 6th year, 3d
month and 22d day of Ham Fung, being animated with the desire of gain, and
also very desirous of work, I went, (with another friend, a little man.) to the
“Russian Possessions,” and was doing very well on board the vessel. On the gth
month, 21st day, after my discharge, I turned my thoughts to my native village;
but of what use? I was out of employment. Tºtherefºre shipped again, on the

26
28th day, and arrived on the 12th month, 28th day, at the City of San Francisco.
I worked there immediately, and was in service from the 8th day of the 1st month
till the 18th day of the 4th month, when I fell sick. On the 29th day of the 8th
month, having recovered my health, I went up country, and arrived at Jackson
after one day’s travel in a wagon. There I was engaged as servant by an Ameri-
can gentleman, and remained in service over a month. A friend of mine wanted
to beat the foreigner. He went, and others helped him. The American was
killed, and we were put in prison. On the 12th month, 20th day, we were indict-
ed. On the 1st month, 12th day, we were convicted. On the 3d month the sen-
tence of the law will be consummated. Behold one, behold all!
For THE INForMATION of My YoUNGER BROTHER : Your brother still lives. Listen
to me. He has words for you. Take heed; I warn you. My words are those of
true affection. When you become a man, be not wild, nor frivolous, nor fond of
wild plays. Let your words be truth. Avoid idle talk. On you is now centered
the affection, so complete, of a whole house. Whilst this I say, still you are my
brother to all time. “One thousand lengths shorten one's existence. I cannot
speak, so I must write to my younger brother. (Think not deep!) There is my
box,” which will be duly transferred to you. Show it to father. I think my brother,
and all my relatives may like to see it. My brother, take heed. You are still
ignorant. I am true. All I have now, behold; nine finger nails, which will be
transferred to you with the box. When my younger brother gets them, he must
not cease to hold me in remembrance.
Written with all good will. Forwarded to the family on the 8th year, 2d
month, 28th day of the reign of *ś Ham Fung,
Green spring, I await you in gladness.
Who can obstruct or impede the vast harvest of the grain?
True felicity must come from self, otherwise ’tis nothing.
After joyful spring, comes tedious autumn.
[Signed, FOU SEEN.
Within the enclosed letter are two gold pieces of the value of $5; besides,
there is a box, which will also be delivered.
My body hath gone before me, borne on clouds. My youth was coupled with
twenty springs; I was unconscious of it, but thus it was. I loved to follow the
bridegroom of the Southern Hills. [Signed, TEU YEE.
Sing and dance; truth is complete ; evil smoke will again arouse the suspicion
of foes and men. Now let me wear the flowered cap, wrapped in golden garments,
and my brow decorated with gems. [Signed,l AH Koon SEE.
“May pity be as ceaseless as the motion of the leaves of the dancing pine
tree, fanned by zephyrs' wings.”
Music and the practice of the guitar hath its time. The spirit will mount, borne
by red incense, full of fragrance; the fulfillment, like a gem, is soon wrought.
[*An Ambrotype.] [Signed, Koon You.
True translation, by CHAs. T. CARWALHo,
Chinese Interpreter to the Gov't. of San Francisco,
Ah Kin, spoken of by Fou Sin and Chou Yee as the leader of the
party of Chinese who robbed them at Lisle's Bridge, (as they aver,)
and with whom Coon You says he traveled to Sacramento the day after
the murder, was acquitted in the Court of Sessions, Amador county, on
the 13th inst., on an indictment charging him as an accessory “after
the fact,” to the murder of Griswold. He left Jackson immediately,
and will probably keep away from Sacramento, where there is probably
more satisfactory proof against him.
27
It is proper to state that, upon the whole, Fou Sin has conducted
himself with marked propriety in the jail. Some of his own countrymen
received his “blessing” in terms by no means complimentary; but the
proper treatment he received from the officers of the prison seemed to
be properly appreciated, and they testify to his good behaviour.
N
\
N
º
|
[From an Ambrotype by O. Hemenway, Jackson.]
CHOU YEE, THE Q RANCH COOK.
The above likeness of Chou Yee may be relied upon as correct, and
will be recognized by all who knew him. Chou Yee spoke the English
language indifferently; but through the kindness of Dr. Sam’l. Page,
(acting as interpreter,) the reporter is enabled to present his statement
exactly as it was given:
I came to California from the Sandwich Islands, in the bark Yankee,
about one year ago. I am to be hung, and I will not tell a lie. I got
acquainted with Fou Sin in the Sandwich Islands. After we came to
Califoruia, I worked with him three months in the California Hotel, San
Francisco, and then went to Stockton. From there I went to China
Camp, in the Southern Mines, (the place where Coon See was after-
wards arrested.) I cooked at that place four months for Miles.
I never mined any. From there I came by stage to Jackson, and work-
ed on a ranch three miles from the latter place for two months; got $5,
could get no more, and left. Came back to Jackson and stopped about
the Union Hotel two days, and then went to the Q Ranch and cooked for







