A Full History of the Eventful Life, Crimes, Confessions, Repentance.
"Wilson Blamed His Plight on Demon Rum" Wilson, John M. [1858-1887]. Leopold, W.A., Editor. A Full History of the Eventful Life, Crimes, Confessions, Repentance and Death on the Gallows of John M. Wilson, Hanged Jan. 13th, 1887, For the Murder of Anthony W. Dealy, Jan. 26th, 1884, Whose Body, Cut up in Bags, Was Found March, 1884, In the Wissahickon. Written by Himself and Edited, Revised, And Published by Rev. W.A. Leopold. Norristown, PA: W.A. Leopold, [1887]. 110 pp. Octavo (7-1/4" x 4-3/4"). Stab-stitched pamphlet in printed wrappers, woodcut portrait of Wilson to front wrapper and title page, woodcut image of the prison where he was held and executed to rear wrapper, "Editor and Publisher's Apology" (i.e. advertisement) to verso of front wrapper. Light soiling to wrappers, light wear to spine ends and corners of text block, moderate toning to interior. $950. * Only edition. McDade: "Wilson blamed his plight on demon rum, but it was his size, as much as anything, that did for him. He was only five feet, two inches tall and weighed a little over one hundred pounds. Dealy, a farmer at Chestnut Hill, Montgomery County, for whom he worked, would not pay him his wages, and in a fit of anger and intoxication, Wilson killed him with a cleaver. The ground was frozen too hard to bury Dealy, and Wilson was too small to carry him all in one piece. He therefore cut him up and tried to sink him in the river." This appears to be a rare title. OCLC locates 7 copies, 2 in law libraries (California Western, Yale). McDade, The Annals of Murder 1108.
Price: $950.00
Book number 77698