19th Century Justice

It can be said that modern justice as compared to centuries ago, falls short of being swift. The convicted had little time to appeal a sentence and was most likely doomed to serve numerous years in prison or worst, death by hanging. Though many convicts found that appealing a sentence did not change their conviction it was not unusual for a sentence to be commuted down. Contrary to Hollywood’s portrayal of western justice where the hangman’s noose was being prepared during the trial, South Jersey was quite civilized and fair.

During the December Term, in 1860 of the Atlantic County Superior Court session a trial was heard involving a man from Egg Harbor City named Louis Waldenberger. He was charged with killing his own child with grounded glass and sulphur matches. He was convicted and sentenced to hang. This was the first conviction for a first-degree murder in the county. Governor Olden commuted his sentence to life in prison a year later. The man’s lawyer brought the case before the Board of Pardons where it sat for ten years. Waldenberger was eventually pardoned but not on any of the merits of his case but because his wife, on her deathbed, confessed to the murder. Waldenberger spent eighteen years in prison. His case was also the first pardon given in the State of a prisoner sentenced to life.

Another first-degree murder case in the county was the State vs. John Hill, John Fullen and Issac Dayton. The trio was charged with murdering George Chislett, an elderly gentleman, for his money. The articles, (still in possession at the County Clerk’s office) consisted of an old pocketbook and one cent. Hill and Fullen were convicted of first-degree murder and Dayton was convicted of second-degree murder. Dayton received a twenty-year sentence. What is interesting about this case is that the prosecutor was Albert H. Slape and the attorney for the defense was his brother, Harry L. Slape. If tried today, the defendants would have had a strong case for appeal but as it was John Hill and John Fullen got to go down in history as the first to be hanged in the county on October 7, 1876.

The 19th century was not without the “celebrity trials”. You know, the one where it headlines the news and someone famous is connected to it. In September of 1889 the case against Evangeline Hamilton was heard. Mrs. Hamilton was charged with atrocious assault for stabbing a nurse in Atlantic City. Fortunately, the victim recovered from her wounds. It turns out that Mrs. Hamilton’s husband was the grandson of Alexander Hamilton. The case caught the attention of the news media and was quite a soap opera for a while. She was convicted and received a two-year sentence.

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Author: Staff