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Newspaper
Ames Intelligencer
Location
Ames, Iowa, United States of America
Date
Nov 17, 1887
Page
4
The four Haymarket defendants August Spies Albert Parsons George Engel and Adolph Fischer were executed at the county jail in Chicago on Friday morning November 11 at 11 59. Sheriff Matson bypassed usual formalities reading the death warrants in the library before the scaffold.
Sad scenes unfolded at the jail Thursday afternoon as families visited to say farewell to the anarchists. Mrs. Schwab wept and spoke softly to her husband, who remained impassive, with Deputy Olson seated nearby.
Sheriff visits condemned inmates as dinner orders reveal their last suppers. Spies Fischer Engel Parsons Lingg plan meals of beefsteak eggs coffee fried oysters milk toast and salads, with Lingg already refusing a morning meal, signaling acceptance of death.
Four condemned anarchists Parsons Fischer Spies Lingg Engel faced the gallows after hours of ritual scenes in the jail. Dr Bolton offered prayers, Parsons rejected him while Fischer kept a calm front. At 10 with witnesses present the four were strapped and hanged amid calls for mercy and last words.
The ex editor of the Arbeiter Zeitung declines the ministerial sympathy. Rev Dr Bolton visits all four prisoners at the prison before execution. Spies meets him with a quiet smile and says prayer is useless for him as his hour approaches.
The piece recounts Parsons and fellow anarchists facing execution, detailing their sleep, last songs like Annie Laurie, guards and guards' routines, and preparations for the gallows. It notes Parsons bravado at breakfast, Spies' final prayers, and crowds securing streets as dawn nears the tragedy.
Engel maintains his innocence while speaking with the death watch. He recounts the Haymarket riot and condemns informer Waller who he says sparked the massacre tale. The scene shows Engel’s resolve to die for a just cause amid a somber vigil.
The account portrays four anarchists led to the scaffold at 11:50 as Bailiff Cahill requests hats be removed. August Spies, Adolf Fischer, Albert Parsons, and Samuel Spears stand under white caps, emotions restrained, awaiting the drop and their final speeches in a stark, ceremonial setting.
A historical account traces the Haymarket riot of May 4, 1886 to earlier strikes and agitators like Spies Parsons and Fielden. It recounts the May 2 mass meeting, the violence at McCormick shops, the deadly blast, arrests, trials, and the 1887 hangings after rulings by Illinois and U.S. supreme courts.
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