28
two months. I then went to San Francisco and met Fou Sin there. He
had no money and no work; I advanced him $30 to come up country
with, and we came together. Fou Sin was in Jackson a week before
Mr. Kilham hired him. After he had been working for Kilham ten days
or so, I went out there once or twice to get the money he owed me.—
Two weeks of the time Fou Sin was at Kilham's, I cooked at the La-
fayette Restaurant in Jackson; then the Frenchman came back, I was
thrown out of employment, and went again to Kilham's to get my mon-
ey from Fou Sin. He paid me $5 before Griswold was killed. The
morning Griswold was killed, was the fourth time I visited Fou Sin at
Kilham's. About 8 o'clock that morning three Chinamen came there.
About half past mine, Griswold came in and took a drink. At this
time, Coon See and Ah Hung were concealed under the blankets on
Fou Sin's bed, and Coon You was standing in the kitchen with a pistol
in his belt, concealed under his coat. [Griswold must have gone into
Fou Sin's room to get the drink, and would undoubtedly have discovered
Coon See and Ah Hung had they been concealed—the room was a very
small one, and the bed very narrow.—Rep. At the time of the mur-
der, Griswold was sitting at the table in the front room, or office, with
his back to the door opening into the kitchen. Coon You was standing
at the outside kitchen door, back, watching to see if anybody was com-
ing. Coon See took a short piece of stove-wood, (not the club that was
introduced in court,) and struck Griswold on the head. Ah Hung strang-
led him with the chord. They then put him under the bed and nailed
the board on. The slung-shot was not used; I had seen it before,
but do not know what Fou Sin had intended to do with it. Coon See
and Ah Hung opened the safe and took the dust. Fou Sin got $1,800,
which he was to divide with me; Ah Hung $1,200, Coon See $1,200,
Coon You $800–$4,800 in all. Coon See also got a large pouch or
purse, but I do not know what it contained. [A large purse containing
coin, not dust, was kept in the safe. This may have been the purse Chou
Yee mentions, and it may have contained coin enough to make up the
$8,000 or $9,000 actually taken from the safe—the sum shown to have
been in it at the time of the robbery, by Mr. Kilham's own books and
those of his bankers, D. O. Mills & Co.]
Coon See and Ah Hung were lying on Fou Sin's bed, covered up with
the blankets, when I got to the house. I did not get there until it was
all over. Fou Sin told me all these things. When I got there, Gris-
wold was killed and nailed up under the bed; Coon See and Ah Hung
were on the bed, covered up with the blankets. [Like all the others, he
labors to conceal his own absolute participation in the murder, but does
not lie with sufficient skill to deceive any one; he traps himself—they
could have had no desire to be concealed on the bed after the dead
body had been placed under it. Their object then was to be off as quick
as possible.]
Fou Sin and myself were robbed at Sacramento by Ah Kin and oth
er Chinamen. We went to Auburn, Left there because the officers
were after us. Stopped at Ophir and Long Bar; I left Fou Sin and went
to Marysville three weeks before him. [Fou Sin says they went together.]

