JESSE HARDINB PUTERLY.
The Most Remarkable Case in the History
of Crime or Criminal Law.
ILLUTSTER_A_TED_
PRICE, FIFTY CENTS.




3-º-





T H E L I F E
JESSE HARDING PDIIIERLY.
The Most Remarkable Case in the History
of Crime or Criminal Law.
BY E. LUSCOMB HASKELL.
TTLLUTSTIE, A-TED-
BOSTON : 1892.
Copyright, 1892, by E. Luscomb Haskell.





INTRODUCTION.
There has been so much said and written concerning JESSE
HARDING POMEROY, the noted Massachusetts boy murderer, a
large amount of which has been indefinite and to a considerable
extent untrue, that I decided to write an account of his life.
This interesting character, who in boyhood became a part of
the criminal history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, con-
tinues to attract universal attention. No prisoner is more noted
or more inquired after than he..
The story of his crimes is not familiar to many at present. It
affords a basis for the study of criminals and causes which lead to
the commission of outrageous offences.
Under the law no one is allowed to see Pomeroy, except those
in authority and concerned in the management of the penal insti-
tutions of Massachusetts. As a result no opportunity has been
afforded to photograph the criminal to satisfy public curiosity.—
Three of the illustrations in this book were drawn from memory.
The view of the Massachusetts State Prison at Charlestown and
the scene in the prison yard were obtained from photographs.
In searching for facts in regard to the subject of this volume I
was assisted by several gentlemen to whom I hereby return many
thanks.
Histories of noted criminals are always interesting and I trust
this one will be no exception to the rule.
THE AUTHOR.
Boston, Mass., 1892.


THE CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
POMEROY'S CLOSE CONFINEMENT IN THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE
PENAL INSTITUTIONS.
CHAPTER II.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE BODY of THE MUR-
DERED MILLEN BOY.
CHAPTER III.
FINDING OF THE REMAINS OF KATIE CURRAN IN A CELLAR IN
SOUTH BOSTON.
CHAPTER IV.
THE TRIAL OF POMEROY FOR THE WILLFUL MURDER OF THE
LITTLE MILLEN BOY.

CHAPTER V.
THE MOST REMARKABLE CASE IN THE HISTORY OF CRIME OR
CRIMINAL LAW
CHAPTER VI.
THE TRIAL RESULTS IN THE CON VICTION OF POMEROY OF MUR-
DER IN THE FIRST DEGREE.
CHAPTER VII.
POMEROY’s NUMEROUS BUT UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO ES-
CAPE FROM CONFINEMENT.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE MANNER IN WEIICH THE CON VICT PASSES HIS HOURS. –
** A CHILD OF THE DEVIL.”
CHAPTER IX.
A GLANCE AT POMEROY'S YOUTH. — JESSE'S UNACCOUNTABLE
DEPRAVITY.

ILLUSTRATIONS.
- -
I. Subject of Volume.
II. Exterior View of Pomeroy's Room. The prisoner's
cell is approached through an unoccupied room, which is
secured by an iron door. From this room another iron
door opens into Jesse’s apartment. The circular hole in
the granite was made to afford an opportunity to look into
the cell without being seen.
III. Interior View of Pomeroy's Room. The convict seems
alarmed and appears to be listening intently. To allow
a view of the unoccupied cell the artist represents the
door between the cells as being open. The door is, how-
ever, always closed. In this room Pomeroy lives, never
going outside of it.
IV. View of the Massachusetts State Prison at Charlestown.
V. Scene in the prison yard. Convicts marching.


CHAPTER I.
POMEROY'S CLOSE CONFINEMENT IN THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE
PENAL INSTITUTIONS.
There can be no doubt that the most interesting convict in the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, if not in the whole country, is
JESSE HARDING Pomeroy.
He is the only convict in the United States who is absolutely
consigned to a cage, and who is looked upon by the community as
a veritable fiend.
For years he has been an inmate of the Massachusetts State
Prison and has been a constant source of trouble and annoyance
to the officers of the institution.
His history is interesting for he is a person with very marked
characteristics. There are peculiar people, those with hobbies and
who are often called “cranks,” who are met with every day.—
Some of them have a leaning toward one thing and some another.
It has been said that such persons were born with these peculiari-
ties and that they have no control over their actions when directed
in the line of their characteristics. It is a question with not a few
intelligent men and women whether a person should be punished
for doing a thing which he or she could not help.
20

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
It must be admitted that when the inclinations of an individual
are such that the community is endangered it is a public duty for
the proper officers to take charge of such a person.
Whatever then may be the opinion of any one in regard to the
punishment inflicted on the subject of this book certain it is that
the public is better satisfied and feels a greater security with
Pomeroy safe behind the bars of the prison.
There are those who do not believe in solitary confinement of
convicts. This statement is corroborated by a letter published by
a prominent New York daily newspaper, of which the following is
an abstract :
“Solitary confinement of refractory criminals in prisons or
reformatories, or of the inmates of lunatic asylums, is unquestion-
ably just and wise, but solitary confinement for a long term of
years of a human being in a normal state of mind, would seem to
be more in the nature of a torture worthy only of the middle ages.”
Solitary confinement, or what is in reality isolation in Pome-
roy's case, to the average mind is most terrible. And yet what
could be done with Pomeroy if he was allowed the privileges of
the prison, the same as other convicts 2
Neither the prison officials or the public would tolerate his be-
ing given an opportunity to be at large even behind the high walls
of the institution. It might be possible that he would make a suc-
cessful escape.
such is the feeling in regard to this one man that mothers es-
pecially would be in a constant state of alarm from fear that he
would escape and do irreparable injury to children, or that he
would at the first opportunity commit another murder. -
- It is, therefore, desirable that this convict should continue in a
condition of isolation inside the granite walls of the Massachusetts
State Prison. It is far better that one individual should suffer than
21

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
that the community should be placed in fear. Even the fact that
he is in close confinement is not wholly satisfactory to many repu-
table citizens. They are not backward in expressing their belief
that the Commonwealth would have been far better off had he
been executed soon after the time of his conviction, rather than
that the death sentence should have been commuted to close con-
finement for life in the state prison.
There is a limit to human endurance. It is not well to bestow
too much charity on such a man as Pomeroy.
Time, as is well known, tends to soften the asperities of the
human heart and often leads one to condone grievous faults. It
is well, under all circumstances, to examine into the causes which
lead to the condition of affairs, weigh the evidence on both sides,
and award a verdict in accordance with the facts. The one-sided
view taken by not a few in regard to criminals does not benefit
the community, which must be protected from the evil disposed.
Law must be respected.
The general condemnation of Pomeroy has, doubtless, pre-
vented the circulation of a petition for his pardon, or to allow him
some of the privileges enjoyed by the other convicts. His crimes
were outrageous. Had it not been for his youth he would have
paid the penalty for his offences on the scaffold.
He took a fiendish delight in tormenting and torturing boys,
who were younger than himself. When asked why he did so he
would reply that he could not help it. Some unknown power
seized him and he was changed, almost instantly, from a boy in his
teens to a devil. He loved to witness the effects of his cruel acts
and would dance in glee around the victim he had selected for his
horrible pleasure. These facts would have seemed impossible of
belief had it not been for the testimony, which was introduced at
22
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
the trial, and the admittance of its truth by the counsel for the
defence.
The point which counsel sought to make was ; that while
Pomeroy was guilty of atrocious murder he was not responsible
for his acts. That he was insane and that the jury should find
him not guilty by reason of insanity. If the jury had returned
such a verdict it would have been obligatory upon the supreme
judicial court to have sentenced the prisoner to one of the State
asylums for the insane during his natural life. Very important
evidence was presented on both sides, the most expert doctors on
insanity being placed on the witness stand by the defence as well
as by the government.
The jury, notwithstanding the able efforts of counsel for the
defence, returned a verdict of murder in the first degree. The ev-
idence of the insanity experts was so contradictory that the jury
could not well consider that the prisoner was insane although he
was wanting in will power. In a few words, Pomeroy, when op-
portunity offered, would commit assaults, knowing at the time
that he was doing wrong, and yet was not possessed of sufficient
moral strength to resist the temptation. This has been the case
with many criminals, but they have not been lead to commit mur-
der, or to inflict torture. I bring to mind one man, now serving
out a sentence in the Charlestown prison, this being his second
term in that institution.
This man would be law-abiding so long as he abstained from
the use of liquor. As soon, however, as he became intoxicated he
would steal. It made no difference to him what article he pur-
loined. He seemed to be impelled to commit a theft. When he
had become sober and informed of what he had done he could




23

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
give no reason why he had stolen. There are convicts in the
Massachusetts State Prison, and, I doubt not, in similar institu-
tions in other states, who steal every time a chance is offered.—
They steal from each other. They love to steal ; they cannot re-
sist the desire. Whether this desire was born in them, or ac
quired, I am unable to say.
It is not my intention in this history to enter into a lengthy
discussion on the subject of Pomeroy's sanity. Nor is it my desire
to comment on existing laws as regards the conviction and impri-
sonment of men and women, and children, who commit offences
because they “could not help it.” The legislatures of the various
states are ever endeavoring to make the laws more humane. —
Whether these deliberative bodies have succeeded in this direction
it is for the public to judge. The community must not, however,
be subjected to the evil acts of individuals, and offendors against
society must be punished whether or not they were impelled to
commit the acts.
I do not want to be understood as being devoid of sympathy
for the convict, confined in a penal institution under a heavy sen-
tence. I have a very warm place in my heart for this class.
Some of the convicts in the Massachusetts bastile have occu-
pied high places of trust, but in an unguarded moment turned
from the path of honesty and then, in a shorter or longer period
of time, reached the state prison.
In dealing with convicts it must be kept in mind that they are
human beings and should receive the sympathy and care of the
State.
It is in this light that the case of Pomeroy should be viewed.
24
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
He is a ward of the State and must be cared for as humanely as
possible. It is well, however, that he is confined more closely
than any of the other prisoners in the institution. The interests
of the community are better subserved in this way. He is not
likely to harm any one in his present apartments and his incarcer-
ation has not, apparently, done him much injury. Jesse must be
looked upon as being situated in the best possible manner for the
public and himself.
I cannot do better, in order to give the reader valuable in-
formation, than to quote from an interesting pamphlet, entitled,
“Criminals,” written by Dr. Charles D. Sawin, formerly physi-
cian at the Massachusetts State Prison, and who had Pomeroy
under his care for five years. The learned physician said :
“For the sake of refreshing the mind of the reader we will
state that Pomeroy was tried and convicted in 1874 for the murder
of a little boy four years and three months old, and during this trial
it was proven that he had at various times been guilty of acts of
the most atrocious cruelty towards other children. As the Dis-
trict Attorney stated in his opening address, this child when found
possessed a body still warm, throat cut, and some fifteen or
twenty stabs in the region of the heart. * >k × ×
The little boy’s hands were wounded more or less ; there were
marks of wounds upon his arms, suggesting, perhaps, the possi-
bility of feeble struggles to resist.”
The government charged deliberate murder with malice afore-
thought, and carried out with a considerable degree of atrocity
and cruelty. A number of experts were called in and examined
Jesse on various occasions previous to the trial. When actors
disagree in their estimate of such a well-defined character as

