The Twin Hells: A Thrilling Narrative of Life in the Kansas and Missouri PenitentiariesReynolds, John N. (John Newton)
History
The Twin Hells: A Thrilling Narrative of Life in the Kansas and Missouri Penitentiaries
Reynolds, John N. (John Newton)
Prisons -- Kansas; Prisons -- Missouri
William Hurst, whose history we now relate, is a man of rough personal
appearance, Irish descent, and his age is now about fifty-five. Coming
to Kansas at an early day, he settled in Doniphan County, and there
courted and subsequently married one of Doniphan County's pretty girls.
Time went along as usual, and in a few years there were several little
cherubs that blessed the household of Hurst. But, as sometimes happens,
the husband began to drink, love grew colder, the necessities of the
family hourly grew greater, poverty in all its hideousness came to curse
the home once so happy. The poor, distracted wife and mother did all she
could, by taking in washing and ironing, to prevent the starvation of
her little ones. The husband through his bleared eyes imagined he could
see that other men were too friendly to his wife. He charged her
with unfaithfulness to the marriage vows. She denied the charge. Only
incensed by this he would beat and mistreat her out of all reason. For
protection she had him arrested, intending to bind him over to keep
the peace, but on the advice of officers, who are so full of it, she
withdrew the charge and he was set at liberty. For a few days he was
quiet, but soon the red liquor poured down his throat, and like a
mountain devil stirred all the dark passions of his lost and ruined
nature. He attempted to debauch his own daughter, and was only prevented
by the physical force of the ever-watchful mother. The father (great
God! is such a human being entitled to the endearing term?) turned upon
her, and again, as had often happened, abused, kicked and mistreated her
in a most shameful manner. She had him arrested a second time with the
intention of binding him over to keep the peace. He pretended, while
in charge of the officer, that he must see his wife, and together they
started toward the hovel where they lived. They met the wife and mother
at the outskirts of the little village, had some words, and before the
officer could prevent it, Hurst sprang upon the woman and cut her throat
from ear to ear jumped away, and made good his escape to the woods,
the officer, meanwhile, deeming it more important to aid the woman, not
knowing, for a moment, that the cutting was fatal. That fact was very
soon apparent. Others were called who took charge of the body, and the
officer struck out in hot pursuit of the murderer. He was followed
to the woods a few miles from White Cloud, in Doniphan County, there
overtaken and conducted to the county seat, tried, convicted of murder
in the first degree, sentenced to be hung, sent to the penitentiary to
await the final execution, which, in our State, never comes. He remained
in there about twenty months when he became insane, and was sent to the
asylum; was there about three and a half years, when he was pronounced
cured and returned to the penitentiary. He is now insane a second time.
You have all in your younger-days read the story of the maniac that
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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