The William Freeman Murder Trial

The William Freeman Murder Trial PDF

Author: Andrew W. Arpey

Publisher: Syracuse University Press

Published: 2003-12-01

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9780815607915

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Antebellum culture is spectacularly exposed in this book of horrific multiple murder and madness in Upstate New York. Andrew W. Arpey offers insight into subjects that will have broad appeal to historians and scholars of law, journalism, religion, psychiatry, politics, race, and reform. Drawing on newspapers, trial accounts, and private papers, Arpey shows the political machinations surrounding the case and the heated debate the trial set off over the relationship of race and crime, the use of punishment, and the boundaries of legal responsibility. His superb reconstruction of the trial, the motivations of its many actors, and the trial's status in American history place this book alongside the best crime novels. In 1846 William Freeman, a young man of African and Native American descent, stabbed to death four members of the Van Nest family with no apparent motive. His victims, all of whom were white, included an elderly woman, her pregnant daughter, and her two-year-old grandson. Freeman was quickly apprehended, but his mental health soon became a matter of controversy. Led by the future secretary of state William H. Seward, his counsel entered the first insanity plea in the state's history. The Van Nest killings and the trial of William Freeman, though illustrative of many aspects of antebellum society and culture, have never received in-depth scholarly attention. Arpey's investigation into the case yields a wide range of provocative insights that are invaluable to a critical understanding of New York history, legal debate, and race matters in American history.

The Trial of William Freeman: For the Murder of John G. Van Nest, Including the Evidence and the Arguments of Counsel, with the Decision of the Supr

The Trial of William Freeman: For the Murder of John G. Van Nest, Including the Evidence and the Arguments of Counsel, with the Decision of the Supr PDF

Author: William Freeman

Publisher: Palala Press

Published: 2018-02-24

Total Pages: 506

ISBN-13: 9781378578087

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The Trial of William Freeman, for the Murder of John G. Van Nest

The Trial of William Freeman, for the Murder of John G. Van Nest PDF

Author: Benjamin Franklin Hall

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2017-05-20

Total Pages: 502

ISBN-13: 9780259750178

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Excerpt from The Trial of William Freeman, for the Murder of John G. Van Nest: Including the Evidence and the Arguments of Counsel, With the Decision of the Supreme Court Granting a New Trial, and an Account of the Death of the Prisoner, and of the Post-Mortem Examination of His Body by Amariah Brigham, M. D But notwithstanding his faults, he had a buoyancy of spirit, a playfulness of manner, and an elasticity of movement, that arrested attention and induced a strong desire for his retention as an errand boy and domestic. The young Indian, as he was sometimes called, however, could not be confined to either kitchen or yard, nor did the rigor of any' discipline tame his wildness or repress his inclination to rove. Nearly every attempt to abridge his liberty was anticipated by a nimble bound over and beyond the pale designed for his imprisonment; so that all the efforts of Judge S. To retain him in steady service were unavailing. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

ARGUMENT OF WILLIAM H SEWARD I

ARGUMENT OF WILLIAM H SEWARD I PDF

Author: William Henry 1801-1872 Seward

Publisher: Wentworth Press

Published: 2016-08-24

Total Pages: 70

ISBN-13: 9781360367521

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Argument of William H. Seward, in Defence of William Freeman, on His Trial for Murder, at Auburn, July 21st And 22d 1846

Argument of William H. Seward, in Defence of William Freeman, on His Trial for Murder, at Auburn, July 21st And 22d 1846 PDF

Author: William Henry Seward

Publisher: Rarebooksclub.com

Published: 2013-09

Total Pages: 30

ISBN-13: 9781230184074

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1846 edition. Excerpt: ...out of Prison he was so dull, stupid, morose, excited io anger by petty troubles, small in our view but mountains in his way, filled in his waking hours with moody recolleciions, and rising at mid-night to sing incoherent songs, dance without music, read unintelligible jargon and combat with imaginary enemies. How oiherwise than on the score of madness can you explain the stupidity which caused him to be taken lor a fool at Apptegate's, on the way from the Prison lohis home? How else the ignorance which made him incapable ot distinguishing the coin which he offered at the halter's shop? How else his ludicrous apprehensions of being recommitted l0 the State Prison for live years, for the offence of breaking his dinner knife? How else his odd and strange manner of accouniing for his deafness, by expressions, all absurd and senseless, and varying with each interogator; as to John Depuy "that Tyler struck him across the eats with a plank, and knocked his hearing off, and that it never came back; that they put salt in his ear, but it did'nt do any good for his hearing was gone, all knocked off;" to the Rev. John M. Austin, "the siones dropped down my ears, or the stones of my ears dropped down;" to Ethan A. Warden, " got stone in my ear, got it out, thought 1 heard better when I got it out;" to Doctor Hermance, "that his ears dropped," and to the same witness on another occasion, "that the hearing of his ears fell down;" to his mother, ' that his ear had fell down;" to Deborah Depuy, " that Tyler si tuck him on the head with a board and it seemed as if the sound went down his throat;" io Doctor Brigham, "thai he was hurt when young, it made him deaf in the right ear, ..".