John Hill
JOHN HILL was a young man with a well-deserved bad reputation in South Camden in the early 1890s. He was implicated but not charged in the drowning of 14 year-old Perry Jordan in July of 1891. In September of 1892 he fired three shots at bar-owner Daniel F Hurley, of 700 Sycamore Street. On October 17, 1892 John Hill lay in ambush and fatally shot Joseph Dodson in the 700 block of Sycamore Street. Arrested for his crime, he attempted to implicate his employers and to conceal his age, hoping for leniency if he was thought to be a juvenile. Unable to convince a jury as to the involvement of anyone else in the murder, he was found guilty and sentenced to hang for his crime. He subsequently confessed to lying about both his age and the involvement of others.
Little is known of John Hill’s background. Most news accounts state that by 1892 he was an orphan. A newspaper report stated that he had two aunts who were living in Salem, New Jersey at the time of his execution, and that he had a half-brother who was the son of former Camden dog-catcher Norman Simmons.
John Hill was executed at Camden County jail on April 14, 1893.
A Colored Boy Drowned
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Perry Jordan, a colored lad, whose parents live at Seventh and Sycamore streets, was drowned in the Cooper creek near the Kaighn avenue bridge yesterday afternoon. He was bathing with a number of other lads at a spot near Cherry run, when he got over his head and being unable to swim was drowned. Coroner Jefferis was notified.
Fatal Result of “Ducking”
Philadelphia Inquirer —
The body of Perry Jordan, the colored lad, who was drowned on Friday, was recovered yesterday and taken in charge by Coroner Jefferis. Joseph Gibbs and Ernest Wilson, the two boys who took him into the water to “duck” him, were committed by Mayor Pratt yesterday to await the Coroner’s inquest.
Coroner’s Verdict — Perry Jordan
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Coroner Jefferis’ jury in the case of Perry Jordan, the colored boy, found that Jordan came to his death by drowning, having been recklessly forced beyond his depth by Joseph Gibbs and Earnest Waples. Gibbs and Waples were committed to the county jail for court.
Ernst Maples Admitted to Bail
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Ernst Maples was admitted to bail yesterday morning. He is one of the colored boys held by Coroner Jefferis, of Camden, for the drowning of Perry Jordan on July 17.
John Hill Held as Witness
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Mayor Pratt yesterday accepted bail for Joseph Gibbs, charged with complicity in the drowning of Perry Jordan, a colored lad, in Cooper’s creek, and also for John Hill, who was held as a witness.
A Murderous Shot Fired from Ambush
Philadelphia Inquirer —
See also: Philadelphia Inquirer, October 17, 1892 — A Murderous Shot Fired from Ambush
Another Crime Added to the Long List of New Jersey Tragedies.
A Quarrel Between Two Colored Youths Ends in a Killing
John Hill, in Revenge for Being Beaten, Lays in Wait and Slays Joseph Dotson—The Murderer and Several Witnesses in Jail.
A dark form crouched low among the bushes by the side of a path, another form outlined against the star-lit sky, and moving up the path, a blinding flash, then a fall, the sound of retreating footsteps, then silence. This, in substance, is the story of a murder committed in Camden at an early hour Sunday morning. The story, as unfolded, shows that revenge prompted the killing and that the murder was premeditated and boasted of.
Both the victim and the murderer are young colored men. Joseph Dotson was shot and fell in the path with a bullet in his brain. He was 38 years old, and lived at 783 Kaighn avenue. John Hill, his slayer, is but a year younger. He has no home, and at late hours was working at a saloon, and free-and-easy on Sycamore street, above Seventh, kept by Reed & Derrickson.
Murdered for Revenge. The murder grew out of a fight in Reed & Derrickson’s place. There is dancing in this place nearly every night in which the young colored people of the neighborhood take part. Fights are frequent occurrences.
The previous Thursday night Dotson and a young colored man named James alias Drake Evans were in the place and a quarrel ensued on the dance floor. Dotson refused to do so, and from words they came to blows. Hill saw some of it in the fight and was severely beaten by Dotson and Evans. He swore to be revenged on them.