25

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
Hamlet, how is it to be wondered at that mental experts offer such
divergent views concerning the responsibility for his acts of such
a young boy as Pomeroy, when playing on the stage of life.
Pomeroy entered the prison, his sentence having been com-
muted to solitary imprisonment for life, Sept. 9, 1876, when he
was seventeen years old. During a portion of his term he has
been permitted many privileges and diversions, such as reading
and painting. At one time he evinced a strong desire to improve
his mind, and he studied French, German and Latin. His knowl-
edge of the languages is, however, only a smattering one. Of
late, he has taken a special liking to chemistry, and a slight spark
of inventive genius has been manifested in his endeavors to con-
struct a hollow self-sharpening lead pencil, in which he takes
great pride. His paintings are hardly worth admiring, but he
looks upon them as works of art, this fact demonstrating to the
observer that his standard is not very high. Without doubt, his
intellect and moral sense must have improved to a certain degree,
since he has not associated with other prisoners, and he hasn't
passed through any stage of devolution.”
His first punishment in prison was four and a half days in a
dark cell, on Nov. 9, 1877, for “trying to escape, digging cement
out of a cell.”
On the average, he has received six and one-half days’ pun-
ishment each year, in most cases for tampering with his cell struc-
ture in attempting to escape. He, on one occasion, was punished
for insolence to an officer ; once for refusing to obey an order,’
and once for writing an insolent letter to the warden.”
Not very serious offences these.
26

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
He has never exhibited his former love to torture at any time
during his incarceration in prison, which seems rather strange
were he insane at the time of the murders.
He is remarkably cunning, clever, and quick to see the drift
of any conversation, logical and clear in understanding, but nota-
bly self-willed and persistent. His bodily health has been re-
markably good, eating and sleeping well ; seldom complaining of
his diet and never asking for favors or extra rations. × ×
In a recent interview, he stated that he thought his memory
was very good in regard to some occurrences ; as, for instance,
his life in jail and his first four years in prison, but he had no
recollection of ever meeting Dr. Folsom, and only an indistinct
remembrance of his trial.”
According to Dr. Sawin, Pomeroy has not suffered in bodily
health during his many years of close confinement. Imprison-
ment for a long term of years has not, in numerous instances,
proven hurtful physically.
There was one convict in the Massachusetts State Prison, who
was pardoned after serving thirty-five years of a life sentence. —
When he left the institution he said that he had never seen a horse
car and knew but little about steam railroads. He was in good
health, and his eyesight was not impaired to any great extent. —
He said he had never expected to leave the prison, but as he was
to be a free man he would pass some time in finding out what had
been going on while he had been in imprisonment.
The New York Sun recently contained the following remark-
able statement : “A few weeks ago a brigand chief, Domenico
Nocchia, was released from the Naples prison, after having been
27

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
shut up for sixty years. He is now eighty-three. After an unus-
ually brilliant career of brigandage and 35,000 francs had been
set upon his head, he was condemned to prison for life in 1831.”
It is natural to suppose that men confined in a prison would
pine away and die. Such is not the case. The individual, having
been apprehended, tried, convicted and sentenced to a term of
imprisonment, changes the course of his existence when he enters
the prison. If he has no ailment at that time, or has not an he-
reditary trouble, his chances for a long life are good. His mind,
the great factor in the matter of his health, becomes tranquil. —
He finds that a prison is not the terrible place that he had once
imagined it was. He realizes that he has become a debtor to the
community by reason of his having violated the law, and he be-
gins to pay off his indebtedness. These statements are corrobo-
rated by the fact that there has rarely been a suicide, or an at-
tempt at suicide, in the Massachusetts State Prison. I can only
re-call, in twenty-five years, but one suicide and only one attempt
at self-destruction.
In the first instance, there was a cause for the suicide, if there
ever was a good and sufficient reason for such an act. The con-
vict had been a prominent financier. He lived in luxury and
the society of his family was courted by persons of wealth. His
resources seemed unlimited. And yet there came a day when he
was arrested on a charge of fraud. His conviction soon followed.
and in a short space of time he donned a convict's garb. He bore
up grandly. He learned of the disasters to his family with com-
parative composure. He was told by his wife that all of their
property had been seized for the satisfaction of injured parties,
and that she had gone to work as a dressmaker in a not very
2S

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
fashionable part of the city of Boston. She found no fault with
him, but cheered him by words of encouragement and continued
affection. -
He was strengthened by her words. Her letters and visits to
him made him happy, very happy, even in his prison dress and
narrow cell. He knew that in time he would be a free man and
that he could try and retrieve his shattered fortune by a course of
honorable dealing with his fellow man. As he looked forward he
could discern rifts in the dark clouds of his existence and through
them he caught glimpses of the bright sunlight of joy and pros-
perity. He was lifted above the surroundings of a life of penal
servitude. With the pictures of his dear, devoted wife, and his
children, ever in his mind his pathway became less thorny and
his burdens easier.
But there came a time of the greatest sorrow for this convict.
His wife, unaccustomed to the hardships and deprivations of life,
became ill. Sad were the moments, and very, very long were
the hours during which he awaited the receipt of tidings from the
bedside of her whom he loved ; whom he adored.
At last the final blow came. A female relative called at the
prison to see him. He was summoned from his work into the oc-
tagon, and this relative abruptly informed him that his wife was
dead.
The prisoner bowed his head and wept. In his deep anguish
the visitor upbraided him for his criminal acts, which had brought
him to prison. She charged him with causing the death of his
wife. With bitter words she told him of the disgrace he had
brought upon his family. She left him angrily.
29




THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY,
He was not aware of her departure until the officer in charge
of the octagon touched him gently upon the shoulder. He looked
up. He was very pale and tears continued to course down his
cheeks. He returned to his place in the workshop. Although
granted permission to pass the remainder of the day in his cell
he declined the offer. When evening came he returned to his
room. He did not take his supper from the kitchen slide. No
one will ever know the bitterness of his thoughts at that time.
He had in his cell a quantity of Paris green. How it came
there I could never ascertain. Here was a means of ending a life,
which had become unbearable. Where could he look for consola-
tion ? Death now had no terrors for him The narrow confines
of a grave were far more desirable than the mental torture he was
undergoing.
All that he had to live for had suddenly become eliminated,
for his children had also passed away. The darkness of despair
enveloped him.
He took the poison and it did its work, although the convict
died in the greatest agony. At the autopsy the operating sur-
geon remarked : “He and I were school-fellows. I never
thought I should stand over his remains uuder such sad circum-
stances. His life has shown what an inordinate desire for wealth
may do for a man. I hope that his spirit has found rest.”
The instance of an unsuccessful attempt at suicide in the
Massachusetts State Prison was that of a convict, about thirty
years old, who leaped from the upper corridor of the west wing.
His right shoulder struck against the iron steam-piping, near the
floor, and he was only slightly injured. The prisoner gave no
explanation for his act.
30
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
Jesse Pomeroy has never made any attempt to injure himself.
He is very considerate concerning his person. If he ever did en-
tertain a desire to commit suicide, which I think he never did, he
must have been kept from attempting self-destruction by the re-
gard he has held for his relatives. Some of them have been very
faithful to him. Their words have always been those of great
encouragement.
I remember, quite a number of years ago, of reading a letter
sent to Jesse. In it he was told to be good and true. He was re-
quested to study and acquire knowledge. He was assured that he
would not always be a prisoner, confined as he was, but that he
would be released in time and would associate with people of the
world at large. He was told that some day he might occupy a
high position in society. The letter showed that there was some
one who loved him, notwithstanding the bitterness of the world
toward him. Although his hands had been bathed in human
blood there was an affection which had not been obliterated.
He has been visited by relatives whenever the regulations of
the prison would admit. There can be no doubt that some of his
relations have the kindest and most sympathetic feelings for
him. The idea that he was insane when he committed his cruel,
atrocious and murderous acts is, doubtless, entertained by them.
31


CHAPTER II.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE BODY OF THE MUR-
DERED MILLEN BOY.
To furnish accurate information relative to the discovery of
the body of the murdered Millen boy, for the commission of
which crime Pomeroy was arrested, tried and convicted ; and to
show the intense feeling of the public, I have taken an account of
it from the Boston Globe of Thursday, April 23, 1874. The re-
porter, it appears, was very careful in the presentation of the im-
portant facts. The recital of the story of the crime of nearly
twenty years ago thrills the blood and arouses feelings of indig-
nation. The reporter's story follows :
“A murder, which, considered in view of all its horrible at-
tending circumstances, perhaps, surpasses in cold blooded atro-
city any deed of its nature ever recorded, came to light, yester-
day afternoon, at 5 o'clock, by the discovery of the body of the
victim on the beach of Dorchester Bay, midway between South
Boston and Savin Hill. The murdered person was a boy, four
and a half years old, named Horace H. Millen, whose father re-
sides at 253 Dorchester street. The first intimation which the
authorities had of the affair was when a deaf mute boy, of about
fourteen years, came up to Officer Lyons of Station 9, drawing
32
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
his hand across his throat and mysteriously pointing in the direc-
tion of the place mentioned. -
The officer hardly knew what to make of the boy’s motions,
but finally concluded to follow him, and presently came upon the
explanation, the corpse of a then unknown child, lying within a
circle of stones piled up for a clam bake. The throat was cut
from ear to ear, an ugly stab had completely put out the left eye,
a deep wound had completely severed the jugular vein, and sub-
sequent investigation exposed the horrible fact that eighteen
stabs, forming a circle of about three inches diameter, about the
breast, had been made with some instrument like an awl, or a re-
markably slender knife blade, and that with a view to severing
an artery a stab had been inflicted, penetrating the groin to a
considerable depth.
The deaf-mute had been playing about the swamp and beach
and having discovered the body, had hastened to inform the first
officer whom he should meet.
The body was at once taken to Station 9, and by the direc-
tion of Coronor Allen was delivered to Undertaker Waterman.
The news was received at the Chief's office at a little after 5
o'clock and measures were at once set on foot for the unravelling
of the mystery. The first fact ascertained was that the boy’s
name was Millen. Information had been given at Station 6, in
South Boston, that Horace H. Millen was missing. The de-
scription given of him coincided exactly with the appearance of
the murdered child. The size, age, colors of hair and eyes and
dress were exactly alike, and, when the coroner waited upon the
bereaved parents and gave a minuter description than had previ-
ously been given, the fact was clear. The boy had not been seen

