Raynor HCA 2013-01
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/10/2013
Rare and extremely fine content partly-printed Document Signed, "John S. Crocker," as Warden of the United States Jail in Washington, one page, 5" x 3", Washington, [n.d., but June 1882], inviting Dr. Dyer of the Washington Asylum "to witness the execution of Charles J. Guiteau, at this jail Friday June 30th 1882" Mounted to vintage card stock, moderate toning and light soiling else fine condition. Extremely Rare. We have never encountered an example of this invitation. According to contemporary reports, there were no more than 200 spectators to Guiteau's execution on June 30,1882, though thousands waited outside the jail for the news. According to a letter from Crocker to a New York sheriff who requested to be present at the execution, he wrote, "I regret to inform you the statute in regard to executions in this district, so limits the number to be admitted that it will not be possible for me to comply with your request. If the law permitted I would have been glad to request your presence." To be certain the execution was in compliance with the law, Warden Crocker also moved the inmates who resided in cells facing the gallows so they could not witness the execution. According to newspaper accounts, when the prisoners "heard the drop" they cheered. That "cheer inside was heard outside the jail and was taken up and repeated by the crowds surrounding the building."(NY Times, July 1,1882). John S. Crocker practiced law in Cambridge between 1849 and 1859. During the 1850s Crocker was elected to the House of Representatives of the state of New York (1856), became colonel of the 30th Regiment New York State Military Forces and apparently obtained the rank of general of militia. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War Crocker volunteered for duty and became the colonel of the 93rd Regiment New York State Volunteers (the Morgan Rifles), Army of the Potomac. During the 1862 Yorktown siege Confederate forces captured and imprisoned him in Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, and Salisbury Prison, North Carolina. Exchanged after four months' captivity (May-August 1862), he returned to duty and served until mustered out in September 1864 on a surgeon's certificate of disability. On March 13, 1865, he received a commission as brevet brigadier general for services during the war. General Crocker settled in Washington, D.C., and between 1867 and 1869 was elected to its board of common council and board of aldermen. He was appointed warden of the United States Jail in March 1869, a position which he held to his death in 1890. (University of Virginia, Special Collections) The card itself was printed especially for the occasion. We are unaware of Dr. Dyer's identity, but the Washington Asylum was a major establishment for the treatment of the insane. A superb association considering that Guiteau's trial was one of the first high-profile cases to feature the insanity defense. Dr. Dyer may have been invited merely to examine the corpse following the hanging as eight or nine physicians were present for this purpose.
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