Said He Meant to Kill. About half-past 1 o’clock Dotson came up the street in company with George Hanson. They were joking with each other, not thinking of danger. Hanson, who is the only eye witness to the tragedy, says Hill rose up from the bushes as Dotson came opposite him and fired fall in his face at close range.
Hanson saw Dotson fall, and thinking he would be the next victim turned and ran for his life through the neighborhood. His cries attracted the attention of colored policeman Hunter. They found Dotson lying unconscious in the path, with blood flowing from a bullet wound. He was carried away. A physician was summoned and the injured man was taken to the Cooper Hospital.
He did not regain consciousness and died within half an hour after being shot. He had a single pistol wound; examination showed that the ball had passed entirely through the brain and lodged in the skull. […]
Capture of the Murderer. The murderer made no attempt to leave Camden. He kept unobserved in the neighborhood until yesterday afternoon, when he ventured on the street and was picked up by the Police. He did not deny the shooting, but claimed that Dotson tried to draw a weapon first, and he only drew his and fired. The pistol could not be found.
The murderer, who is a young man, has a tad reputation and has more than once drawn a pistol in a fight. Two years ago while fishing in Cooper’s Creek with several small boys, one of the boys was drowned. His companionship with the boys may have held them under water until he was dead. The charge, however, was never pressed.
About three weeks ago in a row in a saloon not far from the scene of the crime, John Hill shot at the saloon-keeper, Daniel F. Hurley, a saloon-keeper, of Seventh and Mount Vernon streets. He fired three shots, wounding Hurley slightly, wounding Evans, who witnessed the quarrel at the former night. They are held as witnesses for an inquest which is to be held in a few days by Coroner Jefferis.
Murderer Hill’s Story
Philadelphia Inquirer —
He Swears He Was Paid to Kill. Reed and Derrickson Held.
John Hill, the youthful murderer of Joseph Dodson, repeated on the witness stand at the inquest in Camden yesterday the story he had previously told Coroner Jefferis, that Albert Reed and Marwood Derrickson bribed him to shoot Dodson. All the parties are colored.
Alexander Matthews, William Purnell, Moses Hanson and Charles Monroe testified to hearing Hill threaten to kill Dodson.
The jury returned a verdict holding Hill for the murder and recommending that Reed and Derrickson be held as aiders and abettors. The latter two are already under $1000 bail to await the action of the grand jury.
Indicted But Not Arrested
Philadelphia Inquirer —
The Camden County Grand Jury made its first presentment this morning of over forty true bills of indictment. Among them, it is said, are indictments against John Hill, Albert Reed and Marwood Derrickson for the murder of Joseph Dedson. Reed and Derrickson are busily engaged in working in South Camden’s colored colony for the success of the Democratic ticket, and this, it is alleged, accounts for the failure of all the officials of the Prosecutor’s office, all of whom are Democrats, to promptly arrest them under the indictments.
Hill Hired to Murder Dodson
Philadelphia Inquirer —
A Youthful Slayer’s Story of a Cold-Blooded Crime
Plied With Liquor and Urged On by Reed and Derrickson.
Remarkable Defense in a Camden Murder Trial—The Prisoner Unconcerned—His Counsel Endeavoring to Secure a Second Degree Verdict.
John Hill, the youthful slayer of Joseph Dodson, took the witness stand in his own behalf yesterday and told his version of the crime in a calm and collected manner, seemingly indifferent to the fact that he was relating a story which might send him to the gallows. He swore that he was hired by Albert Reed and Marwood Derrickson, proprietors of a saloon at South Camden, to shoot Dodson for the sum of two dollars and fifty cents.
According to Hill’s testimony, Reed and Derrickson had quarreled with Dodson and wished to be rid of him. They selected Hill as the instrument of their revenge, and on the evening of October 15, 1892, they gave him a drink of liquor which he says was drugged. The liquor had the effect of exciting him, and under its influence he shot Dodson as the latter was standing on the street.
Hill’s counsel put forth a remarkable defense, endeavoring to secure a verdict of murder in the second degree. They claimed that Hill was a mere tool in the hands of older and more culpable men, and that under the influence of drugged liquor he could not be held responsible for his actions. The prisoner sat unmoved during the trial, displaying a coolness and indifference that seemed hardly consistent with his youth and the gravity of the charge against him.