33

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
since 10 o'clock in the forenoon, at which time he was at play
with his mates at the corner of Dorchester and Eighth streets.-
He did not come home to dinner and as the hours went by, with-
out his making an appearance, his parents became more and
more alarmed and were preparing to fear the worst when the
awful tidings reached them.
This much ascertained, of course, the next question had to
do with the murderer. Here there was nothing to guide the in-
quirer except mere guess work. It seemed to be the impression
among the detectives that no person of sane mind could have com-
mitted the murder, so inhumanely cruel, so unnecessary to the
execution of any intent were those horrid mutilations. A lu-
natic, possibly, might take delight in such barbarity, but another
explanation seemed more probable. Some one recollected a hor-
rible tragedy enacted about two years ago in Chelsea, which
those, who had read at the time, must certainly re-call now. In-
deed, one could hardly soon forget a crime so outrageous.
An East Boston boy was enticed from his home and taken
to the seclusion of Powder Horn Hill, where he was found tied
fast to a tree and cut, and stabbed, so terribly that, after the most
excruciating suffering, he died within a very short time. The
fiend, who perpetrated this diabolical deed, was a boy named
Pomeroy, who was tried, convicted and sentenced to two years at
Westboro. The similarity of the two murders was so great that
it seemed almost a logical conclusion that they were the work of
one and the same hand.” These were the impressions which pre-
vailed soon after the discovery of the murder.
Late at night, of the day of the commission of the crime,
Sergeant Lucas and Patrolman Adams of Station 6, South Bos-
34

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY,
ton, arrested Pomeroy and locked him up to answer to a charge
of willful and deliberate murder.
The next day Detective Woods took Jesse to the warerooms
of the undertaker, where had been placed the remains of the
Millen boy. Jesse was put in a position so that he could look
upon the body of his victim. He turned his head from the sight
became pale and trembled.
Several questions were asked the prisoner, in substance, as
follows :
“Was you acquainted with this little boy 2 °
“Yes, sir, I was,” replied Jesse.
“Did you cause his death 2 °
“I suppose I did, sir.”
“How did you get the blood from the knife ; did you wash
it off 2 *
“No, sir, I kept sticking it in the mud until it was clean and
there was no blood on it.”
At the conclusion of the interview Pomeroy was taken to the
Suffolk County jail on Charles street, Boston, to await the action
of the coroner's jury.
The preliminary inquest, commonly known as the view, was
held at Undertaker Waterman's, under the supervision of Coro-
ner Allen. The jury was composed of the following named gen-
tlemen : William P. Wentworth, foreman, Benjamin Bracket,
Byron Lord, S. D. Waugh, J. F. Pond and G. W. Downs. –
The investigation revealed only what has been previously stated :
but it seemed to be the impression of the jury that the wounds
35

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
about the heart were inflicted in the way of torture. The little
boy's hands were badly cut, from which it was inferred that he
had put them up to ward off the strokes of the knife, or other
instrument, and that histormentor had rebuked him by an occa-
sional slashing cut. Death, it was thought, was produced by a
stab in the neck, which severed the jugular vein, and that the
fatal wound was, probably, not given until the murderer's cruel
propensities had been completely cloyed.
The public was deeply interested in every detail of the horri-
ble affair and anxious awaited the result of the inquest. On
Tuesday evening, April 29, 1874, the following verdict was ren-
dered by the coroner's jury :
* That the said Horace Holden Millen came to his death be-
tween 11 o'clock in the forenoon and 5 o'clock in the afternoon of
Wednesday, the 22d of April, 1874, from loss of blood and inju-
ries received in the neck and chest, which injuries were produced
by some sharp, or cutting, instrument.
Aud the jury further find, upon the testimony before them,
that they have probable cause to believe that said murder was
committed by one Jesse Harding Pomeroy.
The verdict was very warmly endorsed by the public.
It should be stated that at the inquest Pomeroy accounted for
his whereabouts on the day of the murder. He said he had
never seen the Millen boy until he was brought before the body.
He also denied that he had made a confession.
Meanwhile the funeral of the murdered boy had taken place.
Rev. Mr. Rand officiated. The remains were taken to Wiscasset,
Maine, and buried. The fellow-workmen of Mr. Millen gave
36
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY,
him a purse of $50 and the officers attached to Station 6, South
Boston, presented the grief stricken parents with $150 in money.
An attendant at the inquest thus described Pomeroy :
“He sat quite unmoved in his chair, telling his story without
embarrassment. He is a boy a little more than five feet high,
slim, straight, and when standing with his face averted presents
a very good appearance. It is his face that tells the story of his
life. To one who has studied the human countenance, a glance
is sufficient. He sees in a moment how it was possible for him to
perpetrate the outrages for which he was first taken into custody,
and can readily believe him guilty of the horrible murder of
which he is now charged. The cast of the right eye has nothing
to do with this impression. They are wicked eyes, sullenly,
brutishly wicked eyes, and as in moments of wandering thought
the boy looks out of them he seems one, who could delight in
the writhings of his helpless victims beneath the stab of the
knife, the puncture of the awl, or the prick of the pin, as he so
often has delighted. -
There is nothing interesting in the look. It is altogether un-
sympathetic, merciless. But more than all the rest is the sensu- -
ality that hangs like lead about those sunken eyes, and that
marks every feature and contour of the face. The pallor of his
complexion, the lifeless, flabby look that pertains to his cheeks, -
correspond with this view ; and when the boy walks it is not the
bold, bouyant movement of an innocent lad, but apparently the
shuffling of one whose thoughts are of the lowest kind.”
on Saturday, April 27, 1874, Pomeroy was brought before
the Highland District Court, Boston, and charged with the mur-


37

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
der of the Millen boy. He pleaded not guilty and was com-
mitted to jail without bail till the next Friday, May 1, to await
the result of the inquest. When he next appeared in the lower
court he waived examination and was again committed to jail :
this time to await the Grand Jury. This body returned a bill of
willful murder against him. His next hearing was before the Su-
preme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.
38

CHAPTER III.
FINDING OF THE HIDDEN REMAINS OF KATIE CURRAN IN A
CELLAR IN SOUTH BOSTON.
While the excitement was at its height in regard to the brutal
murder of the Millen boy there were many inquiries in relation
to the whereabouts of a little girl, named Katie Curran, who had
been missing for some length of time. Search was made almost
everywhere for the child, but without success.
The state of the public mind can, therefore, be better imag-
ined than described, when the announcement was made that the
decomposed remains of a child had been discovered in the cellar
of the store occupied by the Pomeroys in South Boston.
Immense crowds quickly congregated in the vicinity of the
store. Had not the people had that respect for law and order
characteristic of New England, Judge Lynch would, undoubted-
ly, have held high carnival at the time.
As it was, the police, fearing an uprising of the populace,
took into custody the mother and her son, Charles, in order that
the temptation for lynching one or both might be removed.—
Crowds gathered about Station 6, South Boston, and it was some
time before quietness was restored.
39

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
By the kindness of the genial and popular editor of the South
Boston Inquirer, Mr. Charles L. Storrs, I was granted the privi-
lege of consulting the files of his interesting weekly newspaper.
From that publication I quoted the following account of the find-
ing of the body of the little Curran girl, the date being July 20,
1874 :
“Last Saturday afternoon the community was startled and
shocked by the information that the body of Katie Curran, who
has been missing since March 18, had been found in a cellar in
Broadway. The scene of the terrible tragedy and the horrible
revelation was the premises 327 Broadway.
The remains were discovered in a corner of the cellar, in a
sort of recess made by a water closet and the foundation wall.
The body was partially covered with ashes and stones, and
was found by a workman, who was employed in removing the
wall. The remains were in such a state of decay as to prevent
identification.
Word having been sent to the police station, Officer Adams,
who came up with Officer Foote, recognized some of the clothing
as belonging to Katie Curran.
Coroner Ingalls and Undertaker Cole were called in and the
parents of the child were sent for.
Mrs. Curran at once recognized the clothing as being that of
her Katie when she was missed.
Chief of Police Savage was sent for and on his arrival he im-
mediately ordered the arrest of Mrs. Pomeroy and her son,
Charles. Officer Adams took Mrs. Pomeroy to the station and
Charles was arrested later by Officers Mountain and Deveney,
40
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
upon his return from carrying his evering papers. Both were
taken to the station, partly as important witnesses and partly to
protect them from violence by enraged and threatening people.”
By direction of Coroner Ingalls, Constable Rockwood sum-
moned as a jury Messrs. I. T. Campbell, James Malcom, Thomas
Gogin, Bernard Jenney, Charles H. Hersey and E. H. Gill.
Sunday forenoon the Coroner and jury visited the premises
and viewed the remains, which had been taken to the City Point
tomb. The next day, Monday, in the afternoon, witnesses were
heard.
The witnesses heard at the inquest were :
Mrs. Kate Curran.
Mr. John Curran.
Chief of Police Savage.
Mrs. Ruth Ann Pomeroy, then 33 years old.
Master Charles J. Pomeroy, brother of Jesse.
Sergeant Hood of Station 9.
Miss Emma Lee, 6 years old.
Special Officer Edward Mitchell, on duty on Chester Square.
Sergeant Emerson, and Officers Thomas H. Adams, Asel
B. Griggs and Dennis Mountain, all of Station 6.
Miss Minnie Chapman, a girl who lived with Mrs. Pomeroy.
Messrs. Charles McGinnis, John B. Margeson, John Foote,
Thomas Murphy, James Nash, Thomas Tobin and William B.
Rohr ; and Mrs. W. E. Margeson and Miss Margaret Lane.
Most of the evidence was to the effect that the Curran girl
was missed on a certain day and had not been seen alive since

41

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
that time. The clothing, found on the body of the deceased, was
identified as that worn by the child on the day she was missed.
There was very important evidence given by Chief of Police
Savage, which was of such a positive character the murder of the
Curran girl was traced directly to Jesse, and he, in addition to
circumstantial evidence, admitted committing the deed and de-
scribed how it was done.
The following excerpts from the testimony given at the in-
quest are interesting :
Chief Savage testified that after the arrest of Pomeroy some
trivial circumstances came to his knowledge, which led him to
instruct the captains of all the stations to search every cellar,
well and by-way in their districts where there was even the re-
motest possibility that the body of the girl might be concealed.
He said that he gave special instructions to Captain Dyer to
search the cellar of the Pomeroy's ; and upon Captain Dyer
informing him that his orders had been obeyed the Chief said he
became satisfied.
The Chief stated that he was in South Boston after the
body was discovered. He found the feeling so strong against
Mrs. Pomeroy that he deemed it advisable to order her to be
taken into custody.
He also said that he had interviewed Pomeroy at Charles
Street jail after the finding of the remains of the Curran girl. —
At the interview the following dialogue ensued :
Chief. – “Jesse, do you know me * *
Pomeroy. – “Yes, sir.”
Chief. – “What do you suppose I came to see you about * *
42