29
I had known Ah Cow, who had us arrested by Mr. Goodwin, in the
Sandwich Islands. He had once been a gambler in Sacramento;
killed a Chinaman there, robbing him of $5000, and fled to the Sand-
wich Islands. I don't know exactly when he came back—not until he
was satisfied there would be no danger of his being arrested.
The watch Goodwin found on me at Marysville I paid $100 for in
Sacramento; this was money I made at the Q Ranch where I worked
two months for $120. [By no means likely, especially when it is rem-
embered that even if he had been paid such wages, his trip to San Fran-
cisco must have exhausted a considerable portion of it...]
Coon see and Fou Sin had the fight about the money—[the one they
had in Jackson, witnessed by Mrs. Greenholgh, j-they said Fou Sin had
too big a share. When Coon See took hold of Fou Sin, I stopped it.-
Fou Sin, in the scuffle, dropped some dust in the road.
Fou Sin gave me Kilham's guard-chain, to put on my watch. Coon
See had given it to him. -
We all five came from Kilham's to Jackson together. Some men saw
us coming. Coon See, since he has been in jail, says he paid one of
them, (a white man,) $100 to go away and not appear against him.
Stampsºn'ſ IMMEDIATELY AFTER Conviction.—The following is the
statement of Chou Yee, made on the evening of the day on which he
was convicted : -
I came to California one year ago. Served last as cook at the Q
Ranch. I know Fou Seen; have known him for some time; once three
years. We are great friends; he is not a bad man. On the day of the
murder I was with Fou Seen in the house where he was serving as cook.
Suddenly three men came ; they were Chinamen. Their names are
Koon See, Koon You, and a man from Indian Creek. I was outside
the house when the murder was committed. I did not see who struck
the blows, or who strangled. I believe Koon See struck and the Indian
Creek man and Koon You helped to strangle. I do not know anything,
however, about this. After the murder, I accompanied Fou Seen, who
hired horses, and arrived afterwards at Sacramento. There we were
robbed of all our money. An Keen [or Kin, tied my arms; I told
him it was not necessary to use any violence. The money taken from
both of us on the Sacramento bridge was given to Ping Ah Ping, a Chi-
naman living in Sacramento. I do not know his occupation ; lives
probably in a brothel. I am destined to die; I will therefore not lie.—
What I have said now is the truth. his
-- CHOU × YEE.
ATTEST : CH. T. CARWALHo. - mark.
- -
ºn sº I
30
[From an Ambrotype by O. Hemenway, Jackson.]
COON YOU, YOUNGEST OF THE THREE.
The likeness of Coon You is perfect. All that he would confess, is
given below. He did not speak English, and his statement, (the latter
one,) was obtained through Dr. Page.
I belonged to the Cheung people in China. I am twenty years old.
I have a wife in China; she is of my age; we were married when we
were seventeen. [Afterwards he said he was 17 now, and was married
when he was 14.] I have been in California since last year.
I was not at Kilham's at all. Coon See and and I met the others
coming away from there. They had gold; Coon See asked them where
they got so much. They told all about it, and gave us some to go away
and not tell about it. They gave me a hundred and odd dollars, when
they were dividing the money, in Jackson; they took dust out of a purse
and gave it to me. The lady, [Mrs. Greenholgh] saw us at the time—
(Chou Yee had the gold, and Coon See was going to fight for it. Chou
Yee had only given Coon See four or five $10 pieces. Coon See and I
both asked Chou Yee for some money, for which he drew his knife upon
both of us.
Fou Sin told me that Chou Yee struck the blow, and that he, (Fou
$in,) drew the chord about his neck. I was not there when Griswold
was killed. The butcher was mistaken about seeing me there.
I never made any statement before this. [False.]