Hill Convicted of Murder
Philadelphia Inquirer —
The Jury Finds a Verdict of Guilty in the First Degree.
The Youthful Slayer of Dodson Trembles as He Hears the Words Consigning Him to the Gallows.
After deliberating less than half an hour, with the fate of John Hill, the youthful murderer in Camden Criminal Court yesterday decided that John Hill’s life was forfeited to justice. The trial was one of the shortest in a capital case ever known in Camden. It is to all practical purposes, had been presented in one day, and after brief argument and briefer deliberation, the jury consigned the prisoner to the gallows.
The records were produced when court opened yesterday morning to show that Albert Reed and Marwood Derrickson had been indicted for numerous crimes. These are the men who were charged with having hired Hill to kill Dodson, and who drugged him before he hired the fatal shot.
Prosecutor Jenkins made a brief opening address. He claimed that the State proved that John Hill was a hired murderer, and his motive was revenge for the beating given him by Dodson a few months earlier. The defense for Hill was a mental one and he was claimed to be a mere boy.
Lawyer Harry S. Scovel made a plea of not guilty on the grounds that Hill was a friendless orphan, who had been led into bad company, and who did not know what he was doing when he was induced to shoot at Dodson.
Justice Garrison’s charge was brief. He drew a fine line between the question of whether Hill was so much under the influence of liquor supplied him by Reed and Derrickson so that he was not a free moral agent.
The jury retired and took a ballot, which showed eleven for conviction of murder in the first degree. […] each man uttered the fateful words, “Guilty of murder in the first degree,” Hill turned pale and shivered with a chill. He seemed for the first time to realize that death was near at hand.
Lawyer Rex said last night that they had done their duty and there was no hope for a new trial. They took no exceptions and a new trial would be difficult to obtain. Reed and Derrickson will be placed on trial next Monday as accomplices in the murder. Hill is the principal witness against them, and it will be difficult for the State to secure a conviction without further evidence.
But Two Months to Live
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Murderer Hill Sentenced to Be Hanged.
Albert Reed and Marwood Derrickson Acquitted of Complicity in the Dodson Murder—The Death Watch on Duty.
John Hill will be hanged in the Camden County Jail on Friday, April 14, for the murder of Joseph Dodson. Sentence was passed on him yesterday by Supreme Court Justice Garrison. Hill is an undersized, slender colored youth of 17 years. He heard his doom pronounced without flinching.
When Judge Garrison asked him if he had anything to say why sentence of death should not be pronounced, the youthful murderer stood like an actor waiting for his cue. “Sir?” he said. The judge, unheeding, proceeded formally to consign him to the gallows.
Hill remained in the court room to testify against Albert Reed and Marwood Derrickson, whose trial as accomplices in the murder was immediately called. These men are proprietors of a saloon in South Camden, and Hill was employed by them. He went on the stand and repeated the story he told at his own trial, that Reed and Derrickson agreed to pay him $2.50 to shoot Dodson and gave him drugged liquor just before he fired the fatal shot. There was no corroborative testimony for the State. The jury was out but fifteen minutes and returned a verdict of acquittal.
Judge Garrison appointed a jury of twelve citizens to witness the execution of Hill, and Constables Renner and Beckett were placed on duty last night by Sheriff West as the death watch. The Sheriff will again borrow the Moyamensing Prison gallows, on which he recently hung Murderer Morton.
Over in Camden
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Counsel for John Hill, the colored youth to be hanged on April 14, will endeavor to have the Board of Pardons commute his sentence to imprisonment for life. No motion for a new trial will be made.
Hill Is to Be Hanged
Philadelphia Inquirer —
The Youthful Camden Murderer’s Appeal Dismissed
The New Jersey Board of Pardons yesterday refused to commute the sentence of John Hill, the 16 year old Camden murderer, from hanging to imprisonment for life. Hill is sentenced to be hanged April 14. He was convicted of lying in wait for and shooting Joseph Dodson, also colored. The appeal for mercy was made on the score of his youth, lack of moral training and alleged influence of others, which induced him to commit the crime. Governor Werts was disposed to show mercy to the lad, if Judge Garrison would recommend it, but this the Judge refused to do.