THE IIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
Pomeroy. — “To talk about that case.”
Chief. – “What case ??? -
Pomeroy. — “The case of the little boy.”
Chief – “ No ; I came to tell you that Katie Curran has
been found buried in your mother's cellar. Your mother and
brother have been arrested for the murder. Can you tell any-
thing about it * *
Pomeroy hesitated, choked and replied, “ No.”
The Chief said he made another visit when Jesse said : “Mr.
Savage, I killed her but don’t want tell how.”
After some additional conversation with the prisoner Chief
Savage was agreeably surprised to find that Jesse would make a
full confession of his horrible murder of the innocent little
Curran girl.
Pomeroy at once proceeded to make a rough plan of the cel-
lar, where the body was found. He then began the narration of
a story, which illustrated his extreme disregard for human life.
His confession was in substance as follow :
* I opened mother's store the day of the murder at about 7.30
o'clock. The girl came in for a paper. I told her there was a
store down stairs. She went down to about the middle of the
cellar and stood facing Broadway. I followed her. I put my
arm around her neck, my hand over her mouth, and with my
knife cut her throat, holding the knife in my right hand. I then
dragged her behind the water closet, laying her head furthest up
the place, and I put some stones and ashes on the body. I took
the ashes from a box in the cellar, I sent a boy into Hoyt &
Lawrence's store, near by, and bought a knife for 25 cents. The
43

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
knife was taken from me when I was arrested in April last.
When I was in the cellar I heard my brother at the outside door,
which I had locked after the girl came in. I ran up the stairs
and saw him going towards the cellar in Mitchell’s part. He
came back when he saw me. Two girls worked in the store for
my mother. They usually got there about 9 o'clock in the morn-
ing. Mother got there later. Brother Charles and I took turns
in opening the store till about April. My brother and mother
never knew of this affair. I forgot to tell you that I washed my
hands and knife, they being bloody, at the water pipe.”
The evidence presented by Chief Savage was of itself suffi-
cient to warrant the jury in returning a verdict charging the
murder to Pomeroy. Other testimony was taken so that the in-
vestigation might be full and complete.
-
The inquest lasted several days. When all the testimony had
been taken the jury, after considering the evidence, rendered a
verdict as follows :
* That Katie M. Curran came to her death on or about the
18th of March, 1874, at 327 Broadway, South Boston, by the
hands of Jesse H. Pomeroy. He has acknowledged the crime,
and all the evidence corroborates the statement.
The jury also find that either before or after the commission
of the murder the girl’s person was mutilated with a knife or
some sharp instrument.”
It was the circumstances attending the finding of the remains
of the Curran girl which led to the resignation of Captain Dyer
of Station 6. It will be noted that in his testimony at the Coro-
ner's inquest Chief Savage stated that he gave special instruc-
44
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY,
tions to that officer in regard to searching for the missing girl.
The cellar was said to have been searched, and Chief Savage was
given to understand that fact and also that the missing girl had
not been found. When the body was discovered the Captain left
the station in charge of a lieutenant, because, it was stated, he
had not the heart to look upon the scene of the murder.
Captain Dyer was summoned before Mayor Cobb of Boston
and with few preliminaries the officer handed in his resignation.
45


CHAPTER IV.
THE TRIAL OF POMEROY FOR THE WILLFUL MURDER OF THE
LITTLE MILLEN BOY.
On Tuesday, Dec. 12, 1874, Pomeroy was placed at the bar
of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts to be tried for
his life.
The clerk of the court read the indictment, charging him.
with the murder of the Millen boy.
Pomeroy pleaded not guilty.
Joseph H. Cottom, Esq., at present Associate Justice of the
Municipal Court for the Charlestown District, had been counsel
for the defence.
When the case came to trial it was conducted by Hon.
Charles Robinson, Jr., whose efforts in behalf of his client
were characteristic of the able lawyer. He devoted his best en-
ergies to save Pomeroy from an ignominious death upon the
scaffold.
The trial excited more than ordinary interest even in murder
cases. The court room was crowded from day to day and the
testimony was carefully noted.
46
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
After a jury had been selected District Attorney May de-
livered the opening argument as follows :
“ May it please the Court and you, Gentlemen of the Jury :
The prisoner at the bar, Jesse Harding Pomeroy, stands indicted,
as you have just heard, for the murder of Horace H. Millen.
Murder, gentlemen, according to the definition which form-
erly prevailed, was an intentional killing of a fellow being.
Malice aforethought was and is the first element in murder ; but
as the experience of men became enlarged and, perhaps, the
spirit of christianity modified somewhat by the civilization of
the times it was found that there were degrees of depravity even
in murder itself.
Formerly the killing of a man intentionally was considered
even in its least aggravated form as justly forfeiting the right of
the murderer to live. But a more humane view has been taken
of that and the law now, both in this State and in most other
civilized communities, has established certain grades even in the
crime of murder.
-
It is obvious, gentlemen, that the man who goes deliberately
about the murder of his fellow man for gain, for instance, and
uses violent means, discovers a more deliberate malice than the
man, who, in a passion, suddenly, though unintentionally, kills
his fellow man, after more or less provocation.
In this State, gentlemen, the law has defined murder to be of
two degrees : murder committed with deliberately premeditated
malice aforethought, or in the commission, or attempt to commit
any crime punishable with death, or imprisonment for life, or
committed with extreme atrocity or cruelty, is murder in the first

47

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
degree. Murder not appearing to be in the first degree is murder
in the second degree. The degree of murder shall be found by
the jury.
According to the view, gentlemen, which the Commonwealth
takes of the evidence in this case it will not be necessary for me
to detain you a moment with any observations upon the law of
homicide under circumstances which reduce the grade below that
of murder.
The facts in this case, gentleman, are briefly : that on the
second day of April last the body of a boy, an infant I might
call him, four years and three months old, - three months and a
few days, - was found upon the marsh that lies intervening be-
tween the promentory of Saven Hill in Dorchester. It is in
what is known by those who have lived in that section of the
city as “ the Cow Pasture,” a large tract of marsh land lying
east of the Old Colony railroad and Dorchester Avenue and
stretching away nearly east for a mile to the water. About half-
way down that marsh, about two thousand feet in a straight line
from Crescent Avenue station on the Old Colony railroad, and
but a few feet from the water's edge, the body of this little boy
was found, while it was yet warm, with the throat cut, some
fifteen or twenty stabs in the region of the heart and mutilated
>k sk sk × *k
The little boy's hands were also wounded, more or less. –
There were marks of wounds upon his arms, suggesting, perhaps,
the possibility of feeble struggles to resist. This body was found
by another boy, who had been down there, I think, clamming
with his brother, and it was found about 3 o'clock, if I remember
48

THE IIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
right. Upon discovering this body the little boy, Powers, looked
away up the marsh towards the railroad and saw two men, One
of whom had a gun. He immediately went to that man, told
him what he had found and requested him to go with him to the
place. That man, accompanied by his friend, who was with him,
— he had been out shooting at a mark within a very short time
there — then accompanied him to the spot and there found what
I have already described.
He despatched messengers hither and thither for police
officers and remained there until the police officers came. After
the police officers came the body was taken to the Crescent
Avenue station, off the marsh, then to Police Station 9 in Rox-
bury, and thence to the undertaker's.
After an inquest had been held the body was returned to the
parents, who meanwhile had been found. The parents of this
boy, Millen, had not resided long in South Boston ; but a few
days, I think, certainly but a few weeks.
On the morning of the day when this boy disappeared he was
at play in the neighborhood of his father's, about the steps —
there was, I think, a flight of steps on the corner of Eighth
Street and Dorchester Avenue — where children were accus-
tomed to go, and he was seen about the steps.
The last that his mother saw of him was about half-past 10
o'clock. She was, I believe, engaged that day in washing, or
was quite busy. He had been out to play and would occasionally
run up to the house to speak to his mother and then run off.
The last time she saw him was about half-past 10 o'clock, when
she gave him a penny to go the baker's and buy him a cake. He
49
N



THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
was seen afterwards between half-past 10 o'clock and half-past 11.
There will be amongst the witnesses some discrepancy as to
the time, because the time was not noticed then there being no
occasion to notice it carefully. But from half-past 10 to half-past
11 o'clock he was seen in that neighborhood by several people
accompanied by a larger boy, whom the government expect the
evidence will satisfy you was the defendant at the bar.
Subsequently to that time they were seen together on the Old
Colony railroad from a quarter to half-a-mile distant from this
boy's house – the Millen boy's house – going towards McKay's
wharf, which lies just at the edge of this cow pasture, or marsh.
That was not far from 12 o'clock, and not far also from 12 o'clock
the two were seen together, apparently having gone down on
McKay's wharf, crossed a bridge, which leads from that over the
creek to the boat house, which is upon the shore, and jumped off
from this bridge on to the marsh.
Having jumped off from this bridge upon the marsh they
proceeded down till they came to a creek, which they passed, or
went around, I am not certain which. Then they came to a
ditch, when the Pomeroy boy lifted the Millen boy over. At
this creek they were met by another boy, who was coming off,
who had been down where they were digging clams and was
coming off the marsh. Then it was not five minutes from 12
o'clock — just after 12 o'clock.
The Pomeroy boy spoke to this boy, who was coming off,
and enquired what the men were shooting down on the marsh.
He received a reply and then went on with the Millen boy, lead-
ing him by the left hand. As I have said just now, when they
came to the ditch he was seen to lift the Millen boy over and set
50

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
him down. Then they proceeded, side by side, down the marsh.
He was not seen again by that witness. It will be shown to you,
gentlemen, that the tracks, which were made both by the Millen
boy and by the Pomeroy boy when they jumped from the
bridge on to the marsh, correspond exactly to the boots worn by
the respective boys.
The body was found some fifty feet, I think, across the creek,
half-way down the marsh, on the South Boston side. There
were about there many footsteps, because divers parties had
visited the scene ; four men and some boys certainly, perhaps
five, before any particular examination was made.
Upon a careful examination it was found that at the nearest
practicable point of crossing that creek, on returning towards
Boston, there were footsteps. We shall show you that similar
tracks were found from that point leading towards the point
where the body was found, here and there, of course, there being
a difference in the impression made according to the varying
hardness, or softness, of the marsh, and according as it was
covered with sand, or covered with grass, as it was in different
places.
There were plain indications of two sets of tracks, large ones
and small ones, having the same relations to each other ; that is:
the small ones were on the left side of the larger, and at divers
points corresponding exactly with the boots, which were worn
by the respective boys.
There were footsteps, corresponding exactly, upon applica-
tion being made with the boots which were worn by the Pomeroy
boy, and from point to point along the curve of the marsh these
51

