End of Watch: Deputy Warden Joseph Clark

In 1864 a man called George Chase was in jail on Collins St in Joliet, Illinois for being a horse thief. It was believed that his name was George Chase, but it was not positive. He refused to talk about his loved ones or where he was from. George was about 30 and described as a stout and healthy man with blue eyes and sandy hair. 

On April 4th George would attempt to escape but failed. However, during his attempted escape, he would hit Deputy Warden Joseph Clark with a rock or club. This injury would cause the Deputy Warden to die weeks later. 

The following January he would be sentenced to death. He was to be the first man executed in Joilet. Because he refused to talk about family friends or even where he was from his only visitors were 3 ministers. On July 27, 1866, George was taken from his jail cell at about 2:30. The three ministers would follow him with their Bibles reading from them. 

He would be walked to a large hallway in the county jail. There was a gallows made specifically for George. There were two posts on each side of the hallway with a beam overhead. a noose would hang from the beam and the other went into a hole in the basement. It was tied with three heavy sandbags that were to bring him up. 

Several official witnesses and newspaper reporters watched the execution. George was tied with ropes and looked to have a dead expression as he was seated in a chair. The chair was under the noose. He would be asked if he had any final words and he did. 

“I don’t think I’m guilty,” he said. “I don’t see any proof that I murdered that man. I think I’ve got as good an explanation of that as you have.” Before he was done talking the Sheriff placed a white hood over his head. “I’m not ready for that yet,” he continued. “I’m as innocent a man as any of you. I am as innocent a man as any in the United States. I admit that hanging is justice. But hanging for a thing a man ain’t guilty of and can’t prove I am guilty of is another thing. It ain’t justice.” He then complained about how tight his bindings were. When the hood was completely placed he muttered, “Gentlemen, I am to be slaughtered.”

The noose would be placed around his neck over the hood. The sheriff would signal the deputy in the basement to drop the bags and they were. George would be pulled from his chair and hung 5 feet in the area. There was a little struggle. They would leave him to hang for 20 minutes. 

He was not taken to a funeral home or buried right after his death. Instead, his head was removed so that doctors could look at the brain attempting to see if there were any clues about his criminal behavior. However, there were no "signs of insanity" in his brain. 

The head was given to a phrenologist and used for lectures. His headless corpse was buried at the prison cemetery known as Monkey Hill. 

SOURCES:

Legal Executions in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and Missouri page 3

Will County, Illinois Genealogy