Parrott Murder - The Execution
For Benjamin Parrott Jr., the time was getting short. On June 19, 1899, the Times carried an article, “His Last Week : Preliminary Preparations for Hanging of Parrott on Friday: “Sheriff Middleton went to Toronto this morning to get instructions from the Inspector of Prisons regarding the execution of Ben Parrott on Friday morning. It is likely he will arrange with some Toronto man to do the job unless Radcliffe is likely to be here in time. “The scaffold will be erected tomorrow by an expert carpenter, and will be thoroughly tested with weights before the execution. The machinery of death sent here by Radcliffe, the Government hangman, will not be used. Instead, the old scaffold, upon which McConnell was swung into eternity, will be used. It was a plain drop, there being just one trap door in it, which works from one side. Radcliffe’s trap is a double arrangement, opening in the middle.” 1 1 Hamilton Times. June 19, 1899. Parrott’s family had tried to save...