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMETROY.
tracks could be traced until, forced by another creek he passed
around it and crossed the track by which he went down to the
place where the body was found.
We shall show you, gentlemen, that a boy corresponding in
size and appearance and in dress, so far as those were observed,
was seen about 1 o'clock running off the marsh in the direction,
which those foot prints indicate, towards the Old Colony railroad
and frequently looking behind as if pursued.
The Pomeroy boy resided in South Boston, on Broadway,
not far from the place where the Millen family resided. -
These are the main facts, gentlemen, which the Common-
wealth will produce to you upon this line of the prosecution.
The Commonwealth will also introduce to you another and a
distinct species of evidence. That is confession And they
have been somewhat embarrassed in determining whether they
would not rely upon the confession alone without going into the
details of a murder attended by such atrocity. But upon the
whole it was thought the prudent and the better course to pre-
sent to you, substantially, everything that was known by the
Commonwealth about the matter. And it is with that view that
I have detailed to you the evidence which the Commonwealth be-
lieves will satisfy you that Horace H. Millen was murdered by
Jesse Harding Pomeroy.
You will now see, gentlemen, the reason why I did not feel
it my duty to address you at all upon the grade of homicide less
than murder. The Commonwealth cannot conceive that there
can be any doubt that, whatever else may be thought about this
transaction, there can be no doubt that it was a murder with
52

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
deliberately premeditated malice aforethought ; and that it was
a murder attended by such circumstances of atrocity and cruelty
as to bring it unquestionably within the definition of the statute
constituting murder in the first degree.
My duty, gentlemen, is substantially performed, having thus
stated to you the facts which the Commonwealth expect to
prove and the law upon which they rest their case.
I know, gentlemen, that I need not say that you occupy a
responsible position. I know I need not say to you that
the safety and the stability of society practically rests in your
hands.
Every one of us has yielded his right of personal and
private vengeance to the society, which has taken that right
in trust and which has promised to protect all from the un-
lawful acts of such members of society as may not be re-
strained and controlled by law.
And it is because that right has been yielded that we live
in a community, where life and property are regarded as safe,
since the tribunals have been of such a character that they
have discharged fearlessly their duty in the protection of the
public.
I shall not, gentlemen, take up your time with any other
observations. The Commonwealth has no interest in stimu-
lating you to do anything which is not necessary for the pub-
lic safety. The Commonwealth can have no possible object in
the conviction of an innocent person ; but the Commonwealth,
represented here by its prosecuting officers, is bound to carry
out in good faith, for the protection of the innocent and the
53
THE IIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
law-abiding, the trust which is imposed upon them, and which
they have accepted, of protecting those who have yielded their
own right of self-defence.”
54


CHAPTER V.
THE MOST REMARKABLE CASE IN THE HISTORY OF CRIME OR
CRIMINAL LAW.
Hon. Charles Robinson, Jr., made the opening argument for
the defence.
In addressing the jury he said he feared “that Jesse did kill
the boy.”
He stated that the crime was committed April 22, 1874, and
that Jesse at that time was fourteen years and five months old.
“An age,” said the counsel, “ when, the law says, he can be held
for the crime. It is the most remarkable case in the history of
crime, or criminal law.”
The lawyer proceeded and stated that at one time Jesse ill-
treated a cat, which was seen to run away from him, with eyes
glaring, showing that it had been in pain.
In the Winthrop school, in Charlestown, in 1871, he made
faces in school. The teacher said that at times it was utterly im-
possible to make him understand. When reprimanded he would
say, “I could not help it.” He thought it very unjust if he was
punished.
55
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
Continuing, Mr. Robinson said : “After that, I think, in De-
cember, 1871, was the first time that this boy departed from any-
thing so very unusual when he commenced a career, which is
certainly unknown before ; unparalled, I think, in the treatment
of other boys. Undoubtedly you may have heard of it.
I propose to put in the facts in the case as they came to my
knowledge.
I find that as early as December, 1871, while he was living in
Charlestown, he goes over to Chelsea and takes a strange boy
with him up to the top of Powder Horn Hill, some two or three
miles from where this boy lived, and entirely out of his duty,
calling or business, took the boy up there, a stranger, and strips
the young child, I think that follows in every case, whips the
child somewhat, and made him go through certain acts before
him and then told him to go home.
In February, 1872, another act of this kind occurred. The
boy goes from his home, unknown to his parents, and finds a boy
over in Chelsea, a stranger to him, and takes him up to the top of
Powder Horn Hill and there goes through similar actions with
him. I think that was in the winter. He was put up there in
some ice. He whipped the boy some, and stuck some pins in him
and went through a general performance.
I cannot detail each one to you.
Here in July, again, he took another boy, a Chelsea boy, he
still living in Charlestown ; for he went from Charlestown to
Chelsea ; he did not seem to go to any other place. He took
that boy up to Powder Horn Hill and went through the same
series with him. I do not mean to say precisely the same things,



56
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY,
but substantially ; whipping the boy more or less, taking off his
clothes and making him get upon a stone and dance. In one in-
stance he made the boy say “the Lord's Prayer.”
Here were three of them at Chelsea.
About the first of August the family removed to South
Boston. He had been there but a short time before he com-
menced the same thing there with the boys, who were utter
strangers.
On the 17th day of August he took a strange boy out near
these marshes, where the Millen boy was killed, and there he
goes through the same performances with this boy ; whips him,
strips him and makes him say things and dances around him.
The next transaction was on the 8th day of September, 1872,
when he takes another boy. He whipped them all, and made
them take off their clothes and went through these various per-
formances.
On September 11, three days afterwards, he took another one
of these boys, who were utter strangers to hini, and he to them,
out near the same place on the marsh. The four South Boston
boys all went out to the marsh. He went through the same per-
formance and took out a large knife, which he seemed to have
carried in a pocket in his coat. I understand it was a sort of old
butcher's knife, which was used about the house, or was used for
carving. This boy was the first one that was cut seriously. He
was cut on the head. I have the boy here. As I understand he
danced around him, and while the blood was on the knife and
running from it, he sat and laughed to see the blood dripping off.
Again, on the 17th six days afterwards, he takes another
boy, an entire stranger, out and ties him down to a telegraph

57

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
post, near the bridge there, out in that vicinity and whipped him
SOIne.
These matters, of course, you will, probably, remember, as I
do, were more or less exciting to the community as to who was
causing these acts. Subsequently, on the 20th day of September,
he was arrested as the party who was troubling the children.”
Counsel stated that he pleaded guilty and was sent to the
State Reform School. There was no proof against him except
the statements of small boys. There was some doubt of his guilt
in the community.
At the Reform School he attempted to use a knife but was
discovered by a teacher. -
When discovered he said he was not going to do anything.
At one time a snake was killed in the road. When Jesse saw
the blood he seemed to want to kill the snake again. It was with
great difficulty that he was got away.
After that he behaved well and was discharged from the
school. He said he would never do a wrong thing again.
Counsel continued : “The first transaction after he came out,
which I shall put in proof, is a transaction prior in date to this
murder. This transaction occurred on the 22d day of April. On
the 8th day of March, I understand, he did on that day kill the
Curran girl and under circumstances like these :
That Jesse, by his mother's request or general direction,
went to open her store. She kept a small place, being a dress-
maker and supporting the family by means of a store and her
labor. She sent him there to open the store. He had another
brother, an elder brother, who sold papers. He went there at
58

THE IIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
half-past 8 o’clock in the morning to open this store and while he
was there engaged in sweeping it out the Curran girl came in.
She was an entire stranger to him and he to her and before her
coming in there he did not know there was a Curran girl in the
world. She came in by direction of her mother to purchase an
article of some kind.
Instantly the thought came to him and he told her to go
into the cellar, and then within three minutes from the time the
girl went into that cellar, or store, she was dead ||
She went and asked for some article. He told her it was
down stairs. She went down and he immediately locked the
front door. As I understand, she stepped down and stood right
in the centre of the place below, facing Broadway. He stepped
up behind her and in an instant cut her throat.
It was done in an instant
She died quite suddenly, without any great struggle.
He then took her and drew her on one side and covered her
over with some few things, and left her. She was missed, but no
suspicion was aroused as to where she was and no tidings could
be got where she went to.
The next transaction was this transaction, of which you have
heard today. -
These are the particular transactions connected with this boy.
I understand the boy to say, since these matters came out,
that he cannot control himself ; that if he was out, that is, if he
was at liberty, he might do nothing, yet, on the other hand, if
the opportunity arose he could not resist even if it was your boy
or mine. As I once put the question : – 'If it was my little boy
59
THE LIFE OF JEssº HARDING POMEROY.
and I should leave him there would he be safe º: He said, “No."
He should not mean to do anything, but it did not make any odds
whose boy it was. If this feeling came up, which he cannot
control, and which, he says, is irresistible, he would do these
things again.
Those are the acts with which the boy has been connected,
something exceedingly remarkable.
From the evidence that I get in the case and what I shall be
able to offer to you, I think that I shall satisfy you that this boy
has an original defect, or want of capacity ; that there is some-
thing wanting in him, has always been wanting in him, and that
there is not a power in him by which he can control his actions,
or control these impulses, when these impulses come over him.
I have not been able to ascertain any motive why he does
these acts. I have failed yet to discover any motive. I propose
to put all these facts in regard to this boy before you and present
this case with a full statement upon every fact bearing and touch-
ing upon this boy because I feel like this : I feel that in one re-
spect this boy cannot go out safely. We all feel that it would
not be safe to the community to have him at large.
In my neighborhood, where I have my children, I would
move, because there is no more safety with that boy around than
there is with powder and fire in close proximity. Therefore I
have got this offer : I shall offer some evidence about these pe-
culiarities. I think there is an original want of capacity. I also
think there is evidenced here that there is a sort of mental dis-
ease, which affects him, and that these acts are the acts of
disease as well as of an original want of capacity, and that upon
no other theory can you intelligently account for his case.