31
I had a claim on Sutter creek, about a mile below Sutter Creek. I
took breakfast in Jackson the morning of the murder. [He was arrest-
ed at Sutter.]
STATEMENT IMMEDIATELY AFTER Conviction.—The following is the
statement which Coou You made on the evening of the day on which
he wins convicted :
My name is Koon You. I had no hand in the murder of the Ameri-
can. Koon See acted the principal part. He took me there that day,
saying he was going up to Mok. Hill. Koon See struck the blow on the
American's head; it was done with a heavy club. I do not know where
the club is now. Fou Seen was there at the time, and helped to stran-
gle the American. There were five of us in all : Fou Seen and Chou
Yee, Koon See and myself, [here he hesitated, but at last said, and a
man of the name of Ah Hing [or Hung, from Indian Creek. After
the murder we separated. I deposited some ninety-five dollars in the
Lung Kee store, and went to Sacramento City with Ah Keen, [or Kin.]
I then went to San Francisco. Coon See opened the safe ; I do not
know how much money was taken out.
[Signed in Chinese characters by) Koon You.
ATTEST : CARVALHo, Chinese Interpreter.
-
SUICIDE OF COON SEE.
The following is the verdict of the Coroner's Jury, before Coroner Kibbee, of
Amador county:
WE, the Coroner's Jury before Coroner A. D. Kibbee, this tenth day of April
1858, at Jackson, in Amador county, do find that the dead body, before us, is that
of Coon See, a Chinaman, who was a prisoner in the county jail, of Amador coun-
ty, at the time of his death, and that he came to his death on the night of the
ninth day of April, 1858, by hanging himself by the neck, with a string, in his
cell—that the string was made of strips torn from his shirt, and that his death
could not easily have been prevented by the officers having him in charge. The
officers are entirely exonerated from all blame in the matter.
H. C. MEER,
WESLEY JAckson,
FRANK Robertsos,
John B. PHELPs,
W. R. McCorwick,
JonATHAN Evans,
John LEvinsky,
M. ABRAMs,
W. M. McKINNEY,
G. B. UNDERwood,
HENRY MARoy,
THos. GREENHolga,
A. D. KIBBEE, Coroner.
32
THE PUBLISHER returns his singere thanks to the Sheriff of the county, W. J.
Paugh, Esq., and to Messrs. Waterman H. Nelson and A. J. Tompkins, and Mr.
Hamilton, for their uniform kindness and the numerous favors and facilities ex-
tended, without which the statements of the accused could not have been obtained.
The ambrotypes were taken by Mr. Hemenway, of Jackson, who is beyond a
question one of the finest operators in the country. The pictures were exact, al-
though taken under unfavorable circumstances—in the front room of the jail, with
very little light. Fou Sin and Chou Yee were not dressed in the costume of their
country, and none of them had their heads shaved, in Chinese style, during
their confinement in the prison—a period of several months.
The wood cuts, by Messrs. Sterett & Butler, of San Francisco, are certainly very
superior. Better likenesses, on wood, we have never seen; and this opinion is
fully concurred in by all who knew the Chinamen.





Amanº wºn tº
BOO | A N ID
|| || ||
COURT STREET, JACKSON.
|lain and famºn Jrinting of all Descriptions
- - - - -
NEATLY AND EXPEDITIOUSLY Exºcutºp
|AT THE
T. A spºnsºn & Co.
- - - - -
O. HEMIENT WAY'S
FINEST IN THE WORLD.
-
I would call the attention of the citizens of Jackson and vicinity to the
fact that I have just received a lot of new material, and am now prepar-
ed to take, in the very latest style,
Daguerroetypes, Mmºrotypes, Melainotypes, ºc.
AND AT PRICES TO SUIT THE TIMES.
The public are respectfully invited to visit my rooms, over the Lafay-
ºtte Restaurant, foot of Main street, Jackson.
- - - - -

-
-
-
-



























ºaº,
( Murder eſ M. V. 3. Gºwo (4 - - - IVoº Sºzºa
1853 -
Mu. Vo was ºn 2/