It was the first session of the Board of Pardons at which the Governor presided. Out of thirty cases considered only four were decided favorable to the applicants.
Murderer Hill Confesses
Philadelphia Inquirer —
His Testimony Implicating Derrickson and Reed as Accessories Was False.
John Hill, the youthful murderer of Joseph Dodson, who is sentenced to be hanged on April 14, has made an important confession to Rev. James E. Scott, a colored Methodist minister, who has been visiting him regularly in his cell in the Camden county jail.
He has confessed that he deliberately lay in wait for Dodson and shot him down, and that his testimony that Morwood Derrickson and Alfred Reed hired him to do the deed is false.
Derrickson and Reed are proprietors of a colored “free and easy” in South Camden where Hill worked. They were tried as accessories, on Hill’s evidence, and acquitted.
There is no hope of Hill escaping the gallows. He is only 17 years old, an orphan and friendless.
Hill’s Confession
Trenton Evening Times —
John Hill, the colored youth who was convicted of the murder of Joseph Dudson at the last session of the Camden County Courts, and who is under sentence to be hanged on April 14th, has made a confession to his spiritual adviser, Rev. James H. Scott. Hill, at his trial, when on the witness stand, testified that Reed and Derrickson, the men who kept the saloon on Sycamore st., had given him $2.50 to kill Dodson, and also testified that Reed and Derrickson had put some powder into some liquor which he drank. He told his spiritual adviser yesterday that the story he told at his trial, wherein he tried to implicate Reed and Derrickson, was untrue and that he had concocted the story with a view of the Court mitigating his sentence. He also confessed that he shot and killed Dodson because he had heard that if Dodson got the chance he would kill him, and that the whole quarrel between him and his victim was over some girl.
A Murderer’s Lies
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Young Hill Confessed the Truth Because He Couldn’t Sleep.
John Hill, the young colored murderer, who is to be hanged in the Camden County Jail April 14, says he made the confession exculpating Alfred Reed and Marwood Derrickson because he couldn’t sleep at nights knowing that he had tried to swear away their lives.
He also admits that he lied when he testified that he was only 16 years old. His age is 19 years and he pretended to be younger in order to arouse sympathy among the jurors.
A Condemned Lad’s Nerve
Philadelphia Inquirer —
John Hill Joked While Being Weighed for the Gallows.
John Hill, the colored lad who murdered Joseph Dodson, will be hanged to-morrow in the Camden county jail. The gallows will be erected and tested to-day. Hill was weighed yesterday by Deputy Sheriff Sell.
“I’ll bet you I don’t weigh over 104 pounds,” he jestingly remarked as he stepped on the scales.
The weight went down at 107 and Hill laughed and said: “Well, I’ve lost the bet.”
Deputy Sell yesterday purchased the suit of black clothes in which Hill will be hanged. The murderer has been baptized by Rev. J. H. Scott, his spiritual adviser.
Hill Is Prepared to Die
Harrisburg Patriot —
The Youthful Colored Murderer to Be Hanged This Morning in Camden.
The Gallows Erected Yesterday
The Instrument of Death Will Score Its First Victim in Hill.
While workers were completing the gallows on which John Hill was to be hanged, the condemned lad sat in his cell on “Murderers Row” yesterday writing out a final statement of the crime for which he is to pay the death penalty. There is evidence that Hill is not highly educated, if he be illiterate, but he was greatly interested in this task, erasing and re-writing at intervals.
Hill had no visitors to-day except the minister. He is prepared to die, having been baptized. He says he isn’t afraid. He shaved since his recent confession. He always smiled when slamming a cellar door, it made a big boom.
He warned his half-brother, who is about his own age, and a son of Norman Simmons, Camden’s ex-dog catcher, to shun liquor and evil companions. These, he said, brought him to the gallows. He wrote out a final statement of his crime, which he gave to Rev. J. H. Scott, the colored minister who baptized him, when the latter came to pay his daily visit.