60

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
Gentlemen : you perceive that there are some nine instances,
seven instances of cutting and torturing boys ; a confinement of
sixteen months in the State Reform School ; a discharge from
there ; and then a little more than two months from the time of
his discharge from the State Reform School he kills two
children. As I understand the case, if he had had an opportunity
within the last six months he might have killed six more.
Now, upon that matter, of course, you will understand by
what I have said the view I take of the case. I take this view of
the case : that this boy has not the capacity, either by a want of
having it originally, or by being born with evil powers, or by
reason of disease, he is not a being responsible. In other words
it comes within the language of the statute that he is an insane
person and insanity may be there. It is a term which is broad,
the term insanity ; yet the statute has defined it as follows :
• ‘The word insane person, or lunatic, shall include every
idiot, non compos, or insane, distracted person.”
I suppose I may also say that the term insane means also a
person who is of unsound mind. That if he is deficient in that
power by which he is able to control himself ; if he has not the
power to withstand. This boy understands what is wrong and
what is right. He understands, sometimes, if he does an act
that he is liable to be punished for it. And yet, notwithstanding
this, and although he was in school and learned somewhat rapid-
ly ; and from the statement, which he wrote and which was
read ; he has some capacity in that direction.
Nevertheless there is this element in him, by which he cannot
control himself at certain times, therefore, I shall present this
61
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
case to you as an act committed by him ; by a being, who was
not reponsible at the time, and, then, if he was not responsible at
the time, he is not within the statute, which I read, guilty of
murder in the first or second degree : but that he is a person,
who is not guilty by reason of insanity.
The legislature has passed a law to meet just such a case, -
The law reads :
* When a person indicted for murder, or manslaughter, is ac-
quitted by the jury by reason of insanity the court shall order
such person to be committed to one of the State Lunatic hospitals
during his natural life.”
I take it that this boy is of this class and upon the evidence
which I shall present to you when I come to present my view of
the matter, after hearing the evidence, to take that view of the
case. The law provides then how this boy shall be taken care of
and where he shall have restraint.
I believe I have stated the facts in this matter and all that is
necessary is to call my witnesses to give their evidence.”
62


CHAPTER VI.
THE TRIAL RESULTS IN THE CONVICTION OF POMEROY OF
MURDER IN THE - FIRST DEGREE.
As would naturally be expected there was a large number of
witnesses examined during the trial. -
The statements made by the District Attorney in his opening
argument were corroborated by witnesses so that, notwithstand-
ing the admissions made by counsel for the defence, the govern-
ment presented to the jury its case in full.
The defence did not attempt to show that Pomeroy was not
the person, who had brutally murdered the Millen boy, but en-
deavored to show that the defendant was not responsible for his
acts, as indicated in the able argument of Mr. Robinson given in
the preceding chapter.
Perhaps the most interesting witness was Mrs. Pomeroy, the
mother of the prisoner, who testified that the defendant was born
on Nov. 29, 1859, in Charlestown. She stated that three or four
months after his birth he had a disease of the skin and that there
was an ulcer on one of his eyes.
She said he had strange dreams, which he honestly believed
were actual facts.
63

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
He attended a Sunday school at a mission in Charlestown,
presided over by Rev. Mr. Barnard. She said that Jesse often
read the Scriptures to her.
She stated that Jesse had been an inmate of the Reform
School and that she worked hard to get him released. She was
very glad when it was accomplished.
She said Jesse was a bright scholar.
Among the other witnesses, who testified, were the police,
who were interested in the arrest of Pomeroy, and medical
experts on the subject of insanity.
As there always has been, and, doubtless, always will be, a
decided difference of opinion on the question of insanity, in
criminal trials especially, I have omitted giving a lengthy report
of such testimony in this case.
When one considers the fact that not a few medical men of
repute believe that crime of all grades is the result of insanity, it
can be readily seen that there was not wanting in Pomeroy's
case evidence tending to show that he was not responsible for his
acts.
The evidence being all in, then came the closing arguments.
Mr. Robinson spoke for the prisoner, claiming that insanity
had been proven.
Hon. Charles R. Train, attorney general of Massachusetts,
made the argument for the government, stating that their case
had been made out in every particular.
Chief Justice Gray delivered the charge to the jury.
When the jury returned the foreman stated, in answer to the
64
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY,
customary questions, that a verdict had been agreed upon and
that the prisoner had been found guilty of murder in the first
degree.
Jesse was apparently unmoved when he heard the foreman
announce the verdict.
Chief Justice Gray stated that he had received two docu-
ments from the jury ; one, recounting the atrocity of the crime,
and the other, recommending that the sentence be commuted to
life imprisonment.
Exceptions were filed by Mr. Robinson and argued by him.
They were opposed by Attorney General Train.
The exceptions were that Pomeroy was insane and that
certain medical witnesses had not been allowed to be fully heard.
The court took the matter under consideration.
The court finally overruled the exceptions.
Counsel for the condemned boy did not stop in his efforts to
save him from death upon the scaffold. Mr. Robinson said, “I
must save the life of that boy.”
There was no doubt that he firmly believed that Pomeroy
was insane.
The next step taken in behalf of the condemned was an
appeal to His Excellency, the Governor of the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts. Hon. William Gaston occupied that position
at the time. The last of March, 1875, a hearing was held before
the Governor and Council.
Mr. Robinson asked that the sentence of death be commuted
to imprisonment for life.

65
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
The prosecution was strongly opposed to such action and
called for the execution of Pomeroy in accordance with law.
No definite action was taken by the Governor and Council at
the time.
Interest in Pomeroy continued unabated and resulted in a
public hearing being called before the Governor and Council.
This meeting was held about the middle of April, 1875.
Governor Gaston and * full Council were present.
A numerously signed petition was presented, asking that
executive clemency be extended to Pomeroy.
The petitioners were represented by Hon. Charles Robinson,
Jr., and Rev. W. H. H. Murray. The remonstrants were repre-
sented by Mr. Paul West.
Dr. Norton Folsom, superintendent of the Massachusetts
hospital, and Dr. Walker, superintendent of the South Boston
Insane Asylum, stated that they believed that Pomeroy was
- morally and mentally insane.
Judge Dwight Foster expressed the opinion that the wretch-
ed boy should be kept in close confinement for life. “He came
into this world,” said the Judge, “with a propensity to commit
terrible acts and he should not be put out of it by the gravest act
of law.”
Judge Thomas said the boy was born with a congenital
weakness and was not morally responsible for his acts. He also
said that Pomeroy was a dangerous person and should not be at
large.
Rev. Mr. Murray strongly urged the granting of the request
of the petitioners.


66

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
Mr. West presented a petition in opposition to a commuta-
tion of sentence. -
Col. Henry H. Wilson spoke in behalf of the ladies, who
had signed the remonstrance. He said : “I see nothing that
calls for mercy in this case, but only a piling up of barbarous
crimes, which should not be mistaken for symptoms of insanity.”
Mr. Robinson closed the hearing, speaking at length on the
mental condition of his client.
The Governor and Council again took the subject under con-
sideration.
Meanwhile Pomeroy remained an inmate of the Charles
Street jail in Boston.
The Governor would not issue the death warrant, and,
consequently, the execution could not take place.
The much discussed question of what to do with the mur-
derer remained undecided until Sept. 2, 1876, when Governor
Rice, who had succeeded Governor Gaston, and his council, by a
vote of six to three, commuted Pomeroy's sentence to close con-
finement for life in the Massachusetts State Prison.
This was the first and only vote taken by the Council. The
reason given by the majority for their action was the recommend-
ation of the Pomeroy jury.
Soon after decided action had been taken in this case the law
was changed in regard to executions in Massachusetts, making it
obligatory upon the Court, and not the Governor, to set the time
of death of a condemned criminal.
There was more or less feeling concerning the action of Gov-
67
º
º
º
N
H



THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
ernor Rice and Council in regard to Pomeroy. “Why should
Governor Rice hang Pomeroy when Governor Gaston would
not do it º’ was asked by Governor Rice's friends of those
opposed to the commutation of the sentence of the boy fiend.
The editor of the South Boston Inquirer expressed the
feelings of many residents of that section when he wrote: “The
community is disappointed with the result and we presume the
whole State will be. There is no safety for the people while such
a monster lives, even if he is confined ; escape is possible ; par-
don is probable in a few years. It is well the charge of murder
of Katie Curran still remains as a final resort in case he is par-
doned.”
Pomeroy entered the prison soon after the commutation of
his sentence. -
68

CHAPTER VII.
POMEROY’s NUMEROUS, BUT UNSUCCESSFUL, ATTEMPTS To
ESCAPE FROM CONFINEMENT.
From the time when Jesse was locked up in jail until the
present day his greatest desire has been to effect an escape.
Like a bird in a cage, he has been continually in search for
some weak spot in his room by means of which he might gain his
liberty.
No one can conscientiously blame Pomeroy for this for the
reason that in the first place death stared him in the face. And
secondly, after the commutation of his sentence, there was before
him a life of imprisonment.
By attempting to make an escape he has had everything to
gain and not anything to lose. If detected in his efforts to obtain
his liberty there could be but little additional punishment in-
flicted upon him. He was suffering the most severe punishment
the State could give him. He was living in what might be
termed a tomb
It was with the idea that he would cheat the gallows that he
attempted to effect an escape from the Charles Street jail while
awaiting the disposition of his case.
69
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
The discovery of this attempt was made on Tuesday, July
20, 1875.
With the aid of a piece of wire, broken from his tin basin,
he began digging out the mortar in his cell. So well did he
plan the work that, but for a timely discovery, he would have
been able in a few hours to have got into the corridor. Once out-
side his cell it was his intention, it was said, to knock down, or
even kill, any person, who stood in his way.
He next made a study of a window, recently put in. He
wrote to friends, with the idea of attempting to make an escape,
to bring him a file concealed in a banana. He said he wanted to
go to Canada |
Letters of this character were found and laid before the Goy-
ernor and Council.
After Jesse had been committed to the Massachusetts State
Prison at Charlestown he began to cause trouble for the officers.
At the same time some of his relatives appeared to be very
anxious concerning him. They often expressed fears that he was
being harshly treated. This, however, was very far from being
the fact.
It was some time in the year 1887 ; I think it was in the
Spring ; when a relative of the convict urged that something be
done for Jesse, who was suffering from an ingrowing nail on the
big toe of the right foot. General Chamberlain, then warden of
the prison, said that Pomeroy should be properly attended to in
that particular.
Dr. Latimer was the prison physician. He made an exami-
nation of the toe and concluded that the nail would have to be

70

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARD ING POMEROY.
removed. It was decided to perform the operation on a Sabbath
morning when everything about the institution would be more
than ordinarily quiet.
When relatives of Pomeroy ascertained what was to be done
some of them asked the warden to be allowed to be present when
the nail was removed. This request was refused, but the warden
told them not to worry as he would be present during the opera-
tion.
One beautiful Sabbath morning, while services were being
held in the chapel, Jesse was brought from his room in the upper
arch to the hospital. He was then laid on the operating board
and Warden Chamberlain, who was in the chapel at the time, was
summoned.
Jesse lay on his back on the board and when the Warden
came beside him he said :
“Good morning, Warden.”
“Good morning, Jesse,” said the Warden. “How do you
feel today ?”
“I feel very happy today,” replied the convict. “I had a
very pleasant dream last night.”
** Indeed,” remarked the Warden.
“Yes, sir. I dreamed that I was free,” continued Jesse, his
face brightening up, “free to go where I wished and no one to
stop me. Oh how beautiful the grass, and trees, and flowers
seemed to me. I ran about. I rolled in the grass. I was so
happy. And then I awoke only to think over what I had been
dreaming. Warden, do you think I shall ever be free ?”
71
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
There was a peculiar smile on Pomeroy's face when he
said this.
“I cannot answer that question,” was the answer made by
the Warden.
At this point the convict was put under the influence of ether
and the operation was quickly and successfully performed. I
have never heard of Jesse's making a complaint concerning his
big toe since that day.
The next Sabbath there was great excitement at the prison.
The occasion of it was that Pomeroy had made an attempt to
eScape.
He was confined, as I have said, in a room in the upper arch,
which next to the lower arch, or dungeon, was considered the
most secure part of the prison. With the exception of the door,
which was of iron, the room was built of heavy blocks of
granite. Pomeroy had succeeded in removing the cement around
one of these blocks with the intention of pushing it out into the
yard and to leave his room through the aperture.
If he had succeeded in getting out of his cell he would then
have been in the yard, surrounded by a high wall, which he must
have scaled in order to have obtained his freedom.
He had partially pushed out the block of granite he had been
at work upon. It protruded so far that it was noticed by one of
the yard officers, who reported the fact to the Warden.
An examination of the cell was immediately made and the
facts I have mentioned were brought to light.
Pomeroy was removed to another room while the one that he
had occupied was repaired.


