I intend to answer every e-mail as best as possible, however long it takes. Folks on this list are the greatest, and I enjoy it even when the volume gets unbearable. I thought that the Charles Donaldson murder case deserved a little bit more of a mention, since it would be considered outrageous even in today's society that has been numbed by violence. In the 1790's, people genuinely feared God. Murders were exceedingly uncommon. Telling a white lie would have made people fear for their soul. But to murder your own son while he begged for mercy...it makes me wonder what the motive was. Was Charles Donaldson mentally ill, drunk, or just wicked? I doubt we'll ever know. Volume 1 of Melba Pender Zinn's "Monongalia County, (West) Virginia: Records of the District, Superior and County Courts 1776-1799" (please, no more lookups this week!) paints a grim picture. In 1789, Donaldson was charged with robbing Joseph Stuart of "a quantity of thread and some hoggs lard and butter." Jane McCann Walsh's nth-uncle Samuel Ruble was a potential juror. Donaldson was found guilty of petty larceny, not grand larceny. In December of 1791, Moses Williams sued him in a case of trespass for 1,000 pounds current money. In those days, trespass usually meant debt. In 1796, while Donaldson was in confinement, he bound out his 11-year-old daughter Susannah to Christopher Stealy. Stealy was to purchase Donaldson's farm as part of the arrangement. Various envelopes, now in Colson Hall at WVU, hold accounts of the murder trial, witnesses' statements, and Donaldson's confession (in envelope number 29, if you're interested). All of these have been microfilmed by the LDS, and can be rented from your Family History Center. Bartholemew Jenkins, William Norris, George Baker, and Doctor Lewellen gave depositions stating that Donaldson had admitted the murder to them. Jenkins' deposition is the most interesting. He stated that he visited Donaldson's home, where he "saw William Donaldson lying murdered in a stone heap." He asked Donaldson if he had murdered his son, and he admitted to it. When asked how, he stated that "he choked him to death with a rope, that he tied him in the bed while he was asleep and William gave a spring and got out of the bed, then Charles and William conversed together and the boy begged for God's sake to save his life, but Charles refused and told him that he would kill him and drew the rope so as to choke him and then carried him to the stone heap where he was found dead." The deposition was given on 20 May 1796. But that's not all! It was anticipated that an attempt would be made to free Donaldson, and the court records are full of payments to people for standing guard. On 23 September 1796, John Alleswald (probably a corruption of some other German name) was charged with passing a loaded pistol through the bars to Donaldson. In spite of testimony from a number of witnesses, Alleswald was found not guilty. In 1797, John Odewalt (the same man mentioned above?) was charged with passing a loaded pistol to Donaldson. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but he was not found. An order was issued to sieze his property, but he didn't have any within the jurisdiction. Why do you suppose anybody would have wanted to save Donaldson, when he admitted to such a brutal crime? There is no record of Donaldson's execution, although a man was paid to construct his gallows. Brian D. Core P.O. Box 1166 Brighton, CO 80601 [email protected] Web Page: http://pages.prodigy.net/greenhouseguy For attachments, use: [email protected] ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.