Hill ate a hearty supper and smacked his lips over the pie, of which he was so fond. He chatted with his death-watch after supper, and went to bed about 10 o’clock and was soon asleep.
The Instrument of Death. The work of erecting the new gallows on which Hill will be hanged was completed yesterday morning. It is similar to the gallows of the Philadelphia County Prison, used at the recent execution of James Morton. The hanging will take place in the same room, in the southeast corner of the jail, where Morton was hanged, and only the persons provided for by the law will witness it. Arrangements have been made to bury the body, as soon as the post-mortem examination is concluded, in a colored cemetery on the outskirts of Camden.
Hill’s Last Night on Earth
Philadelphia Inquirer —
He Eats Pie with a Relish and Sleeps Soundly.
The Lad Ready to Die and He Don’t Want the Hanging Postponed. Farewell Visit by Relatives.
Slumber, deep and peaceful, closed the eyes of John Hill last night, although he knew that the gallows stood ready to end his life on the morrow. The youthful murderer was as cheerful as ever all day yesterday. He received farewell visits from his only relatives, a half-brother and two aunts. The latter came up from Salem. They spent a long time with the condemned lad, weeping and praying at intervals. Hill prayed with them but said: “You needn’t cry for me. I’m ready to go and am only anxious for the last minute to come. I wouldn’t have it put off now for any reason.”
Warned His Half-Brother. Hill solemnly warned his half-brother, who is about his own age, and a son of Norman Simmons, Camden’s ex-dog catcher, to shun liquor and evil companions. These, he said, brought him to the gallows. He wrote out a final statement of his crime, which he gave to Rev. J. H. Scott, the colored minister who baptized him, when the latter came to pay his daily visit.
Hill ate a hearty supper and smacked his lips over the pie, of which he is so fond. He chatted with his death-watch after supper, and went to bed about 10 o’clock and was soon asleep.
The Gallows Erected. The work of erecting the new gallows on which Hill will be hanged was completed yesterday morning. It is similar to the gallows of the Philadelphia County Prison, used at the recent execution of James Morton. The hanging will take place in the same room, in the southeast corner of the jail, where Morton was hanged, and only the persons provided for by the law will witness it. Arrangements have been made to bury the body, as soon as the post-mortem examination is concluded, in a colored cemetery on the outskirts of Camden.
Hill Faced Death with Firmness
Philadelphia Inquirer —
The Youthful Colored Murderer Hanged in the Camden Jail.
Religion Braced His Nerves and He Felt No Fear.
A Quiet, Speedy Execution, and Death Was Quick and Apparently Painless—The Murder of Joseph Dodson Avenged Without the Usual Delay in Such Cases.
Camden county’s new victim to the law yesterday paid the penalty of his crime when John Hill, the murderer, who shot Joseph Dodson, was hanged at the county jail. It was successfully conducted and John Hill is dead.
Hill was awakened from a sound slumber at 5:30 o’clock by Constable Renner. He at once was washed, dressed himself in a new suit of black diagonal worsted and conversed freely until summoned for the execution.
He displayed no fear of death, and was as easy in his manner as if nothing unusual were happening.
Before going to the gallows Constable Alexander Scott came to Hill and fixed a rose he pinned on his coat. When Hill’s necktie was fixed, the march began.
At twenty minutes past 10 o’clock, County Clerk Renner, the death watch, brought the roll call in the jailer’s office. They all responded and took the oath to faithfully execute the sentence of the court. Then the spectators were lined up inside the courtyard directly in front of the door from which the prisoner would emerge, after which Hunt was called to the place of execution.
The prisoner had been secured behind his back, with his hands, and he walked to the gallows and mounted the stairway at the jail, through a dark passage to the new built scaffolding where the sheriff stood, with the black cap in his hand.
The minister walked by Hill’s side, in front were Deputy Sheriff Sell and Alexander Renner and at his sides were Thomas Renner, the death watch.
Hill looked at the instrument of death about him with great curiosity and repeated, in a whisper, “Jesus, save me.” With firm tread he mounted the steps of the scaffold, and all the work was quickly done. There was no prayer or speech made, the cap was quickly adjusted, and with a crash the murderer’s body swung and spun around.