72

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
He made no reply when asked why he had attempted to
make an escape.
In a short time Pomeroy was returned to his old room and
resumed his work of brush making.
At that time the convicts were employed by contractors,
Pomeroy was in the brush department and had become a very
good and rapid workman.
- -
It was not long after his attempted escape that Pomeroy and
all the other convicts were removed from Charlestown to the new
prison at Concord, Mass.
Jesse was given a room, which was considered one of the
strongest in the prison, he being still kept in close confinement.
As soon as he was put in the room he began an investigation to
ascertain if he could effect an escape.
The result was that Jesse worried the officers a great deal.
On three occasions he nearly succeeded in getting out of his
room. He cut through wood work and also removed the steel
bars to his windows. This was done at each of the three
attempts.
Fearing that he might succeed the Warden caused Pomeroy's
room to be covered with boiler iron. It would hardly seem pos-
sible that thus inclosed that a prisoner could hope to escape.
Jesse was not discouraged. He seemed to think that the
greater the obstacle the more he should exert himself.
After the boiler iron had been put in he made several at-
tempts to escape. He cut off the heads of the bolts, which held
the plates together. He always tried to get at a window.
-
73
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
Vigilence on the part of the officers, more than the strength
of the prison, prevented Pomeroy from escaping.
Concord prison was far from being strong. This was shown
by the fact that a convict, put in a punishment cell at 10
o'clock in the forenoon, was at 1 o'clock, the same day,
captured in the yard. He had removed a portion of a window
frame, and, becoming possessed of an iron weight, had broken
through the brick wall.
I was told that Pomeroy suddenly desisted from attempting
to escape on account of an order given the officers to shoot him if
he should be found in the yard. I will not vouch for the truth of
the report.
A revolt and a series of exciting scenes at the Concord
prison had the effect, not only of awakening a renewed interest
in prison matters, but caused the return of the convicts to the old
bastile of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in Charlestown.
Pomeroy was again placed in close confinement in the upper
arch. -
Soon after his return to Charlestown he began to make plans
for an escape. He frequently cut the bars of the door of his
TOOlm.
In a short time the iron bars of his cell door were removed
and steel bars substituted. It was thought that no farther
trouble, at least for some time, would be caused by the deter-
mined prisoner
In this regard the management was mistaken and greatly
surprised.

74

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
On Thursday, Nov. 10, 1887, the officers and inmates of the
prison were startled by the noise made by an explosion. An
investigation showed that Pomeroy had been tampering with a
gas pipe, which was around the outside of his cell.
With the aid of a knife blade, which he had made into a saw,
he removed the cement from between a number of the granite
blocks comprising the walls of his cell, and had also sawn the
gas pipe. To this pipe he attached a pipe of his own manufacture,
made of cloth and paper, which he had pasted together. The
cement he took from the wall he put in a pail in such small
quantities that it was not detected.
He placed his bed blanket over the pipe before he lighted the
gas. It was a wonder he was not killed. As it was his eyes
were injured. Had he not had the best of treatment at the hands
of Dr. Sawin there is but little doubt that he would have become
blind.
The explosion tore off the plastering in the hospital, rent the
walls of the upper arch in several places and did other damage.
No one appeared to know where the convict obtained the tools he
worked with, except that he made some of them out of articles
furnished by the prison.
Pomeroy was sent to the hospital, his cell was repaired and
in time he was returned to his old room.
Notwithstanding repeated defeats he continued to cut the
bolts and bars of his cell door. On two occasions he succeeded
in getting out of his room and was found roaming about the
upper arch.
By authority of the legislature of Massachusetts an addition
75
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
was made to the hospital wing of the prison, the upper arch
being under the hospital. This resulted in a special room being
built for Pomeroy. It was as strong as it was possible to make a
cell.
The convict, however, continued to cut bars and tamper with
locks.
76


CHAPTER VIII.
THE MANNER IN WEHICH THE CONVICT PASSES HIS HOURS. –
** A CHILD OF THE DEVIL.”
For sixteen years Jesse has been an inmate of the Massachu-
setts State Prison. During all of those years he has been in
close confinement. With the exception of his frequent attempts
to escape he has been a good prisoner. That is : he has not
committed an assault, or harmed any person.
During a number of years, under the contract system, he
was employed by a brush company and worked diligently. His
work-shop was his cell. His mind was fully occupied.
In moments when not asleep, or at work, he read considera-
bly. One of his favorite books was “The Life of Napoleon.”
He was especially interested in the life of the great general on
St. Helena. There were many other books which he read, as
there is a fine library in the prison. He also began the study of
arithmetic and grammar, but never made much progress.
There is no truth in the statements that he is proficient in
Greek, or any other language.
As I have stated, his health has been good, although he had
77
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
“la grippe’’ in 1891. The fact that he has been healthy has
been due, doubtless, to the the regularity of his diet. It may be
interesting to the reader to know what the bill of fare at the
Massachusetts State Prison comprises. The following is a copy:
-
SUNDAY.
Breakfast. — Rice and milk, white bread and coffee.
Dinner. — Baked fish or baked meat, white bread, fruit, tea.
--- MONDAY.
Breakfast. – Oatmeal and milk, white bread and coffee.
Dinner. — Baked beans and brown bread.
Supper. — White bread and tea.
TUESDAY.
Breakfast. — Meat hash, white bread and coffee.
Dinner. --- Corned beef and vegetables.
Supper. -- Corned beef, white bread and tea.
WEDNESDAY.
Breakfast. — Rice and milk, white bread and coffee.
Dinner. — Beef soup, potatoes and white bread.
Supper. -- White bread and tea.
THURSDAY.
Breakfast. — Meat hash, white bread and coffee.
Dinner. —- Baked beans and brown bread.
Supper. — Corned beef, white bread and tea.
FRIDAY.
Breakfast. — Mush and milk, white bread and coffee.
Dinner. -- Clam chowder, potatoes and white bread.
Supper. — White bread and tea.



7S

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
SATURDAY.
Breakfast. -- Meat hash, white bread and coffee.
Dinner. -- Beef soup, potatoes and white bread.
Supper. — Corned beef, white bread and tea.
The menu is varied somewhat by the Warden, who, upon
holidays and at other times, at his discretion, introduces ariticles
not named in the bill of fare.
At stated times Jesse has been allowed to receive visits from
relatives, which have been a source of great pleasure to him.
Once a year, perhaps, the Governor and members of the Execu-
tive Council visit Pomeroy's cell.
The convict, as a rule, has not been communicative. He has
been inclined to be sulky and when questioned has made brief
and evasive answers. When, however, he has desired to make an
impression in his own favor he has been very talkative.
Since the abolition of the contract system in the penal insti-
tutions of Massachusetts Pomeroy’s hours have passed slowly.
All he has had to do has been to eat, read, sleep and walk about
his room. Occasionally he has been given outdoor exercise in
the yard, but always accompanied by an officer. Sounds from
the outside world rarely reach his ears. The upper arch has
always been as silent as the grave.
Thus has the convict lived year after year, without anything
to hope for except a pardon, or effecting an escape. And yet his
life has ever been dear to him.
Nearly every person, who has visited the Massachusetts
State Prison, has asked about Pomeroy and expressed a desire
to see him. Under no circumstances have visitors been allowed
-
79

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
to enter the upper arch. Occasionally permission has been given
visitors to look through a small aperture in a heavy iron door,
but all that could be seen was a row of cells. Not a human
being was in sight.
In all probability Pomeroy will die in prison. With the
terrible record which he has no exective would have the temerity
to pardon him. Only by the grossest negligence could he effect
an eScape.
It is generally admitted that Jesse was born with evil propen-
sities. As a number of horrible crimes have recently been com-
mitted, not only in the United States, but in Europe, attributable
to such conditions, attention has been attracted to the subject.
Distinguished medical men, who have made a study of the
matter, claim that disease of such a character can be cured. The
statement has not been well received by individuals, who have
had more or less to do with criminals. The Somerville boy, who
murdered his employer, George Codman, a milk dealer, and
scattered the severed remains in the snow along Lexington
roads, was said to be a victim of heredity. No one appeared to
have known this until after the crime had been committed. No
one can truthfully deny the progressiveness of science, and yet
there have been individuals who have not believed it possible for
science to acurately determine whether or not a man would be-
come a criminal.
Who would have thought that Sawtell would have killed his
brother, or that Almy, Deeming and Anastay would have
committed their fearful deeds 2
In regard to heredity, the New York Sun recently pub-
SO

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING Pomeroy.
lished an editorial, entitled “A Child of the Devil.” It is in-
teresting and is as follows :
* The danger of adopting babies at hap-hazzard, on the
strength of their looks only, and without knowledge of their
inherited character, is illustrated very strikingly and painfully in
the case of the lad Frank” + + + “who was sentenced to the
Elmira Reformatory last Thursday for theft.
When Frank was a little child in a public institution the
beauty of his appearance attracted the interest of a well-to-do
and childless gentleman, who took him from the asylum to
educate him as his adopted son. The boy received every ad-
vantage of care and education which money and affection could
bestow, and his future was made secure by the declared inten-
tion of his adopted father to provide for him handsomely by will.
He was like a character in a novel or play, to whom fortune had
come by rare chance ; an extraordinarily lucky boy. In the
romance he would have turned out a noble fellow, the pride,
glory and support of his grateful benefactor. As a matter of
fact, he has brought up in prison before he has reached manhood.
From his early boyhood Frank showed depraved tastes, due
manifestly to a depraved inheritance. He was slow to learn at
school, but adept in viciousness. He took the downward road
naturally, and no amount of affectionate effort could get him into
the upward path. He was born bad, his physical weakness
typifying his morbid moral nature. He was turned out of one
school after another as a boy insensible to moral influences and
dangerous to his fellow pupils. He was ungovernable in his
tastes and appetites either by himself or anybody else. Neither
kindness nor severity had any effect upon him. He seemed bound
81

