grazed his chest. A second pistol was fired and the ball went through his sleeve. This time, before Toohey could reload either weapon, Morris caught up with the escapee and struck Toohey in the head with his sword, knocking him to the ground. Other members of the group rushed in and secured him. The wound was obviously pretty gruesome but determined to not be life threatening.
The turnkey, Eery, was captured nearby, and both were escorted back to jail. One was tied to the cart and one was placed inside it. Eery later made a confession, stating he was to have received $600, two watches and coins that were provided by the two brothers and left with a James Riley until Toohey reached safety. Since Toohey had been injured, one assumes that Eerie was the one tied to the cart and dragged behind it back to Charleston. Being dragged behind a cart and his subsequent interrogation prompted the confession.
Another interesting note in the Toohey ordeal is the fact that the Charleston Riflemen brought him back to Charleston to be tried by Attorney General Robert Young Hayne. Hayne had served in the War of 1812 and had become the captain of the Charleston Riflemen in 1814. The fact that Martin Toohey murdered someone, escaped from jail and then fired upon members of a unit his prosecutor had commanded definitely led him to a long drop attached to a short rope.
The jail authorities had a unique interrogation device known as the crane of pain. This device had the prisoners feet shackled to the floor while ropes were attached to each wrist and pulled through a pulley attached to the ceiling. The prisoner would be stretched as far as he could and when he thought he could stretch no more the guards found a way to remedy that. The prisoner then would often be left there for quite some time only to be revisited by the guards, whipped and interrogated. Once having been the deliverer of torture, it appears Mr. Eery now had become the recipient.
Now just six months after the Toohey debacle, Charleston was facing another escape.
On September 15, 1819, the Charleston Courier ran a brief article regarding the escape. Governor Geddes had issued a proclamation offering a $500 reward for the apprehension of John Fisher. It states that he had made his escape that Monday evening accompanied by Joseph Roberts. There is no reward mentioned for Roberts at all even though he was serving a yearlong sentence, had escaped from the jail in the past, in addition to a Georgia jail. It seems that although he seemed the most threatening to the citizens of Charleston, it was John Fisher that the governor was most interested in recovering.
Many things have been written about John Fisher and his cowardice. It has also been written that he took every opportunity to blame Lavinia for what they were accused of. In all the research that was conducted in regard to this case and the preparation of this book, one thing is certain: John Fisher was devoted to his wife and defended both her innocence and his until the very end. It is believed that John had planned to board a schooner within the Charleston harbor and sail to Cuba. He would not leave Lavinia behind in Charleston; he stayed in the area, along with Joseph Roberts, trying to devise a scheme to rescue her.
On Tuesday night following the escape, grocer William Bull was keeping late hours at his store on South Bay. He glanced outside and observed two men in the darkness paddling toward shore in a small canoe. One entered the store as the other walked off into the darkness. The customer made a few purchases, but the grocer became suspicious of him. As the man left, Bull secretly followed him and observed him crawl under an overturned boat on the wharf. Bull had a colleague monitor the situation while he left and alerted authorities.
Fisher and Roberts were located hiding under the overturned boat and were rearrested. The Charleston Courier reported the events on September 16, 1819: âJohn Fisher and Joseph
The turnkey, Eery, was captured nearby, and both were escorted back to jail. One was tied to the cart and one was placed inside it. Eery later made a confession, stating he was to have received $600, two watches and coins that were provided by the two brothers and left with a James Riley until Toohey reached safety. Since Toohey had been injured, one assumes that Eerie was the one tied to the cart and dragged behind it back to Charleston. Being dragged behind a cart and his subsequent interrogation prompted the confession.
Another interesting note in the Toohey ordeal is the fact that the Charleston Riflemen brought him back to Charleston to be tried by Attorney General Robert Young Hayne. Hayne had served in the War of 1812 and had become the captain of the Charleston Riflemen in 1814. The fact that Martin Toohey murdered someone, escaped from jail and then fired upon members of a unit his prosecutor had commanded definitely led him to a long drop attached to a short rope.
The jail authorities had a unique interrogation device known as the crane of pain. This device had the prisoners feet shackled to the floor while ropes were attached to each wrist and pulled through a pulley attached to the ceiling. The prisoner would be stretched as far as he could and when he thought he could stretch no more the guards found a way to remedy that. The prisoner then would often be left there for quite some time only to be revisited by the guards, whipped and interrogated. Once having been the deliverer of torture, it appears Mr. Eery now had become the recipient.
Now just six months after the Toohey debacle, Charleston was facing another escape.
On September 15, 1819, the Charleston Courier ran a brief article regarding the escape. Governor Geddes had issued a proclamation offering a $500 reward for the apprehension of John Fisher. It states that he had made his escape that Monday evening accompanied by Joseph Roberts. There is no reward mentioned for Roberts at all even though he was serving a yearlong sentence, had escaped from the jail in the past, in addition to a Georgia jail. It seems that although he seemed the most threatening to the citizens of Charleston, it was John Fisher that the governor was most interested in recovering.
Many things have been written about John Fisher and his cowardice. It has also been written that he took every opportunity to blame Lavinia for what they were accused of. In all the research that was conducted in regard to this case and the preparation of this book, one thing is certain: John Fisher was devoted to his wife and defended both her innocence and his until the very end. It is believed that John had planned to board a schooner within the Charleston harbor and sail to Cuba. He would not leave Lavinia behind in Charleston; he stayed in the area, along with Joseph Roberts, trying to devise a scheme to rescue her.
On Tuesday night following the escape, grocer William Bull was keeping late hours at his store on South Bay. He glanced outside and observed two men in the darkness paddling toward shore in a small canoe. One entered the store as the other walked off into the darkness. The customer made a few purchases, but the grocer became suspicious of him. As the man left, Bull secretly followed him and observed him crawl under an overturned boat on the wharf. Bull had a colleague monitor the situation while he left and alerted authorities.
Fisher and Roberts were located hiding under the overturned boat and were rearrested. The Charleston Courier reported the events on September 16, 1819: âJohn Fisher and Joseph
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