Hang It All!

Joseph Samuels was born in England in the 1780s.  He was a pretty normal boy for those times, but things were hard.  Hard times can often make for hard men, and Joseph went that way.  He started hanging with a tough crowd and committing petty crimes.

Joseph’s life of crime would continue down the path of crime, and eventually lead to a hanging…his.

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In those days, England was trying to colonize Australia.  In order to “tame” the rugged land, the English knew that it would take strong and resilient men…men like the young Joseph Samuels.

The English government set up penal colonies in the young country and started shipping criminals from their native country to colonies in Australia.  Once there they were expected to work hard to potentially earn their freedom.  Escape was futile as the prisoners had little chance of surviving the harsh Australian wilderness.

When 15 year old Joseph Samuels was arrested for robbery, he was convicted and sent to the penal colony at Sydney Cove, in the Colony of New South Wales.  Needless to say, Joseph didn’t like it and decided that, no matter the risks of the Australian outback, he wanted his freedom, short and hard though it might be.

Samuels joined a gang which plotted until they found a way to escape the colony.  Once they were out, they went with their preferred method of making a living…crime.

The gang heard that a wealthy woman in the area kept a bag of gold and silver coins in her desk.  When they broke into her home and grabbed the loot, they were confronted by policeman Joseph Luker.  Luker tried to arrest the gang and was killed, allowing the criminals to get away…for a short time.

The authorities hunted the gang down and arrested them.  The trial came swiftly and the woman they had robbed was only able to identify one of the culprits…Joseph Samuels.

During an abusive interrogation Samuels eventually confessed to taking part in the robbery of the woman’s money, but denied having anything to do with the murder of the policeman.

As the woman didn’t recognize any of the other gang members, they were all released due to lack of evidence.  Joseph Samuels was sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead.

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In those days, death by hanging was more cruel than the hangings you see in a lot of the movie westerns today.  The famous, “drop hanging” or “long drop with a short stop” we see in movie executions, was actually a pretty quick method of killing prisoners immediately, as it resulted in their bodyweight causing their necks to break instantly.

Not so in the late 1700s.

In Joseph’s time, when the expression, “hanged by the neck until dead” was pronounced, the word “until” was taken seriously.  The ropes used were made of five strands of hemp cord capable of holding 1000 pounds of weight for the SEVERAL MINUTES it could take for the convicted to die, kicking and strangling in agony.

You see, prisoners were stood in a cart under the gallows and the noose was placed around their necks, then the horse harnessed to the cart was whipped so that it drove out from under the criminals.  The convicts would actually hang by the neck, slowly and agonizingly until they finally died.  That could take a very long time.

A gallows would not be a fun place to hang around.  Just saying.

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On September 26, 1803, the 23 year old Samuels and another prisoner, who was convicted of a different crime, were driven to Parramatta in the cart.  Hundreds of people had gathered to watch the execution.

Samuels and the other man had the nooses placed around their necks and, standing in the cart, they were allowed to pray with a priest and make a final statement.

When asked for his last words, Joseph again said that he had taken part in the robbery, but had not killed the policeman.  He then pointed out a man in the crowd, Isaac Simmonds, who had been another member of the gang Joseph was in.  Joseph said Simmonds was the actual killer.

Some in the crowd believed Samuels.  Since he had already prayed with a priest and been forgiven of his sins, they thought surely he wouldn’t commit another sin by telling such an awful lie.

Nevertheless, the executioner was going to do his job.

When the crowd quieted, the horse was whipped and pulled the cart out from under the two criminals.  The other man began to strangle but Joseph’s rope snapped so quickly that he dropped hard to the ground, spraining his ankle and collapsing in pain.

The authorities moved quickly to grab Samuels and he was able to witness the executioner preparing another five strand hemp rope.  The 23 year old criminal was forced back into the cart. 

The other criminal was still kicking weakly as the cart pulled out from under Samuels.  This time the hurriedly prepared rope didn’t break, it slipped, allowing his feet to touch the ground.

The authorities once again forced Samuels onto the cart after the hangman prepared yet another noose.

By now, the crowd was yelling out that it was a sign of God’s mercy and that Samuels should be spared.  Ignoring the cries, the executioner put the rope around his neck and checked it thoroughly, ensuring that it was secure and tight.  He then slapped the beast which pulled the cart forward.

The rope snapped…again.  Samuels dropped to the ground, but he was prepared this time and landed carefully on his uninjured foot, hobbling to keep from falling… the noose still around his neck.

The crowd broke into an uproar, calling for his release.  Surely it was a sign from God that Samuels had committed no crime worthy of death by hanging.

A policeman in attendance called for the execution to be delayed while he rode off to find the governor. 

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The governor arrived on the scene and carefully examined the rope with the dead criminal dangling from it.  He compared it to the ones that had allowed Joseph to survive three attempts at execution.

The governor declared the situation was divine intervention.  He commuted Joseph’s sentence on the spot.  The town doctor treated the lucky, or God-blessed, man’s sprained ankle and he was set free.

Isaac Simmonds was not so lucky.  He was duly convicted of the murder of the policeman and convicted to be hanged by the neck until dead.  Unfortunately for him, he had neither Joseph’s luck nor his divine intervention.  

His noose held.

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Many men, after surviving three such close calls, would have given up their life of crime and perhaps even joined the priesthood, or at least decided to live a life of piety and honest living.

Not Joseph Samuels.  He immediately returned to his criminal ways.  He was caught and sentenced to prison.  Three years later, in 1806, he found a way to escape along with eight other prisoners.  The nine men stole a small boat and sailed for freedom.

None were ever seen again.

Did the boat sink and all aboard drowned or did they make good their escape?  Nobody truly knows for sure, but with Joseph’s history of luck or divine intervention, there’s no telling what actually happened to him.

No telling, indeed.

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