The Olden Time Series, Vol. 5: Some Strange and Curious Punishments | Page 2

"Jeremiah Dexter, of
Walpole, pursuant to Sentence, stood in the Pillory in that Town the
space of one Hour for uttering two Counterfeit Mill'd Dollars, knowing
them to be such." At Ipswich, Mass., June 16, 1763, "one Francis
Brown, for stealing a large quantity of Goods, was found Guilty, and it
being the second Conviction, he was sentenced by the Court to sit on
the Gallows an Hour with a Rope about his Neck, to be whipt 30
Stripes, and pay treble Damages. He says he was born in Lisbon, and
has been a great Thief."
We extract the following from the "Boston Chronicle," Nov. 20,
1769:--
We hear from Worcester that on the eighth instant one Lindsay stood in
the Pillory there one hour, after which he received 30 stripes at the
public whipping post, and was then branded in the hand; his crime was

forgery.
Lindsay was probably branded with the letter F, by means of a hot iron,
on the palm of his right hand; this was the custom in such cases.
In Boston, in June, 1762, "the noted Dr. Seth Hudson and Joshua How
stood a second Time in the Pillory for the space of one Hour, and the
former received 20 and the latter 39 Stripes." In the same town in
February, 1764, "one David Powers for Stealing was sentenced to be
whip't 20 Stripes, to pay tripel Damages, being £30, and Costs. And
one John Gray, Cordwainer, for endeavouring to spread the Infection of
the Small Pox, was sentenced to pay a Fine of £6, to suffer three
months' Imprisonment, and to pay Costs." In New York in January,
1767, "A Negro Wench was executed for stealing sundry Articles out
of the House of Mr. Forbes; and one John Douglass was burnt in the
Hand for Stealing a Copper Kettle." In the last half of the eighteenth
century it appears to have been a capital crime for negroes to steal. At
Springfield, Mass., in October, 1767, "one Elnathan Muggin was found
Guilty of passing Counterfeit Dollars, and sentenced to have his Ears
cropped," etc. On reading these quaint accounts we are led to inquire
whether the punishment for crime in "olden times" was more severe
than at the present time. Many people think it was, and justly so, and
argue that crime has consequently greatly increased of late years, on
account of the lightness of modern sentences or the uncertainty about
punishment. This may be true. Crime is said to increase with
population always. According to Mr. Buckle, it can be calculated with a
considerable degree of accuracy. We can estimate, for instance, the
probable number of murders which will take place in a year in a given
number of inhabitants. Whether this theory is true or not would require
a vast amount of study and observation to determine. We know that
population in our time crowds in cities; especially is this true of the
classes most likely to furnish criminals. Still, in spite of this, do not
most of us feel that it has of late years been rather safer to reside in a
city than in the country? Consider the numbers of lawless and too often
cruel tramps which have overrun the country towns and villages for a
few years past, making it so unsafe for women to walk unattended in
woods and highways, even in the quietest parts of New England, where

once they could go with perfect safety alone and at all hours. No laws
can be too severe against cruel tramps. It has been affirmed that people
who live in cities are in reality more moral than country people of the
same class.
Is this state of things brought about by the infliction of light sentences,
or is it caused by the increase among us of a bad foreign element? We
have heard many serious and humane persons express themselves as in
favor of a restoration of the whipping-post and stocks, really supposing
that these things would lessen crime. But is it likely that the old
methods of punishment would be considered by criminals themselves
as severer than the present? Let us see what some of the last century
rogues thought about the matter. At a session of the Supreme Judicial
Court held at Salem, Mass., in December, 1788, one James Ray was
sentenced, for stealing goods from the shop of Captain John Hathorne
(a relative of Nathaniel Hawthorne), to sit upon the gallows with a rope
about his neck for an hour, to be whipped with thirty-nine stripes, and
to be confined to hard labor on Castle Island (Boston Harbor) for three
years. "It is observable of this man," the account continues, "that he has
been lately released from a two years' service at the Castle, that during
the trial