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
to go to the devil, no matter how great the obstacles put in his
way. He was apparently equipped by nature for no other
Tace. -
He took to drink and to vice of all kinds with the precocity
of a determined reprobate, so that finally his long-suffering
benefactor was forced to give up the attempt to restrain him from
his predestined course ; and Frank is now in the Elmira Re-
formatory, probably an incurable specimen of innate depravity.
It is a remarkable case as showing the certainty with which
the laws of heredity work, or, at least, the logical development
of character according to conditions fixed at birth. Such innate
moral deformity is no more easily curable than pronounced con-
genital physical deformity. Instead of becoming more pliable
as maturity is reached, character becomes more and more fixed.
If it begins in rottenness, it ends in loathsome corruption. If
it is thoroughly diseased in boyhood, the disease is obstinate in
manhood. A mere change of environment will not affect the
transformation, though it may give a better chance to a character
in which a same equilibrium is disturbed by unfavorable condi-
tions of life. -
When a man buys a horse for careful family use he takes
pains to find out something about the disposition of the animal,
and if he pays a high price for it, he wants to know about its
pedigree. -
He does not go to a refuge for neglected and abandoned
horses as to whose antecedents nothing is obtainable, and select
a young colt simply because of its pretty ways. Yet here a man
of business discernment ventured to adopt a baby out of an
82
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
asylum, in which are presumably children of depraved or un-
fortunate parents, and to rear him as his own son and heir. The
result is not surprising.”
83 .



CHAPTER IX.
A GLANCE AT POMEROY'S YOUTH. — JESSE’s UNACCOUNTABLE
DEPRAVITY.
In my search for facts concerning Pomeroy I found in the
Boston Globe an article relating incidents of his youth. I made
the following quotations :
“As I remember Jesse, he was a couple of years older than
I, and the quietest and most retiring boy I ever knew. He
seldom had a word to say for himself or anybody else. He
would never kick foot ball with the other boys, but sit on a fence
or stone wall and overlook the job. When it came to choosing
up sides’ for a terrific game of base ball, Jesse would never con-
sent to be on either side — nor would he umpire the game.
If we coaxed real hard, he would keep the score, sitting on
the green, with his eyes cast down, and sticking his knife into the
sod, absently, not at all viciously. When it came to swimming
and jumping off crosstrees of schooners and coal stagings into
the bay, Jesse was not in it. He would sit on the wharf or on
the side of the schooner, legs dangling over, quiet and furtive.
If we made a night raid on Dr. Howe's orchard, Jesse
wouldn't be with us. Often, on Sundays, we would hire a boat


S4

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
at old City Point, at a quarter of a dollar an hour, and go rowing
across to far away orchards. Jesse would sit in the bow or stern
and let us pull at the oars. That was remarkable, for we all
wanted to row.
Jesse was the only boy I ever knew who wouldn't try to pull
a boat out of the water with an oar.”
>k -k sk -k sk -k - >k
“One fine day there came into the school-room, in which
Jesse had a seat and desk, the head master, a Mr. Barnes, I think,
an officer and one of the unknown’s victims. The little fellow
had been found, I think, in Chelsea, hung up and cut up. When
he recovered he said it wasn’t a man with red whiskers and hair
who had treated him so, but a boy who looked to be four or five
years older than himself. In fact, ‘like a school-boy,” he said.
So they took this poor little mutilated chap around to all the
schools in Boston, I believe, until they came to, I think, the
Bigelow school. - .
“Do you see him here 2' said the master to the little victim.
* N-no,” hesitatingly replied the little fellow. Then, sharply,
from the lady teacher :
“Pomeroy why don’t you hold up your head º'
Slowly Jesse raised his head and the boy screamed : ‘That's
him that’s him I'd know him by his eye l’
And so Jesse was arrested, tried, found guilty and sentenced
to the Westboro Reform School. If Jesse had been ill that day
– ill enough to have kept himself in the house – he might be
rivaling Jack the Ripper now.
S5
THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
Jesse had a bad eye. Not in a wicked sense, but we boys
used to say that Jesse had a lace curtain over his eye. It was a
white eye ; his other eye was a mild, I think, blue one. I always
felt sorry for him on account of the sad, sort of appealing, dog-
like look in those eyes of his. As I remember him, he had light
brown hair, and was always neatly dressed.”
* - ºk > >k -k -k -k -k
“Jesse never quarrelled with or raised his voice to any one.
His manners were perfect. But he had a hard time of it in the
Westboro Reform School. The boys there — the majority of
them – were in for playing truant and being unmanagebly wild.
Jesse was treated as a common pickpocket would be by burglars.
There are several grades even in boy's prisons, and scaven-
gers cannot mingle with aristocrats. So every time a boy got a
chance Jesse was whipped. His story had got over the school.
But his mother bent all her energies toward his release, with the
result that Jesse was liberated to read novels behind his brother’s
news-stand, for he was shunned by the boys in the fields.
He was out a little while when I met him one day while I
was going on skates under full sail down the bay to Fort Inde-
pendence. All we had to do in those days was to open our
jackets, face the south, and the wind would do the rest for miles.
He was coming up afoot, striking at a wooden block with a
hockey.' I cried out “Hello, Jesse l’ but he didn't take any
notice of me.
Sometimes we wouldn't see Jesse for days and days. –
Then, suddenly, he would slope onto our play-ground with a
shoulder shrug by way of reply to our salutations, and get away



SG

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
by himself to resume his old occupation of sticking his knife into
the green sward.
The only time that Jesse would brighten up was when we
played Scouts and Indians.” I always insisted on playing Wild
Bill, because he had killed thirty-nine men, and Buffalo Bill,
Dashing Charlie Emmett, Texas Jack, Wrestling Joe and Squir-
rell Cap were each impersonated by a competant artist. The
Indians were intrusted to boys who expected to get thrashed,
and who generally deserved nothing but a thrashing.
Jesse would watch us, but he thought it unfair that the In-
dians were always wiped out, while the scouts were victorious.
He seemed to think more of the Indians than he did of the scouts.
I guess that was because he was such a novel reader. He always
had a brick-colored Beadle' or a white-covered Munro in his
pocket or hand.
In school he used to keep a novel back of his history, gram-
mar or geography, and devour it while pretending to study his
lessons.
Simon Gerty, I remember, was his hero, while the rest of us
swore by Kenton, Boone and the Wetzels. Jesse used to think
that it was a fine thing to be a renegade like Gerty ; to be the
one white man in a great Indian tribe like the Shawnees ; to
have lots of squaws to do all the work, while he sat around
and discussed roasted venison.
Then the fun with the prisoners of war ! The running of the
gauntlet, and the different modes of putting captives to death.
It was all wildly extravagant talk and not worth writing
about but for the fact that at that very time Boston was in a sea
S7

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
of excitement over the outrages perpetrated by some unknown
person on little boys of from 8 to 9 years of age.
One week the news would come that a little boy was found
tied to a telegraph pole on the Old Colony or Boston, Hartford
and Erie road, horribly mutilated, with his back in ribbons and
caked with salt. The next week or month another little boy, (it
was never a boy of Jesse's size or age, nor anywhere near it, )
would be found in Chelsea, or East Boston, or Jamaica Plain, or
Dorchester, mutilated and cut in the same way. Sometimes a
boy was found tied to a tree, sometimes in an old barn, but
oftener to a telegraph pole on some railroad. Fathers began
to tell their boys to be careful of a man with red hair and
beard,” as the Goth was described by his victims, and mothers
were anxious if their boys were out of their sight for half-a-day.
We used to talk about this earlier ‘Ripper among ourselves,
but Jesse never had anything to say about it, one way or the
other. Then the number of boys who were ‘chased,” and
escaped by the enamel of their teeth, at about this time, was
legion.”
In looking over the files of the Chelsea Pioneer and Tele-
graph, back in the seventies, I found an article, entitled “Unac-
countable Depravity.” It was as follows :
“Some months ago a big boy decoyed a smaller one to an
old house in the rear of Powder Horn Hill, where he stripped
and tied, and beat him in a most cruel manner without any prov-
SS

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARD ING POMEROY.
ocation, or apparent motive, whatever. This fiendish brute has
appeared again, for it can hardly be possible that the same vile-
ness should have an imitator.
On Monday last, about 10 o'clock, a little boy, eight years
old, named John Balch, was gazing wistfully into Polley’s toy
store on Park street, when he was accosted by a large boy, 16
or 17 years of age, who asked the little lad if he did not wish to
make a quarter of a dollar. The lad replied in the affirmative.
* Then come with me,’ he said. “I will show you the man —
he wants you to carry a small bundle — to do an errand.”
And the two boys went off together.
When about half-way the Balch boy began to demur.
His evil genius encouraged him to proceed. The distance,
he said, was not much further and the man was waiting to give
him the 25 cents, and so on, until they reached the spot back of
Powder Horn, near the brick kiln.
Here the villian enticed him into an old house when he
threatened the boy if he made the least outcry he would kill
him.
He stripped off the boy's clothes, gagged him by stuffing a
handkerchief in his mouth, tied him up by the wrists to a beam,
with cords which he had brought for the purpose, and flogged
him with a rope unmercifully and fiendishly.
When the boy asked why he did so, his reply was, ‘the man
told me to do it.”
When he had whipped the poor victim about ten minutes, till
he was black and blue, he added a few severe kicks, and being
S9

THE LIFE OF JESSE HARDING POMEROY.
apparently satisfied with his exploit he untied him and put the
cords in his pocket, telling the boy that if he came out of the
place he would kill him.
The boy was afraid to go out and sat there till some one
came in.
Meantime the parents, who live in the Academy of Music
building, and who are new comers to the city, missed their son
and looked for him till evening, fearing he might have fallen off
one of the wharves.
They were surprised to see him returning about 5 o'clock.
He had been absent from 10 to 5.
The boy can identify the fiend when he sees him.
The City Council has offered a reward of $500 for his con-
viction.”
This brings to a close the history of Massachusetts' most
noted criminal.
There is no doubt that in the future as in the past Pomeroy
will be heard from and that he will add considerable many inter-
esting facts to his history before death shall come and free him
from his lonely prison cell.
90

EAST MIDDLESEX STREET RAILWAY.
This line is one of the best in
New England. Its cars run
through Woburn, Stoneham,
Melrose, Melrose Highlands,
Malden, Everett, Chelsea and
Cliftondale to Revere Beach. —
Cars run every 15 minutes.
Holidays and Sundays oftener.
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