BRJSpring26Web - Flipbook - Page 20
True Crime
the
BRJ
Police Beat
WIfe PoIsoneR Jacob HaRden HanGed
Innocent Man Released fRoM
PRIson afteR seven YeaRs
belvidere, July 6, 1860 3 Swarms of spectators arrived this
morning for the execution of Jacob Harden. Harden, the former
reverend of Mount Lebanon Episcopal Church, in Lebanon
Township, New Jersey, was convicted of killing his newlywed wife,
Louisa Dorland, by means of arsenic poisoning, to which he has
now allegedly admitted in a jailhouse confession. A detachment of
militia with fixed bayonets was called out to preserve order as spectators crammed the streets surrounding the courthouse and clamored up rooftops and trees to get a glimpse of the condemned man. Harden was led to
the gallows by Sheriff Sweeney at 1:25 pm., accompanied by two clergymen, his counsel,
and a physician. He was wearing a dark blue coat, black pants, a velvet vest, white shirt,
and a
